Marjan Welman - Autumn
Interview By Erwin Van Dijk
An interview with Marjan Welman from Autumn
Marjan Welman is the singer of Autumn. She replaced Nienke de Jong, who left the band due to health problems. Before Autumn Marjan was already involved with the bands Elister, Dialogue and Elemental Journey. But most people will know her for her work with Arjen Lucassen on the Ayreon album 01011001 were she joined singers like Anneke van Giersbergen, Floor Jansen and Simone Simons on an adventure through space and time.
Some questions about you:
Did you always wanted to become a singer?
For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a singer. It all started when I was in a choir. I was about 8 years old and I had a solo in a song. It was on Christmas eve and the church was packed. Ever since I’ve been hooked on singing in front of an audience!
Did you follow any singing lessons?
Nope, never had singing lessons. But that will change. This year I’ll start the training year of the conservatory. I’m going to do Jazz & Pop. Can’t wait!
To what kind of music do you listen yourself and who are your favourite artists and bands?
Oh man, I listen to all sorts of music. But my favourite artists and bands must be Dave Matthews Band, Jeff Buckley, Tool, Agua de Annique and Ayreon! But I can also enjoy motown and a little pop every now and then!
About Elister:
What are the differences between Elister and Autumn?
Well, the main difference is that Elister is more pop orientated, where Autumn is a little more metal I guess! Elister is a bit more mainstream I guess.
And the similarities (besides having you as singer of course)?
I think the similarities are the vocal harmonies, for pop, Elister can be quite layered as well.
Elister seems to be hibernating right now, with no gigs planned. What can we expect from Elister in the future?
You’ve done your homework! Elister has been hibernating indeed, everybody is busy with studying and we all have a band apart from Elister. But we’re planning on rehearsing again soon so l hope we’ll get a little more productive. I can’t promise anything though.
Elemental Journey & Dialogue:
What was your involvement with the band Dialogue? You appear on their album L.A. Mode on track 5 “I’ll wait outside”. Why did this band asked you for this song and how was it to work with them?
Well, that’s easy. Talie (the guitarist and singer) is my boyfriend, so my guess is he thought: “Why look further?”
You also appear on the Elemental Journey project.
Elemental Journey is a project founded by Rik Bruineman in cooperation with Joop de Rooij. Currently Rik is the drummer for A New Dawn while Joop is busy with his own band Galanor.
Elemental Journey started in 2005. according to their bio they have recorded two songs so far, “Earth” and “Project X”.
How was it to work with the boys from Elemental Journey?
It was much fun! They’re both so nice and I already knew them from the Ayreon message board. Laura ten Hoedt (LadyLau) who also sings on Project X is a great singer so it was very cool to record a semi-duet with her!
And do you know when we can expect more work of this band?
I think you should ask Rik Bruineman this, after all, it’s his project so he decides, hehe.
Ayreon (or, E = mc2)
You also appeared on the album 01011001 from Ayreon. Together with Wudstick Marjan appears on the song E = mc2
Why did Arjen Lucassen asked you for the 01011001 album?
Well, back when he was going to record the Human Equation he asked unknown singers to send in their demo’s. So I did but back then I didn’t ‘get the job’. I recorded the demo myself, a real bathroom demo.
Then when I had professional recordings with Elister I thought ‘What the hell?’ and just sent him another demo. Apparently he liked it, hehe.
The other vocalist on this song was Wudstick (for infos see his Official MySpace). Did you two actually spend some time together in the studio or did you and Wudstick record the vocal parts separately?
Nope, we recorded our vocal parts separately. But fortunately I did get the chance to meet him at the releaseparty. He’s an awesome guy!
In this song you are singing the part of one of the two scientists behind the “Time Telepathy” technology. (see the album The Final Experiment)
How did you prepare yourself for this song? Had Arjen everything already worked out for you or did he give you room for your own ideas?
Well, both. He sent me a demoversion of the song with him singing my lines, but he also told me that I could do with them whatever I wanted. And as for getting into the atmosphere of the song; he’s really good at telling his story so it’s easy to get into it!
And how was the Ayreon album presentation?
It was so awesome! Here I was, still getting over the fact that I actually was going to be on an Ayreon album, and then you meet all these really kickass singers who you really look up to. I thought I was going to have a heart attack! But when I was singing I really got to enjoy it. I’m a lucky girl!
And what have you learned from your time with Arjen Lucassen besides the fact you should be careful with black marker pencils?
Haha! Well, I learned a lot about doing studiowork and how lucky I am! Also, Arjen is such a nice guy. I was ‘slightly’ intimidated by him at first, but that didn’t last long.
And this brings us to Autumn:
Did you see Autumn during the “Nienke de Jong” era?
Yes I did, I think I saw about 5 shows or something.
How did you became the singer of Autumn?
With Elister we got to open a festival here, called Paaspop Zieuwent, right after us, Autumn had to play. Mats and Jens told me that they watched a bit of the show and wanted to keep me in mind for a sideproject. Look how that turned out!
About the album Altitude:
According to the credits all the lyrics on Altitude are written by Mats van der Valk and Jan Grijpstra. Like the E = mc2 song, how did you prepare yourself because I think it is not easy to sing the lyrics some one else wrote. You will have to know what his ideas are and what the mood of the song is.
I think the songs can be interpreted in many ways, so I just went with what I felt with a song. I also asked Mats and Jens about the songs if I was hesitating a bit. I tried not to think about it too much and just went with the flow of a song.
What was your part of the writing process? Or were the songs more or less finished when you joined the band?
The songs were more or less finished when I joined, but the guys immediately told me I could adapt the vocal lines to what would work best for me. Here and there I also helped adapting a bit of the lyrics. So even though the songs were already in their end stage, I still had a say in it all.
Can you tell us something about the songs on the album?
I think everyone will interpret the songs differently, which is good! But how I personally see it, the album is sort of a bird’s eye view on society and individual human lives.
Why are the last two songs bonus tracks?
We’re very happy with the last two songs, but we felt that these two maybe wouldn’t fit in as well with the rest of the songs. So we decided to use these two as a bonus because we were very happy with the result.
What are your favourite songs and why?
I’m quite mood driven when it comes to favourite songs. But right now, my favourite song is The Heart Demands. I love the feel of the song and the way I have to use my voice to sing it!
On the album cover you can see a glider from the 19th century designed by Otto Lilienthal (one of the first planes that more or less worked before the Wright brothers made their plane)
Would you dare to fly in such aeroplane?
Well, maybe, but not above a city like the one on the cover, haha!
How did the media and, more important, the fans received the album?
The main opinion I hear is that people have to listen to the album a few times before the songs grow on them. I think that’s a compliment because in my humble opinion that means that there’s a lot to discover!
Touring:
Autumn has not done a long club tour yet. I attended their gig at the club “So What” located in the city of Gouda. The set list of that gig was:
- Paradise Nox
- Skydancer
- Horizon line
- Satellites
- Blue wine
- A minor dance
- The heart demands
- Forget to remember
- Answers never questioned
- Closest friends
- My new time
- Liquid under film noir
- Gallery of reality
- Altitude
- The coven
- Summer’s end
- Angel of desire
Altitude and My New Time are more or less in a similar style when it comes to music. But since no two singers have the same voice, was it necessary to modify songs like The Coven and the other “old” songs?
I don’t think so, Nienke and I have similar styles of singing so when it comes to that the songs didn’t really have to be modified.
Do you have any special plans for the Metal Female Voices Fest in Wieze? (Autumn was supposed to do a gig at MFVF in 2007 but had to cancel this gig because of Nienke’s health porblems)
Who will tell? Just come and see us over there!
About the future:
What are your highlights with Autumn so far?
The most memorable highlights were of course the call I got where Jens told me they would like to have me as their new singer, the first gig in Leipzig (I was so nervous) and Wacken!
I’ve been to Wacken in 2004 and I thought it was awesome, if then someone would have told me I would perform there 4 years later I would have laughed my ass off!
Autumn has planned some gigs in the Netherlands and Germany. What else can we expect from Autumn?
Well, I can’t really say. We are working on some stuff but nothing’s confirmed as of yet.
And are you working on new songs?
Always! ;-)
And the last question: is there anything the reader should know that I have not asked?
I don’t think so! Thank you! I really enjoyed the questions.
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