Euforic
Existence will open for Mildreda on our 21st Dark Entries Night on December 8th.
Euforic Existence is the project of Koen Van Dappernest - also known from KnK
- assisted live by Bart Peeters. The project has been around for 17 years, but
after a long silence between 2003 and 2013, the project - which combines a
typical EBM sounds with structures from metal and industrial - is in very good
shape. And the energetic performances are an important part in that. Koen told us
all we needed to know in this interview.
Your latest CD 'MMXVI - IIIIII00000 - 2016'
was, to say the least, well received at Dark Entries. Colleague Peter De Koning
even wrote that you have never sounded so good. Do you also think so?
It is of
course the intention to improve a bit every time, but we only know that we have
succeeded when others say it, haha. We read the reviews and take every point of
constructive criticism. It is the criticism of the same Peter De Koning who has
moved us to use certain buttons slightly differently to previous releases. And
of course experience usually leads to evolution in a positive sense.
EBM sounds to many as a retro genre from the
80's, but you manage to update the sound by adding influences from industrial
and especially metal, but without using guitars. Is this the way that EBM needs
to go to stay relevant?
EBM is very
widely interpretable for some - including myself - and very limited for others.
I do not discuss this and do not have an opinion about what others should or
should not do. I am a music fanatic myself with a very broad view between the
different genres and I grew up with a lot of influences. And everything that
comes in to me, also comes out in my own version. Our sound spectrum is
strictly EBM, but the structures of the songs go in all directions. We just do
not like to make the same song twice.
We like to
be put under the heading of EBM, but realize that we are outsiders. I've
always been a rebel, so I would not want anything else, haha.
A question that I always ask myself with EBM, and
that certainly applies to you: the music is meant to be danceable, so enjoyable,
but the lyrics are hopelessly pessimistic. Is this not a contradiction?
I have been
thinking too much my whole life, and only by writing those lyrics can I put
structure in the hopelessness, the worldly and philosophical disappointments in
my head, and learn to accept it. Think of it as a kind of therapy. 90% of the
texts are about personal experiences, world / universe views and hatred /
feelings of love (some traumatic, others less bad). Everything that concerns me
creeps into my lyrics. I think it's great when colleagues write about beer or a
fat factory, but I'm not going to imitate that.
Most EBM
sounds pretty nice, but with us everything is written in minor. A habit that I
have never unlearned after my experiments with my Doom Metal project Cold Bleak
Irrelevance.
Koen, you are also the man behind Fear The
Light, the Antwerp organization that promotes EBM. You have been working since
the 90s and have undergone a major evolution, from many bands to just the
nucleus: Euforic Existence, KnK (which you are also active in) and Slave
Separation (the project by KnK singer Koenraad Vercammen). How did that go?
First of
all, the name ‘Fear the Light’ was invented at the afterparty of the first
performance of Euforic Existence in 2000 (not the 90s), where Slave Separation
had also performed. At that time we had the plan with some of the artists
present to organize several mini-festivals under that name. After a small
setback and lack of coherence, this stopped and Koenraad
Vercammen (K1) and I (K2) decided to set up the website with which we would
then promote dark musicians without contract (it went much further than just
EBM). We have then released and distributed some samplers with sponsor money
and gifts (the third of which was added free of charge with a Dark Entries magazine
in the paper age). Due to time pressure from my professional life and the
gigantic expansion of my family, this has completely disappeared in the
background at a certain moment. The site was reduced in 2010 to the promotion
of K1's own music projects and myself, due to lack of time.
At the
moment, ‘Fear the Light Underground productions’ is not much more than a brand.
The brand symbolizes the friendship and musical cooperation between Koenraad
Vercammen (K1) and myself (K2) since 17 years, from which KNK was born in early
2015.
Sometimes I
dream to set up great things under that name, but I still have my busy job, 6
children and 2 musical acts. It's enough.
Euforic Existence saw the light of day in 2000,
but got a restart in 2013. What is the reason for this and what is the
difference between Euforic Existence in 2000 and after 2013?
Between
2000 and 2003 I was very active with 5 music projects, but as just mentioned, I
had to give priority to career and family between 2003 and 2013. Euforic
Existence hardly existed between 2003 and 2013. In 2013 I was present at WGT
Leipzig at a performance by Orange Sector when my best friend came to ask if I
would like to make such music again. I told him that I had no time
for that, so he started talking to my wife. She then told me that I would
better get rid of some frustrations (and those were there!). 6 months later,
the CD 'MMXIII - IIIIIOIIIOI - 2013' was a fact. So I just needed a push from
my two major partners. The difference between EE 2000 and EE 2013 is indeed
very large: in 2000 I started experimenting with electronics without
experience, in 2013 I already knew how everything worked. In 2000 I was only 21
years old and quickly satisfied with every sound that I made, in 2013 I worked
on every song for weeks until it was completely what I wanted. The
self-confidence of an average thirty-something is also much stronger than that
of a 21-year-old, and that translates into stronger vocals.
As far as
the texts are concerned: in 2000 I was a happy young lad with no
responsibilities and in 2013 I had a busy job, 6 children and I had recently
recovered from a painful family break (2010).
17 years is long. You have seen the scene
evolve in those 17 years. What thoughts do you have about that?
In the
early 2000s it struck me that the scene was dominated by techno influences,
which I absolutely could not and did not want to play with. We then profiled
ourselves as ‘Old school’ and Fear the Light was given the subtitle
‘Underground stubborn’. We did not fit in any picture, and had to do it with a
sympathizer here and there.
It may
sound strange, but between 2003 and 2013 I personally have not been present in
the scene. My involvement was completely gone and absorbed by my career. The
family break that I experienced in 2010 changed some of that, and in 2013 I
really started to get back into the EBM scene. I saw many familiar old faces
and what struck me very hard was that this techno-dominance almost completely
disappeared. Everything seemed back, however. The very young people are now a
bit on separate events (‘cybergoth’ and other new terms) and the ancients seem
to be grouping together in an unadulterated old school scene. On the one hand I
think that's okay, on the other hand I fear that this cannot last for 20 years ...
I see the difference between the past and the present, but unfortunately I did
not see it evolve.
Koen, you do everything yourself on CD. In 2017
it is almost obligatory to do everything yourself if you are not in a commercial
genre. Are you happy with that method?
I would not
know how to do it differently. I have a degree in autism and it’s very hard for
me to work with others. I am glad that I have learned everything while by doing
it myself, and I am aware that I can learn a lot more. That is the big
advantage of doing everything yourself: you learn everything!
Your performances are known as very dark and
very intense. What are you trying to achieve during your performances?
The
involvement with my lyrics is very intense. Every word comes from the deepest
caves of my soul. On stage, we want to convey the feeling we had when we first
wrote a song. If you view a song as a kind of box, we put everything into it
during the writing process. When a CD is played, that box is partly opened, but
unfortunately not everything comes out. On the stage we try to tear open the box completely for the fullest possible experience of the content. Emotions are also clear in the stage mimics, and it is not fake.
Bart’s role
in this is also very important. Although I do everything at home in the studio,
I was still a layman in terms of live sound, stage material and technical
knowledge in 2013. After all, studio and stage are two completely different
worlds. Bart has shared a lot of his knowledge with me and is a very important
pillar on which the live performance is based.
And yes,
what is the greatest intention of performances? Have a nice evening and share
this with as many people as possible, which in turn provides more performances.
Creating unforgettable parties and getting to know wonderful people; get fans
and make them friends.
Pictures: Benny Serneel
