The Vibrant Musical Force of Delain
After leaving Within Temptation, Martijn Westerholt formed his new band, Delain, back in 2002. Three years later, their debut album Lucidity was released, making Delain one of the Netherlands’ most interesting new metal acts to date. Now, their second album April Rain has been released worldwide. Steinberg interviewed Martijn who has been a Steinberg user long before Delain first saw the light of day.
Martijn, you have been a Steinberg user since the good old Cubase VST days. When did you start making music and when did you hear about Cubase for the first time?
I think it was around 1995 when I was 15 years old. My brother Robert already used sequencers on the Atari, Amiga and Apple machines. Around that time I started to use Cubase, sneaking into Robert’s bedroom with all his equipment when he was not at home. Of course, this was all MIDI, synced to a four-track cassette recorder. Later on, I used Cubase VST when I wrote most of the stuff for the first album of Delain (Lucidity).
Now, several years later, you are still using Cubase as your sequencer of choice. Is there anything that you particularly like about it?
It’s very transparent and user-friendly. I also tried some other sequencers in the past because I was curious or I received a free promo software package but I came back to Cubase every time because it just worked better for me.
For some time now, you have been working with the Steinberg MR816 X audio interface. Are you still happy with it?
Well, this is the baby of Ronald, our guitar player. He is really pleased with it! Actually, he likes it so much that he keeps on teasing me about how easy his stuff works without bugs since his soundcard was made for Cubase and mine isn’t. [smiles] So perhaps I should try it out then.
Could you describe how our software is integrated into the process of creating new music for Delain? Do you have your own studio for the production?
Cubase is an essential part in our process. I write my music from scratch using it in my home recording studio. In the next phase, Oliver Philipps, our co-producer, arranger and vocal coach uses Cubase. In fact everything on our album is recorded with Cubase right up to the mixing process. And everbody who writes songs for Delain uses it too. Guus Eikens (who doesn’t play in the band but is involved in the writing process of Delain from the very beginning) and Ronald, we all use Cubase at home.
How do the other band members get involved?
Ronald and Guus also write tunes at home which are then passed on to me. I go through them and see what can be used for the album and what can’t. And when I have problems with a part of mine, I send it to them because a fresh perspective can help solve the problem in the end. Charlotte writes all the lyrics and most of the vocal lines. She is already involved in the early phase of the writing process. Just like Ronald and Guus, she frequently drops by my home studio.
It seems that a Delain production always needs some time to mature before it’s ready for release. It has been three years since you released Lucidity which again took three years to produce. Is there any specific reason for these relatively long release cycles?
Yes. I’m a slow writer. [smiles] I’m very critical about all the stuff we come up with. I take all the time which is needed to go over the stuff again and again until I’m satisfied with the result. Usually I discard the stuff while it’s still in a very early phase if I think it’s not working, however, if I have something which I think will work out in the end, I go over it until it’s perfect to my ears. This takes a lot of time.
As was the case with the first album, you’ve decided to work with guest musicians like Marco Hietala from Nightwish on this album too. Is it part of the concept to feature other musicians and influences?
Yes, this is definitely an element of Delain. It’s really refreshing to work with different people. Their input often gives our music a very surprising result which is very exciting. But it is very important to ask the right person for a guest performance. Actually, choosing the right people for the job is crucial! Until now this approach has been working out beyond our expectations, giving us 90% positive results.
Wikipedia mentions that the complete album leaked onto the internet on March 16, two weeks before the release. Did this happen because the label you're signed to, Roadrunner, had already sent out the promo versions of the album?
To be honest, I was very glad it happened when it did, so you won’t hear me complain. Sadly this is way it is nowadays with all download activities. So I’m happy that it only happened two weeks before releasing the album.
Soon afterwards, one was able to listen to a complete album stream on Roadrunner records (at least for people living in the Netherlands). Was this a reaction to the leak or had this strategy been planned beforehand?
This had been planned up front. You have to let people get acquainted with the music. And this is one of the advantages of the internet… my message to Mister Music Industry: yes, advantages and chances can also be found on the internet when it comes to your artists. [smiles]
Do you see the internet as a chance for commercial bands or is it rather a necessary evil to you?
Well, I’ll pick up where I just left off. I think this whole internet business is unstoppable. You shouldn’t fight it because this battle has already been fought and was lost years ago. Sure, there are also opportunities to be found on the web. So the only thing you can do is to adapt and be very creative as a band — then a lot of things are still possible.
You have just returned from a tour through Europe. Since your music is pretty complex and symphonic, you probably need to use samples on stage. Is Cubase part of your live setup as well?
No, this is not the case. I’m very hesitant when it comes to using samples live. I see this as a necessary evil which we keep at an absolute minimum. At least 90% of what we do on stage is the real thing. Unfortunately I only have two hands, so we do have some samples running along through an Alesis HD24 as well as a few backing vocals. But we leave out a lot of the lines heard on the actual albums too. The thing is that if it crashes people shouldn’t be able to notice. If they do, you have too much stuff playing along. And I have to say we had our share of HD crashes. [smiles]
What are your future plans for the band?
We’ll be playing a lot of gigs throughout Europe this and next year. We want to build up the band’s live performance experience with this album.
Thank you for your time!
You’re very welcome!
Delain’s website: www.delain.nl
MySpace page: www.myspace.com/delainmusic
