With Delain's new album The Human Contradiction just under a month away from release, our man Andrew Rawlinson asked some questions of frontwoman Charlotte Wessels...
(((o))): Delain was initially formed in 2002 by Martijin Westerholt (Keyboards). How did you yourself get involved in 2005?
I was approached by Martijn at the rehearsal space of one of the bands I was in back then. We did not know each other back then but we had both just performed on a local rock opera project. He told me about his project and asked me to help out with some lyrics and vocal lines. This collaboration worked out so well that I ended up singing on the record as well, and after the release of Lucidity it all just got crazy out of hand, in the best possible way.
(((o))): Who are you influences and heroes as a vocalist?
Certain artists I really appreciate are Nick Cave and Amanda Palmer for their lyrics, Sia for her awesome songwriting skills, and singers like Thom Yorke, Bjork, Kate Bush, and many more for using their voice in an innovative way.
(((o))): On a similar note what album(s) changed your life/had a big impact on you when you were growing up?
First the classic records by artists like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, the Beatles, and Genesis that I got to listen to through my parents, the first albums that got me into metal like Metallica’s black album or Toxicity by System of a Down, and more recently albums by the (alternative) rock acts that I adore: Kid A by Radiohead, and Origin of Symmetry are amongst my all time favourites.
(((o))): Had you been involved in any bands or music projects prior to joining Delain?
I was in a high school that was especially dedicated to music. I did my first performances with their choirs, classical orchestra (clarinet) and big band, where I was both performing in the band and singing. During these high school days I performed at local venues with a singer-songwriter duo of me and my good friend, and we formed a band too. I was in another metal band with my boyfriend (band split up, we didn’t) and around the time that Martijn and I met, I also performed with local heroes To Elysium and the before mentioned rock opera.
(((o))): What has been the highlight of your career so far?
There have been many, the special gigs, performing my all time favourite festival Lowlands in Holland, but I think the movement that started after we released We Are the Others, including the video where everybody just really opened up, was really, really special.
(((o))): Which song(s) do you believe best capture and represent Delain's vision?
Probably a song like ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’ which has a lot of elements that we really like; the big riffs, the epic choirs, the catchy verses, an awesome guest appearance…
(((o))): The new album 'The Human Contradiction' is based upon a concept around the sci-fi novels 'Lilith's Brood' by Octavia E. Butler. How is this represented in the songs themselves?
Within the books, the human contradiction is described as the fact that we are as a species both intelligent and hierarchic.This human contradiction causes an ‘us versus the others’ mentality; an attitude which makes humans randomly select qualities in others and use those qualities to justify ranking them higher or lower on the socially constructed ladder; it allows for the creation of dualisms; of man and woman, black and white, human and nonhuman, nature and culture... Basically it is an attitude, which in the book - as well as one could argue, in reality - proves to be most self-destructive.
In that way, The Human Contradiction presents a broadening and deepening of the lyrical concept of our previous record We Are the Others: ‘otherness’ and how people relate to this, is a topic that I have been obsessing over both artistically and academically for the last couple of years and it has become a recurrent theme in Delain’s lyrics. Whether it is otherness within our species, so towards people who are perceived as ‘different’ by other people (which was We Are the Others’ main focus and returns now in songs such as ‘Army of Dolls’ and ‘Your Body is a Battleground’) or in our attitudes towards nonhuman ‘others’, which is the lyrical addition made by our new record on songs like ‘Tell Me, Mechanist’, and ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’. Most directly, the song ‘Stardust’ is inspired by the first book of the trilogy, Dawn.
(((o))): The album cover itself is very striking; does it fit in with this concept?
Definitely; the cosmic element in there directly refers to the books where the title The Human Contradiction comes from, and the left and right side of the record are meant to represent one of these dualism caused by the contradiction; we chose to go for the duality between human and non-human nature. The little logo beneath the title and logo itself is kind of an alternative yin/yang sign and represents duality altogether.
(((o))): How (if at all) has the song writing process changed or evolved over the course of four albums?
Whereas earlier there used to be much working on separate islands, we now rely increasingly more and more on the collaborate efforts the Delain writing team (Martijn, myself and our long time musical partner Guus Eikens) It’s kind of a magic combination; we all come from different angles (vocals, keys, guitar) and by now we’ve worked together so much that whenever we sit down to write a song, we can be almost sure that something cool will come out.
(((o))): The new album features regular collaborator Marco Hietala (Nightwish) amongst others, if you could collaborate with anyone on the next album who would be your dream choice?
Nick Cave
(((o))): You’re given the opportunity to create your own festival. What would be the first five bands on your list?
Radiohead, Grinderman, Muse, System of A Down, and the Foo Fighters.
(((o))): Are they any places you have yet to play that you really want to?
There are certain places where I know we have a lot of support but where we haven’t played yet, like Colombia, Peru, Indonesia.. It would be great to finally meet our fans there!
(((o))): What are your goals for 2014?
Great gigs, great tours, and great music 🙂
