{"id":19865,"date":"2014-01-28T07:30:58","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T20:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=19865"},"modified":"2014-01-19T19:29:50","modified_gmt":"2014-01-19T08:29:50","slug":"robert-westerholt-of-within-temptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2014\/01\/robert-westerholt-of-within-temptation\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Westerholt of Within Temptation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s a monster in the way that you have to face your own being and face your own fears and a lot of songs are about go for your dreams, don\u2019t be afraid because life is too short but in getting there you can face your fears and go ahead and go for it. So that\u2019s what also lies behind it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

From press release: The romance and the mystery have returned to metal with the sixth studio album from Dutch symphonic metal legends Within Temptation \u2013 Hydra, available Friday 31 January 2014. Produced by Daniel Gibson, Hydra covers a wide range of musical styles and lyrical themes and joins a varied catalogue of now classic albums like The Silent Force<\/em>, The Heart of Everything<\/em> and The Unforgiving<\/em>.<\/p>\n

At home watching the Australian Open, we had a great chat with Robert of Within Temptation about the band\u2019s new album \u2018Hydra\u2019 and its creation and special guests as well as a hope of an Australian tour\u2026 finally\u2026<\/p>\n

Congratulations on the new album, how do you feel around album release time, excited, nervous?<\/strong>
\nThank you. Excited definitely, it\u2019s a very special time because there are different things happening, like the time before you are working your ass off and give so much into the recording and creative process and making decisions, and you end up with something that you think, yeah this is good. From then on you start getting distant again thinking you\u2019re going to make music videos and preparing for the tour and doing a lot of things, and you haven\u2019t listened to the album so much and then when the moment comes when people get the record and interviews are coming you have already had some distance again, and that\u2019s quite exciting because then you become more objective and support your album again and when it feels good and it does with this album and pray that it\u2019s received well, we\u2019re just very excited.<\/p>\n

What does the title \u2018Hydra\u2019 represent to you?<\/strong>
\nA lot of different things actually, first and foremost we were searching for something which was a bit more tough because the album is a bit more rough than the last one, so we didn\u2019t want to call it \u2018The Pussycat Experience\u2019 so at the same time also, Hydra represents the different faces of our music, we have different characters, and I think it comes across in this record, it can go from left to right and different music styles, it can do a lot of different things. It\u2019s a monster in the way that you have to face your own being and face your own fears and a lot of songs are about go for your dreams, don\u2019t be afraid because life is too short but in getting there you can face your fears and go ahead and go for it. So that\u2019s what also lies behind it, also in a way it\u2019s a nice symbol for the different singers we have on this album.<\/p>\n

That leads me to my next question, there are a few special guests on the album, how do you go from someone like Howard Jones to Xzibit to Dave Pirner to get them involved?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* Yeah it\u2019s quite surprising for a lot of people, but I think that also shows when you listen to the record it still feels quite natural and you can see it on paper and think this is never going to work. How we approached it was actually started with \u2018Paradise\u2019 when we felt like we\u2019d written that song that this could be a song for Tarja, we can picture this with her on it as well, so why not ask her and make the song come out even better? Then from there we thought why not do that for more songs, if it suits elements from other bands or artist, why not approach them? Then with \u2018Dangerous\u2019 it had some Killswitch Engage feel in there so we thought let\u2019s ask Howard and with \u2018Whole World Was Watching\u2019 was more like a Soul Asylum track so I think we wouldn\u2019t have put it on the album if Dave wouldn\u2019t agree to do that song because now it just feels much more in its place. Then of course the track with Xzibit, that\u2019s always been a bit of a dream for myself, because I\u2019ve always been kind of liking Hip hop, not to say that I listen to hip hop every day, but I like it, I like the power and the rawness of hip hop and to me there are even similarities to metal, as its very often dark and dramatic, I just liked it. Everybody in the band thinks I\u2019m crazy when I proposed it, and my management dropped from their chairs and said you\u2019re going to ruin your career *laughs* but I\u2019m very happy that I pulled through, because everybody is actually very pleased with the result now. I think he\u2019s done an amazing job, we were searching for a rapper with a really dark voice so it makes the contrast between Sharon and the rap. In a way it\u2019s like grunting, you get this manly side then you get Sharon\u2026 so I was very pleased with that one and happy with how it came out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>You once again used Daniel Gibson as producer, what is it that he does that continues to work for Within Temptation?<\/strong>
\nYes because it\u2019s not an obvious thing, but a great thing that he has he\u2019s very versatile, he originally is a classical violin player, then he started writing in a metal band and he wrote pop songs, really typical Swedish pop songs as a songwriter, so he can actually do all different type of things and what he can do is bring out every time again, he follows our need to change things, I think if he wasn\u2019t able to do that then every album we would\u2019ve had a different producer. He encourages and brings even more to the table to really change things, and then it\u2019s a logical choice as a producer is a complete trust relationship that you have, that\u2019s also really important to feel comfortable.<\/p>\n

Touring wise, I know you don\u2019t head out anymore\u2026<\/strong>
\nSometimes I get to cherry pick a show and when somebody is sick I\u2019m able to jump in, but I\u2019m not touring anymore…<\/p>\n

I have to ask, as the band has never been here, are there plans to see the band finally head to Australia and if that time came, would you make an exception and come down under with the band?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m doing more Australian interviews and I\u2019ve already made the decision that after these interviews I have to call my agent and see if we can go for next year, Australian Open, Within Temptation tour, I think that would be brilliant. I think also when we come I would bring the whole family and make a holiday of it as well, that\u2019s the way to do it, and I think our children are a little bit bigger now, so I think that\u2019s also more possible now. In the past we\u2019ve tried to schedule it a few times already, but when the offers came in we were touring somewhere else or had to start in the studio again because otherwise the record would be delayed too much. Every time there has always been something messing up with going to Australia because we ourselves would really love to go and see the country, it\u2019s something that is on my list. I\u2019m sure we will, I\u2019m definitely sure, but after so many years I don\u2019t dare to make any promises anymore *laughs* but I have no doubt that we will come.<\/p>\n

Since the bands inception in 1996, what do you see as the most notable evolution that has taken place in your time together?<\/strong>
\nI think evolution in itself is something that I really think feels like a core element of our band more, we realise that we need to evolve with each record as if we didn\u2019t it would be the end of the band, that\u2019s very clear for us. I think that also we\u2019ve learned that you should never say never, when you\u2019re young you would always say \u2018I will never do this and I will never do that\u2019 and when we were young Sharon said \u2018I will never do rap\u2019 and here we are. I told them I would never do grunts again and this record I\u2019m doing grunts again you know. Be open minded is something I think is important and it helps us to evolve.<\/p>\n

2014 has just begun, so let\u2019s predict the future, finish this sentence for me, in 2014 Within Temptation will\u2026<\/strong>
\nTour the world\u2026 but I have the feeling that it\u2019s going to be early 2015 we\u2019re going to Australia, so it\u2019s really hard to make a chant and say we\u2019re coming to Australia\u2026 *laughs* so for the rest of 2014 its going to be touring and we\u2019re going to start writing a new record\u2026 we feel very much inspired on this record and we want to continue\u2026<\/p>\n

Essential information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From: <\/strong>The Netherlands<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong>\u00a0 Sharon den Adel \u2013 vocals, Robert Westerholt \u2013 guitar, Ruud Jolie \u2013 guitar, Stefan Helleblad \u2013 guitar, Jeroen Van Veen \u2013 bass, Martijn Spierenburg \u2013 keyboards, Mike Coolen – drums<\/p>\n

Forthcoming Release:<\/strong> Hydra (Roadrunner Records Australia) January 31, 2014<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> \u00a0http:\/\/www.within-temptation.com<\/a>
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