If anyone hasn’t heard the new record Unison Life how would you sum it up in 3 words?
Stijn (Vanhoegaerden, Guitars): “Passionate”
Peter (Mulders, Bass): “Melody”
Stephenie (Mannaerts, vocals, drums): “Is Mature a stupid word? Maybe more mature, I mean it like we’re older in a good way, like a journey, I’d say journey.”
What are each of your favourite tracks on the album?
Stijn: “It changes all the time for me but right now it’s ‘What Have We Done’.
Peter: “That was my favourite last week but now it’s Dust.”
Stephenie: “I would also go between those two but I will go with ‘What Have We Done’.
Stijn: “That’s the real answer, we all go between those two.”
Unison Life used a ton of new creative techniques and instrumentation, did that all come about through experimentation or was there anything you went into it really wanting to use?
Stephenie: “I think if you’d told us even six months before the writing process we’re going to use a Moog bass synth and chimes or a twelve string guitar I think everyone would’ve been like, really?”
Stijn: “It all came gradually, it wasn’t like we got all this stuff and put it in the rehearsal space.”
Stephenie: “Yeah, we used more but what’s left now is what’s in the songs.”
Peter: “I guess the lockdown made us buy stuff and try it just for fun and a lot of that stuff ended up in the rehearsal room, we were going on all the second hand websites to look for gear.”
So eBay kind of became the fourth member of the band?
Stephenie: “In Belgium we use a website called secondhand.be, I think we even put it in the thank you notes of the album.”
“"I think if you’d told us even six months before the writing process we’re going to use a Moog bass synth and chimes or a twelve string guitar I think everyone would’ve been like, really?"”
The Belgian experimental metal scene has produced tons of amazing artists over the years, what was it like coming up in that scene?
Peter: “For me it’s very inspirational that we have this many cool bands so close and to meet them, it also makes me want to do better.”
Stephenie: “If you’d told us that like, 20 years ago when I went to my first Amenra concert that now we’re seeing them everywhere, you get so used to it but I feel very lucky to be in such a scene.”
Stijn: We went to those first shows like, “what is this?””
Stephenie: Yeah we were like “if we could be just a little bit as talented as those bands…””
When the band came together did you always plan this slightly unconventional setup with Stephenie on drums and vocals?
Stephenie: “No, we started as a three piece that were looking for a singer, we made instrumental stuff but always knew we wanted a singer.”
Stijn: “We never even invited anybody.”
Peter: “The thing is when you’re all in the same scene you all already know all the people, I knew a very good drummer and a very good guitar player but a vocalist is so special for your band.”
Stephenie: “The real story is that Stijn bought a microphone and said to me “now you can sing backing vocals” but we didn’t even have a singer and it escalated to where we are today. They’d never heard me sing, I’d never heard myself sing before”
Peter: “We heard her sing in the studio, I remember Levy Seynaeve who’s now the bass player in Amenra recorded our first songs and that a real mic in a studio environment, Stephenie came in and was like, screaming.”
“"Stijn bought a microphone and said to me “now you can sing backing vocals” but we didn’t even have a singer"”
What was each of your favourite piece of gear you used on the album?
Stijn: “For me my main guitar is my favourite guitar, my Les Paul but for me the coolest thing I did to experiment on the album was using a twelve string guitar that’s in double nashville tuning, ‘What Have We Done’ is all in that tuning.”
Stephenie: “I really liked Peter’s Moog in combination with those special guitars, for me being a witness to what they were playing was really something special, I was always in the rehearsal room when they were playing so it was like my own mini concert. Hearing some of those songs for the first time was the coolest moment in our careers.”
Peter: “I started using reverb on my bass for this album, I was originally against it. We had a lot of talks after the previous album with Stijn putting a lot of reverb on his guitars and Stephenie putting a lot of reverb on her vocals, for me it takes away the edge but we used it in a good way.”
Stijn: “I’m actually using far less reverb than I used to.”
Stephenie: “It was the good thing about the lockdown, now we know what works for us.”
Finally, that we’re getting to the end of the year, what’s been each of your favourite albums from 2022?
Stijn: “The problem is, as I get older the less I keep track of new records, I’m getting into a lot of stuff that was released 20 years ago or something.”
Stephenie: “For me, it’s not fully out yet, they’ve only released three singles from it but I’m very excited about the new White Lung record but I’m the same, I’m a bit behind.”
Stijn: I think for me Benjamin Tod, his latest, it’s not been out long but it’s something I really like. He’s a singer/songwriter Americana guy, he was in Lost Dog Street Band with his wife but his solo stuff is really stripped down, just him and a guitar. Or Mat Ball.
Stephenie: “Mat Ball’s also in Big|Brave, we played a show in a sex club with them!”
Stijn: “He’s the guitar player, he’s made songs where he’s put his guitar up against a wall of amps and made melodies with it. It’s called Amplified Guitars.”
Peter: “I think for me it’s got to be the new Fontaines DC, I checked out their Other Voices session where they performed in an Irish prison, it’s beautiful.”
Stijn: “I was watching that yesterday, it took me by surprise because I’m not too into the band but that was so strong and so pure.”