Rebel Extravaganza: Backpedalling about 11 years, what brought you and the band together?

Anneke van Giersbergen: Well, for me, I was working in a few other bands at the time, but nothing really of note. The Gathering (who I didn't know personally) had lost their second male vocalist. They put out the audition for a singer, but never said they were looking for specifically a male or a female to do this. A mutual friend told me I should go down, so I did, and they asked me back to sing at a later date to sing in the rehearsal room. Mandylion was already written, again without really having a vocalist in mind, but since they'd already written the album for the most part, and had all this music, all I had to do once I got accepted into the band was make these vocal lines and melodies to fit what they'd already done. It turned out to be quite successful, and without really meaning to, we kind of started a new subgenre of metal. At the time, you know, girls just didn't sing with metal bands unless they were very pop-oriented.

RX: The whole album (Mandylion) feels very relaxed. There is tension of course, but it's more of an emotional tension between the vocals and the music than anything abrasive. Was it an easy record to make?

AvG: It was. Because of the music being done, it helped things along nicely. It was one of the few albums that turned out exactly as it should've, you know? We didn't feel any pressure to rush in putting it out, and knew there would be a new impression of the band due to now having female voice as the main one. I think when I listen to it, I get that relaxed feeling that you're speaking of. And it's good that you noticed the tension there. All is not happy in that album, as far as the melodies go.

RX: Back in 1994, there really weren't alot of (if any) female-fronted metal bands around in the spotlight. Who inspired you vocally early on, and who do you find yourself drawing from now?

AvG: (Laughter) Believe it or not, the artist I listened to the most, and even now, is probably Prince!

RX: (Laughs) He's a fantastically underrated musician, but yeah, not very metal…

AvG: (Continued Laughter) Oh, I know! Still, he writes such amazing songs. Santana's very good, the early stuff. I grew up in the 80s, so I went through Madonna, that whole thing. Who inspired me was probably more like mellow jazz things…Ella Fitzgerald and people like that.

RX: I got a little Billie Holliday in there too, especially in the more mellow songs.

AvG: Oh yes, Billie Holliday, and even people like Annie Lennox. I guess I had a pretty non-traditional musical past for someone who's singing for a metal band!

RX: Had the band stayed in the same comfortable waters as their original sound, do you think The Gathering would still be the vital force it is today?

AvG: You know, I'm not sure. People sometimes ask us what would happen if you made another Mandylion. I feel we could've been bigger than we are now, maybe if we'd just done the same album over and over. Right now, though, many bands who have come along since us are doing that sound, and doing it now much, much better than us. We surely had a large hand in creating that style, but they (the latter bands) developed the sounds of Mandylion and Nighttime Birds, and made it something very different than we probably would've even if we'd stayed with the formula. It's like how, you know, the person who makes something doesn't lose any importance, even though people come along after and make new versions of the original creation. I think we would've been very successful if we'd stayed true to the sound of those first albums together, but very unhappy. It's not that we don't like that sound, or the bands doing in now. We just followed a different path, I suppose.

RX: Was there any label pressure to stick with the formula, since Mandylion was such a big album for Century Media at the time?

AvG: The label of course had pressure on us. I think parts of Nighttime Birds could've been more developed than they wound up being on the album, but we take those songs now, and develop them live into what we want to make them. Things change a lot in the course of making a tour, and doing the songs every night. We were so happy with How To Measure A Planet?, because we got to make this beautiful double album, and have people love our music in their hearts.

RX: To me, things have always been about moving away from the comfort zone when it comes to The Gathering. As soon as the audience got used to the Mandylion and Nighttime Birds formula, you gave us the hugely experimental How To Measure A Planet?. When we became accustomed to that style, you gave us two live albums, one of which was mostly acoustic. Through it all, though, each album has been recognizable as The Gathering. Do you think there is such a thing as a band getting "too comfortable" in a certain musical space?

AvG: I think for us you could turn it around. For us, “uncomfortable” would be doing the very same album twice. In the studio, I'm pushed by the producer to try new things, and it makes me so happy to be surrounded by people who are so confident in what I can do, even when sometimes I may not be so sure (Laughs). We came from listening to a mixture of bands like Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, and Pink Floyd, but now we're more into Radiohead. Frank listens to electronic music a lot of the time, so our influences kind of swim around in this ocean of The Gathering. When one sinks down for a bit, another one will pop up it seems out of nowhere. It's like you said before, really. All the records are all The Gathering. Most of the band has been together for fifteen years as a group, and me for eleven. We're always changing the songs during the course of a tour. It's nice to change once in awhile. We like change, and I don't think we've ever been a very stoic band. We are really pretty boring in everyday life, even (Laughter)! We don't do silly things, we just go on tour and make records. We're looking still for that comfortable place.

RX: So, the DVD for A Sound Relief has just been released. What does the title signify to you personally?

AvG: The word “relief” says a lot for me.

RX: We've now been hearing about next year's album being more guitar-oriented. To me, with all the mellow material you've been working on recently (Souvenirs, Sleepy Buildings), it seems kind of like the band is in the eye of a storm musically. The heavier, earlier albums gave way to the more psychedelic, which led into nearly ambient/electronica at some points, then the live acoustic from last year came along. It's almost like the first wave has passed, we've been in the calm for awhile now, and the most dangerous part of the storm is on its way.

AvG: Wow…I completely love how you said that, and the picture it painted is so true! I'm… can I use that?

RX: (Laughter) Sure, of course! But I'll want credit!

AvG: Yes, for sure (Laughs)! After doing the semi-acoustic album, then some tours, now the DVD, this new album is totally a reaction on this soft period. We called this DVD A Sound Relief, and I'll tell you this first. We're working on plans for a DVD which will happen after the next tour. We'll record it on that tour, where we'll be playing the more heavy, older songs, and it will be called A Noise Severe. Obviously, we're not leaving behind the slower material, just like we never really left behind the more metal styles we had. The set we do live depends quite a bit on the atmosphere. When we are going into the studio, though, we're very much in the moment, and anything can happen! I'm not sure what's going to come out of us, but I'm telling you it won't be soft! I want to make a musical lifeline from A to Z, showing all our different phases, which will include all aspects of The Gathering. If you listen to our music without the lyrics, it can sound very happy, but the lyrics have a tendency to be quite dark. I love that mixture of bright music and dark lyrics, like in the old Pink Floyd stuff.

RX: They were really the first to combine the two, if you ask me.

AvG: I'd agree totally! I know this album will have at least one very long song. Every album should have one, I think. Of course, we have some softer songs, and there's one with just Frank's piano and my vocal as well. I'm sure not everything we record will be on the record, but the biggest part of it will.

RX: One of the highlights of the live portion on Disc One is the animation projection. Whose idea was it to move into that arena, and how did you come into contact with Michael (de Klein) and Marcin (Pazera)?

AvG: Well, we had this idea for a very long time. We never really had the patience, or the money, or whatever it takes to go through with it, though. We have a lot of people writing us saying they do art, photos, things like that. Michael and Marcin approached us, and Michael sent us some stuff that was really amazing. He's just started his own business, and he's a really great guy. With Marcin, he sent us a clip of animation to one of our earlier songs like five years ago. We just kept in contact through email, and when the time came for this DVD, once we realized we'd have the ability to do so, we asked him to be involved.

RX: Obviously, the band has been around for a long time, so there are bound to be fan favourites missing from any live set on video or album. What songs would you like to have seen make an appearance on A Sound Relief? Mine is 'Fear The Sea'...

AvG: (Laughter) Set lists are so much fun! Everyone has their favourites, so we try to each put the songs we like in every list, but it doesn't always work that way. For instance, Nighttime Birds, I could really just miss. That album means something to a lot of people, though, so we can't just leave it out altogether. When we sit on the couch and talk about it, I always say “I don't want to play Nighttime Birds.”, but then when we play (songs from) it, and can change some of the textures, I really enjoy it. How it normally turns out is after a few hours I'll just say “Whatever!”, and we know that once we each get in a few “Whatever!”s, then we have a good list. It's really funny that you mention 'Fear The Sea'. It's one we haven't played for around eight years, but I was just listening to it yesterday, and noticed that if we clipped some of the “empty” parts out of it, maybe, then I'd really like to give it another chance in the live setting. I tell you what! When we play a show you're going to be at, let me know, and we'll make sure to play it for you!

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