ION INDIE MAGAZINE June 2016, Volume 25 | Page 112

MH: We always get questions about funny moment on tour or something, but then I never remember a single one. There are a
lot of those moments. And also a few that I don’t tell publicly. Anyway, the process--well first we had the concert to give some
sign of life in between two albums and we also used this opportunity to do something we would not do on an album… like the
cover versions, you know? And since we have been coming back after a long hiatus with a new singer, and we have been asked
by many to re-record older songs with a new singer--and so we also did that. We did a little bit of a mixture of things, you know,
some cover versions, some re-recordings. And of course, there also had to be some new material. Yeah, ‘cause we also like to
give some insight in what we are doing right now. With a concept in mind we wrote three new songs for the EP and we’ve chosen
the other versions, the cover versions, and then we recorded it.
KZ: So what inspired you to writing this music?
MH: Oh well, I would think life, you know? Just everyday life, life on tour, good things, bad things. Yeah, of course the music
we love, you know? We are all socialized by our favorite bands and the music we have been listening to all through our life.
There are always things you wanna do something like that and then it becomes an influence and a part of new mixture.
KZ: What bands do you really love?
MH: I’ve been listening to Metal since the 80’s actually, so it’s first the classic bands like IRON MAIDEN, KISS, METALLICA,
90’s…also PANTERA, TIAMAT…also soundtracks; some Folk music. But more as an influence, film scores became for me more
and more inspiring the last 15 years. I’m a big movie fan and I really love how music can transport you into the story. And so I
started to analyze what’s happening in the soundtracks. So this also became a big influence. When we started new with the
band in 2012 we wanted to make a change after the first era of the band. Back then with the old singer, it was kind of over
and we wanted to do something new, or just let the band be, you know? So it had to be something new, otherwise we wouldn’t
have been motivated to really do a new start. “Neverworld’s End” was the result of it. We wanted to be more “heavy”; more
complex. And then the film scores came as an addition. We wanted to mix it.
KZ: And you put your heart in playing music.
MH: Of course. It’s like with the film scores. Yeah, we want to make music that transports the listener deep into a story, deep
into emotions.
KZ: So could you tell me who is writing the lyrics?
MH: Most of them are written by me since the new start of the band. Now DIANNE, as she is in the band for a longer time now.
She will have more space to also let her creativity blossom in the band, because she’s also a great lyrics writer. So we will write
many lyrics together for the next album and also some words she will do, some I will do.
KZ: Yes, I understand. Your guitar playing is brilliant. And what is your favorite artist/band?
MH: Well, I have to say I love being a guitar player, but I’m more a guitar playing song writer, you know? So the song writing is
the most important part for me. When I hear other guitarists standing together and talking about STEVE VAI or JOHN PETRUCCI
and what they are doing, I’m always a bit like well, yeah, okay, it’s not really my thing. I just use the instrument more for my
song writing. I’m not that much of an instrumentalist who is really interested in being fast-fingered or something. This is not
my thing. Sometimes I would like to, but I don’t have the talent to be a really good strong guitarist.
KZ: And another question, if you could play with any popular band--for example, JUDA PRIEST or IRON MAIDEN--which one
band would you love to tour with…your dream one?
MH: You know, for a lot of years we are now in the business and we are not really thinking like, “Oh, we are fan of this band, we
want to tour with them.” Every time we are planning a tour we are just looking for a band that we personally also get along
with, like SERENITY. We are all friends, and stuff like that is much more important for us right now.