FEMME METAL

Interview by Adam

Maida Vale are a heavy rock band from Utrecht (Netherlands).

With Kinke Miedema on lead vocals, Ronald Bleys on guitar, Niels Harkink on bass and Steven de Sterke on drums they have been described as combining progressive rock, metal and punk in an inimitable manner which has seen them compared with such a range of acts as Iron Maiden, Depeche Mode and Frank Zappa.

First of all, thank you for taking the time for this interview.

For those who don’t know, what can you tell us about Maida Vale and the origin of the band name.

I’ve been around in the Dutch music scene quite a while and gigged a lot in the Netherlands in the 80s with the bands Anthem and Accidental Gap. In the early 90s I put a lot of time and energy in my academic career but continued making music somehow. Playing guitar and composing is an essential part of me, however, and therefore the question was not if but when I would start a new band. I founded Maida Vale in 1997. The bassist and I have been the constant members and we have had several vocalists and drummers. Female singer Kinke Miedema joined in 2005 and from then we have been “female fronted metal”. We released two albums (Moscow Delight, 2002; Prefab Bliss, 2004) and one EP (Neo-Bliss, 2005). At the moment we are having a break and are writing material for the 3rd album.

As for the band name: in the early nineties I collaborated with a group of neuroscientists in London. I lived there for about half a year and stayed in a flat in the Maida Vale area. I liked that area a lot and found out that there are a couple of places of musical interest like the Abbey Road studios and the Maida Vale (BBC) studios where many John Peel sessions took place. Although I am too young to have been aware of  the London Underground scene of the 60's (Pink Floyd, Soft Machine) I like that music a lot and discovered that musicians of the Soft Machine clan (a.o. Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt) met and partied in Maida Vale.

It was then that I thought that Maida Vale would be a nice name for a band that I would found. Moreover the fact that there is a Maida Vale tube station made the name attractive for an “underground” band. When we started the band Maida Vale everyone agreed when I proposed and explained the name.

Maida Vale have been compared to several different bands who don’t share the same kind of style, based on this how would you describe the Maida Vale sound?

I think it’s a blend of styles that we like and that have influenced us. There’s 70s hard rock, 80s NWOBHM, 90s metal and some prog-rock influences, esp. King Crimson. A bit of punk as well  (my first band was a punk band). Moreover none of our vocalists had a metal background, more pop-rock, even a bit of funk. It was a natural process that all these styles were mixed and we were not deliberately constructing a sound. It’s up to the listener to decide but many reviewers agree that the result is a clearly own sound. The many influences may explain the wide range of comparisons that have been made.

Who would you describe as your influences?

Quite a few: Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, King Crimson, The Cult, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Rush, King’s X and Tool probably most for me as a guitarist and composer. But the madness of Soft Machine, Kevin Ayers, Frank Zappa and the like has also become part of my  musical ego.
 
What made you first decide to pick up a guitar and learn to play?

It all started with Deep Purple in the early 70s. Their music was outstanding and full of energy. And they were very skilful. Because I liked their Hammond sound so much I started playing the organ. Gradually I became more interested in the guitarists of hardrock bands, especially the very good ones such as Ritchie Blackmore. A younger brother of mine had a classical guitar which I played more often than he did. I discovered that putting the microphone of my cassette recorder in the guitar’s body and connecting it to an amplifier created a distorted sound, haha. I decided to switch from organ to guitar. I benefited by my organ background (music theory, knowledge of chords, manual dexterity) and learned to play the guitar rather quickly.

What would you say was the attraction of this choice of music?

Energy, heavy sound and musical skills.

Your song lyrics seem to read like a tongue in cheek interpretation of certain aspects
of the everyday world, would this be something you agree with?

Yes, I agree but it is also depends on who wrote the lyrics. Our first singer wrote the lyrics for Moscow Delight. There's a lot of madness in these lyrics. Try to listen through his sometimes poor English and you may have a laugh when you hear songs like "Killer mouse", "Purple Velvet Underwear" and "Madhouse Passion". Although the words madhouse passion are derived from Mattheus Passion it appears to me that the song is about a brothel.

Our second singer wrote the lyrics for Prefab Bliss. Especially his lyrics contain criticism and cynicism and are about the everyday world, especially our plastic and sometimes superficial society.

Since Kinke joined I have been writing the lyrics. Kinke helps trotting out themes. My lyrics have some autobiographical and surrealistic elements but a sense of humor is still there.

What was the basis of the decision to introduce Kinke Miedema into the band in your own words of a “new dimension”?

It was a matter of chance actually. Not so long after the release of Prefab Bliss the singer decided to leave for personal reasons. In the search for a successor we were not specifically looking for a woman but among the candidates were two ladies. The first one happened to be a known Dutch classical singer. I was a bit surprised, she was in for something completely different. But it did not work so well during the audition and our music was a bit too hard for her. The second lady was Kinke and she impressed us from the first sounds she produced during the audition. Her voice appeared to fit our songs quite well even though our sound changed a bit. But she is versatile and can scream too, if necessary. Besides she is a personality on stage and has a good performance. We felt that in the pre-Kinke era our vocals were the Achilles' heel of the band. This remark could be found in some reviews too. After Kinke joined our vocal problem been solved. But it was more than that: it was a great improvement in the overall sound and therefore for us a new dimension.  
 
Your forthcoming album will be the first with a female vocalist, what can the fans of Maida Vale expect?

It's going to be a concept album about tragedies that may happen to humans but also about the good sides of life. Music wise it will be our heaviest and darkest album but also the most versatile. We will invite guest musicians, at least an additional vocalist (probably male) and a violinist. It will take quite a while before the material has been completely worked out and recorded. I cannot say anything about a release date. 

What is your favourite pastime outside of the world of music?

I cannot live from music but have a satisfying job. I am not sure if I should call it my favourite pastime but I spend quite some time on it. I have a medical background and work as an anatomist at the University Medical Centre Utrecht. I teach anatomy to medical students and specialists, and I still do some research. The academic world is nice because it gives freedom in work and planning and therefore combines well with my other activities. Besides music and work I like to cycle (racer), also in the mountains but that has to be done during holidays: the Dutch mountians are not particularly high. Being in a pub is nice too especially when they offer live music.

If you had the chance to perform a song with any singer or musician who would it be and why?

I would choose singer and composer Robert Wyatt. He was the singer and drummer of Soft Machine. He fell out of a window during a party in the 70s and became condemned to a wheelchair. His solo career is quite impressive and as a singer he has also been guesting on many albums. He has one of the most remarkable and characteristic voices I have ever heard. I admire both his skills and his attitude. He has never sung in a heavy rock outfit and I would be quite curious to experiment with that. I would love to find out how his voice combines with my guitar playing.

What can you tell us about the Ferocity and Femininity compilation CD you recently helped with?

I assume that the facts are well known, they have been posted and discussed on the forum and elsewehere. Personally I have enjoyed the project enormously. The fact that people who have never met succeed in creating such a product in 3 months is quite rewarding. Bands from 6 countries, artwork designers from 3 countries and people from 3 countries who bring about the project using internet as communication source: fantastic !  I cannot say enough what an amazing role David Melanson has played in the project by taking care of the mastering and compiling the artwork. I am searching publicity in Holland now in order to boost the sales.

For my label Anthem Records NL it was an extension of the activities. I am thinking of initiating a similar project with "myspace discoveries", possibly with female fronted pop-rock acts and female solo-artists. I have met so many great unsigned musicians via myspace, they deserve some attention.

What was the last movie you watched?

Babel. A movie that tells stories taking place in Morocco, USA & Mexico and Japan which finally appear to be related to each other.
 
Once again, thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. In closing do you have any final messages for your fans?

Thanks for your support. And in general for everyone: enjoy life and try to take certain things not too seriously. If you do you are wasting energy that could better be used for other things.