Amersfoort has been around since the 11th century. Meadows are slightly less old…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from the Netherlands! We are scattered throughout the country, but our main rehearsal space is in Amersfoort.
How did you meet, and how long have you been playing as a band?
Well, I formed the band together with a few really talented and good friends of mine. A few of us already released albums together with the prog rock band Silhouette and Jeff played in the indie band Coppersky. We are really good friends besides the band and meet up regular for whisky, concerts or have a good evening of gaming. I know the guys for a long time now and they are absolutely on top of their game musically.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Well, my actual surname is ‘van der Weijde’, something most people without a Dutch lingual background can’t pronounce. But if you translate ‘Weijde’ to English, you get ‘Meadows’ haha. The bandmates thought this was a nice band name.
What are your influences?
In the band we are all music lovers. We share a common interest in bands like Haken, Leprous, Dream Theater, Steven Wilson, Porcupine Tree etc. We also go to concerts together etc.
We are mostly influenced by bands like Dream Theater, Haken, Muse and Porcupine Tree, but also through my love for film music from composers like Hans Zimmer or Junki XL.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I think what makes us unique is the fact that we want to write songs you can listen to for the first time without it being too weird or ‘proggy’ or something. But as prog rock and metal lovers with very different musical backgrounds and tastes we also want to make music that is different, not necessarily in technical ways, but in layering, song writing or conceptual. Experimenting with weird synth sounds, orchestral components, that kind of stuff!
If you like what we do, consider ing us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
The new album started as a solo album for me but evolved in something much more. The record is in some way a personal reflection based on the idea that you are being formed through experiences you encounter and the people around you, like family and friends or other people who are important on this journey called life.
The record also highlights themes like the growing inequality of opportunity in our modern society, constant pressure to perform, nostalgia to earlier times in life and even a wink to the fantasy writing of Tim burton which I absolutely love.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
In this stage as a starting band and due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we haven’t had the chance to do live shows, but we are eager to get on stages and perform the album live! We have our release party now scheduled for February 6th in De Pul in Uden, The Netherlands. But we are always looking for gig opportunities abroad as well.
Expect nothing less than a well-balanced thought-out live performance where we make sure you’ll get the music and the story of the album!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
With Silhouette we did a small tour throughout England and one show in Glasgow. We played at ‘The Flying Duck’ and afterwards there would be an old school vinyl disco. A lot of young students from the neighbourhood came early and we were up last of two bands, so we had an epic audience of youngsters who probably never heard of progressive rock before but enjoyed the shit out of it. That was truly amazing!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
We are inspired by bands like Periphery and Tesseract for the live shows, so we are gigging with a Behringer X32 system, backing track set-up, Line 6 Helixes and probably an e-kit with GGD software premixed on the music of the album. We use Cort, Strandberg and Musicman 6,7 and 8 string guitars for the music we make. Jur uses an Ibanez SR series 6 string monster.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Currently we are amid the release of our debut album ‘Modern Emotions’ which is available at our Bandcamp and local retailers. The album also features guest appearances from Richard Henshall (Haken) and Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation).
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
We have started writing our follow up album now that we can’t play live shows. But also practicing for the time there will be shows again. We also have a special acoustic release coming up in January and have plans for an EP somewhere early summer 2021.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be ing and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We would love to open for our hero bands like Haken, Tesseract, Leprous etc. That would be bucket list stuff come true! We would also love to tour with our fellow Dutch mates from Armed Cloud or Skylake for example.
Check out this month’s BotD Playlist on Spotify and YouTube
Meadows: facebook | twitter | instagram | bandcamp | spotify | youtube
