Hardland a band from Netherlands
Interview conducted on June 24, 2019
by Dan Locke
What do you do when you grew up in a time with music that had a big impact on you and you realize that that type of music is barely played on the radio anymore? You start composing and playing that music yourself! That’s exactly what HARDLAND does. The band makes modern day rockmusic and mixes it, in their own unique way, with the amazing characteristics of the 70’s and 80’s. Yes, we’re talking about long hair, even longer guitar solos that sound as if they’re coming from a wall of Marshall amplifiers, extensive keyboard parts and catchy lyrics that you’ll gladly sing along with. The songs are as real and original as the band members themselves and cover themes such as happiness, fear, love, helplessness and deceit. Just as a fortune-teller that lays her tarot cards before you, the songs from HARDLAND seem at first to be simple and predictable stories. In reality they invite everyone to their own interpretation…
Band Members
Paul (Guitar, Vocals)
Aeilko (Guitar, Vocals)
Eric (Drums)
Marco (Keyboards, Coffee)
Remi (Bass, Vocals)
It all started over 15 years ago when Paul and Aeilko were busy working on some CD project. While waiting for the computers to render some audio, they decided to start writing a song together, what became The Only Answer! This beautiful ballad set the tone for these two friends to start writing more music together for, what would become, HARDLAND. We thought it would be cool to actually do something with that very first song and that’s why we decided to shoot this video all over the Province of Utrecht…the area from where we started our musical journey!! Check out the video and enjoy…..and leave us some words below on what you think of The Only Answer.
Daniel Locke: What type of music did you grow up with?
Aeilko Venema : At home, I grew up with my mom listening to The Carpenters and Glenn Miller and some Country. (My Dad got killed in a train accident when I was about 6 years old.) My aunt came to live with us and she introduced me to the music of Santana, The Band, Bob Dylan, and others. My first ever album I bought from the money I earned running newspapers, is Alice Cooper – Billion Dollar Babies, after that Kiss Alive and Queen – A night at the opera, The Tubes…Later I also got albums from Frank Zappa, King’s X and lots of 80’s Wave bands like Tears For Fears and Talk Talk. All these bands influence HARDLAND in one way or another. Paul grew up listening to the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and also lots of the ’80s. Since we are the two songwriters in the band, our influences are most recognizable, of course.
What is live music like in Utrecht, Netherlands?
In the old days (70’s, 80’s and 90’s of the last century you could play all over town. Nowadays we have only very few venues left. That is places where starting bands can play. We do have a couple of places for bands like SiXX AM, Saxon, ZZ Top, Dream Theater and so, but hardly any venues for starting bands. That sucks, by lack of a better word!
What was the first and last concert you went to?
First live concert I ever saw was KISS in Amsterdam (May 23rd, 1976!). I was there taking photos. My second concert was The Tubes in The Hague! So, from the start it was always more than just the music for me…stage presence was just as important! The last concert I went to was a few days ago: The Eagles in Amsterdam. I got free tickets for me and my wife! We had a great time! They still Rock!! On June 25th I will go and see KISS in Amsterdam on their End Of The Road Tour!
How did the band form?
Aeilko: I had my own companies (PA & Light Rental, booking agency and mobile recording studio) and I met Paul as being the sound-engineer of one of the first bands I did bookings for and rented PA and light to. After a while he came working for me and as we had recorded a live show, we were transferring all audio into the computer. In those days (90’s) it took quite some time, so we asked ourselves what to do in the meantime. We decided to try and write a song together. It became the ballad that you can find on our debut album. Turned out we shared a lot of the same musical interests and ideas and decided to continue writing. Just to create the best possible music we could come up with, no ego’s no BS, just music. It didn’t matter who played or sang what, as long as the song benefited from it! Once we had over 100 songs written and recorded, we found 10 songs that really belonged together and became our first album. HARDLAND was still two guys with a few friends joining us on specific parts in songs. As the album got really great buzz, we decided to get a band together. I knew Eric (drums) from earlier work with Detonation – he was their live sound guy and I delivered their PA and light, and Eric and I and Detonation weren’t done yet at that time. I asked a really good friend of mine (that I played with in the early ’80s), Toine Vanderlinden (who recently recorded bass on the last 2 albums of Tony Mills), but unfortunately, he couldn’t continue due to a hand injury. We found Remi, who worked close to Paul at MediaCity (Hilversum, that’s where most Dutch TV stations are located). For the longest time we thought he was a funky bass player but little did we know. He was a rocker as well. Marco was found after talking to another musician friend of mine that I worked with for many years if he knew any great keyboardists. He gave me two names. One guy never answered his phone, Marco did and blew us all away with his playing skills. HARDLAND was a band now!!!
Do you remember your first gig together?
Certainly. We were asked to be support-act for a metal band in the biggest venue of Hilversum, called The Vorstin. It was November 2nd, 2018! We kicked a$$ that night and surprised everyone!
I am going to ask you about some bands from Utrecht. I would like you to tell me something about them if possible.
Black Sun Empire
I must admit that I’ve never heard of them. Will have to check into them.Kensington
They are quite popular in The Netherlands, sell out the major 17000 seaters easily. They have a very distinctive sound. I think they have listened very good to the music of U2 and bands like that. Great band!Marike Jager
I’ve heard of her but never heard her music. So, unfortunately, I can’t really tell you much on her.Detonation
Now, …there’s a great band. I mentioned before that Eric (our drummer) used to be their sound tech and I also worked a lot with them as well. Eric and I recorded, mixed and produced Detonation’s very first album (EP). If I remember correctly it was called Lost in Euphoria. I also played one of the guitar solos on their track Failure to Commit as a guest musician! The guys are still great friends of Eric, Paul and myself. Here’s a little spoiler that you didn’t hear from me: Detonation is getting back together again for a reunion show!! Their bass player (Otto) is playing with Delain nowadays, Koen (Singer) is playing guitar at Heidevolk and Mike (Lead guitarist) is playing in God Dethroned and Lovell’s Blade nowadays. Their original drummer Thomas is recording pop music these days.
What is it like to tour in the Netherlands?
Touring in The Netherlands is great. For foreign bands, it’s weird sometimes, cos Dutch audiences are more listeners and don’t really go nuts at a concert. Some do, but most viewers and listeners. June 15 we will go to Germany for a Festival…they told us that we will meet a totally different kind of crowd there!!! Can’t wait to experience that!!
Your YouTube channel is at 298. How long before it reaches 300.
Really don’t know…hopefully if we will reach the 300 (and preferably more) soon!! We promote our videos often among all our friends on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and ask them to share them among their friends and so on…spreading our music as much as we can. So please, let all of your readers feel free to share our videos among their friends (online).
How did Rock Rage Radio find out about your band?
Aeilko: Rock Rage Radio found out about us when I got in touch with one of their DJ’s (Poison Ivy) through Facebook and she really embraced our band a played our music a lot. Leading to more DJ’s at RRR to pick up on us and giving us airtime.
Eric- What was the project Music Against Cancer Benefit Compilation, back in 2006?
Music Against Cancer was a benefit show to raise money for the Queen Wilhelmina Fund (KWF). A special Fund to raise money and awareness and help to pay for research to fight cancer. All participating bands donated their wages of that night to the fund, as also all the money from the tickets that were sold!
Eric, what happen to Xerpento R?
Xerpento R just quit after 18 years. Mainly due to physical problems to the hand of one of the band members which made it impossible for him to continue to play. Since he was the founding member of the band we decided to stop.
Remi-, your background is a Sound Technician. Why did you decide to get back in front of people with this project?
Well, I still like to be on both sides of a mixing console. Mixing a band brings me joy, but being part of a band brings me even more joy. So that decision was not that hard
Aeilko, You started out playing a Hammond (is that B3)? Why did you switch to guitar?
I wish it were a B3 Hammond. Thing is, it was a group of 10 kids (I was about 12 years old or so) getting lessons in playing Hammond. They were set up as a classroom, with the teacher fronting us and playing the parts that we had to practice and copy! I only started on Hammond cos I wanted to play drums, but my mom told me I had to learn to play the Hammond first (her favorite instrument) for at least a year to prove how much I really wanted to get a drum set. So…I did it and played that “thing” for a little over a year when I eventually got my own drum set. A Pearl Export. But after a few years of playing by myself, I met a couple of other musicians at high school…but they needed a rhythm guitar player, not a drummer! So, I figured, ok…playing alone all the time isn’t getting me anywhere so let’s sell the drums and get a guitar (Ibanez Explorer ‘77…and yes I still have it!) I played in a band with these guys from high school and we actually did one concert at a former school of the lead guitarist. After that one show, I got asked to quit the band and join another (IMHO way better) band, called The HeroeZ! It took me to leave that band after 3 years to actually become a lead guitarist myself. Until then I only played rhythm guitar!
Aeilko, how was it to share the stage with Golden Earring?
Awesome! That was in 1990. I was playing in a band called My Pleasure in those days and we played mostly our own original material. Sharing the stage with Golden Earring was during a Festival in the Netherlands in 1990. The Earring loved us because we were a 7-piece band with 4 girls in it (female drummer, 2 backing vocalists/dancers, and 1 lead vocalist). They were checking us out backstage, some of them butt naked to draw the attention of the girls in our band!! 😊 It was all fun! I had met two guys from the Earring already years before (Singer Barry Hay and guitarist/singer George Kooijmans) at the wedding of another famous Dutch musician back in the day (The bass player of Sweet d’Buster). They were (and still are) really great guys to hang with.
Paul, you started out playing classical guitar. What make and model was it and do you still have it?
It was a classical guitar from the brand Melody Guitars, I still have it, but unfortunately, it’s not playable anymore. Later on, I got a 1971 Hopf Classical Guitar. That one still plays great!!
Also, what was the first song you learned on it? And don’t say “Stairway to Heaven”?
The first song I learned to play was The Animals – House Of The Rising Sun! 😊
Marco, what is Indian Summer Festival?
I really don’t know, actually. I’ve been asked a few times before about this and it turned out that there is another guy with the same name (Marco Kuiper) that had something to do with this festival. I have worked for several years now at the North Sea Jazz Festival and Caribbean Jazz Festival to name a few of the most well-known Festivals I have done but was never involved with Indian Summer Festival in any way shape or form.
How did your band get into the 2019 International singer-songwriter contest?
Aeilko: A Facebook friend from Pekin Illinois, also a singer-songwriter, told me about the International Singer-Songwriters Association. So, when I heard about it, I signed up as a singer-songwriter, but also with the band. At one point they had a contest and we got nominated for 7 different categories. We made into the finals in 4 of those categories. On August 3rd we will find out if we actually won in any of these 4 categories!
How has the internet helped small bands to get known? Remember every band is local somewhere?
Every band was local somewhere, somewhere in time…absolutely. But in the old days, you had to win your audience by going from stage to stage, from town to town….it was a long way to the top! A great buzz along the ride could get you further quicker. But nowadays bands can use the internet as a marketing tool and don’t even need to perform live anymore to reach their audience. Create a video in your rehearsal room, or even in your living room, put your music on it, get it on YouTube and Facebook and there you go. It has become a lot easier to communicate with the world these days and with computers, you don’t even have to be a well-trained and educated musician anymore. Anyone can create within his/her own limits and beyond, which makes it way more colorful and fun. Barriers came down. It’s harder to grow bigger because the sea contains more fish now trying to survive and outdo others. But when you’re great, you’ll be noticed no matter what. So…I always stimulate everyone to follow their dreams, musical, writing, or painting…whatever your talents are…only you can keep you from conquering your dreams!! Don’t let anybody stop you!!
Any plans to play in the United States?
Would absolutely love to! It is a little difficult getting into the US of A these days due to regulations on getting work permits, but we would grab every opportunity we get to come and tour The States. Been there a lot (after all, my wife is American – midwestern girl from Illinois) and visited and worked in a couple of my favorites recording studios in the USA (Muscle Shoals Alabama and in Seattle).
How do you see yourself in 5 years?
We probably see ourselves being 5 years older!!! LOL!! But still as crazy as we are now!! Musically we hope to have reached a lot more goals…recording tons of great music, performing as often as possible in hopefully bigger venues and keep enjoying ourselves big time! Especially the last thing is probably the most important of all…keep the fun alive…and keep growing as a musician, as a person!
Anything for your fans to close with?
We would love to hear from our fans, getting to know their stories and have them inspire us…and who knows…write songs about their experiences as well…because it isn’t about us only….it is about all of us…We are grateful for all the love, support, enthusiasm and moments that we receive and share…live in person, or through our music, in your cd player, or on your iPod or whatever…
As long as we connect in one way or another!
We like to thank everyone who already noticed us, likes us, listens to our music, buys our music, merch….write us….Share your love for HARDLAND with your friends and family! We love you all and look forward to seeing y’all in person at one moment in time at one of our shows and have a great time together!
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