- Hi, how are you?

Yves: Hey Mauricio! We’re doing great here! For the moment we’re very busy doing promotion for our album ‘The Gift’. It’s our first full album, so all our efforts are going into making our music known to as many people as possible. The people here close to us have all reacted very well so far, we are really pleasantly shocked by all the great comments we’ve received! We haven’t played any live shows yet, because Epsylon actually started out as a two-people project and we’ve been working with a few guest musicians to fill in the gaps, but if we get an opportunity to play a great show, we’re definitely hoping to get them all together for a kick ass show!


- How much money did you spend? The booklet looks so nice, I would think this is expensive! You released your cd by yourselves?

Yves: Yes we did, like most metal bands in Belgium (probably in all countries), it’s hard to get noticed, so especially when producing a debut album, you can be pretty sure you’ll be paying every penny yourself. But it goes without saying that we’re hoping to find a record company for Epsylon soon! Anyway, I can tell you that the cost for the production of this album was pretty high, but in my opinion, worth every dime! And now that you mention the booklet, it’s a funny thing actually, since we wanted a great looking booklet from the start. A lot of bands seem to pay less attention to this, but it’s always very important to have a good, eye-catching package for your product. But I might have gone a bit overboard there as well :), I was so pleased with the designer’s work that I kept asking for more, so the booklet became quite big, and I found out afterwards that going over a certain number of pages costs quite a bit extra, but hell, I’m more than happy with the result!

Sylvie: Like Yves says, Metal is a hard world in Belgium, so we took it in our hands and yes it cost us a lot, but also gave us very good control of our work being represented our way, as, we wanted the album to come together over one line of idea.The album cost us around 10.000 euros, it is indeed a big price but looking at the result we are very happy with it and again, like Yves says it is worth every penny of it! We also had the chance to work with some of the best european metal musicians and artists like Jan S. Eckert from Masterplan, Jeroen Simons, ex-drummer of Epica and Heather Shockley from Rock Ignition. And of course we had the opportunity of recording in one of the finest studios of Belgium, Ace Studio, with a superb producer, Frank Van Bogaert.


- With downloading, myspace, etc. some do not take the time to listen to music and want “instant gratification.” Are you too complex? Is your music heard by people who really like music, not fashions or trends?

Yves: Good question, I can’t speak for others, but I know how I listen to music, and whether I’m relaxing, working, driving or sleeping, I always try to absorb all elements within the music I’m hearing to get into the feel of the album. But to answer your first question, I think there’s nothing too complex for metalheads :). I must say that you are right, we did want to create songs that are enjoyable for a quick listen, but can give you a little extra when you really try to understand the songs. Thankfully, from what I’ve heard so far, our music is being listened to by a lot of music enthousiasts and when you get good responses from them, you know it means something.

Sylvie: I love this question… I think that what Yves and I wanted to give to the public is something real, something you can listen to lightly or heavily depending on the mood of the moment. I think it gives the opportunity to people to live through the songs and find pieces in there to identify with, to think about… Although every song of the album came spontaneously during the writing phase, we gave it a lot of thought while producing it, it then came together as magic to our ears! One last thought, I didn’t give up hope yet that even today in this fast, more and more virtual world people have stopped to really listen to music. If so, they would lose a piece of this great art that is music!


- Is being in a band like a marriage?! What obstacles do you face?

Yves: At times it is like being in a marriage, yes! Especially if there are only two key members in the band. Mostly all decisions are made by Sylvie & me, so naturally there are times when we disagree and in the beginning that could cause some marriage-like struggles, but these days, that doesn’t happen anymore, it’s feels more and more like a well oiled machine.

Sylvie: I must say that it is hard at times, as music equals emotions it sometimes isn’t easy to agree on all details without a little struggle… But it is our richness too, two heads together, two different backgrounds and two different worlds make a good mix, we learned to oil the machine as Yves says and this for the best of the music! J

Yves: In my opinion, the biggest obstacle a metal band has to face is the fact that there are so many great metal bands out there, and you have to be able to even get slightly noticed in that sea of loudness. (Sad thing is that a lot of metal bands seem to be very competitive about that, while we should really be standing next to each other and promoting one and other). So I think it’s very important for a band to be original. During the song writing stage, we didn’t really think about it, we just wrote what we felt, but looking at it now, I think we came out with something recognizable, but fresh and new as well. As far as opportunities go to play live, I know from my former bands that it’s pretty hard here in Belgium, especially to get some decent shows, but I keep hoping that this will change, and if we can help make that happen, we definitely will! We do have a few radio stations that have metal-oriented programs, but that’s mostly restricted to a particular sub genre of metal. (sometimes it’s too heavy, sometimes not heavy enough, etc…) So it’s hard to get airplay on the right stations, even getting any airplay at all…

- Are people that see you live understanding your music?

Yves: Sadly, the scene in our city, and even country is bad. Belgium is a country that is mostly into Dance music, so if you’d like to get somewhere over here, you better become a dj :) But the people that are into our music do really appreciate and enjoy what they’re listening to. I remember from past shows with other bands that no matter how small the audience, they were as enthusiastic as a stadium crowd!


- Some people, as they get older, say only metal from the 80s or 90s, depending on the age, was good. Are there new bands you like?!

Yves: Of course I also love the 70-80-90’s metals cene, but I wouldn’t say the scene is dead now. You just have to know where to look… There’s a lot of awesome bands out there, but they’re just not being promoted as they would have been in the 80’s. I’ve always been a fan of Gamma Ray, Helloween, Ayreon, Symphony X,…As far as newer bands go, I didn’t have a lot of time to discover new bands the last year when I was working on our own album, but a fairly new band that comes to mind for me is ‘Stormwarrior’, a german powermetal band who’s got Kai Hansen as their producer, so you can’t go wrong there I guess :) I also enjoy ‘Stream of Passion’ and some older ‘Epica’ a lot.

Sylvie: My favourite recent metal albums are Ayreon’s album ‘01011001’ a lot, as well as Avantasia’s
‘The Scarecrow’, Helloween’s ‘Gambling With The Devil’. Not new bands of course, but that’s what I’m into these days…

- Often young bands want “success,” make a living from music. Once you seek that as a goal, is this attitude perfect for selling out because the musician will do whatever not to have a job?

Sylvie: I’m not really in search of “success”. Making a living out of music has always been hard I think, and now these days we could call it “utopia”…When I write lyrics, rather than searching for “success” I tend more to pass a message out to the public, something to relate to, something comforting and/or confronting, a little material to enjoy the listening and taking it all in. Of course like any artist out there, a good recognition of our work is the greatest reward! ;-)

Yves: I’m sure for some people/bands, this is the case. And I would be lying if I said I don’t dream of making music as a full time job, but you can’t lose track of reality here. If you’re not Metallica or Iron Maiden, you’d best have a job on the side. Every musician I know, even from successful bands, have a fulltime job on the side. And a lot of them are now also great producers who’ve worked hard to build their own studio, produce newer bands and get their main income from that. I think it’s the most logical career choice if you have such a passion for music. So I’m definitely trying to get into all those producing techniques as well…

- Where do the lyrics for “The Pirate” come from? “Pirates of the Caribbean”? What about “Legacies” and “Liars”? I find that for the lyrics have subtle comments about social issues.. Was “Forever Angel” inspired by the death of someone you know?

Yves: I’ll let Sylvie answer on the first questions :) I can say that the lyrics were definitely not written to make a statement regarding politics or anything else, everything was written based on personal emotions/experiences and things that we saw happening around us. There is indeed an obvious theme throughout the album, which deals with all aspects of life, joy, pain, sorrow, anger, love, betrayal, and then there’s ‘The Pirate’, which in my view represents childhood (who never wanted to be a cool pirate?!)

Sylvie: Ahhh… The Pirate! Of course I enjoyed the movies of “The Pirates Of The Caribbean,” but there is another story behind this “Pirate” song!The idea came to me last year while having a little trip to the Keys in Florida with my five year old son. The place is magical, you can still smell those pirate spirits there…;-)
It was extremely inspiring and so came the words, a little “wink” to all pirates within us and especially my son! The rest of the lyrics are created in about the same way, a situation appears and so comes the inspiration. “Forever Angel” is actually inspired from an imagined sudden death, mixed with the real pain of the recent lost of a close one, the non-acceptance of the inevitable. Like Yves says, all songs are based on emotional parts of our lives, my greatest joy is that I could write as I felt, and being followed by Yves’s music which supports every single part of my words as strongly as needed!

- How is the healthcare system where you live? If you are very sick and need surgery, do you have to wait a long time?

Yves: Well, here in Belgium we have an excellent healthcare system. Everyone has the right to this, not only the rich. Whether you’re a millionaire or you sleep in a carton box, if you’re sick or need to go to the hospital, you can visit a doctor within 5 minutes and most of it is refunded. I’m pretty sure we have some of the best systems in the world for these kind of things. And I think it’s really about time that countries like the US do something about this as well, everyone should have the right to this.

Sylvie: I had the opportunity to live in the United States for four years and so got to know your medical system pretty well… It was indeed very surprising to me over there, at first I didn’t understand any of the insurance policies… I must say it was a lot harder than here to get good medical care and very tough when you get refused because you don’t have the right insurance! And I indeed feel for the people living in the States being denied of medical attention, but in the same way, I most applaud the community networks that are created because of it, that is something that we have little of over here, perhaps because it’s just not needed, but a lot of American people have their heart on their hands to give and to care for others…

- Who are your favorite singers? Have you taken lessons?

Sylvie: I have a lot of favourite singers… I have a great admiration for Simone Simons from Epica, but I listen to all kind of music; Metal (Virgin Steel, Masterplan, GammaRay,…) Prog, Rock, Hard Rock, French Rock and chansons, Edith Piaf… Alternative Rock like Heather Nova or Natalie Merchant…I grew up in a classical ballet world and so I also listen a lot to classical music like Ravel, Dvorak, Delibes,…

Yves: Oh, and Tsajkovs, tchaj, tajk, well, the Russian dude!

Sylvie: Tchaikovski! Yves: Yeah, I know… ;)

Sylvie: Anyway, like I said above, I have been in the States for a few years and a great lady heard me singing, Luckily she was also a great singing teacher, so I took the opportunity and so the great adventure began… ;-)

- Anything else? When will you come to Madison, Wisconsin to rock out with people over here?!

Yves: I’d like to thank you for this interview and all the people who support our music and scene, keep going strong!!! I can’t give you any date on a Madison gig just yet, haha, but when we reach that stage, you’ll be the first to know! See, now I can’t wait to grab some beers with all the metalheads over there! :)

Sylvie: I’d like to add as a final note that making this album was one of the greatest, fun experiences I’ve had in my life… America, Here We Come!!!  THE END.

(Interview conducted by Mauricio for The Metal Bulletin)