Interviu cu Kensington

 

(De la stâng la dreapta: Niles, Casper, Eloi și Jan) (Fotograf: Rahi Rezvani)

 

Sinceri, deschiși, entuziaști și plini de speranță sunt doar câteva cuvinte care ar descrie trupa olandeză Kensington. După ce am scris articolul în care v-am făcut cunoștință cu muzica lor și v-am povestit câte ceva despre istoria trupei (vezi articolul aici), am vrut să revenim cu încă unul în care să faceți cunoștință cu Eloi, Casper, Jan și Niles. Chiar dacă nu am reușit să vorbim cu fiecare dintre ei, Casper Starreveld ne-a răspuns la anumite întrebări și pentru ceilalți membri ai trupei. De la explicații legate de noul lor album, Control, până la ce așteptări să avem de la concertul lor de la Electric Castle, acesta s-a asigurat că fiecare curiozitate pe care o avem să fie lămurită. Așa că, aici vă prezentăm interviul nostru cu Casper Starreveld, chitaristul principal al trupei Kensington.  

 

Honest, open minded, excited and hopeful are just a few words that could describe the dutch band Kensington. After we wrote the article in which we introduced you to their music and we told you a little bit of the band’s history, we wanted to bring them back, but in a more personal way, so you can meet Eloi, Casper, Jan and Niles. Even though we didn’t get to talk to each of them, Casper Starreveld answered some of the questions for his bandmates too. From explanations related to their newest album, Control, to what expectations we should have from their show at Electric Castle, he made sure to answer our questions. So here you have it, our interview with Casper Starreveld, the lead guitarist from Kensington.

(De la stânga la dreapta: Casper, Jan, Eloi și Niles) (Fotograf: Rahi Rezvani)

 

Have you ever been to Romania before? / What do you know about Romania?

Nope, never, so it’s very exciting for us. We have some really cool Romanian fans, but we have to admit we don’t know much about Romania yet. We know some of the history and stories about Dracula of course, and Ceaușescu and his huge parlementbuilding in Bucharest. But we’ve got a lot to learn and there’s plenty to discover for us!

 

What achievement are you most proud of as musicians?

We are quite proud of the fact that we are touring the world, as a band from a relatively small country. We managed to keep exploring new territories and meet new people, that combined with a steady output of new music every once in a while got us where we are today.

 

Who made you want to be who you are today? Are there any people that are still your role models ?

I guess no one really ”did it” for us, I think we all had a really strong notion that we wanted to be musicians. Maybe not all at the same age, but the big conviction that we share is that there was never a real alternative. We had to be in a band, period. Of course we have our heroes, and bands and artist we love listening to, but we don’t really have idols or people that we consider as role models. If we really had to pick one, it would probably be someone like Dave Grohl.

 

What music/musicians are you into at the moment?

We listen to all kinds of stuff, right now bands and artists like Ryan Adams, Post Malone, Foals, The War On Drugs, Notorious BIG, Gojira and Tame Impala are in our tourbus-playlist.

 

What music did you grow up listening to and how does it influence your music today?

I believe that every note of music you hear in your life will somehow influence your musical brain, and thus your music at some point. We all came for different backgrounds, musically. Eloi heard a lot of Beatles when he was young, Jan grew up with classical music. Niles’ first record was Iron Maiden and I grew up with stuff like Dire Straits and The Police. I think a big part of our sound is the diversity we all put in to the mix.

(De la stânga la dreapta: Niles, Eloi, Jan și Casper) (Fotograf: Rahi Rezvani)

Why did you decide to change the theme/artwork of the album’s cover (Control) into a picture with you and a slightly lighter color?

We used to be scared to be our own covers, and we wanted to let the music speak for itself, no faces or posed images. With Control we felt like we started a new age for the band, the first three records felt like a completed trilogy. Control is more personal, more in-depth, so we figured it made sense to show ourselves more, both literally and musically. We worked with a photographer called Rahi Rezvani and he shot these beautiful slightly out of focus faces, which we really liked. It connected with the music and the ”fresh start”, so we used it and are still very happy with it.

 

Why did you to call your last album Control?

It refers to the song Control, that starts with ”no control, how wonderful, how horrible”. We were at a point in our lives and carreer where we kind of had the feeling that we lost control a little bit, sometimes. With success come struggles, new responsibilities, pressure. But a lot of cool things as well, insane tours, great parties and lots of craziness. To be on that thin red line of losing control and on the other hand keeping everything going, was quite intense. Eloi put a lot of his personal experiences in to the lyrics, and musically it felt different and deeper then before. It felt as we were taking back control of our lives.

 

How do you feel about your fanbase being so varied?

It’s great. It feels like a really big compliment to have so many different people visiting our shows. I guess we never were a certain ”scene” band, and the extensive touring over the last couple of years really payed off, it seems people want to stick a long for the ride, that’s so cool!

(De la stânga la dreapta: Jan, Casper, Eloi și Niles)  (Fotograf: Rahi Rezvani)

What is favourite song to play live and why?

There are a couple I guess.. St. Helena is always the big gnarly ending to the set, Regret is interesting because there are some more electronic elements, All For Nothing never gets boring, Do I Ever has loads of energy.. Hard to choose!

 

Do you read reviews or critcs about your albums or performances?

No, we tend to not read reviews. Super cliché, but we are our own worst critics. If it’s good enough for us, it is good enough, we are convinced of that fact.

 

What’s next for Kensington?

Right now we are focused on the upcoming European Tour, then it’s the big Amsterdam Arena gig in July, alongside of a lot of festivals. After the summer we won’t be playing for a while cause we’ll focus on writing new music.

 

What can our readers expect from your show/s ?

We love to bring energy and power to our livesets. We need something back from the crowd as well though, it’s forbidden to stay silent or stand still. We will play a lot of stuff from Control, but of course we’ll play our favorite older songs as well. We are really looking forward to be playing Romania for the first time, so buckle up Electric Castle!

 

 

Kensington sunt, de fapt, patru oameni a căror viață s-a învârtit încă de când erau mici în jurul muzicii. Și cred că acest lucru se vede cel mai bine la concertele lor. Energia, interacțiunea pe care o au cu fanii și, bineînțeles, piesele care nu te lasă să stai într-un loc, dovedesc că pentru Eloi, Casper, Jan și Niles, muzica nu este un job, ci mai degrabă o distracție sau o scăpare din viața de zi cu zi. Așa că, pregătește-ți pelerina de ploaie, cizmele de cauciuc și eliberează-ți programul pentru că, în 21 iulie, prezența la concertul lor de la Electric Castle este obligatorie!

 

I would say that Kensington are actually four men who had to be musicians ever since they were children, because their lives evolved around music. The energy they bring live , interaction with fans and of course the songs that make you dance even if you don’t know them, prove that for Eloi, Casper, Jan and Niles music is not a job, it’s something they do out of pure pleasure. So get your raincoats, wellies and clear your schedule for the 21st of July because you can’t miss their concert at Electric Castle !

 

 

Autor

  • Eli Giuglea

    "You see us as you want to see us—in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions." - The Breakfast Club

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