Interview by Erwin Van Dijk
The first question: Can you tell us something about La-Ventura because the bio on your website isn’t exactly full of details.
La-Ventura started with an advertisement on the internet. Erwin was looking for musicians to form a new band and I responded to his add. We decided to work together and started to write material. After a year we went on looking for other band members and asked Mike and Sascha to join in. From the first moment we played it was chemistry and things went on like a whirlwind. A half year after the formation we recorded our first song “Trefoil” and placed it on MySpace. The reactions we received from all over the world, were (and still are!!!) very positive and two weeks later an American record label showed interest, which resulted in a contract. We were then offered to record a full length album and managed to write and record all the songs in only five months time. Unfortunately the record company was not able to release our album in the right timeline and didn’t come up with a finished (mixed and mastered) product for over half a year. That’s when we decided to pull out the plug and took over the whole production process ourselves. A couple of months later another American Label: Renaissance Records showed up and this time we are very confident that this is the right company for us. Our album will now be released in The US, Canada and Mexico on March 18th and will be distributed worldwide through Koch.
And, why did you choose the name La–Ventura?
La-Ventura is a combination of letters from the words Ventilator and Venturi, the name of an Italian physicist. Both words stand for dynamics which represents our music and show on stage. Later on, we discovered to our surprise that it meant ‘luck’ in Spanish. It has proven to be a very fortunate name for us, because we have had our share of luck already!
You have sung in other bands in the past but those were not really gothic oriented. Are you different in La–Ventura?
During the years of singing, my voice has grown and developed in a mature way. Due to the experience on stage and singing lessons, I now have more power at the higher range of my voice. It helps and challenges me to fully express my passion for this style of Metal orientated music.
What made you decide to become a singer and do you have any role models in the music scene?
It was always a dream to become a singer and I was very lucky to get the opportunity to do so. What first started as a hobby has now grown into a job on a professional level. It was a long way of improving my vocal skills as much as getting enough confidence in myself to be a front lady. Someone who inspired me a lot is Alanis Morissette. Her creative freedom in both composing and lyrics has been a real eye-opener for me.
La–Ventura is not the first Female Fronted Metal band in Holland and most likely not the last. What makes La–Ventura different from all those others that have followed The Gathering since 1993?
I think that the success of band or project lies within the strength of the combination of musicians, each with a different musical and personal background, but with the same passion, ambition, motivation and high level of playing. Then the journey begins but as you point out: nowadays the female fronted metal is overcrowded with good bands and female singers. Therefore we are driven to make the right moves. Thanks to a wonderful management we can make sure that everything is in place. Never the less we will need that little bit of (la ventura) luck….
And, do you think there is a reason behind the fact that female fronted metal or rock bands from Holland have a worldwide succes while traditional male fronted band like Kane to name one have only success in Holland?
All I know is that this type of Metal we play is luckily gaining in popularity all over the world. At this moment the market outside Holland is wide open for this style of music. There is the right attention from the industry and most important the support from the fans for female fronted (Dutch) bands. We are nowhere without the support from those who support us in our work, buying our cd’s, seeing us live and letting us know what they think of the music and all. They make things happen!
Some people might know Erwin Polderman from his years with Orphanage. Who are the other members of La–Ventura? And what can you tell us about them?
We all participated in several bands and projects to name a few: Mike and Sascha spend most of their time with their band Badly Preserved and I joined in bands called Red Alert and DV-us besides other great projects some with big choir and full orchestra. It has certainly helped and devolved us to become the musicians we are today.
La–Ventura’s debut album will be released at 03.18.2008 and is called “A New Beginning”. What can you tell us about this album? Who wrote the lyrics and the music? Is there a musical mastermind in the band or was the writing of the songs teamwork?
I wrote all the lyrics on the album myself. The writing was definitely a band process. We worked with blueprints based on a riff or let’s say a 60% finished idea from one of the band members. We all worked out our own ideas and contributions at home and passed it on through email. This way it was build up piece by piece and later we talked it over to decide its definite form and structure.
What are La–Ventura’s plans for the near future? Are there more gigs to come like the one with Stream of Passion?
Yes, there are some great things in progress. Our US tour is now scheduled for September this year and we are waiting for the exact dates to be confirmed. In the meantime bookers in Belgium, France, UK and Holland are working hard to get us out there. I am sure that in the near future we’ll share the stage with more big names. Keep checking our websites!
Are there things the reader should know that I haven’t ask?
We are very happy with the opportunity to do interviews like this. Thanks to the support of many dedicated people there is now a lot of information to be found on the internet. And of course people are always welcome to meet us live at our gigs so we can answer their questions personally.
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