interview with Shadowrise
Have any of you played in other bands? We've all played in other bands along the way: from pop/rock, symphonic metal, plus a bit of progressive metalcore and brutal death metal.
How is it that you started playing music? (Laura) I started playing music because I loved rock and metal and wanted to be able to play guitar in that style. That didn't go so well but luckily I turned out to be a better singer!
Did you make music even when you were young? Daniel started playing piano at 8 years old and at 14 he started playing guitar. He wrote his first song in 2011. Jack started playing classical guitar at 9 and switched to electric at 14, beginning writing some time after. Joris started drumming at 7 years old, and Appie (also!) started at 14. Laura began when she was 16 so we all got started fairly young.
What year did the band form? How did it develop? In 2009 Daniel founded Frozen Jacks, a folk metal covers band, along Roman, the previous rhythm guitarist/screamer - Joris joined soon after. In 2012 the band decided to become an originals band, changing the style to be darker and less folky – this led to the name change as well. Laura joined in time for the EP recordings in 2015, Jack joined in time for vocal recordings for the debut album, and then Appie joined in time for the album release.
What's your style of genre? (Jack) This is always a very difficult question to answer! Symphonic Power Metal is probably the best match, though the music would "fit" in many genres, especially with the different vocal styles we use.
What inspires you?
(Daniel) Neoclassical melodies, videogames
(Laura) Daily life, pop culture like music, movies and books and stories from other people
(Jack) I guess the emotional reactions I get to the music I love. It makes me want to write stuff that triggers the same feelings in other people.
How often and where do you rehearse? We rehearse in Veldhoven in Joris’s drum studio. Jack lives in the UK, so we usually aim to rehearse when he’s over for a weekend or a day before a gig, otherwise he just rehearses over there.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band?
(Daniel) Super drunk Mario Cart, darkness and shadows.
(Joris) Idle games, La Choufe Belgium beer.
(Appie) I like big butts and I can not lie. No no. Mixing, Weird progressive music and calculus.
(Jack) Making stuff (guitar mods, MIDI pedalboards etc)… Tech stuff. Also recording covers!
(Laura) Fitness, movies, travelling and meeting new people.
Are you looking for a booking agency and a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We’re looking for something that everyone is happy with, haha. The EP was self-released and the album was distributed by Painted Bass Records, but we’re still trying to find the perfect fit.
What made you decide to make this music?
(Laura) There was no decision, it just turned out like this!
(Daniel) It’s just a merge of all the styles that we happened to be influenced by during the years.
What are your songs about? Many revolve around battles between darkness and light. The fall and rise of Shadow Island and its creatures has also become one of our storylines - there is some connection to this realm, but we usually prefer to be metaphorical instead of literal.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Daniel composes a lot and has been the main drive behind the Shadowrise “sound” so far. Jack has been composing as well, since he joined, but none of that is released yet. Laura writes most of the lyrics, and Jack will join in on that as well for the next album.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Both. Ideally with not necessarily complete lyrics, but with at least a good idea about what should happen throughout the song with the lyrics. We wrote some awesome songs too that started with a whole instrumental song. No rules!
What ages are most of your concert attendants? It’s very variable. Everything in between 14 and 70 years old – everyone’s welcome!
Where do you plan to gig the coming year? We’ll be touring Europe with Secret Rule and Beyond God this Autumn. It’d be fantastic to gig in Scandinavia some time.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? Where can people buy your merchandise? We started selling merchandise when we were about to release the first EP. We sell T-shirts, girlie tops, our album and our EP. You can find it all here: http://shadowrise.bigcartel.com/
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Both! Without the old bands the newer bands wouldn’t exist and we also listen to the oldies.
What have been your biggest obstacles? Time! It’s always a struggle to try to decide when a song is done and to get it done before we end up dead at some point. And there’s so much more to being in a band than just writing great music – so many things that need doing, and so little time…
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Finish what you start. Create the music that you want to listen to!
How do you get psyched for a gig? That’s our secret. We’re always excited ;)
Do you have any new material? (Jack) Of course! The writing, recording and rethinking never stops, it’s an endless cycle…
What are your web sites? www.shadowrise.nl is our homepage, of course we’ve got Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and so on as well (linked below)
How can people reach you? We react on Facebook most of the times and always say hi when we do a gig. For business mail us at: [email protected]
What are your plans for the future? (Jack) Longer tours, bigger gigs, more music, and more fans to share it all with!
Do you have something to add? (Daniel) More is more.
