I N T E R V I E W

Interview Jan

The song "The Witch in Me", begin with French words. Why did you choose our language for it?

Because it sounds more mysterious in French than in English (and definitely more than in Dutch), and at that time we thought it was a great addition to the lyrics and the song.

The mystical world seemed to inspire you. Is it something, which is important in your life, or just, at that time, only a writing theme?

Especially our former bass player (Meindert) was really interested in the mystical world and the connection between man and nature. At that time he wrote all the lyrics about these (general) themes, using old legend and sagas as inspiration. Nowadays we also write a lot about our own personal feelings and thoughts.

Studying your lyrics is something really interesting. We can see your evolution through the words you choose, and the world you've created or which provide inspiration. With "My New Time", everything changed a lot. Why did you choose to go away from your first inspiration?

Mostly because now Mats, Jens and myself started writing the lyrics. We have other influences and that is what you hear on "My New Time". The transition was rather sudden because Meindert left after "Summer's end".

"My New Time" artwork is different from the other albums artwork. It's photography, whereas for the two others, the artwork was drawing. Why did you choose to change it?

For the same reason. Meindert made drawings for the first two albums. Since he left we were more interested in making a cover from real-life photographs. We also did this for the latest Altitude cover. Here we used a very old photograph of one of the first man flying (Otto Lilienthal) together with modern photographs of large, modern cities. We wanted to show the incredible progress (if you want) in technology throughout less than 100 years.

The "Satellites" video clip is a "classical" video: we can watch a story and between scenes, we can watch the band playing in a hall. What was the "effect" you were looking for this video, which change from "Gallery of Reality" one?

Yes, this time we wanted the band in the video. But only showing the band playing the song would probably be a bit boring, so we came up with a small story. In contrast with the "Gallery of reality" video, where the story was the most important part of the video.

You've toured with Within Temptation, was it a stepping-stone for you?

Yes, I like to think so. It gave us the opportunity to do a tour throughout Europe and play in venues where we normally would not play. So it was an experience of a lifetime. It felt like a kick-ass holiday, if you like.

You've toured mostly in the Netherlands, some in Germany and in Belgium. Will an international career be your goal in few times?

I would be nice if that would happen, but we are very happy where we are right now. We are able to record our albums and release them world-wide with Metal Blade. If this would result in tours outside Europe or in the Southern part of Europe, that would obviously be great bonus!

If you had to choose one band to tour with abroad, which one will it be?

Faith no More! But the chance that they will ever tour again is quit small, unfortunately.

A lot of time, we say: "change is the best way to come forward". Do you think it's true for Autumn?

Well, I think change gives people new energy and inspiration, and this will lead to progression, I agree with you. Too much change at the same time, however, would not be a good thing. We had our part in changing members and record companies, and I believe we grew stronger every time. So for us it turns out for the best (so far).

Can you introduce Marjan Welman, your new singer, or may she be able to introduce herself?

We met Marjan already some years ago when she was performing at a festival with her own band, Elister. We where already impressed by them. So when Nienke decided to quit the band, she was the first to think about. Her singing career is really heading of since last year, where she starred on the latest Ayreon album, she joined our band and she recorded new material for Elister.

Why did you choose Marjan? What does she have more than the others?

She has a very warm and elegant voice. Moreover, her voice is very strong when she is singing in the lower regions and (this was the nicest surprise), she sings our older material very convincing and beautiful. Besides that, she fits really well In the group.

Do you think she will supply a new life to Autumns' lyrics and music?

Definitely! We already wrote most of the songs for Altitude when she joined the band, and therefore she could only use her own style and inspiration in the studio. For the next record she will start to write lyrics and music.

How were the Wave Gothic Treffen and the Pagepop festival? Were you proud of your singer?

Yes, very proud. She had a nice, but hard time when she joined, because amongst her first shows were the festivals: Wave Gothic Treffen in Leipzig, Wacken Open air in Wacken and Summerbreeze in Dinkelsbuhl. But she did a great job! Within 6 months she recorded an album and did all these great shows. Another good thing about this is that we are completely used to each other and can't wait to start the release shows for the Altitude album.

The Gothic Metal Palace Festival, where we were supposed to do this interview has been cancelled. What were you expecting for this gig?

It seemed to have a huge set-up with a lot of international bands. So we were exited to play on this festival. It is a shame that they got into financial problems. Maybe they should have started a little less big and learn first how to organize this kind of festival before making it too big to handle. Very unfortunate for the organization and the people who bought a ticket.

This is the interviews end. Do you have something else to say?

Thank you for the interest in our band! Our 4th full-length album will be released in Europe around the 13th of February and I hope everybody will check it out.
And of course we hope to see you in France someday!
Take care, Jan (Autumn)