Epinikon is a symphonic metal band founded in 2019 by componist and keyboard player Renate de Boer and guitarist Robert Tangerman.
Epinikion
Interview conducted July 23, 2022
By Dan Locke
Guest artists
- Eleonora Damiano – Vocals
- Levent Gaşgil – Lead Guitars
- Emre Demir – Bass
- Loek Verlaan – Stand Up and Fight
- Tamara Bouwhuis – In the Middle of The Night
- Laura Guldemond – False Faced Demon
- Monique de Bruin – If I Could Turn Back Time
- Debby Zimmermann – If I Could Turn Back Time
You are from Belgium. What was your upbringing like?
Renate de Boer: None of us are from Belgium, but me and Robert do live there. As far as education is concerned, I can only speak for myself: I had a good childhood, full of sports, music and the opportunity to complete a university degree. My parents are hardworking people who taught me that you can get very far with dedication and respect. I guess that definitely helps the band from my point of view as a bandmember.
How did you discover music?
When I was young there was a piano at a friend of ours and I was allowed to play on it. This woman mentioned that I had talent, whereupon my parents offered me to take lessons. That’s how it started.
How did you start to write music?
That’s something that Robert and I only started doing three years ago. Our sports careers had ended and we both love music, so it was a natural choice to pick it up. Just for fun, there was no serious choice behind it.
You band was formed in 2020. How did you meet?
Since we don’t come from the music world, I actively searched for band members. We ended up with these people, who think about making music just like we do.
How did you get your name?
Epinikion means ‘hymn to the winner of the sports competition’. We chose a phoenix, a symbol for athletes who have risen from their ashes as musicians and start a new life.
How did you find Eleonora Damiano?
Eleonora was also found by asking other musicians if they knew of a singer who was looking for a band. Simple as that.
What was your first rehearsal like?
Because we are an international team, it is difficult to rehearse a lot and all together. We have ‘partial rehearsals’ and shortly before a performance we play as a complete band. That works because everyone knows their lines and practices with them independently.
Describe your music.
Our music is narrative, bombastic symphonic and is also described as ‘Hans Zimmer on steroids’. Personally, I think that’s the best and humorous description.
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP ?
We have ensured that the rights are ours and are indeed registered with the authorities that work with them. If there are problems, we can call on lawyers who work specifically in the music world. In this way we hope to have arranged the guarantee of the rights.
What makes a good songwriter?
Every songwriter has his own way of working. There is no fixed recipe for it. Of course you can follow courses and workshops in which professionals give you tips to stimulate that quality, but talent will certainly also have something to do with it.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
Our very first song was “Inquisition”. It’s on the eponymous debut album we released this year.
What is the process of writing your music?
The basic idea usually comes from me. There is then a melody attached to it as a starting point and I work it out together with Robert. When the demo is ready, we will let our colleagues hear it and they can give it their own twist, so that the song increasingly acquires its own identity. Everyone has a say and all ideas are included, but the ultimate responsibility remains with Robert and me.
The video for “Welcome to the Wonderful World of Jealousy” have elements of stream punk with it. Who idea was that for the video?
That was my idea(Renate). Not only do I think steampunk is a great style but it fitted the song’s theme of a burlesque, circus-like atmosphere perfectly. We are still incredibly grateful to the ‘stempunk stars’ as we called them for their tireless efforts to make the video a huge success.
Tell me about your full length album “Inquistion”?
“Inquistion” is actually a rock opera and was therefore performed as a project. Each someg represents a scene in the story about the impossible love between a Dutch woman and a Spanish man during the Eighty Years’ War in the 16th century. The theme is that love is stronger than war, hatred and discrimination, a theme that unfortunately turned out to be very contemporary.
Out of the 12 tracks which one is your favorite?
I think that’s a difficult question. It depends on the day I guess, sometimes I listen to the dancing folky ‘Love so sublime’ because it’s so happy and sometimes I prefer to hear the cynical ‘Welcome to the wonderful world of Jealousy’. The versatility of ‘Inquisition’ means that you can come across anything.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
Streaming music has become an increasingly important part of the musical landscape. It has gone through incredible development and that has both pros and cons. We’re an up and coming band so trying to find our way around that and that’s a learning process.
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
It goes without saying that hashtags are part of your media and marketing strategy. You can deal with that creatively and give things your own twist.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Taking our style, the rock opera background and working from a concept, vynil would be a welcome addition to digital. Unfortunately, we don’t have the financial resources for that at the moment, but I don’t rule out anything for the future.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
There are so many sounds and songs in my head that every day I have a memory of something from the past. The last song I heard today that is incredibly impressive to me is Billy Joel’s ‘Goodnight Saigon’. That can give me goosebumps.
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Live music will always be there, it can not be killed. It’s spritual food, withoud it we would starve.
Do you think that Covid-19 has been a plus to an artist career?
For some people it has given room to get into songwriting. For others it is a moment to reflect on the meaning that music has for them. It has allowed many people to choose a different path in their lives, because it became clear that they had not made the right choices for a long time. As bad as it is, it certainly has had positive sides.
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
I am a former topsporter so I pay a lot of attention to my physical and mental health. It’s a way of life, I am used to it.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
It has given us space to be able to spend a lot of time on music alongside our work. That was certainly pleasant.
Live Nation Entertainment – the corporate parent of Ticketmaster and a dominant force in the entertainment industry was able to get many of the funds which were met for smaller Venuses. Because these venues were not able to get access to these funds. Many of them went out of business still protected.
Live Nation as a parent company did not directly receive any money from the program, but the government relief to its subsidiaries still protected its investments and improved its long-term outlook, however slightly. The earnings of its subsidiaries provide Live Nation with crucial cash flow and enable it to service its debt, it said in securities filings. The aid enabled the companies to pay staff and recover more quickly from the disruption, their executives said in interviews and emailed statements
In 2018 Live Nation purchased what it described at the time as a majority interest in Frank Productions, a Madison, Wis.-based concert venue promoter. Frank Productions’ operating company, Frank Productions Concerts LLC, received $10 million from the SBA grant program in July, the maximum amount possible. Both Frank Productions and Frank Productions Concerts are listed as Live Nation subsidiaries in the SEC filings.
Do you think it was fair for Live Nation to use their power within the lobbies of the congress to get money for their subsidiaries?
Politics is everywhere. In the music world too, many decisions are made from a political perspective, as in this example. I’m not into politics, I’m too straight and open for that. Nevertheless, I realize that it has a big influence.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
That will indeed be very complicated. You will have to be creative with other ways to reach the fans and get financial resources at your disposal. Not impossible, but certainly difficult.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
It still happens, and it makes people very happy. Why not!
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
I’ve heard very mixed reactions about it. One thinks it’s fantastic and the other doesn’t. Personally, I experience it as a surrogate, but who knows, maybe it’s a trend for the future?
In the past if a musician stop doing music they find a new career. For example David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants.. If you can’t do music, what would you like to be doing?
Then, like now, I would do my job as an organizational psychologist. I love my job.
What is your happy place?
My garden, it’s beautiful with all the animals that we have in the wood where we live.
Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million. In the past year a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million) , Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Neil Young song 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180-song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited. Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative then the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is will to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
If I would no longer be so active and still get everything out of it in terms of finances that is possible, that could be a choice for the future. At the moment I can’t estimate whether I would do that.
What is your feeling about TikTok? With Sony Music and Warner Music strucking an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
Tik tok is booming and becoming an important medium. A market is also starting to develop for metal, but if you want to treat it well, it takes a lot of time. We don’t have that, so we won’t work with it for the time being. I admit I would but you have to know your limits and they make it impossible at the moment.
Also, TikTok has launching TikTok Radio (ch. 4), a full-time SiriusXM music channel. The station will be available is vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices.
The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary, Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent. Do you think this platform could became a force in the future of streaming music?
Absolutely!
Anything you would like to say in closing.
It has taken a while to answer all your question but I hope it’s good enough for you? Greetings from Epinikion, Renate de Boer (keys and composer)
