Jankees Braam
Arne
Hi Jankees, and congratulations with your second album
Talisman. Can you tell a bit about the Ixion project, how you decided to start
the project, members+++?
Jankees
Hi Arne, thanks, and I am really
proud of this album and I like it a lot!
Arne
So how did the
IXION project start?
Jankees
Ixion is a project based round me: I
am the composer/bass player/keyboard player, I do all the writing and composing,
including lyrics, and then I ask friends to perform and together we record the
different parts.
I started as a bass player in the Symphonic rock band
Sangamo, where I played for some 12 years. 5 years ago I left the band and
started this project of my own. After I left, I had enough material for a
complete album, and I thought it would be a shame not to do something with it.
So I recorded it myself with the help of a lot of friends from other bands, and
released that album (CryoGenesis) myself. After that I just could not stop
writing, so I wrote a second set of songs that were to become the Talisman
album.
So on vocals we have Michael Hos, Esther Ladiges, Maaike Breijman and
Gerton Leijdekker. Gerton also played most of the guitars, Emile Boellaard plays
drums, Martijn Bos played the Grand Piano and Spinet. Linde Faber played Cello,
Peter Boer played Double Bass and Stick. Gerben Klazinga played a Hammond solo,
and I (Jankees Braam) did al the rest: bass guitar, bass pedals, synthesizer and
keyboards, some guitar, did the recording and the production, made coffee and
sandwiches.
Esther and
Gerben
Arne
You titled the second album Talisman, and it tells
about a mysterious talisman. Would you mind to tell a bit about the story, and
is there a kind of connection between the story on the debut Cryogenesis, and
the new album?
Jankees
There is no direct connection between
CryoGenesis and Talisman. CryoGenesis is set in the future and Talisman is set
in the past, it is about a talisman that has left a bloody trail through
history. It encourages the ‘evil’ in its bearer and in turn feeds and thrives on
the evil deeds of its bearer. Sometimes the effect of the talisman on its bearer
was obvious, sometime the effect was more subtle.
Each song in this story is
about a person who came under the influence of the Talisman, and thus had a
significant effect on history: the downfall of the Knights Templar; the Spanish
destroying the Inca civilization; Judas, who betrayed Jesus; Catherine the Great
from Russia and so on. Each song revolves around a person under the influence of
this magic talisman.
Arne
You do all the writing, lyrics and
composing self. How do you work when you write new material?
Jankees
Most
of the time I will start with a story, and I’ll probably have some pieces of
music left from other albums that I didn’t use. That helps me to set an
atmosphere or a mood. From the storyline I then derive a couple of songs, just
like a film maker creates some scenes for a movie, in which I have a small part
of the story I want to tell. From there I start writing the lyrics, not the
actual lyrics but some lines and words that fit the mood or the scene. That
should inspire me to write some pieces of music for that song, and from there
the actual lyrics evolve and the actual song comes together. So it is kind of
back and forth process between the music, the words and the mood or theme of the
song.
I do all the writing and composing in the computer, apart from the
first lyrics, that is kind of a brainstorming session in front of the fireplace
with a nice glass of whiskey, ha, ha!
Maaike and
Linde
Arne
There are many different musicians involved into the
project. Tell about the recording process and
production?
Jankees
From the point where all the music and lyrics
are written and I have a basic sketch in the computer, I then ask the singers to
come in and try some off the stuff. Just to see if their voice fits the
character of the song and whether or not we need to pitch the song higher or
lower, just to fit the singers voice.
From there we go into the studio and
record the drums, we recorded the drums for both the albums in the Knight Area
studio. After that I record bass guitar, and bass pedals and when that is done I
send everything to Gerton Leijdekker who is my main guitarist and he records the
guitars in his own home studio. He sends me the his recordings back again and I
incorporate those in the songs. Then the other instruments are added, like Grand
piano, Spinet (some sort of harpsichord), Cello, Double bass and so on. I do
like the ‘real’ instrument instead of a sample or a synthesizer. So I will go
through a lot of trouble recording the real instruments.
The keyboards and
synthesizers are then still running in the computer or are triggered through
midi.
Next up are the singers, they all track their songs and are send home
with their recordings to listen to them and get bored or irritated with their
own singing and mistakes. In the meantime I record the synthesizers and anything
else that might be needed. And then the singers come back in for a couple of
sessions to have another go at the songs. Sometimes the second sessions are
better, sometimes the first. But I do give them plenty of time to work, I don’t
rush the singers, they need to relax, or otherwise you will hear it!
Arne
You seem to be influenced of many different kind of
musical styles. Tell about your influences and the music from
Ixion?
Jankees
I don’t have one band that I can pinpoint as my
main influence. When I was young I listened to band like Queen, Saga, Rush. And
later that shifted to Marillion and IQ. And nowadays I listen to a lot of
different stuff: from Kate Bush to Dream Theater, Arena and A.C.T, Ayreon (of
course) and Magenta, Kamelot, Within Temptation and many, many others. But also
classical music and Medieval music or what they call: Early Music, from 1400
until 1600 A.D. Bach and Mozart are to modern for me, ha, ha!
I listen to
them all, and don’t really have one favourite. I think the influence and
inspiration is as divers as my music.
Michael and Gerton
Arne
Beside Ixion you work as a computer programmer and sound
engineer for some Dutch bands, tell us a bit about
this?
Jankees
Well, my work as a computer programmer has really
nothing to do with music, I write programs for CAD (computer aided design) to be
used in Architecture. It does help to get some fast and stable computers though,
ha, ha!
And one of my other hobbies is to work as live-sound engineer for
Knight Area, S.O.T.E, and Ulysses. Because IXION isn’t a live band, this is the
closest to being on stage with a band and working with a band as I get. At this
moment I don’t have the ambition to go on stage again and perform my music, but
to help other musicians when they are on stage and make sure that they are
relaxed when they perform because the guy behind the mixing desk knows their
music, knows the band, knows what they want, is very rewarding. With some of the
bands, the light engineer and I are actual band-members, so that helps.
And
being behind the live mixing desk is very much like being at home or in the
studio recording, but with that extra vibe and tension of a live performance and
an audience.
It also gives me a chance to get on the road with a band and go
abroad, we have been to Germany, France, Belgium, America and of course in
Holland.
Arne
Will it be possible to see some live shows with Ixion in
the near future?
Jankees
No I don’t think so. The IXION is a
studio based project and I don’t think we will ever take it to the stage. But
never say never. And as I said before, much of the things I like in live shows I
find in working with those bands as a sound engineer.
Arne
Can you in short say a few words about each song on the
album from 1- 11?
Jankees
Oh, that is going to be hard, because I
could talk about each song for ages, ha, ha, but I will give it a try:
The Crimson Puppeteer is about Judas who delivers Christ to
his enemies, but we see a different kind of Judas in this song: someone who is
very disappointed in the role his master takes, not the one who will liberate
them from the Romans but a Prophet! Not the kind of future Judas was hoping for.
Everything turns out wrong for him. A very disappointed man!
Legend is about a Celt in Britain, and he gathers a large
war-band to fight the Romans near Hadrian’s wall, he is looking for wealth and
war, but the Talisman has other plans for him.
The song Dawn is about an elf or a ‘spirit of nature’ who is a
witness to the battle ground the morning after the battle. It recognises the
Talisman and sees or knows the effect it must have had on the warrior, he/she
itself is not affected by the Talisman, both being of the same nature they share
some of the characteristics.
The Raven and the
Stone sheds a different light on the great King Arthur, he was under the
influence of this evil talisman, and only Excalibur and the Holy Grail could
prevent him from doing more damage. The Talisman takes Arthur with him to the
grave and waits there for better times.
In Redemption we hear the Talisman escape from the cellar
where it laid for centuries in secure hiding.
The
Abyss covers the escape of the Talisman through a young Novice of that
temple, how it gets inside his head and speaks to him, here we learn something
about how the Talisman influences its bearer. How they flee from the abbey and
burn it down in the end.
Peter
Non Nobis is about
the downfall of the Knights Templar, and one of the last survivors finds that
they do not have to blame just on them selves, he notices the Talisman round the
neck of one of their greatest opponents: King Philip of France.
Then: Cortez, one of my favourite songs from this album. We hear
Marina, a Mayan princess, who was both Cortez’ lover and interpreter. She sees
her people being killed, a civilization destroyed and her lover torn apart
between love, loyalty and the Talisman.
Prelude is
an introduction to the next song, and basically sets the mood for that next
song. It brings us to the 18th century, and we hear some of music that Catherine
would have liked.
Catherine is Catherine the
Great from Russia, who brought culture, music and painters to Russia, all for
the glamour and greater glory of the country, while the farmers and the workers
could barely stay alive. She is easily bored and in need of a new song, another
painting or artist. She practically abducted them from all over Europe, bribing
and threatening people if they would not come to the Russian court. In the mean
time she is involved in strange ‘escapades’ of love and lust. Trying to
compensate for some kind of guild she feels inside?
Revisited brings us to the modern times and today’s world.
What has become of the talisman, where is it now? This song is about a girl who
finds it in a shop, and like so many before her, she hears it speaking to her in
a voice she understands and can relate to. It knows how to manipulate her and
play with her strength and her weaknesses. The Talisman talks about concurring
the world, talks about revenge for every mishap in her life. And just like some
many before her, she falls for all its promises.
Well, that was quick, I could have easily talked twice at much, but this is the album in a nutshell.
Emile and
Martijn
Arne
As I understand you have already finished a third album,
when can we expect that to be released?
Jankees
Well, I haven’t
actually finished the album, but I am almost ready writing all the songs. I
still need to write the last song of the album, the ‘Grand Finale’ and do some
rearranging in the other songs. Add bits and pieces, remove a verse here and
there.
So from there we will again go into the recording and production
process that I mentioned earlier. So I am afraid that you will have to wait
another 2 years for that album. I am sorry…
Arne
I wish you good luck with Talisman, and hope many people
will discover your nice progressive symphonic rock. Thanks for the
interview!
Jankees
Well Arne, thank you! And I am glad you enjoyed
the album. And it was a pleasure talking to you.
