We had the pleasure to welcome Jasper Lobelle (vocals/frontman) and Bram Dewilde (bass and vocals) for an interview while they were at Alcatraz 2024 for their show there. Millhaven is a local up-and-coming band within the melodic death metal and metalcore genre. Jasper and Bram indicated that they were all too happy to make time for us and the interview. The band and the music deserve respect for their how down to earth they are, their positive approach and the work put into writing their songs.
GRIMM:
How did you experience today?
Jasper:
It’s a cool setting with a great organization here at Alcatraz. They give local bands the opportunity to prove themselves, and we went all in. The audience was with it and not lazy for a Sunday afternoon. It’s the last day of the festival so you might expect people to be a bit quieter, but they had enough energy to give us some good interaction.
Bram:
The tent was packed. You put your hands in the air, the audience joins in, and that gives you a kick.
Jasper:
It was a good show, we felt we played a good set and delivered a good performance.
GRIMM:
Your band name was “The Curse Of Millhaven” until last year. This was inspired by the song by Nick Cave. What does that song mean to you?
Jasper:
The ‘Murder Ballads‘ CD has gotten quite a few spins.
Bram:
He is a musical genius.
Jasper:
He’s definitely someone you look up to and an inspiration for a lot of metalheads. The title of the song itself wasn’t the big inspiration, but we thought it sounded good, at least twelve years ago. It’s about growing up, and Millhaven without The Curse is a name that will stick a little better. We use Millhaven a lot on our merch, so it made sense that it would be Millhaven itself. Musically not that much has changed I think. Our music has maybe become a little more accessible compared to our first record. There’s been more investment now in better sound, recording studio and production. Hopefully, we’ll reap the rewards.
GRIMM:
So the use of Nick Cave‘s song is more out of respect for the artist?
Bram:
Yeah, you could say that. It’s something we liked the sound of. We always play a sample of ‘The Curse of Millhaven’ by Nick Cave as the last song of our performances. It remains a part of where it all started. The song sounds cool, but the lyrics aren’t really.
Jasper:
It’s a cool song and the ‘umpapa’ of Nick Cave. We want people to leave with a good feeling after a performance.
GRIMM:
You started in 2012 and still have the original line-up. That is a great achievement.
Jasper:
We are very proud of that because it is not always obvious. We are all five inspired by a different genre. The drummer and guitarist listen to death metal or metalcore, which we play a bit ourselves. When writing music, that sometimes means making compromises, but we always find a solution. They are creating the genre that Millhaven is: a melodic death metalcore, actually.
GRIMM:
Since you’ve been working together for so long, how did it start or how did the friendship develop?
Bram:
Actually, it started much earlier than the start of our band. We all come from other bands. I played with Jasper (frontman) and Bart (drummer) in Fatal Recoil. Kurt was bassist in Fatal Recoil and I replaced him.
Jasper:
The moment we stopped with that band, quite a few musicians became available. We did get the bug to continue making music. Jeroen had just stopped. Then we quickly started writing, and the dynamics were good right away. Everyone was on the same page where we wanted to go. In the meantime, our genre has evolved and matured. We still feel like writing and are busy writing new songs.
GRIMM:
Almost every band has a custom or ritual before they go on stage. Would you like to share what that moment looks like for you?
Bram:
Having a nice beer together.
Jasper:
Just relax. After the soundcheck, we sit together for a while and have a beer.
Bram:
Occasionally maybe a high five.
Jasper:
It sometimes happens that we give each other a fist bump with the message “we know we can do it and we are going to do it well”.
Bram:
Group hugs remain absent, though (laughter).
Jasper:
We rather do that afterwards, as a release when we’ve played a good set.
Bram:
Let’s say that all five of us are kind of “in our zone”. Everyone prepares in their own way. Own “zone” and then everything goes.
Jasper:
It is a high energy genre that we play, sometimes heavy stuff. We play a wall of sound. We try to interact with the audience as much as possible. Most of the time we succeed in making people move, that is great. There is mutual respect between us and the audience.
GRIMM:
Your latest album ‘Dualism‘ is about doubt, heart vs mind and double perspective. Would you like to share with us one or more situations (as a group or individually) that inspired you to write music around this theme?
Jasper:
It is a sensitive point. We have already lost someone within the band who is close to our hearts. I guess I can say that: the wife of our drummer. It happened a few years ago, but it was a profound moment. It grabbed us by the throat and also gave us the energy to keep going as a band. Bart was able to pull himself up by the band, and that gave us even more energy to go all out. This was also one of the inspirations to write the album ‘Dualism’. Heart versus mind. Bram just put it perfectly: it is going upwards. You can look at the songs from two perspectives. We start with the song ‘Hellfire’, which has very dark lyrics. We then build up to the song ‘Aspire’, which is light-hearted in music. We see that last song as a kind of revelation.
Bram:
Actually going from negative to positive.
Jasper:
The personal element or what we have experienced has given us inspiration and shaped the album ‘Dualism’. Bart has also drawn a lot of energy from that and had no problem with releasing an album that is written from that perspective. We do work with themes. Look at the album ‘Vestibules of Hell’, the nine layers of hell. Then we have ‘Plagues’, which we have already dealt with throughout history. Every song was about a certain death, for example the plague, the Black Death, etc. ‘Tresholds’ was actually a bit of a prelude to ‘Dualism’, the period in which we already had to deal with the incident mentioned earlier. That album is a translation of a threshold that you have to be able to mentally cross. Afterwards we had ‘Dualism’, a kind of consent of heart versus mind. The lyrics go quite deep. We hope that the people who listen to it can draw energy from it: that it can go from a dark moment in life to a revelation. We hope that people can reflect on the way the lyrics are written.
GRIMM:
When you start composing a song, what is the process like?
Bram:
First come the riffs, at times even just written at home. We put everything together at rehearsal. We practically never make a song completely separately on our own. The riffs come, drums are added, bass in and everything comes together. Once the whole thing is there, we do a pre-production recording. Then Jasper gets to work on the lyrics.
Jasper:
Then I sit down at my desk and write the lyrics always in consultation with Bram, because he does the backing vocals. He certainly also has his input in shaping the lyrics to the music.
GRIMM:
Do you write songs with a theme in mind, or is it mix and match with stuff that is ready or in development?
Jasper:
We always try to develop a concept before we start writing new songs. Now, about four months after the release of the album ‘Dualism’, we are already busy making new songs. We are also already thinking about a new concept. Lyrically, we want to go in a certain direction, and we are working towards a whole where the lyrics fit together.
Bram:
There is a common thread in every record.
Jasper:
Writing together may not be the easiest way to work, but it works for us. We have to constantly compromise on how we’re going to do things.
GRIMM:
What live performances are or were on your personal list this weekend? This may not be all too similar as you listen to different genres, as mentioned earlier?
Bram:
I am a prog fan, so I would like to see Opeth. Friday I had high expectations for Whitechapel, but that was a fail because they were not there after all. But I think we will go see a lot of different bands.
Jasper:
We are all into the death metal genre but Aborted is playing today, which will definitely be checked out. Personally, I am a big Architects fan. Tonight I will definitely check them out as a headliner. The genres within the band are very broad or diverse.
GRIMM:
The different tastes will certainly provide a wide range when writing your music.
Bram:
That is certainly true.
Jasper:
It’s hard to really put a genre on our music. When people ask what we make of music, we call it energetic death metalcore, I think.
Bram:
Let’s say there are a lot of death metal drums in it, but no death metal riffs. It’s very melodic compared to death metal. It’s also not really fully melodic death metal because we have a lot of breakdowns.
Jasper:
We’re actually trying to create our own genre and hope it will appeal to the audience.
Bram:
Everywhere we go, we get a good response, actually. We also try to make a setlist with old and new songs: a mix for the old fans and the new fans.
GRIMM:
The answer to this question can differ between listeners and musicians. What do you find unique about your music to say what we can consider characteristic?
Bram:
I think that’s actually a really difficult question. Do you mean more as a person or as a band?
GRIMM:
It’s more about the musical aspect. When a song comes on the radio, what signature element do you want to put out for listeners to say, ‘this is Millhaven‘?
Bram:
The speed is typical, we cannot avoid that.
Jasper:
When we are exhausted after the show and people enjoyed it too, then we are happy. When we gave everything and people gave back to us. That is the most important thing for us. That is reflected afterwards in the sales (records and merch): that people enjoyed it, and we left a good impression. The sales are important in that sense that we can continue to make new music.
GRIMM:
Do you have a message you want to pass on to the fans and people who will read the interview?
Jasper:
Yes please. Follow our social media and for the public: try to get positive energy from our music.
Bram:
Feel free to come to our shows.
Jasper:
Organizers are welcome to contact us and book us.
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