Zerovarius.net 19 - AUGUST - 2011

First of all I want to know something about the band; How and why did the band meet? Tell us a little history about this.

Well, Arjen and Bertran, the guitarists, have started Kowai some years back already, but never really were in luck with getting a steady line-up until mid 2008. Then, Joost, Rik and me joined after auditioning, and we started writing songs and working towards EP recordings. However we still couldn't find a keyboardist; only after our EP "Prelude" was released in 2009, we found Daphne, who has been with us since May 2010. Ever since then, we've been going strong, everything is all right!

Why did you choose this name (Kowai)? And what is the meaning? (Signifity)

Arjen and Bertran chose it when they started the band, because they were, and still are, fans of Japanese animation such as manga. So, they decided to pick a name that both represents their interest in the Japanese culture, and also tries to capture the essence of the music. "Kowai” is a Japanese word, and it means "scary" or "to be scared of something", which is a theme that comes back in our lyrics quite a bit. It's not necessarily about the things that are obviously scary, such as spiders, haha, but about what every person individually has to face, their own private fears about life in general, or what they have to deal with. So in that respect I think that the name "Kowai" suits our musical themes pretty well.

Can you tell us something about the musical influences of the band?

Of course, we try not to let any band or artist influence us too much ;) But naturally, we all have favorite bands that we listen to. For me personally, I'm really a fan of various artists, ranging from Kamelot and Katatonia to Maria Mena and 30 Seconds to Mars. As Arjen writes most of the music, I think his influences would maybe be most clear in our own music. He listens to Draconian a lot, and Insomnium. Other Dutch bands in our genre that have sort of 'paved the way' for us are obviously an influence to us, such as Epica, Within Temptation, the Gathering, and After Forever, although we are less 'heavy' than especially Epica, and more doomy, I think. Haha, I even forget to mention Nightwish! They were, at least for me, the introduction to female fronted metal, back in 2004 when I was a little girl ;) And then there are bands such as Anathema, Opeth, Metallica, Ayreon, Therion, Moonspell... Let's just say there are a lot of people that inspire us - music is a very good thing to be inspired by!

But in the beginning that was just a Hobby right? When singing was an important thing in your life?

Yes, it started out as a hobby. I've been singing since I was little, but I was never really serious about it. Then, as a teenager, I was introduced to bands such as Nightwish and Within Temptation, and the whole epic-ness of their music just so much captured me, that I wanted to be able to sing like Tarja and Sharon. So when I was around the age of 17/18 I started to take singing lessons and forming a couple of bands. Of course, in the beginning, it was all pretty bad, and thinking back of some of the performances I did then... Haha, I don't want to remember them! Anyway, I broadened my musical horizon, started singing other styles as well, and also started looking for a real band, one that was more serious, when I was confident enough about my own abilities as a singer. So in may 2008 I auditioned for Kowai, and they apparently wanted to have me ^^ Since then, I've become even more serious about singing, as a part of my university education was performance and singing, next to psychology. At university, I learned a new vocal technique, CVT, and because I really like that approach, I'm trying to learn even more of it. So yes, you can say that even though singing has always been important to me, only recently it became more than a hobby and I've tried to take a more professional approach to it.

When you write the lyrics, what kind of things help you to write? Personal experiences, nature or spend time to study certain subjects?

Hmm, this really is a difficult one, haha! I've been writing poetry and stories from when I was 13 years old, which were mainly inspired by books I'd read or music I'd listened to. But I would not write about the stories in the books, I would write about how they made me feel. For some reason I've been attracted to the 'darker' side of things ever since I was little (oh that sounds strange hahah), so naturally my lyrical themes also revolve around that. Many lyrics are about loss, in some way or another, or about pain, or failure, or about dreams of a better world. I guess that both personal experiences help me write, as well as my imagination - I always try to work with a certain feeling, and let the words express that. Of course, studying psychology helps, because I have learned a lot about the human psyche, and how we deal with both each other and ourselves, and how everything is relative, so that definitely comes back in the lyrics. The whole idea that you're never sure what is real, which comes back in for example our new song "Through Shadowlands" is of course pretty philosophical. In general, I'm inspired by everything around me, but I always try to make it my own - so that it means something to me personally - before I write it down as lyrics for Kowai's songs.

Tell me, what about the new Kowa's Songs? Any plans to record new material?

Yes definately!! Right now we're very busy working on the final songs for the new cd, and this winter we're going to record that hopefully! We're all very exited for it, because of course an EP is very nice, but a full length album is a whole other thing, haha. Also, since we recorded "Prelude", we've all grown a lot, both technically as in our experience with writing songs and performing them, so I really think this new album will be awesome! Our music has evolved, we know better what we want to do and how to do it... And we're very enthusiastic about it, as you can see ^^ I think at this moment we have finished about 14 songs, so we need a couple more and then we can really start pre-productions. We hope that the album can be released in the beginning of spring 2012.

How do you feel with your first release? (About your experience, first recording, relationship with your parthners, etc)

At the time, I think we all were pretty nervous. We wanted to make a really good EP, which would allow us to perform good shows with other bands, because of course people want to hear your music before they book your band. We had not been together for so long, and we didn't know each other very well then. So it was all very exiting, for sure! We got in touch with Dave and Djuri, who did our recording and mixing, through a friend of mine, and they really helped creating a relaxed athmosphere while recording, because they're really chill guys. So that was nice. For me, the first time going into the vocal booth to sing was... terrifying, haha. But soon enough I started having fun, and we all got very creative trying to make the music and recordings even better. I think that, in 2009, it was the best that we could do. But now, 2 years later, it really is time we record something new, because we've grown so much since then. As I said before, our musical style has changed a bit, and naturally we've all become better at our instruments. Also, the band has become good friends; we are closer now personally than when we recorded "Prelude" - maybe also because Daphne now is part of Kowai, her feminine touch helps haha - But above all, I think we are now much more confident in our own abilities. So I definitely look forward to recording the new album and showing everybody what we can do now!

What is the musical direction in Kowai now? Because you know, the gothic style is very popular and sometimes it’s hard to try new innovations.

Hmm, that's a hard one... I don't like thinking about "musical directions" and "genres" as limits, because I don't like that people try to put all music in a certain direction, by comparing bands to other bands. But of course, it's easy to give each band a certain label, and in that way distinguish them from others. Especially because we are Dutch, and there are so many Dutch "gothic" bands already, people will always compare us to them. So where are we different from other bands? Our new songs are a bit doomier and athmospheric than what's on our EP "Prelude", maybe more towards rock than heavy metal. Although we have some heavy stuff on there too ;) As for my vocal style, I don't sing with my operatic voice much, so that's definitely different than for example the old Nightwish. We also have a lot more male clean vocals on the new songs, and try to do interesting things with rhythm- and chord progression changes. But our general goal is neither to imitate others, nor is it to try to be as original as possible for the sake of being original alone. We just try to make music that we all think is beautiful, that is the main thing.

Do you work with a Music Label now? Or you are looking for one?

Nope, we're not working with anybody, and we're also currently not looking into that. Our main priority now is to make a fucking awesome cd, and then perform as much as possible, haha. Whatever happens after that, we'll see.

Well, when are the upcoming Kowai's Shows? Do you share the stage with other (famous) bands? In the past you share the stage with "Trail of Tears" for example.

For now, we don't have a lot of shows planned, because we're focusing on writing new music. However, what we are doing before recording are pretty interesting gigs! We're playing with Nemesea and Stream of Passion at a festival in Belgium in August, and in early September we're playing at well-known Dutch metal festival Occultfest, with for example Magion and Visionary 666. In the past, we have played with Norwegian band Trail of Tears, as you said, and also with Dutch band autumn, as well as with a lot of other less well-known Dutch and non-Dutch bands. We're hoping of course that after the release of the cd, we get to play with even more famous bands!

Any plans to play in other countries? Maybe a Tour after the new album is released?

Well, of course it would be awesome if that would be possible, but for now I don't think it is very realistic. Touring is very expensive, and since we don't have a record label, almost impossible to finance for us. Of course we're going to promote our album as much as we can, and do a lot of shows in Holland, and maybe also Belgium and the UK. But a more widespread European tour is still only something we can dream of for now.

Do you know something about South American Bands? I don’t know if you heared something about us.

I have to be honest that I don't know much about South American bands... Of course I know Sepultura, and Soulfly, but other than that, not really. Well, maybe Stream of Passion counts, because their singer is Mexican? Haha. There are so many interesting bands all around the world though; I would love to get to know more of them! Any suggestions? ;)

Tell me about how do you want to be like a Band (the best Dream :P ) and if you have others musical projects?

The first and foremost reason why we're in Kowai is to have fun, and I think it will always stay that way. What we've done so far is already so much to be proud of and happy about, I think it's more than what we thought would happen when we first joined the band. Of course, it would be very very cool to be able to perform at big festivals such as Female Metal Voices Fest, or Wacken, and to tour around the world, make a living of music and just do what makes you happiest... I guess every band has such dreams :) I think doing a music video would be as awesome as it would be scary, so that's a challenge too, haha.

And as for side projects: Joost, the drummer, is in a Jazz band as well, but I don't think the other members of Kowai have other musical endeavours. Well, apart from me, because currently I'm working with two other projects beside Kowai, of which I hope they both turn into something good. I believe that you should always broaden your horizons as much as possible, no matter what you're into, so that's what I'm trying to do as well. Besides, I love singing and making music so much, that I don't care if I have to sing children's songs, as long as I get to sing, haha. But Kowai is definitely my main thing, because it's what I feel closest to, and most connected to.

We know your work in Kowai (for the last review of course xD) but where and how can people get the "Prelude" Ep?

We have our own website, www.kowai.nl, where everybody can listen to our music, order the EP, or one of our t-shirts through the webshop! And also we have a Myspace account, (www.myspace.com/kowai), we have Twitter (www.twitter.com/kowaiofficial) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/kowaiofficial)! More than enough social media, I'd say :P So I hope you all visit our website (which, by the way, was made by guitarist Arjen) and give our songs a listen!

Well Finally. Can you leave a Message for everyone who will read this interview? (For Zerovarius too)

Well, once you've come all the way to this point: thank you all for reading the entire interview! We're very happy that there is an interest in South-America for our music, and we really hope you will like our new cd as well. By that time, we'll definitely contact you again, haha. But really, we're so glad that you like it, and that we get to reach out to people all across the world through webzines like Zerovarius. So thank you very much for the opportunity, be sure to visit our website www.kowai.nl, and rock on!