REACH FOR THE
STARS
An interview with Dutch rockers
Destine by Mike
Coming from Holland
doesn’t really help a band from this genre of music, especially when the
Americans seem to have it all sewn up. The country isn’t really renowned
for its thriving music scene and ripples in the giant music pond are
really only caused by Dutch bands once in a blue moon. Destine buck the
trend, arguably beating the Americans at their own game with their own
brand of edgy rock orientated pop punk. Superior songs such as the
recently released single ‘Stars’ and the previous hook heavy ‘In Your
Arms’ show enough skill to attract the teen market as well as the more
serious minded alt-rock market. A deal with Sony and an album due in the
spring of next year the future looks increasingly bright for Destine.
Alternative
Addiction's Mike Newdeck caught up with lead singer and main songwriter
Robin Van Loenen in Florida, where the band is recording their new
album, to piece together the emergence of Destine as a major player.
How did you get signed on a
development deal with Sony, what is a development deal? How does it
work?
From the moment we started as band, we've
always worked hard managing the band as well as we could. It was our
philosophy then to just do everything ourselves that normally a label or
a booking agent does. We tried to play as many shows as possible,
supported bands like Fall Out Boy and New Found Glory, got some press,
and saw our fan-base grow every month. From what we've heard, people at
Sony noticed us by word of mouth in early 2008 and went to one of our
shows. After that we got offered a development deal, which can be seen
as some sort of a trial period. We could experience what the cooperation
between the label and us would be like, and if everybody would be happy
with that. At first we had some doubts about signing to a major label,
but after a while it was obvious that it was the right choice to go for
it, basically because of the people there, because of their plans and
because of their excitement about us. About 7 months after the
development deal we signed the record deal.
How did the
development deal turn into a full contract?
Sony wanted to see the band grow,
especially as far as songs and fan-base. In that period we quit school
and put every minute of the day in the band. Eventually it only took 3
new songs for them to decide they wanted to offer us a regular record
deal. Those songs all ended up on our first singles by the way, and also
will end up on our upcoming debut album.
How did that
feel?
It was great to see the hard work pay off.
During the development deal we realized that there would be a lot of
opportunities from the moment we would sign the real deal. Looking back
I can say that it was true: recording our debut album with one of our
all-time favorite producers in America, shooting three music videos in
California. We always contact all those people ourselves, but we simply
wouldn’t have the money for those kind of things if we weren't signed.
How has your
music changed from the early days?
When we formed, we all came from punk rock
bands in The Netherlands, that's where we met each other. After having
played pretty straightforward songs for years, we tried to do something
different with the first EP of Destine. One of the goals was to do some
interesting things with arrangements and song structures, and still keep
the catchy and poppy elements that we love. The 2009 releases that we
did, are much more powerful and I think a little catchier as well. The
new songs on our debut album will go further where our 2009 singles
ended.
Who handles
the bulk of the writing?
We've got a pretty structured way of
working: in my home studio I (Robin L) write the basics of a song. After
that, we'll go into the rehearsal room and do some details and changes.
It works well this way and everybody feels good about it.
Do you have
any outside help with writing?
No, we write all the songs ourselves. But
our producer James Paul Wisner comes up with interesting improvements
now and then. He just gives a lot of ideas, and in the end we decide if
we use them or not.
Can you explain how and why
the vocals have improved so much on the new material compared to the
early EP’s?
When we recorded the A Dozen Dreams EP in
2006, I actually was not a singer: I had never done any lead vocals
live, because at that point I had always been a guitar player who did
backing vocals. After recording that first EP, we did more than a
hundred shows and I took a lot of time improving my vocals, and when we
entered the studio in Florida early 2009, I felt pretty confident about
my voice. So I guess it was mostly experience that made the difference.
How did you
team up with James Paul Wisner?
In 2008, we sent some emails to our
favorite producers in the world. We researched who did our favorite
records and eventually mailed about 10 producers and sent them our new
demos. Eventually 4 out of 10 producers replied that they would want to
record us. We were actually really amazed, cause we didn't expect
anything at all. We chose for James Paul Wisner because we love the
aggressive rock sound he usually delivers. He did records for Paramore,
Underoath and Dashboard Confessional, but we especially like the sound
of his work with Run Kid Run, Search The City and There For Tomorrow.
Why are you traveling to
Florida to record the remainder of the album?Would it not have been
possible to do it in Holland?
We actually explored the possibility of
flying an American producer over to Europe, but in the end it was
not really cheaper to do that, because really good studios in Europe
are pretty expensive. Also, we felt a lot better about recording in
a studio where a producer feels at home and knows exactly what to
do.
What is it like being in
Holland and playing this type of music? Does it hold you back not being
in the US?
To be honest, we
don't know a lot of pop-punk bands from The Netherlands either. But
unfortunately the same goes for other countries in Europe, except
for the UK. Sometimes we wish we had born in the USA or the UK,
because of all the great bands, and great opportunities that are out
there. But don't get me wrong, we are really blessed with the
success that we have in the Netherlands and can't be more thankful
for that. Of course we would love to tour a lot in as many countries
as possible and are working hard to achieve that.
Clearly your music is
suited to the American market, is this where you would like to break
big? Will there be a concerted campaign to push the album in the States
when it’s released?
Yes, we would love to tour a lot in the
USA. We've talked to some interesting people in the US music business,
but every time at some point they first want to know what you've
achieved in your ´home market´. For them it's some sort of proof that it
can do well in the US too. Right now it's going really well in the
Netherlands so we feel confident about giving it a shot in other
countries too. I don't think the USA is next in line though: countries
like the UK, Belgium and France are close to home so we'll tour
regularly there in 2010.
What does James Paul Wisner
bring to the table compared to producing songs independently?
First of all, we love his powerful sound.
We are used to producing and recording ourselves, but there is no way in
the world that we could have achieved something like that ourselves.
Also, as far as the songs: there are some details that he brings to the
table that can make a difference.
It’s been something of a
strange Journey toward the debut album next year with two and possibly
three singles released prior to the album’s release. Is there not a
danger that the album will suffer because half of it will be available
before it comes out?
It's pretty unconventional indeed, but
together with the record label we decided this would absolutely the best
strategy for the Netherlands. We haven't released anything in other
countries yet, so we're talking about the Netherlands only now. The
reason for this strategy was the simple fact that we wanted to release
music as soon as possible, because from December 2006 till December 2008
we didn't release anything. We got 6 songs everybody felt great about so
we just recorded the 6 of them as soon as possible. After we released a
4-track single and a 2-track single this year, we returned to Florida
(where I am now) to record the remaining 6 songs of our upcoming debut
album. This way we also had more time to make sure those last songs will
be at least as good as the first 6 ones. In other countries, we will
release our album and singles in a more conventional way.
What are the
goals of the band in 2009 and 2010?
In 2009 we achieved so many things we would
have never dreamed of: getting national airplay on the 3 most important
radio stations of the country, playing the Lowlands festival (w/ Arctic
Monkeys, Snoop Dogg, The Prodigy, etc), almost selling out a venue in
Paris, and so much more. In 2010 we will do our first ever headline tour
in the Netherlands and the pre-sale is going really fast. We will
release our album there in January 2010. Also, we are working on some
tours in other European countries and it is looking really good. We hope
to release the album in some of those countries in 2010 too.
What is Sony
like to work with?
Actually, since signing to Sony we didn't
have to change anything as far as the way we work or our music. We still
do our management ourselves and they have confidence in what we're doing
and we get a lot of freedom. Of course sometimes we have little
arguments, but that's no problem.
What was the
tour with McFly like? How did they treat you?
We played 2 shows with them in the
Netherlands, which was great. Even though McFly is more like a ´boyband´
than we are, their audience seemed to really like us.
Is there a danger that you
will be classed in the same genre as McFly, although you clearly have a
harder edge?
I don't know if it a danger is the right
word, but I hear what you're saying. But in the end all that matters is
that we make exactly the music we want to. I couldn't care less about
people who think we are not cool anymore because they think some of our
fans are not cool enough. We are not going to decide about which people
are allowed to like our music or not.
Has it been a conscious
effort to have a more guitar-orientated edge rather than settle for a
pure pop sound? Who decided the direction?
In the period after our first EP (December
2006), we toured a lot and I think that shaped our sound in a way. As I
said, we all came from a punkrock background, and while playing live,
those elements kept creeping in more and more and we really enjoyed the
more aggressive songs. When we started writing new songs, automatically
the songs came out a lot more powerful. It’s not something we thought
about, it just happened.
What can we expect on the
album? More of the same?
We’re still really pleased with the way our
music evolved, so I’m not ashamed to say that you can expect the same
kind of catchy hooks and the same powerful sound.
Clearly you are influenced
by the likes of Simple Plan, but what distinguishes you from the many of
the other bands that occupy this genre?
I won’t be a hypocrite and declare that we
make very experimental music. We love catchy pop hooks and we love
punkrock. Combine those and you’ll get the music we make. If I had to
pick one thing that is special about us, it would be the fact that we’re
from Europe.
Is it difficult to come up with the
winning “hit single” formula every time?
Sometimes you tell yourself that everything
you’ve written lately not even comes close to what you’ve done before. I
guess every songwriter deals with that and the trick is to just continue
writing like it’s the first song you’ve ever written. The key is also to
have fun while doing it. Once the excitement is gone, you won’t write
anything that you will be happy with. I’m pretty lucky: every song I’ve
ever written has some sort of catchy hook in it, and that’s probably why
choosing singles never have been a really hard choice.
How do you
cope with life on the road?
Touring is one of the things in the world
that I like best: I’m pretty adventurous so for me it’s heaven. Seeing
new things, meeting new people, being in bizarre situations and getting
surprised everyday. When we come home, I always want to go back on
tour.
How old are
the members of the band?
I think we have an average of about 24
years old.
What is
Destine TV and how did it work?
At some point we noticed that a lot of
people were interested in what we’re doing everyday and in the way we
spend our time on the band everyday. It’s not a totally new idea, but it
was pretty obvious to do short videos to show what we do. To get some
sort of structure, we put a website online on
www.destine.tv where all the 10-minute
episodes are lined up. The reactions are great and we will definitely
continue putting them online.
Can you
explain how popular the band is in your native country?
This year, it went pretty fast and that’s
amazing to see. Our new single ‘Stars’ is in the charts right now and
gets daily airplay on all the big and important radio channels. Our
video is on our country’s version of MTV. We played the most well-known
rock festival of the country this year and in early 2010 we will do our
first ever headline tour, from which the presale is going really well.
We played in the most well known venues with bands like All Time Low,
The Audition and Alesana. Also, we got some press in some big magazines
and even got on the cover of Up Magazine. It's unbelievable and what
we've always dreamed of. But we're not they’re yet: there are so many
cool other countries and so many other opportunities. One thing's for
sure, in the next years we will only work harder and our dreams will
only get bigger.
Look out for this upcoming band in 2010
they could be huge!
More information:
www.destinemusic.com
www.myspace.com/destinedestine
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