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"The magic is the most important thing and we hope to develope that also in the future"

Nienke de Jong - front woman from gothmetal band Autumn




Biography
(Copyright  bio and logo - the official website of Autumn)

"Where are the songs of spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too... " 
From ‘To Autumn’ by John Keats

Summer’s End does not only herald a new fall, Autumn’s second album also holds a promise for the future of this Dutch band. After receiving critical acclaim for their debut album When Lust Evokes The Curse and two years of endless touring, performing at some of the major national and international festivals, Autumn is back to surprise friend and foe with their second CD. Summer’s End is the product of a band that has made major progress. Not only are the songs more catchy than on the debut album, they are also much more sophisticated, both technically and composition-wise.

"This time we set out to record the music we really love, although it sometimes did not necessarily fit the ‘scene’. As a band we have become confident enough to cross boundaries," says singer and front woman Nienke de Jong. The energy the band releases on stage has now been captured on CD as well. The songs are mainly based on rhythm, strong riffs and groove, whereas their older material was written around melody and a certain atmosphere.
Nienke: "Playing live has provided us with the skills and understanding to be able to write good songs. In contrast to our debut album, Summer’s End is pervaded with emotion, is more raw and pure. It goes back to our essence."

Although the band has its roots mainly in metal, many people equate Autumn with gothic rock. While Summer’s End certainly has some influences from this popular genre, the album also contains folk, nu-metal, doom, even pop and semi-classical music. As bass player and lyricist Meindert Sterk explains: "When you try not to limit yourself and or conform to a certain musical style, you are free to do whatever you want. We try to hold on to that freedom, because it provides us with countless possibilities." This non-conformity has resulted in a dynamic mixture of contrasting musical styles, pervaded with a dark atmosphere.

Lyrically, Autumn elaborates on ancient themes like mysticism, spirituality and witchcraft, but there is also plenty of room for more personal matters like the search for the meaning of life. Nienke’s vocals, characterized by power and personality, are outstanding: she sings lovely and vulnerable in one song, fierce and powerful in the next, but always with empathy and avoiding contrived emotions. "Some songs are very close to my heart and I shed many a tear during the process. Now and then, you can clearly hear how emotional it was for me to sing certain songs." During the recording process, Nienke learned to trust her own vocal talent: "I feel liberated now that I have accepted, and even learned to love, my own sound."




Autumn formed in 1995 and has become an irrevocable part of the blossoming Dutch gothic rock scene. Their debut album When Lust Evokes The Curse, released through Sony Music/Epic in 2002, put Autumn on the map with genre colleagues Within Temptation and After Forever, bands Autumn supported on tour. Following this release, the band played a lot of headlining shows and successful festival performances, including appearances at Dynamo, Lowlands, Metalfest, Fields Of Rock and M’Era Luna in Germany. At the end of 2003, Autumn took a break from playing to concentrate on writing new songs. The band began working on their magnum opus in the summer of 2004 with producers Nico Outhuijse en Syb van der Ploeg (both of Spanner) at the SyCo studios.

"Both Nico and Syb had a cathartic effect on Autumn. They were able to make us sound like we wanted to sound. For the first time, the entire recording process was a very relaxing experience. They have the gift of making musicians feel confident, stimulating everybody to achieve the best they can," says Meindert. As a result Summer’s End oozes self-confidence and energy.

Having struck a new record deal with The Electric Co.- a brand-new and ambitious Dutch label - and having achieved a mature Autumn-sound, the band set out on a Dutch club tour and joined Within Temptation on the Belgian and German leg of their "The Silent Force" tour, the latter resulting in a highly successful two week tour through Germany’s major cities in February 2005, supporting the release of Summer’s End through Universal before enthusiastic crowds in large, sold out venues. To further promote Summer’s End, the band is releasing the first single for the album, the edited version of the album track "Gallery Of Reality", in April 2005. It is backed up by an extraordinary video, for which the band teamed up with Dutch media company Revolver, highly acclaimed for their work in film, documentary, commercials and animation. The video aired on music stations in March 2005 and met with amazed reactions, helping Autumn claim their place as a serious contender in the ranks of alternative contemporary music.

With the single release and a considerable amount of shows and festivals lined up for the coming months, a number of which will once again see them team up with Within Temptation, the band seems ready to make their break for higher ground both nationally and internationally. Winter has faded. A new year of growth and prosperity dawns, and, like every year, this Spring starts with Autumn.


Line-up

Nienke de Jong - vocals
Mats van der Valk - guitar & backing vocals
Jerome Vrielink - bass
Jens van der Valk - guitar & backing vocals
Jan Munnik - keyboards
Jan Grijpstra - drums

Former members
:
Menno Terpstra - keyboads
Jasper Koenders - guitar
Meidert Sterk - bass & vocals

Pictures
(Copyright all pictures Nera K.Design: http://www.nera-k.com/)






Discography

2002  When Lust Evokes The Curse



2004/2005 Summers End




Tourdates

On the official website from Autumn there is underdneath 'tour' a section with upcoming gigs. Also in the news section you can find more information. Also on the right side of the page there is a scroll barr where the dates are displayed


Website

http://www.autumn-band.com


Contact

Autumn
P.O. box 1167
9701 BD Groningen
The Netherlands
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Management / Record Company:
The Electric Co.
phone: +31-(0)320-218534 / fax: +31-(0)320-218334
PO Box 34
3755 ZG Eemnes
The Netherlands
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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