by Bián Hickman
Dutch vocalist extraordinaire Simone Simons has been the front woman for symphonic metal band Epica and a prominent heavy metal role model for the past twenty years. Sporting eight studio albums with her band and guest appearances with the likes of Kamelot, MaYaN, Primal Fear, Ayreon, Angra and more, her resume improves by the year and so too her list of connections.
Released on Fri 23 Aug through Nuclear Blast Records is Simone’s debut solo album Vermillion. This ten track progressive epic features a monumental line-up of Koen Herfst on drums, Rob Van Der Loo on bass and guest vocalists Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy and Mark Jansen of Epica as well as cellist Perttu Kivilaasko of Apocalyptica. And finally, all were woven together in the studio of Simone’s collaborator and Ayreon mastermind, the legendary Arjen Anthony Lucassen.
As the pillar of this musical projects development, Arjen speaks with The Clothesline from his home studio in the Netherlands about the music and his processes, all the while having a few good laughs. Having heard the album we notice the music is very much reminiscent of Ayreon and The Gentle Storm, and discuss the similarities of the opening track, Aeterna.
“Indeed, Aeterna is very Ayreon! It’s that oriental scale. I’m sure it has an official name but I never learned any music so I have no idea what it’s called.”
You seem rather good at it!
“Really, I have no idea what I’m doing I just do whatever comes up” Arjen says. “I do plan things but I never stick to the plan. It’s totally spontaneous. When Simone asked me to make this album, I said ‘Let’s talk a lot about what you want!’ because it’s very scary and challenging for me to write an album for someone else – I wanted to make her happy. So I’m like, ‘Ok, what do we both like?’
“We sent each other a lot of music – YouTube and Spotify links – and we found out what we had in common. We were obviously looking for something melodic because that’s what she does well. But we didn’t want it to be a Pop album. We wanted it to be dark, a little bit industrial, and she specifically said she’s good at ballads and that was a challenge for me. I thought, ‘Oh, can I do that?’. I think the balance of the album is really cool.”
Click HERE to watch Aeterna on YouTube
Did you have any lyrical contribution on this album?
“No. We were talking about lyrics and I said ‘Let’s do Sci-fi! Let’s do fantasy!’” Arjen says excitedly “And she was like, ‘No way! I want real life!’ and I said ‘okay, I can’t write about real life.’ So she came up with all the titles and topics. I wrote the music and chose which title best fits which song.
“From there I think about the melody and which it should be, and based on her suggestions I write a shitty lyric.” Arjen laughs. “Just whatever comes up and send it to her to see if she likes the direction. If she says yes then we perfect it. My partner, Lori, who writes many of the lyrics for Ayreon also wrote a large part of the lyrics together with Simone.”
There seems to be a recurring ‘end of the world’ theme with a couple of tracks, namely R.E.D. and Dystopia. Are you planning a resistance from Skynet?
“[Laughs] Basically, all my concepts are about the end of the world. I’ve killed off humanity so many times in Ayreon and it’s all the fault of technology. I use all the technology I can – I love technology! But at the same time it’s scary what AI can do. There’s no stopping it so I wouldn’t try to; that’s not my job. I would never let it take over what I do because I enjoy it too much.”
Click HERE to watch In Love We Rust on YouTube
Great ‘conceptual continuity’, as Frank Zappa would say, with the thematic overlaps on the acronym R.E.D. on an album called Vermilion. Nice touch!
“And, of course, her red hair,” he says, “and red is my favourite colour. It was my idea, actually. I was like, ‘Ok! The album’s called Vermillion. We both like red, let’s make the concept.’ I always need a concept. It helps me to find direction.”
When suggesting that there appears to be a very prominent choir in Aeterna, Arjen tells us that no choir was actually required.
“I needed a male voice,” he explains. “I work with ‘Jaycee’(John Cuijpers) a lot in Ayreon and he’s got that operatic voice [Arjen imitates classical full voice singing]. And I said ‘Ok, Jaycee, can you do Latin?’. So he was here for one day and we doubled his parts a hundred times and then put Simone on top of that. And again, there are two hundred Simone’s on top of that. Because she has such a range, y’know?”
Since his early days in the ‘80s with the Dutch rock band Vengeance, Arjen has released approximately thirty studio albums, most of which written and recorded predominantly in his home studio. To date, ten of these albums make up the popular progressive rock opera series Ayreon, which feature, collectively, over eighty singers from established rock and metal groups as well as many successful instrumentalists. Given his experience directing and recording such an extensive cast, we ask Arjen about his approach to the producer’s role and how he gets the best out of the talent he works with.
“It’s one of my talents!” Arjen says. “I first find out his or her range and I watch a lot of YouTube stuff, preferably live, so I already write in a range that’s comfortable for the singer. When the singer is here they’re very free to do whatever they want. I never say ‘I want exactly this!’ like I used to with the very first Ayreon. But then you work with people like Bruce Dickinson, y’know, he’s not going to listen to me. He’s just gonna stand there and do whatever he wants and then I’m like, ‘Oh my god this is so much better than what I wrote’. So, through the years I learnt to get the best out of singers just by having sing freely. Do what you are best at because that gets the best result.”
That reminds me of that Saturday Night Live skit ‘Never Question Bruce Dickinson!’
“That’s right!” Arjen laughs. “And more cowbell!”
What’s your favourite mic and mic pre to use on vocals?
“I have the AKGC414-something and it works on everyone. It’s a good average. I’m sure on some singers a Sennheiser will sound better – Damien (Wilson) always brings his own Sennheiser but everyone sounds good on the AKG.”
And mic Preamp?
“Focusrite. It’s a red bastard. The four channel one!”
Click HERE to watch Cradle To The Grave (Feat. Alissa White-Gluz) on YouTube
It’s nice to see Alissa as a guest vocalist on this album. Have you worked with her before?
“No. It was the first time,” Arjen says. “I hope it won’t be the last time because it was great to work with her. She’s a damn bloody perfectionist like me. She recorded in her own studio and really wanted to get the best out of it. She kept sending me new parts asking ‘Is this better?’. I love to work that way.”
Not only working with a range of vocalists, Arjen has been known to outsource for recording drums. We ask what other studios were involved.
“For this album all the drums were recorded by Koen Herfst – the drummer himself – who has his own little studio. It sounds great and the great thing about working with him is, he works on it until he gets it right and I don’t have to be there. I love this way of working – it’s convenient but it’s effective. If it wasn’t better, I wouldn’t work that way.”
You seem to enjoy writing to another’s briefs and tastes. Do you think this might become a trend in your working life?
“Well, no one has asked me, so far,” Arjen says. “I was hoping maybe Alissa would; I’m a sucker for people who ask; Yeah, I got no time, but I’ll do it! [Laughs.] But, I have a feeling that Ayreon fans are a bit tired of all my side projects. We had the Supersonic Revolution and Plan 9, now we have Simone. So it might be time to spoil the fans again. I’m not one of those artists who says ‘I do whatever I want’, I want to make the fans happy. So maybe another solo album – I don’t know if they see that as a side project but I’d love to do a solo album again. So maybe that’s next?”
Click HERE to Watch R.E.D. on YouTube
Lastly, what is your personal take on the new album?
“Vermillion is an extremely eclectic album. Aeterna is huge and bombastic and In Love We Rust is a beautiful atmospheric ballad and suddenly industrial with R.E.D. I want people to have an open mind. It’s scary to bring out a single because people think that’s what the entire album will sound like, which is not the case,” Arjen concludes. “It’s a beautiful and diverse album.”
After sharing some heartfelt exchanges about Arjen’s many projects and the influence he has brought to many, Arjen also wishes the best for Simone and her album Vermillion and hopes to see and hear the music on tour one day soon.
Vermillion is available on all streaming platforms and in both CD and Vinyl formats with options for clear, black marbled and red LPs.
Get yours today!
https://www.simonesimonsmusic.com
https://www.nuclearblast.com/pages/album/vermillion
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Mbm3otSC2eWtbfbwOBgw4
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0D1824VC8
https://www.deezer.com/de/album/571265841?host=13354151&deferredFl=1
https://music.apple.com/us/album/vermillion-feat-ayreon/1740353022
Simone’s Socials:
https://www.facebook.com/simonesimonsmusic
https://www.instagram.com/simonesimonsmusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVCL0FbiSGy0C3epWMGXcKA
https://www.tiktok.com/@simonesimonsofficial
Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s Socials:
https://www.arjenlucassen.com/content/
https://www.facebook.com/ArjenLucassenOfficial
https://www.instagram.com/ayreon_official/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCihO6uVisilu1mn4x2u-HOA
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ayreon/201629913
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2RSApl0SXcVT8Yiy4UaPSt?si=6gulgbwlSJWQFNJnT7a3og&nd=1&dlsi=eb9ff52fcc664122
