Just To Please You III

Kirsten: If there is anybody who knows how to write a good song, it's you. How for heaven's sake do you accomplish writing a timeless song?

Bert: It's impossible to say, and especially a timeless song, I should not know. But eventually I simply enjoy writing songs and when it comes down to it, to me it's just a matter of loving to play the guitar. I eventually do care for a good tune. I'm busy doing it, of course I'm busy doing it as much as possible, but you'll never know if it's gonna be successful. You should not think about it as long as you are busy. It's rather helpful, if you purposely do not consider this at all, because then thoughts like 'We're not good' won't cross your mind either. If you are busy anyway, just keep doing it an enjoy it. I think that's the bst attitude.

Kirsten: What comes first in your case the lyrics or the tune?

Bert: With me it's always the lyrics, because certain words are very important for the rhythm of the lyrics. A good tune is also very important. You're playing the guitar or sitting at your piano. Everything goes, but to me the lyrics are important. It is the way I give structure to my songs, qua phrasing, rhythm. It's just like in HipHop, it's also very important in pop music. How you place your words, where you place them. It's all about impact. If you want to tell something, then you want to have as much impact as possible. And in this case it is about the rhythm of the lyrics.

Kirsten: Absynthe Minded's lyrics are in English. Is it easy for you to write in English?

Bert: I've never had doubts about it. In the past I did it though I was not actually able to. From an early age I've been listening to English music. That's after all the language of Rock'n'Roll. Telling a lot with just a few words. Maybe in my case it was helpful that I began reading English books at an early age. I believe that it is a very beautiful language. I love English culture. It's something I enjoy just like writing songs.

Kirsten: You enjoy a lot of things.

Bert: Because I like doing it, that's it.

Kirsten: What I've noticed (concerning Studio Brussel's contest for new bands 'de nieuwe lichting') that sometimes there are sometimes applications that feel alright to me, but when the lyrics, the English is so terrible, that I cannot listen to it. What#s your advice concerning this?

Bert: In that case my advice would be: If you want to be taken seriously in another language, you have to learn to command it. Mind you, I had troubles myself, you can listen to some Absynthe Minded albums, and if you look closely, if you listen carefully, there are some difficulties, like the English 'th', I've sinned against this. I Do not believe that you have to do a British or an American accent. I rather see it as a universal language. I realise that I have an accent, but at least I'm getting the grammar right. Remove all uncertainties. If you want to tell people something, you cannot leave them asking themselves 'Why has he said this?'

Kirsten: If you are uncertain, let somebody who commands the English language have a look at it. Then you are certain.

Bert: Indeed. And let him listen to it as well, it's also a matter of pronunciation.

Kirsten: Certainly it's not necessary to apply for you anymore, but imagine you would apply for our contest. Which song would you chose?

Bert: I believe 'Mercury'. I could have chosen something else, but I believe it's a song that, if you listen to it, would make you want to attend a live performance. That's what I would do. Should I have to apply, I would choose something that makes people say 'They are playing well. I would love to see them perform'. That's when you have to prove your ability. Maybe the recording or production of your demo was not good, but on stage everybody is the same, and that is the moment when you have to go for it. So if you convince any member of the jury that he or she wants to see you live, that's a step ahead.

Kirsten: Absolutely. They have to perform live, so that would be quite logical. Bert, merci for your help. See you soon!

Bert: Thank you very much. Salut!

Just To Please You - My Best Attempt

at trying to translate the interspersed utterings



Number One, everybody on Jan:

Renaud: Jan, everybody regards him like Chris Martin from Coldplay.
Bert: A multi-instrumentalist, very talented genre player. If obstacles have to be cleared/ the knot has  to be cut, if Jan says  'Yes', then it will be 'Yes'.
Renaud: Enormously powerful!




Number Two, everybody on Jakob:

Bert: Jakob was the last to join us, he is the youngest member of the band. Nevertheless he has been with us for a long time now, so this does not really matter. It was not easy for him because in the beginning we were just a group of four, we performed without drums, for years we had been doing this and at a certain moment he has joined us. Yet, we felt that this is what we would be doing from then on. He is a drummer who understands this, songs and their structure. How you have to deal with this.
 Jan: That's not bad.


Number Three, everybody on Sergej:

Bert: And Sergej is also a multi-talented instrumentalist bass, contrabass, keyboard, vocals, beats sometimes, though not really for Absynthe Minded yet, but 'You never know'. Autodidact!
Jan: The techie of the band. All the time busy looking for better material, looking for a solution, the link between the crew and the band (True, in Krefeld he also was, though he was a little bit sulky, telling the crew to leave it, Daniela). He is the bridge between these two.
Bert: The software and the hardware he knows everything about it, interface, also recording. After all our first demo was recorded at his house in Ghent at the Dampoort (not so sure about "Dampoort", but that's what I've understood ;) ).


Number Four, everybody on Renaud:

Bert: Golden boy - I've founded the band with him. Together in an apartement we too the decision to form a band and he said that he knew a fairly good bassist, Sergej, and then I said that I knew a fairly good pianist, Jan, and then we formed the band. He believed one of my demos to be very good and so we got to know each other.
Renaud: I had a  taste to do something old-style, "Club de France" (probably he is referring to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Club_de_France ), something jazzy, pop jazz, including strings, some swing.
Bert: In the meantime the violin has been heavily oversteered, you won't recognize it as a violin. He is somebody who is experimenting with sound. Just like all of us. And yes...
Renaud: Merci!


Number Five, everybody on Bert:

Renaud: Bert is our mate, he is our mate, the band's songwriter. He writes more and more beautiful songs, he has always done it. When I got his first demo about ten years ago, I thought it unbelievable what he was doing. This was very original pop music. That's what intrigues me about Bert, his struggle to make wonderful pop music.
Sergej: Businesswise, he does whatever a frontman has to do, he sometimes 'sells his own grandmother' (the original Dutch expression, the same as in German btw, would translate: 'walks over corpses'), that's alright, in some situations it is good. He simply does what a bandleader has to do, making decisions.
Jan: He is the great power driving us ahead, he does not like to stand still, he wants things to get ahead. This is good for us as a band. And a good singer.
Renaud: You cannot look past us any more, we are a fixed mark in Belgian pop music - Voilà, he has done it: Bert Ostyn.
Voice from the off: Bad driver though.

An Interview with Bert Ostyn

The seven deadly sins according to Bert Ostyn (Absynthe Minded)

A lot has happened since Absynthe Minded got in second best at Humo's Rock Rally in 2004. The band has made three gorgeous albums, but  were nevertheless dumped by Universal. But they did not give up, got for their untitled fourth and best album four MIAs (Belgian Music Industry Award), while "My Heriocs, Part One" was elected best song of the decade (2000-2010) by the listeners of StuBru (Studio Brussel, my favourite radio station, Daniela).

Read here some quotes by Bert Ostyn : "I can imagine becoming stinkingly rich with my music"

Ostyn: "A little bit of ego is necessary. After eight years of Absynthe Minded I am quite sure that I'm addicted to the stage. That I'm happier now than in the past has a lot to do with this."
" I've also very much believed in it quite contrary to my surroundings. I've just managed to pass the secondary school, got a lot of punishments at school because I couldn't keep my big mouth shut, often I ran with my head against the wall. It did not come as a shock, but if my former school now asks me to come and talk about my line of work - that has already happened - I say: No way, guys."

Ostyn: "Formerly I used to be the opposite of vain, sloppy, not interested in my clothing...It took a long time before I realised that it would do no harm if I look a little bit good on the stage. In addition I had to grow more expressive otherwise the picture would not be right. To be ambitious and to live in your own cocoon are two things that do not really match (pulls at the frissure of his vest's shoulder). Now we even got someone sponsoring our clothes: Matinique. I look at my picture in the mirror much oftener now than three years ago. What do you want: I'm at Werchter on Sunday."

Ostyn: "I'm not that competitive. To play a parlour game with me is for example not a good idea: I soon grow tired of it. Playstation for example: it makes me aggressive. I even did not actually want to take part in Rock Rally. Our manager thought that we had to:"It will give you a lot of attention." He was right. But I didn't feel that I had to win it."

Ostyn: "Women is something I cannot live without. I have three younger sisters, and I always had a lot of female friends (I'm not sure if he explicitely refers to girlfriends here, Daniela). I enjoy the attention of my female fans. If one of them wants to take a photograph with me: you're welcome. But that doesn't mean that I also want to dive into bed with them. I had a lot of short-term relationships, I always could satisfy my needs, but that doesn't mean that I was following my dick. In the meantime I've been together with my love for five years now and it has worked out pretty well."