theNAME - February 2008

Interview with:

Singer of theNAME

So we all know the Netherlands is packed with female fronted metal bands. From the internationally very popular Within Temptation, the well established bands like After Forever and Epica to the upcoming bands like Delain, why is there any need for yet another band like the ones just mentioned?
 "theNAME is not a standard female fronted metal band; I think we definitely add something to the female fronted metal scene. Our music is more heavy than these bands and the female vocals are more pop/ rock. I don't use a high 'opera' sound. Our appearance is also less gothic and more metal. People also seem to like our show; it's very energetic. You should see our guitarists jump around :)"
 
So if I understand you right, theNAME is not just another one of those bands trying to fly on the glory of the popular gothic metal bands. That leaves me with no other question then to ask you: how would you describe the music you make so that all of our readers can get an idea?
"The best way to describe theNAME is groovy rock/metal with clear and sensual but yet powerful female vocals and rough male screams."



Maybe that still won't get the picture straight for some people, so let's try a different approach. Take 5 popular bands; tell me which ingredients of these bands you'd take to put in a blender so in the end we'll have a theNAME shake.
"In the drum parts you can find influences of Dream Theater, the bass parts are simple but functional, in the guitar parts you can find all kinds of influences of bands like Killswitch Enagage, Kiss and Disturbed, the male screams are just rough and in the female vocals you can hear influences of Evanescence, Gwen Stefani and The Birthday Massacre."
 
So with all those influences, what is the effect on the audience? Do they want to listen, start a mosh pit, headbang or even dance?
"Our music varies a lot, so I think you can do it all. During a show we make sure our music reaches the audience. We are very focussed on the audience then and we love it if they really participate and react enthusiastic to our show."

By breaking down your music into the different ingredients I miss the keyboards, orchestra, choir that so many bands use on their albums but limits them during live shows. No hard disk needed when theNAME plays live then?

"No, no hard disc needed during our shows :) I would love to play our songs with an orchestra some day though. But that would have to be a very special occasion. In general I'd like to keep it the way it is now."



There are four people in the band. Can you tell us a bit more about the people in the band?
"Our guitar player Silas is the one that started theNAME. He's a really talented guitar player; he has the skills, he comes up with a lot of great ideas and he has a great own style. Our bass player Mike plays his functional bass parts very well and his specialty is his stage performance. He jumps around, almost headbangs his head off and he gives us all a lot of energy during our shows. Our drummer Salvador is a genius. He can play almost anything and it always looks so easy."

Now that we know their names and instruments, we want to know more. Things that other interviews have never revealed, tell us something completely surprising about every band member, including yourself of course.
"I don't think there is something to reveal. We're always very open in interviews. I can only tell you that we have created our own 'special' world when being with the band members of theNAME. I don't know if there's anyone who could or would like to understand our humour ;)."
 
Of course you can be open in interviews, but there has to be one thing per member that has never popped up before. Nobody who has a strange habit, a weird hobby or secretly loves country music?
"No not really. Except that Mike studies theology maybe."

Looking at the humour you mentioned before, gives us example of the jokes that go around before and after the show.
"Well, they wouldn't make any sense to people that are not in our band... "
 
The guys in the band have different looks that might all appeal to a different group of women, is this intentional or just a happy coincidence?
"It's not intentional, so you could say it is just a happy coincidence indeed."

As with all bands that have female singers, there seems to be a lack of women in the rest of the band. This means it all comes down to you to conquer the men, right?
"Haha, I suppose so :) I really like bands with only a female singer, especially when it's a cool and pretty girl. It gives these singers a certain power."

You happen to be very aware of the way women in metal bands come across. After all you've written a thesis about it, can you give a quick glimpse of what you have written for those who don't understand Dutch?
"It's about how female singers represent femininity in metal bands nowadays. Therefore in my thesis I discuss the history of the definition of gender (femininity and masculinity), the history and development of metal and the parts men and women played in this and the representation of femininity by contemporary female metal singers compared to the representation of femininity by women in contemporary Western art and media."

So looking at yourself, what type of woman are you on stage?
"I try to create a woman with a lot of different aspects. I like to look and sound like a little sweet girl, a devilish little girl or a powerful woman and vary that all the time. Vulnerability, power, sensuality and playfulness are the keywords for my performance. As I said before, our music varries a lot. Therefore I am able to show a lot of different aspects of myself and the woman I like to be on stage. I enjoy doing that a lot. That's one of the things that makes it so great for me to be the singer of theNAME."
 
So a new band, a new sound, and then the next step is to conquer enough souls to grow bigger and bigger of course. How did you manage to get theNAME known across the Netherlands?
"We play as much as we can because we really are a live-band, we try to promote ourselves as good as we can and we did a couple of great support acts for great Dutch and German metal bands as Epica, Autumn, Xandria and Krypteria."
 
Are there any bands that you'd like to support, bands that you think will really fit your music style so their fans might like your music as well?
"There are a lot of bands we would like to support. I think it's difficult for us to find bands that are similar to us. I only know one band that kind of does what we do and that's Flyleaf. I really think that's a great band and we would love to do their support. I think we also fit quite well with Dutch bands as Autumn, Delain and Kingfisher Sky and with the German Krypteria. Unfortunately we never had the chance to play with Delain yet, but we are going to play with Kingfisher Sky soon. But I think it's also cool to open for a band that is more different from us. We really enjoyed playing before Epica and Xandria. Of course we have certain aspects in common with these bands, but I think a bit of a different support could be also interesting for the audience. I personally love After Forever and Within Temptation so I would love to do their supports as well. I also think we could fit with male fronted bands. I think it's really cool that Flyleaf is the support of Korn during their whole tour."



Do you already have plans to do some festivals in 2008? Of course that's a good way of getting new people to learn about your music.
"No, there aren't any plans for festivals yet. I hope we will play at some in 2008 though."
 
Of course another option is to compete in band competitions, like the Bodog Battle, can you tell us more about that competition?
"The Bodog Battle of the Bands is an international band competition from America. Bands can participate in Canada, America and Europe. You have to win four rounds to go to the finals in America. If you win the finals, you'll win a million dollar record deal."
 
It must have been a nice chance for publicity; did you ever imagine you could keep battling for so long?
"No I never imagined this. I hoped to get to the third round so we could play in the great venue of Paradiso, but I never thought we would make it to the European finals in Copenhagen. It's really great that we did." 



Now the next step is the North European finals in Copenhagen, we'll get to that next, now can you tell us how it went so far?
"To get to this round, we had to win three rounds. The first round was in Winston Kingdom, the second one was in Melkweg which was really cool and the third round was in Paradiso which was absolutely great! Actually, we played the third round at the same evening as we did the support of Epica in Patronaat. We had to plan that evening very good so we were able to do both shows, but it was absolutely great to do them both."
 
Of course Denmark is now only days away, what are your chances you think? And what are your goals?
"I think it's going to be really difficult to win in Copenhagen, but we are sure going to try and really are going to rock the place. I'd love to make it to the finals in America. I really feel like playing in Copenhagen already!"
 
Do you have anything special planned for that show? Did you learn anything from the previous shows that will increase your chances of winning?
"I think we learned a lot already from playing a lot and doing great supports the last year. I think we have a quite tight show now. We always talk about our shows afterwards so we are aware of what worked in the past and what didn't. Of course we try new stuff all the time, but I think this time we'll keep it the same as in Paradiso. For me it's important to concentrate on the sound on stage so I will sing everything as good as I can and at the same time feel good on stage so I can entertain the audience and make them rock with us. We'll just do the best we can."
 
So if you won't win the show, there's still a chance to go through to the finals: the wildcard principle. Will you gather all the metal fans of Reflections of Darkness to come and vote for you?
"Yes, sure we will! We'll contact you than and I hope they'll all vote for us!"
 
If the Bodog Battle is over, and you haven't won, are there plans to make a new album anyway?
"Yes, absolutely. We are writing new songs at the moment."



So the Bodog Battle is absolutely not the final stage of theNAME, a new album is being written and I guess there's plenty of concerts coming up. So how do you want to get all those people who don't know your music yet to your shows?
"They should check out our websites and I hope that convinces them to come to our gigs."
 
Any last words to promote your band towards our visitors?
"Come to our shows and rock with us!"
 
We hope you'll do great in Copenhagen and may the world open up for the band so we can hear a lot more from you!
"Thank you! And thank you for this interview!"

We'd like to thank Hadassa and theNAME for the interview

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