Nemesea are a female fronted Gothic/Rock outfit from the Netherlands funded from a rather unusual source - the internet. They are the first band to succesfully produce an album from the money donated by fans using sellaband.com. The band were due to play a couple of gigs here in Scotland, but unfortunatley had to cancel. With curiosity getting the better of me, i thought it was time to find out just what all the fuss is about. We got in touch with Nemesea's drummer Steven Bouma to find out about the band, how they started and who their influences are.
HOLV: So how's life in the band at the moment?
Steven Bouma: Great! we're doing shows in the Netherlands at the moment. And we're working on a new album!
HOLV: For those you may be unfamiliar with Nemesea, could you tell us just a little about yourselves?
SB: We're a Gothic/Pop/Rock Band from the Netherlands. You might have heard or read about us, we were the first band to record an album for sellaband. A really cool website where people can support music that THEY like.
HOLV: I hear your second album was produced partly due to $50,000 dollars of Internet donations. How exactly did that come about, and how did you feel when you heard the news?
SB: Ofourse it was fantastic news! Not only were we the first artist to achieve this on sellaband.com, it also happened within 3 months after signing up. The idea of sellaband is that people who hear your music can become a believer if they like your music. This means they invest 10 dollar, and get the album that is to be recorded in return. When you have 5000 believers, you get $50K for the entire project.
HOLV: I've seen in your weblog that unfortunately you had a to cancel a couple of shows in Scotland (Aberdeen and Glasgow) last month. Do you have any plans to return to Scotland?
SB: We were very sorry about that, and yes we will return!
HOLV: Did you go for a different approach when recording your second album, or did you stick to your original formula?
SB: Well we definitely did not stick to the same formula! Not only has the band changed some members, the second album also sounds completely different from the first one. Of course we are still a heavy sounding female fronted rock band, but the concept of our music is different. Instead of the choirs and strings that most gothic/rock/metal bands use, we decided to go for a more electronic approach. For example we have cooperated with a known DJ who helped us with the sound-design. The music is also more groove-oriented.
HOLV: Who do you consider to be amongst your greatest influences, and have any dutch bands influenced you in particular?
SB: We all very much like Rammstein, an example of a band with a unique sound that have managed to combine rock/metal music with electronic influences. Other than that I can't really tell. Everybody in the band has a broad musical background (metal / funk / jazz / dance / classical etc), and I feel we've managed to combine this into our own unique sound.
