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Rockezine
Is
Past
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| FoolsFatal |
| with Jean Pierre Schrijver and Jeff Bickes on Feb 16, 2002 |
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FoolsFatal is a Dutch guitar band which started in 2000. The band has been inspired by the new wave of guitar bands this millennium. Its sound reminds of Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. The singer has a catchy, powerful voice which, mixed with titillating guitar riffs and a tight and groovy bass and drums co-operation, produces modern rock music with roots in 70’s and 90’s grunge. FoolsFatal is a foursome: Jean Pierre Schrijver, vocals/guitars; Steven Korda, guitars; Toni Peroni, drums; Jeff Bickes, bass. In July 2001 the band won the Talent Trophy in Nijmegen. Since then, nothing seems to be able to stop them. They signed a contract with record company “Coast To Coast”; and established their own record label called “Buck”. The first single “Turn Around” has been released in January 2002; and the album” Glue” will be released by the end of February.
February 16, I had the chance to talk to Jean Pierre Schrijver (vocals) and Jeff Bickes (bass) in relaxed surroundings, with a good glass of beer, just a few hours before the show in Nijmegen. | |||
| Where do you get your inspiration for writing songs? “Living your life” is the most important source for beautiful lyrics and songs. Almost everything can be inspiring! Our subjects are being in love, being unhappy, luck, fear of dying. We use everything that comes our way. | |||
| Autobiographical lyrics? Our lyrics are autobiographical; and Jean Pierre is responsible for writing them. The lyrics are based on personal experience and are taken out of real life. | |||
| What is the procedure you follow from a basic idea to a finished song? Most of the time the process runs smoothly. Jean Pierre comes up with the words, and often Steven has devised a guitar riff. Jeff has his own ideas. By putting all these things and Toni’’s drumming experience together, a song is born! Songwriting is in our band a very democratic process. Everything is welcome, and together we decide what we are going to use for the final song. | |||
| You have recorded an album, “Glue”. Does it live up to your expectations? This is our début album. Recording an album in a studio is a very mechanical process; it was very different from playing live. Everyone plays his part apart from one another, and that’s sometimes a little strange. “Glue” is especially an album that we learned a lot from. This will not be our best album. “Glue” will be the record with which it all started. The best is yet to come. But all in all, we are proud and we have made a good album! | |||
| It appears to me that “live on stage” you sound different than on the record. A conscious choice? Yes. We think it’s good that people hear the difference between a live performance and a studio production. We can express ourselves better on stage. We feel we sound better, more ourselves; and we don’t fuzz about if people will appreciate it. | |||
| Has commercialism played a part in the production of your record? Yes, it’s essential. Without commerce, we could not have recorded our album. But we didn’t make our album for a big audience; it’s just our album. Commercialism helps us to get big. For example, we have a video clip of our first single ”Turn around” on TMF (The Music Factory: a music channel on Dutch television). | |||
| What was it like to play in “The Melkweg” in Amsterdam? I remember you played there as support act of “Therapy?”. Playing in “The Melkweg” is like playing on holy ground. “The Melkweg” is one of those places a band can only dream of playing in, and we did it! And opening for “Therapy?” is fantastic. It doesn’t matter that you are the support act. The audience had never heard of us, but we didn’t care. We had a very good time on stage. And a great review in “The Aardschok” (Dutch magazine for rock/metal music). | |||
| I once heard you say, one of your biggest wishes is to play on “Lowlands”(Dutch festival). We hope to. Jean Pierre: in my opinion we are a band exceptionally suited to perform on festivals. We like playing live on stage, and we are capable of making the crowd go wild… | |||
| Musical background? Jean Pierre: I often listen to Pearl Jam, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin; they are my roots. You can hear those influences in our music. But that is something that goes for every band. Jeff: my big example is Miles Davis. A great musician… | |||
| Besides playing in a band, do you have other activities? Jeff: I have an easy job in a theatre. I can easily combine it with playing in “FoolsFatal”. I make enough money to ride a car and stuff. Jean Pierre: I only write music; and I am waiting for my girlfriend, who’s in Australia. Soon she’s coming back… she is my most important inspiration in writing lyrics. | |||
| Any plans for the future? Our record is due to come out, and we expect a lot to come of it, considering the video clip is played pretty often for a Dutch band. Record company “’Coast To Coast” created a new sub label “Buck” especially for us. The sun is gonna shine for us… we are going to be very famous (smiles). | |||
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(interview by Kelly, Photo`s by Cor)
(Cor Schilstra) |
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