EPICA Singer On 'The Classical Conspiracy', New Guitarist And Musical Roots

Chad Bowar of About.com recently conducted an interview with singer Simone Simons of Dutch symphonic metallers EPICA. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

About.com: How did you decide to record a live album that included classical songs?

Simone Simons: We got the offer to do an opera festival in Hungary with orchestra and choir. In addition to the EPICA set, we could also play classical songs and soundtrack songs of our choice. Since that has always been on our wish list, we said yes immediately. We wanted to make a DVD or live CD to have something to remember such a great event. Since we had so much time invested in rearranging the EPICA songs and the classical songs, we didn't have time to make a DVD out of it. That's why it's a live CD. We're all big classical music and soundtrack fans, so it was bound to happen one day.

About.com: How much time did you have to get everything together before the performance?

Simone Simons: It was half a year. In December 2007 we agreed to the show and put together a setlist we wanted to play. We rearranged the classical songs to fit into the EPICA style, and my boyfriend (Oliver Palotai from KAMELOT) rearranged the EPICA songs for the orchestra. He worked on it for two or three months, then came rehearsal of the band, choir and orchestra separately. A week before the show we went to Hungary and rehearsed for four or five hours a day. It was really a lot of work, and the show went by so fast. I think it's really cool that we have the CD to have a memory of it. We worked so long for the preparations of a great live show, and even though it was a two and a half hour show it went by really fast. We got to meet so many nice new people. The orchestra and choir were amazing. I love Hungary, because my boyfriend has Hungarian roots.

About.com: How did you decide on Isaac (formerly of GOD DEHTRONED) as your new guitarist?

Simone Simons: When Ad (Sluijter) told us the last European tour was his last, we were very sad. He's an excellent guitar player. All of us thought of one person, and that is Isaac. We played once before with him when Ad couldn't make an EPICA show a few years back. We were amazed by his talent as a guitarist and also his live performance. He's an animal on stage. We wanted to have him on the team. He said yes, and we had our first show with him as a member at a festival in Holland. He's also a guitar teacher. He even wrote some guitar lines for our new album, so you'll be hearing his influence on it. He's a young, enthusiastic and good-looking guitarist.

About.com: How did you get started in music?

Simone Simons: When I was 14 I started listening to metal music, then slowly I got into female-fronted metal music like NIGHTWISH, AFTER FOREVER and TRISTANIA. I really loved the first two NIGHTWISH albums. I really like Tarja's voice. It inspired me to take classical singing lessons. I already had singing lessons that were in the pop/jazz style, but I wanted to try and see if my voice could reach a nice sound in classical singing. I got in contact with Mark (Jansen, the band's guitarist) who was still in AFTER FOREVER. We met one day and I sang for him over the phone. He immediately liked my voice. We had a relationship of 4 ½ years, but haven't been together for 3 ½ years. That's basically how it started.

About.com: When your romantic relationship ended, was it awkward at first still being in the band together?

Simone Simons: It was a little bit difficult because we had to live together for a while. EPICA meant a lot to us, and therefore it was always EPICA. At a certain point it was suffocating where we couldn't draw a line between EPICA and ourselves as a couple. I got in a relationship with Oliver pretty fast. Mark searched a little while longer, and now has a really great girlfriend. Things are really cool. In the end it wasn't meant to be, and we are thankful we held onto the band. It would have been such a waste if we would have lost that. We are both working hard to keep it that way. We have the same goal in front of us, and that's EPICA, but not us as a couple. We're just friends, and having fun together as colleagues.

Read the entire interview at About.com.