Stream of Passion Interview 2014
Stream of Passion Interview 2014
Performed in Person
Stream of Passion will bring out a new album on April 18, 2014. It will be presented to the world at the CD presentation show in Bibelot (Dordrecht, NL). Almost a year ago "we" (John Thornburgh and me) did an interview with vocalist Marcela Bovio for Sonic Cathedral. In that interview there were some hints about a new album and that Stream of Passion was looking for ways to realize that. I still can remember (and read) that I mentioned crowd funding as an option. Marcela said at that time that that might be an option. Now we know that it was the chosen and successful option. The album A War of Our Own is ready for release.
All of this is a good reason to sit down again with Stream of Passion to talk a little on how things have developed over the last year. As I see them quite regularly I found it hard to make it a formal interview. It was more a normal chat with a focus on certain topics. The location in which the talk took place was therefore chosen to be informal too. We met after Johan van Stratum (bass) and Marcela finished their work at work, the Metal Factory. Johan had to replace Rob van der Loo (Epica), since Rob was ill that day. Marcela had her regular vocal lessons. We sat down in the lobby where also the students gather. Unfortunately Johan was too busy due to the circumstances to join in. So I could only talk with Marcela. What a “terrible” situation.
The conversation was not recorded to keep it very loose, although a question-answer structure is derived from the talk. I was at the try-out show in de Peppel in Zeist (March 8) and because of a no photo policy have no pictures from that event to illustrate. Unfortunately Marcela was feeling sick that day. It didn’t really impact the show; it was great with a number of new songs. Marcela was a little less active on stage. Marcela was looking much better than Saturday after the show, so there was a predictable phrase to start with today.
Ton: How do you feel today?
Marcela: Much better, but still not 100%.
Ton: How was it to be back on stage, you didn’t play for a long time?
Marcela: It was good to be back on stage. Although I felt sick, at the end of the concert I still had energy left over but when we went backstage it was all gone. During the set I just wanted to do what I normally do, headbang and give it all; but soon I realized it wasn't an option. We even had a bucket ready at the side of the stage just in case it all went really bad, but luckily it wasn't necessary. And we have some other shows coming up soon. Next one is also a kind of try-out with Delain, and then the official release show.
Ton: Did the crowd funding campaign bring changes?
Marcela: As you were informed quite early in the process, you know we were quite uncertain at that time. But we had to. The situation with the record company was not optimal and most likely there was also a mismatch in (musical) expectations.
Ton: Stream of Passion is hard to classify as you have a kind of unique sound (-- I know I’m biased --).
Marcela: As we wanted to do our own thing we decided on going the uncertain path of a campaign. But we said “fingers crossed” and “go for it.” We felt we had to make the next step. It’s great that it was a big success. And we appreciate all the people who trusted and supported us. It was great to see again the faces of our loyal fans and supporters at the listening session and now .
Ton: Waiting in the line before the show on Saturday was fun as well. Because you see a lot of them every time again.
Marcela: I think so now more than ever as they all made this possible. The new album is a project of which they are part.
Ton: Did the campaign also change the roles in the band? Marcela: The campaign was great to do. However we underestimated the effort we had to put in. You now have to do everything. Johan and myself organized the basic activities around the campaign, Martijn Peters (drums) focused on the promotion and the artwork and Eric Hazebroek (guitar) on the social media. All members did their part. Next came a lot of work in preparing all the perks for the crowd funders.
Ton: And around the album?
Marcela: Also a lot of work around that. We knew already, as it is our fourth album, what you need to do for the production. The big difference is that you need to arrange everything by yourself. It all takes more time the expected. However the good thing is we now can make our own decisions. We had to find a distribution channel, what we found with RoughTrade. Marketing and promotion is done by a set of teams, for the Netherlands and for Europe. The material we need to make that ourselves too. The freedom to make your own decisions makes its worth doing it. An example is the listening sessions in the Sandlane Recording Facilities in Rijen. We could organize that for press and specific crowd funders. This was a very nice event and a great way to start promotion. And we could control directions and timing.
Ton: We talked a lot about the things around the album. Did the campaign also influence the album?
Marcela: That is difficult to say. Some songs are written before the campaign.
Ton: Yes, “The Curse” and “Earthquake” were already played on stage before the campaign. Marcela: True. The last song written is “Out of the Darkness”. This song is written with much more energy. Energy that is created by the positive input by the success of the campaign. The involvement and support brought so much energy. It created a community feeling and I assume this had some influence on the writing and helped us to make the decisions. Also it gave us the energy to make a success as we also had the responsibility to the crowd funders.
Ton: I couldn’t “analyse” if I wanted the lyrics because they were not provided with the promo copy.
Marcela: No problem, I can send you the lyrics
Ton: No need to do that because the review (without that “analysis”) is already ready for publication.
Marcela: Great.
Ton: From the press release I picked up some things about “go for your dream”?
Marcela: Yes. The campaign did support us to go for our dream.
Ton: Some of the songs also reference political engagement?
Marcela: Not really political engagement. It’s more about injustice and unevenness. I’m now living for some time in the Netherlands. The system here takes into account that people can’t take care of themselves. In Mexico the system is not that social. And instead of taking any initiative they blame everybody else; the politicians promise everything, police are corrupt, criminality rules, ….
Ton: In the Netherlands also people blame everybody else.
Marcela: True, but still the overall attitude is different. In Mexico we have a Spanish expression, “It’s me, me and in the last place me”. And there are only a few that go against this, most just accept and wait for … The songs are more to activate people and support them in taking initiative to realize their dreams and live their life. In Mexico I was not saying anything either, but that has changed. Make the difference yourself, even if it’s just a small thing. Do something.
Ton: Another you couldn’t miss is the reference to Mara.
Marcela: It’s not just Mara. We encountered also other situations with cancer. Here is something similar. Yes, it’s unfair but you can’t change it. Don’t let yourself go down from bad luck. Get up and follow your dreams. Find the power to conquer hindrance and change your life.
Ton: Now we’re here at your work. Did that influence the album?
Marcela: I don’t know. What I know, I meet a lot of talented people here with different views and also in different genres. It’s more that I better understand the background and structure of other types of metal.
Ton: Thank you for your time and the nice chat. Do you have a last thing for the readers.
Marcela: We can’t tell enough that we are so happy with the support and contribution. Without that we were not able to realize our dream. Thank you so much.
