NAVARONE
Wir STREETCLIPper sind immer auf der Suche nach neuen und hoffnungsvollen Bands. So wird der Werdegang der Niederländer NAVARONE schon seit einigen Jahren begleitet. Deren mittlerweile viertes Album ´Salvo´ soll ab 29. März in deutschen Geschäften stehen. Nun standen sie uns für ein paar Fragen Rede und Antwort:
First, I’d like to congratulate you guys for making it all the way to the final of TVOH. Whose idea was it to particitpate?
Well, thank you very much! It was quite an exciting ride. It would never have occurred to us to participate on our own initiative. But when we got the call from their editorial staff, it made us consider a whole bunch of things. And after we had our first sit down with them, we figured.. Why the hell not?!
I know you as a band that likes to play cover versions of songs and you sure have an exquisite taste. I was especially impressed by ARETHRA FRANKLIN’S ´Respect´. Did you choose the songs you played at The Voice yourself?
And thanks again! Thing is that we told them upfront that we’d like to take their input into consideration every step of the way. After all, they did already have 8 years of experience creating that tv show. So sometimes our coach (Anouk) just came up with a title that we liked. Other times what we did was that we handed in lists of titles of songs that we’d like to play, so that they – putting together the most dynamic show for and with every other
contestant – could advice us on particular titles from which we would choose too. You can image this could take a little bit of back and forth playing. But in the end it always really paid off.
The single ´Perfect Desgin´ was released in the time of The Voice. Was the single already planned for ´Salvo´ before you participated in TVOH?
Merijn had written this particular song a while back already. Once indeed, it was a serious contender for ´Salvo´. But for some mysterious reason it didn’t make the record at that point. And now we know why.
Is there a vinyl of the single?
Nope. It had to be produced, recorded, mixed and mastered in two days. It might end up on vinyl. Who knows?!
You are not very well known in Germany. What does your band history look like? Did you have special supporters until today?
Kees and Merijn started the band like 15 years ago. But most of their band members back then had other aspirations in life. So Kees and Merijn swopped members with us, guys they met in music education programs like the Conservatory of Music in Amsterdam, and the Rock Academy in Tilburg. Since then we supported the very famous Dutch rockband GOLDEN EARRING, BLACK CROWES’ Rich Robinson, and of course the wonderful DEEP PURPLE in a hockey stadium in Mönchengladbach. That was quite epic!
´Salvo´ is the 4th album in just a few years. I kinda miss an epic masterpiece like ´Days Of Yore´. How do you feel about the album?
Absolutely proud! For us it is quite the challenge to write compact rock songs. And we felt like we had already explored the epic side of songwriting quite a bit. So it felt like a fresh thing to us to challenge our songwriting skills a bit. But besides that, I really do feel that ´Fire´ is quite the epic song.
I had the luck of seeing you live in Rotterdam. The audience was partying and sang along. Do you see a difference between the Dutch and foreign audience?
Well, it depends. In general a Dutch audience is quite noisy and talkative during the show. A thing we don’t experience as much in foreign countries. Especially in Germany people always listening intently during the shows. And they never fail to show their enthusiasm through making a shitload of noise in between the songs. But yeah, now that we get more and more well known in Holland, people tend to sing along, which creates a great
synergetic atmosphere.
You almost never see Robin without his fur vest. Do you wash it on tour or do you transport it in a vacuum bag? 😉
This is Robin speaking. And I can tell you, to the disgust of many, neither. But be not afraid. Usually I take it off after a couple of songs. So the vest misses most of the sweat. 😉
When are you going to play in Germany again?
Our agents are working on that as we speak. So hopefully soon enough! Cause the mighty pleasure is always ours to come to your country and blast some high volume rock into the stratosphere!
Is there a place you’d like to play at? Is there a band which you’d like to share the stage with, after DEEP PURPLE?
Yes. FOO FIGHTEERS and LED ZEPPELIN in Wembley Stadium. We don’t care in which order. 😉
Dass das holländische Publikum (zumindest in den hinteren Reihen) gern lieber miteinander kommuniziert, als auf das Geschehen auf der Bühne zu achten, das möchte ich hiermit bestätigen. Wenn die Jungs also gern mal wieder Platz vor der Bühne möchten, statt ausverkaufter Shows, dafür aber Zuhörer, die die Musik genießen, dann wird es Zeit, sich auf den Weg nach Deutschland zu machen…
