“I need singing in order to survive and thrive” – interview with Simone Simons from Epica

Dutch power-metal icons Epica have never seized to amaze the audience with their monumental and cinematic approach to creating music and desire to implement such essential topics as self-improvement and spirituality into their albums. In the upcoming Epica’s album “Aspiral”, that comes out on the 11th of April via Nuclear Blast, the band one more time makes us feel inner-strength, analyze the world around us and our inner world, and believe that in the end of the day “darkness dies in light” as it is sang in one of the songs of the album.

Chaoszine has a chat with Epica‘s front-woman Simone Simons about the conclusion of “A New Age Dawns” Saga, her embracing the image of a villain, recent “Nosferatu” movie and other captivating topics.

Good evening, Simone! How are you doing?

Simone: I’m quite fine, and you?

I’m great, I’m in my pajamas and with a cup of tea.

Simone: I’m also in my pajama! So it’s a pajama party!

Yeah, metal pajamas party! Awesome. So, first and foremost, I would like to congratulate you with the upcoming release of Epica’s new album, “Aspiral”, it’s absolutely gorgeous and I’m very, very glad to talk about it.

Simone: Thank you!

And as far as I remember, the album was inspired by Stanislav Tchaikovsky’s sculpture. So, when you shared this information about the major inspiration for the album, did you want to make it like a riddle for the listeners? Or did you want them to have a certain image of the album? Because, you know, sculptures are quite difficult to interpret. And it really, really fascinates me because I hardly remember any band who was straight up inspired by a sculpture.

Simone: Yeah, well, the song itself, “Aspiral”, was inspired by the sculpture, not the entire album. But we chose that song as the title track for the album because of what it stands for. To aspire, to renew, to rebuild, to be reborn out of chaos. And that is a little bit like a red line going through a lot of the lyrics. And they are not directly connected to the sculpture and not all songs are written, you know, coming from the sculpture itself. It’s just the only song, the “Aspiral”, the title track.

But, yeah, for Epica, we definitely wanted to implement some new elements to our music, to the visual aspect of Epica. And we also worked with a new artist, a graphic designer, who is also a sculptor and also, funny coincidence, is a huge fan and was inspired by Stanislav Sokalski. And the idea to write a song inspired by his art came from Rob because we were on tour many years ago in North America. And then Rob came to me and told me that I need to watch this amazing documentary on Netflix.

We always share these things and are big movie fans. So I watched the documentary and he told me that he’s meeting the creators of the documentary and also the owners of Sokalski’s art and have it displayed in their house. And I’m also welcome to join. I watched the documentary first and it was really nice to meet both of the people who are a couple, Glenn and Lena. She happens to be Dutch as well. He’s American and they were in touch with Stanislav Sokalski in the later years of his life when he lived in Los Angeles. And then Rob told me, yeah, I would totally love to one day write music inspired by art. And that could be a side project or for Epica. He didn’t know back then. And I fast forward to when we were getting together to collect all the songs that the guys had been writing. Rob had a couple of songs and one of them was also “Aspiral” and he decided to show it to us. He wasn’t sure at first, but we all loved the song and it ended up being on the album. And in the process of writing the other songs and also the lyrics for the other songs, we found that “Aspiral” carried the message really well as like the overall feeling for the album and the meaning of renewal.

Epica has been around for now 23 years and we have done many albums. And with each album, we kind of strive also to kind of evolve, to renew ourselves, to keep things interesting. But that also goes for our personal lives as well. You know, we’ve reached an age now. We’re all, it sounds like we’re old, but middle aged. I mean, we’re not very young rockers anymore. So, you know, a lot of those things do apply to us as well that you need to keep on reinventing yourself. And that is, it’s a very spiritual album, it’s a very beautiful representation for us as individuals, for us as a band and also for the current society, where everything is kind of chaotic at the moment. And we all need to kind of stick together to rebuild our world and our own private world as well.

I actually even thought at first that it was like a concept album, but as far as I understood you didn’t have it in mind, yes? “Aspiral” is not a concept album, no?

Simone: It’s not a concept album, but we always have recurring topics that kind of revolve around improving your well-being, your mental state, your spirituality, your journey, you know, your development as a human being. In this album, I would say, there are some spooky scary elements. A big part of it came when we were working on another track which is not on the album, but was written and recorded at the same time, “The Ghost in Me” – a cover of the song “Dans Macabre,” which was connected to the reopening of the amusement park.

And so that blended into some of the other songs like “T.I.M.E” and “Arcana”. They also have a little bit of this dark spiritual, slightly eerie dark fantasy vibe. I am a huge fan of movies and Tim Burton style. I love anything thriller, horror, science fiction, so I’m very glad that is also kind of an element that really is in the foreground for some of the songs.

You know, I was watching a music video, I think, for Arcana and I saw a comment that you fully embrace your villain era. I think, now I understand what this comment was about, so how do you feel being like a fantasy sci-fi villain, at least visually?

Simone: Well, for me doing photo shoots and video shoots is always really fun because I get to express my creative side besides the singing. I love the visual aspect of the band and also the artwork itself. We worked together with Dutch company called Kunsthof and we gave them the songs that we wanted videos for and what the lyrics stand for and then they came up with this concept. They felt the music, the vibe of the song and they created some really cool story about this mystical creature that the guys – the band members who are wearing all the masks – are trying to locate. And I am then portraying this mystical creature. And they’re trying to kind of break free from the power that this mystical dark creature holds over them. I think in some of the lyrics of, for example, “Obsidian Heart” and “Darkness Dies in Light” it’s said about not letting the darkness get to you, fighting against the darker side within yourself and breaking free from your demons, so to speak…So yeah, that was a lot of fun to film those videos, I did many crazy stunts and we even recorded another video which will be released when the album is released. So, I can’t wait for people to see that, I haven’t even seen the first draft of that video yet, we recorded it last month but that’s so much fun for me. I am by no means an actress nor do I aspire to be one, but it’s a lot of fun with the costumes, the makeup and special effects. It’s something I enjoy very much.

Cool! The the next thing I would like to say is that “Aspiral” is very dear to me, because the very first Epica song that I heard more than 20 years ago was “The Last Crusade”, which is, as we know, the number one song for New Age Dawns saga. And, finally, 15 years later we see the continuation of the saga. So how did you come up with this idea to go on speaking about the spirituality, maybe some religious aspects in this album again?

Simone: Yeah, that is originated by Mark and all his lyrics that have the subtitle “New Age Dawns” were coming from him, but it is a nine keys cycle and this is our ninth album, so it was a great opportunity for Mark to conclude the “New Age Dawns” saga in this album, because it’s part 7, 8, 9 and it’s the ninth album so it’s kind of perfect timing, I guess.

We always divide up the lyrics 50-50 and I had no idea when he was writing his lyrics that he had the idea of finalizing “New Age Dawns”, but a lot of fans have requested even to do a set list once where we play all nine of them in a row, which I think is a cool idea. I think the number nine also is like the conclusion of a cycle before you start the two digits, you know, before a tenth album, so everything was kind of the right timing to do on this album. Who knows, what Mark will come up with for the other album – if he’s going to start another saga, what people might think first as a trilogy, but then he expands it to however long he wants it to be.

“The Grand Saga Of Existence”, is my absolute favorite song on the album, it gave me the most massive shivers and can you please tell a little more about the creation of this song, are there any interesting details?

Simone: Yeah, it’s also one of my favorite songs on the album. I enjoy listening to it, it’s really turned out amazing. I especially also love the mid part when things get really heavy and I can’t wait to perform that song live. That is the last of the three “new age dawns” where it’s kind of the conclusion and the big step forward for us to a newer consciousness in the current times that we’re in. We need to kind of wake up and make a shift in our consciousness again. As to the song itself, I remember when I was working on the vocal lines, I had this idea for the chorus and the melody was kind of happy in a way, but the guys at first thought “okay this doesn’t really fit, but we like it, so we’re gonna have to find a way to make it fit.” Then funny enough both Koen and I had the same idea that we need to use the vocal line from the chorus as an intro, so by the time the chorus comes, people have heard the melody already, so the song actually starts with the chorus in a way. Yeah, I’m very happy with how it turned out, it’s a brilliant song, it’s very complex, it holds everything that people know Epica stands for and it’s my top three of the album as well, so we have the same taste I guess.

Yes, I really like it’s multifacetedness, if there is such an English language, I hope you understand.

Simone: Yeah, I know what you mean.

So, you kinda already started answering this question – what were your other personal favs on the album?

Simone: I really really love “Arcana”, “Obsidian Heart” and “Aspiral” I guess, yeah but also “Metanoia” and “Apparition” so it’s very difficult to choose. Yeah, if I had to choose only three, then I would pick “The Great Saga..”, “T.I.M.E” and “Obsidian Heart,” those are my three favorites, at the moment.

Well yeah, in the meantime I know that this question is not very kind, because it’s like asking if you have kids, which kid is your favorite?

Simone: Yeah indeed, you have to choose. Of course, you know we’re with six people in a band, everybody writes music and we all have a slightly different style or preference, so each of us also has different favorites. But, we want in the end the album to feel complete, and it’s not part of the ego that everybody wants the song that they wrote to be on the album, it needs to make sense, you know, and I think we managed to do that.

Another question I have about New Age Dawns Saga is that in two previous albums, “Consigned to Oblivion” and “Design Your Universe”, the major topic was shown from different angles, so, how does the saga evolve in “Aspiral”?

Simone: I guess some people keep on like they are stuck in the same hamster wheel or can’t have a spiritual breakthrough, personally, and I kind of joked about that even on this album I’m singing “Search for the Answers in Your Heart,” and even in the first album of Epica, the “Sensorium,” we’re also searching for the answers, you know, to the big questions of life, and that is, I guess, a little bit of a journey that will last for your whole life, that we all have these big life questions that are answered in a way during the course of our lives.

Now we are all team 40 plus, we have seen a lot of the world, we have gone through our own personal struggles, beautiful and sad things happening in our lives, and that is also kind of included in this album. But I think especially as we reach the end of the album with the title track “Aspiral” kind of the main message is that no matter how dark the world (or your own world) gets, there’s always hope, you know, and that’s what we also try – to kind of send this message that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.

I love the saying, I don’t know where I heard or read it first, but “hope dies last”. You can pick it out of many of the lyrics that “Aspiral” is also a rebirth from chaos. Yeah, I guess we will probably continue writing about these topics until we go into retirement, as we go on with our lives, you know, our private lives, but also together as a band, traveling the world, experiencing everything that life has to offer, and we put it in our music.

Yes, these topics are very, very important, because music is a very strong tool of influence, and in the case of Epica, it’s positive influence for sure, and that is why I find the band very valuable.

Simone: Thank you.

So, you mentioned that you are a great movie fan, especially horror, thriller, and I can’t help asking what films have impressed you recently?

Simone: Well, if I’m talking about the album, there’s one song in particular that I felt inspired by a movie, and that’s “Interstellar,” and the song in question is “Cross the Divide”. It is talking about kind of space-time-dimension, travel that you can go into, like, the future, or your future self can go into the present and change the course of the future, or change something in the past to help change the course of the future, and talking also about decisions we make as individuals, that we wished or thought that if I would have chosen something else, how would my life have turned out? Also, it’s no secret that I’m a huge “Alien” fan, so I also saw “Romulus”. And if we speak abut recent movies – I went to the cinema to see “Nosferatu”. I do love a good vampire movie with dark romance/ Oh, and I watched “Maria”, the movie with Angelina Jolie, because I also love opera, and I like Angelina Jolie. I really wanted to see that movie, knowing the perspective of an artist, and being in the limelight, and what’s expected of you, and how everything can look really beautiful on the outside, while the artist itself is struggling with whatever issues they may have, and it was a very sad movie, but very beautifully made cinematic masterpiece, I think.

And I’ve seen “The Substance” as well. I was so curious about the movie, because I heard so much about it, so I bought it on Apple Plus, and then I watched it with some friends, and I knew there were some gory scenes, but I was sometimes sitting in front of the TV with my mouth open, like, oh my god! And a huge praise goes to Demi Moore. I think she deserved the Golden Globe, and that she did an amazing job. It’s a huge topic for us women, being in the entertainment business, and the fact that we’re often objectified, and that we have an expiration date, you know, that was also very interesting for me to watch.

What else… I bought “Nosferatu” as well, I went to the cinema, and I wanted to have the movie, so I’m gonna re-watch it again. I just love going to the cinema, I love buying movies, I have all the streaming platforms, and love to watch series like “Dexter”, “Serial Killers”, or “Game of Thrones,” and now I’m totally into “The White Lotus” as well.

Simone, you started your major journey with Epica at the age of 18, if I’m not mistaken, and now you are really a full-time power-metal icon, that is true, so is there something you would want to say to that 18 years old you, if you could have this opportunity? Is there something that you know now, that you didn’t know back then?

Simone: Yeah, I guess I gathered quite a lot of experience in these years, and I think my decision back then to really go full-time for the music business came from my inner intuition, my gut feeling that I had to do it, and you know, there’s always time to go back to school or study something if it didn’t turn out, and that has been a little bit my life philosophy, you know, to go with what your heart tells you.

I would have never have guessed back then that Epica would have such a long life, but I had just this feeling that this is the road that I need to take, and that it doesn’t lead to immediate success, and that’s not a steady upward climb to success, you know, you sometimes need to fall on your butt and crawl back up, and you need to make sacrifices, but it’s going to be worthwhile.

Yeah, but, I guess, during the years that I struggled with my health, I thought “is this worth it?”, especially in the pandemic time I really felt that this is my calling, and that I felt a big part of me was missing, and that I need singing in order to survive and thrive, so I think I will keep on making music until the day I die, I guess, whether that is still in the metal band or something else, music is in my DNA, it’s part of me, and yeah, that’s, I will find my way. I guess, that’s something I would say, and just trust your intuition, like you’re on the right path.

It’s very beautiful for your younger self indeed! The last question is – what would be a message for the fans who will surely read this interview when it comes out?

Simone: Yeah, I hope that the people will love this album, that they will welcome it into their collection, and that they can hopefully feel all the emotions and feelings that we put in the music, you know, that it travels to their hearts and minds, and the melodies will be keeping them up at night, because they can’t sleep, because they always hear the Epica songs, so that’s definitely the case with me. I deliberately sometimes don’t listen to the songs, because I know that I will be waking up in the middle of the night, because there are definitely a couple of earworms on there. But yeah, thanks to all the people that support Epica, we can’t wait to play the new songs live for everyone.