EPICA – Portrait of a Band
Pictured: Ariën van Weesenbeek, Rob van der Loo, Coen Janssen, Simone Simons, Mark Jansen + Isaac Delahaye - EPICA
Graphic by: Tom Wilson
Written by: Tom Wilson – Sense Music Media
Pictured: Simone Simons - EPICA
A portrait is a person captured in a moment in time. You can look back at a photo taken a decade ago and remember not just where you were, but where you were at as a person. They document us. Photographs and albums are a lot alike. Omega is a snapshot of international symphonic metal troupe EPICA as they were during the 2020 lockdown – a perfect representation of where these six people are as musicians, and as people.
As the snow fell outside her home in Germany, soprano Simone Simons curled up on the couch in her pyjamas, phone in hand, trying not to lose her voice as she knocked out interviews for music press outlets around the world. Her voice croaks a little, and she reaches for her tea while explaining the process of crafting Omega. “This time we took a little bit of a different approach, which might sound normal to a lot of people, but we all live in four different countries, and we don’t have time in between tours to write the songs. After having a little touring break after The Holographic Principle touring cycle ended, we recharged our batteries, and we wanted to go the old-fashioned route and get together in the same room and write, compose and finalise the songs together … to have a more efficient and quick exchange of ideas, instead of sending it via the digital route.”
They decided to do this in March 2020, and we all remember what else happened that month. As luck would have it, however, EPICA managed to record with a children’s choir and the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and wrap up on the last day before social distancing restrictions went into place. Simone and vocalist/guitarist Mark Jansen weren’t so lucky when it came to their own contributions. They were due to record in the studio in The Netherlands, but Mark was stuck home in Sicily, and Simone was stuck in Germany. “I have a son, and schools were closed,” Simone explained – her predicament all too familiar. “The studio in The Netherlands was a Corona hotspot, so it was a dangerous place to be at. Of course, it was the beginning of the pandemic. We didn’t have such a big idea of what we were dealing with, besides the stories that we saw from China. I went to record my vocals in a studio nearby in the morning, and in the afternoon I would be back home, and my husband could go to work. So, we would take turns of taking care of our son, and I had a normal day job! [Laughs]”
If you know the band, you know that they don’t do things by halves. Omega sounds enormous. The vast scope of EPICA’s music has a very cinematic quality. Has the band ever considered doing movie work? “It would be nice. We actually have one CD called The Score, [and] the music was originally written for a Dutch movie. There were some problems on the business side, and in order to not throw the music away, we did release an instrumental album called The Score. The majority of the guys and myself in the band are big fans of movie scores and soundtracks. Of course, the big ones in the scene – John Williams, Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer … If that would ever be possible, I would say yes. It’s also on my bucket list to hopefully one day perform vocals on a movie.”
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EPICA first came onto my radar a few albums back, when they recorded a storming cover of Replica by cyber-metal warlords FEAR FACTORY, off their landmark 1995 album Demanufacture. Hearing Burton C. Bell’s ground-breaking rough/clean vocals tackled by a soprano was quite an experience. “I was not familiar with FEAR FACTORY when I got into rock and metal. I made the transition of being into rock to black metal, because my first boyfriend was a metalhead, and his preferred style was black metal. [I started with] the big ones – CRADLE, DIMMU, OLD MAN’S CHILD … I don’t recall who had the idea to [cover Replica], but there was also the idea behind it … In the beginning, when we started the band, Mark [Jensen], the founder of the band, used to be in another band called AFTER FOREVER, and some people would call EPICA “Replica”.” The choice of cover was a knowing wink to their detractors. “It was fun to record it. It was not the kind of vocal performance I normally go for, but we added some effects over my voice to give it some more edge. We played the song once live with Dino [Cazares – FEAR FACTORY guitarist] in Los Angeles many years ago. That was fun.”
I lamented that I finally made myself a battle vest – FEAR FACTORY patch included, of course – only for there to be no festivals. “Yeah, same here! I’ve got my battle clothes as well, ready to go onstage! [Laughs] We have some festivals lined up for the summer, but we have to keep our fingers crossed. Everything is still so uncertain, and it’s driving me nuts!”
Pictured: Simone Simons and some of her well known portrait photographs
Graphic by Tom Wilson
Clearly, she’d rather be mingling backstage at a festival with an artist laminate hanging around her neck than spending the summer on the couch. “It’s the best way to see my friends and colleagues in the metal scene. I just love the ambience at festivals. Summer is my favourite season of the year. It’s always so much fun. Technically it hasn’t always been great. Depending on your position on the bill, you have very little time for the technicalities. When you have a headline show at a normal venue, you have a nice long soundcheck, and everything is taken care of. [At a festival], there is that pressure, and you have to do everything really quick, and if you don’t have good sound, you may have to skip some songs if your changeover is taking too long. That’s the only disadvantage. This was the first summer for me without festivals. It was weird! [Laughs]”
What were some of her tricks for surviving touring? “Well, a good internet connection helps. Stay in touch with your family and friends. There are some things I always take with me on tour to feel a little bit more at home, like my own bedsheets when I’m in the tour bus, in the bunk. I have my own bedsheets, and some perfumes, so that I can create my own little comfort [zone]. I take my house slippers with me in the tour bus. Some lounge clothes, of course, and my favourite snacks. I have one suitcase which is mostly full of candy and snacks and throat medicine that I have with me, that I can buy only in Germany, and it’s good to have with me if we’re somewhere and I don’t feel that great. Just little pieces from home that make my everyday comfortable.”
Simone joined EPICA when she was seventeen. What advice would she give to her younger self? “Maybe “speak your mind”, I guess? “Don’t be afraid to open up.” I guess I struggled with the pressure of being the engine of the whole circus. The voice is not just your instrument, it’s your body as well, and you have to listen to it, and listen to the signs. I guess I pushed my boundaries and my limits too often, because I felt responsible for everybody. If I could not perform, everything would collapse, so I felt a huge responsibility for everybody. Nowadays I know my limits, and I clearly show them, so that I don’t make the same mistakes anymore.”
It’s no secret that our world is changing rapidly. Things that were considered perfectly kosher ten years ago can look alarmingly tone-deaf today. Almost twenty years ago? It can be even more jarring. How has she seen the world change for women in heavy music since 2002? “In the beginning, there weren’t many metal bands with a female singer. We were given the name “female-fronted metal bands”, and that is sometimes still used nowadays, thinking that the name would define the sound of the band, and that is totally outdated, and also a little bit sexist. Now, if you say it’s a “female-fronted metal band”, you know nothing more, just that they have a [female] singer, and you don’t know what the band sounds like. You would never come up with the idea of saying “male-fronted metal band.” There are more and more amazing bands out there … not only amazing female singers in the scene, but also female instrumentalists, and singer/songwriters, and I can only applaud that.”
Does she still see metal as a bit of a boy’s club? “Yeah, definitely. It still kind of is, but I always like to refer to myself as one of the guys. [Laughs] Even though I am very feminine.” She pauses for a sip of tea – her throat sore from the cold and hours of asinine questions like these. “Yeah, I’m one of the guys. I’m very feminine, but I also love to be surrounded by guys, you know? It’s kind of better compared to working with only women – that’s drama!”
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Outside of EPICA, Simone runs her own portrait photography business, and is clearly just as comfortable in front of the lens as she is behind it. Simone’s looks aren’t the focal point of EPICA – “…beauty will fade one day, and I hope my voice won’t” she told Metalist.com back in 2012 – but she’d be the first one to tell you that being very pretty doesn’t hurt. Women in metal seem damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Simone has chosen the former, and has run with it. Her eye for beauty – which she explores on Smoonstyle, her lifestyle blog – has translated well to her photography work. Her portraits are sublime.
You can check out Simone’s very own lifestyle blog here
Graphic by: Tom Wilson
“I shoot with a couple [of cameras]. My preferred brands are Canon and Sony. I love, for me, typical portrait lenses – 15mm and 85mm.” I bring up one of my favourite shots on her Instagram – one of a security guard in Glasgow named Angela. “I met her at the venue – she was the bouncer of the club. I was doing a portrait session with one of the EPICA fans. That’s something that I like to do on tour as well – I offer a very limited amount of photoshoots with fans, and they can book that. [Angela] was also there, and I thought she was very beautiful, and I just asked her if I could take her photo, and she was totally shocked. But I like to see the beauty within everyone. I think that everyone is unique, and has something special. Just shoot away and hope for the best!” [Laughs]
“A good portrait, to me, is something that keeps your attention for longer than a second.”
Visit Simone’s personal photography website here
Graphic by: Tom Wilson
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Relationships in bands can be strained by things members say about each other in the press. At SENSE, we like to go the opposite direction, so we put it to Simone – what are some of her favourite things about her bandmates?
“Well, I’ve known Mark and Coen [Janssen – synth and piano] the longest. Mark used to be my boyfriend, so I’ve known Mark for almost twenty years now. Mark is a very forgiving person. He’s not someone who holds a grudge towards anybody. I think the best thing for us when we split up was when we decided to keep the band, and not also have that fail as well, because we knew we had something special … Coen has a very unique sense of humour, which can be perceived as arrogant at first, but he’s not. He has a big mouth, but he’s got a big heart. He’s actually very sweet, and super funny. And he laughs at my bad jokes. We have a very lame sense of humour. Isaac [Delahaye – guitars] is always in a good mood. He’s very social and wants to talk, but he can be very grumpy at the same time. He is, like me, a Capricorn … He’s a really cool guy on stage. He’s very energetic, and a great performer. And he gives good hugs, and is becoming a father now in a couple of weeks. There are going to be two babies for him – the album, and his first child, so that’s special. I know how that feels – that was The Quantum Enigma for me. Ariën [Van Weesenbeek], our drummer, he’s incredibly good at imitating certain actors. Ian McKellan or Smeagol or Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter … He is also very good at anybody from our crew or band that has a certain characteristic or unique thing. He can imitate it, and we’re all peeing our pants laughing. He’s very talented. Rob [Van Der Loo – bass] is a huge food and movie fan, so we love to go to restaurants together. We also go to the cinema on days off.”
Follow Simone on instagram @simonesimonsphotography
It's hard not to be impressed by someone like Simone. Aside from her talents as a frontwoman, singer and photographer, she seems very down-to-earth, funny, and candid. For the sake of balance, I felt it necessary to ask – maybe out of a bad case of tall poppy syndrome – what are some things that she sucks at doing? “I tried to do a traditional Christmas dinner. I actually can cook and bake really well, but there are certain dishes that … not everything I cook is good. And then I’m pissed, because I am a perfectionist, and if I fail at something, I have a hard time letting go. I’m also not the best cleaning lady,” she laughs. “I don’t like that stuff, so I’m not talented at keeping the windows clean and stuff like that. But I have a seven-year-old running around, so you probably know that it’s kind of useless.”
She laughs. “It’s a never-ending story.”
