r>I think it is our best album up to now. Don’t disregard the other albums of course, they are also good. But, I think this is a very heavy kind of Heidevolk. It is heavier, a bit less folky, but it is still folk metal. We are really proud of it!

It is also a concept album, about the Batavian tribe that lived in The Netherlands. It is an inspiring story about how they travelled to The Netherlands, how they allied with the Romans because they couldn’t beat them and how they eventually rebelled against them and gained their own freedom. That’s a lot huh? (laughs)

So, if the fans get this album, will it represent everything that Heidevolk is about?
It does represent us now. It has a little different Heidevolk in it but it is still Heidevolk. We had to write accordingly to the story so, it also represents the story. So, I think you should have a few songs from each album to represent us.

You guys always write your lyrics about German Mythology. How did that started? Is it more of a “history” type of interest or is it a “believe” type of interest?
Are we pagan believers? Well, maybe some of us have their own kind of way of believing. We are maybe honoring but not praying to any gods or whatever. We don’t really want to sing about nowadays living or politics or how pretty the flowers are, or whatever.

Yeah, [there’s] an interest in history. But we are also trying not to teach a history lesson: we can sing about history, we can re-live it, re-create it but, we try to not teach a lesson. I think it is something you can escape into you know? It is not of the world today, it is [about] something really beautiful that was… before.

Heidevolk has a pretty unique sound (in my opinion)! So, comparing to other folk metal bands, how do the crowds react to your concerts in general?
I would say it is always very good. I would say that we sound better live than on CD. When the crowds see us live and they don’t have our CDs, they’re like: “Oh man, I want to buy this CD”. When they listen to it at home: “I know this is them but I though it was better live”. So, this is something we should work on.

But, people who have our CDs are just blown away because we give a very energetic live show and they can see us onstage, enjoying the whole thing. So, I think that when that energy bounces off the stage and comes back… it has always been very, very good. Also, over here [North America], I didn’t know what to expect, but sometimes it is even better than it is in Europe (laughs).

If you could name one concert or country with the wildest crowd, which one would it be?
I have to name two: Italy and Mexico. When you see thousands of Mexicans singing “Deutsch”, I get the shivers… they are totally crazy! They tear the whole place down, they are so enth

usiastic afterwards. I think that was the most enthusiastic crowd we’ve ever had.

Where have you had the wildest after parties?
There is always a thing we call “two start behavior in a four star hotel”. I think you can get what this is about.

Yeah, usually when we stay in hotels, we have a lot of free time afterwards then we drink a few things. One example: in York, a few weeks ago, we went to a bar after the show and we had really good drinking with the fans and talked a lot [to them] over there. Then we went back [to the hotel] and we were like: “Let’s have something to drink”. So, the manager comes and he decides: “Ohh! Let’s open the bar”… at 3:00am. That’s one thing you shouldn’t do if you know us.

So, we were drinking until 6:00am. At that point I was asleep somewhere. Well, it ended up with two of our guys lying on the ground somewhere in the alley and the manager was: “Oh no! What am I going to do?” One of them thought it was cool to do some wrestling moves on the bed so; the bed broke down (laughs). So, I think those are the after parties that are the “roughest”.

As a musician: what are you main inspirations?
I listen to a lot of different bands. I will say that I have many musical inspirations. But what does inspire me [the most] is when I talk to people (I talk to a lot of people), and I listen to their stories and how they are experiencing stuff, and that gets noted somewhere in my head. I also watch a lot of movies and listen to a lot of music, read about whatever. I think this is my main kind of inspiration. At some point there is some kind of “data overload” and all the stories come out.

So, at some point, when I am quiet in my room… there it comes and I take the guitar, and I start writing lyrics. I guess my brain is puking… (laughs).

About Heidevolk: any plans for this year after the summer festivals?
Our main focus now is start writing a new CD. So, after this tour we will do a few festivals and maybe a few gigs and then we will go back into the studio and start writing a CD. We actually [already] wrote quite a few songs, we have to get them into the rehearsal room and make them a complete Heidevolk concept again.

Any messages to the SOM readers?
Yes, of course! Please check out our CDs and judge for yourself what you think of it. And go to our live shows because they kick ass!!! (laughs) I don’t want to come across like I am “bargaining” about it, but I really think they [the SOM readers] should, so they can judge for themselves.

Hopefully we will be back in America soon. I can’t promise we will be back every year but we will try to. For the readers in France: we have been there lots of times but for the last two years, not anymore. So, we would love to be back over there.