Special:	Hendrik Jan de Jong
Title:	With high energy

With their equally refined as well as grippy conceived sound, the all-around fit Dutchmen with singer Manda Ophuis make sure that this year will also be a great success.

After all, the new and fourth album „Uprise“ stands for original, modern designed Electro Gothic Rock of the utmost quality. The fact that guitarist and songwriter Hendrik Jan de Jong alias HJ is really good at writing versatile and exciting songs proves Nemesea once again with flying colors.

To allow the good man even more variety, I will confront him this time with my very special research.

Coffee or tea?


„Coffee, when drinking good coffee it's the best. We have some good "coffee shops" over here in Groningen, my hometown. Unfortunately I don't drink coffee that often since my inner energy level is pretty high so I don't react well on a lot of caffeine.“

Cat or Dog?


„Cat! I own a beauty called Rosa. I love cats, had a big white one when I was kid and loved it. But, If I would move out of the city and had more space and time, a dog could be nice too. Probably will be a Golden or Labrador Retriever because I would want a friendly dog, hehe.“

Shower or bathtub?


„Shower, I shower every day, just short. A bath would be cool but then I would like one with bubbles, that's relaxing 100 %. I would like to own a pool someday, within the house, haha. I love swimming and since I practice waterpolo this would be very convenient.“

Early bird or night-owl?


„Both! Nowadays I sleep approximately 6 to 7 hours a night. I have a job that starts at 06.30 en well, music inspiration starts to come after 17.00, hehe. But when I look at it I would rather stay in bed in the morning instead of going to bed very early.“


Guitar or synthie?


„Both! I not a synth player but I'd wish I was. I can play keys a little bit but then I really have to study hard on a specific part. With guitar it's different, I sort of understand and "know" the instrument up till a certain point and I don't have that with keyboards although it should be easier to understand keys then guitar... ? I feel that guitar is getting very close to the human voice in that sense that the techniques possible on guitar can really make the instrument 'speak" in way. I probably like it because of that. While I'm doing to this interview I'm listening to Satriani, one of my favorite Rock guitar player that knows how to write good songs and sort of "speaks/ sings" with his guitar. I like Rock key-players like Derek Sherinian, Kevin Moore (awesome Dream Theater solo’s). Guitar influences is very diverse so I'll pick one from different styles: Blues - Steve Ray Vaughn; Rock - Yngwie Malmsteen; Jazz - Pat Metheny; Fusion - Scott Henderson.“

Movie or book?


„Movie based on a book, hehe. No, joking... I'm a movie fan. Often don't allow myself the time to read a book. I'm trying though, right now I'm reading "Life" by Keith Richards but doing this for a year now and haven't finished it so... this shows my reading speed, hehe. Movies is more my thing and I like any genre except Horror. I don't get that whole getting a kick out of scary lugubrious stuff... makes no sense to me.“

Scotland or Spain - cold or warm climate?


„Can't choose between them since I've never been to these countries but would like to visit someday. I do prefer a warmer climate though but not too hot. This makes my energy level go way down … probably drink coffee a lot then.“

Club gig or festival concert?


„Festival concert! Love festivals, to play and see the other bands! Festival vibe to me is the best. We played at a great festival with Nemesea called "Bevrijdingsfestival" (liberation day) in Zwolle. Big crowd that didn't know Nemesea very well but went crazy on our songs, very nice feeling! I hope to play the PinkPop festival someday and Rock Am Ring would be awesome too.“

Champagne or mineral water?


„Mineral water on 364 days, Champagne 1 day! Not really fond of champagne to be honest. Probably is because of getting sick off drinking too much when I was 16, haha!“


Whiskey or Vodka?


„Vodka! To mix with stuff, the best! Ahhhh, a now the puzzle becomes clearer, hehe … I once drank 14 VodkaRedBulls in one evening and probably never recovered from that ... the caffeine is still in my system, hehe, that is why I can't handle more than one good coffee... damn…"

Beer or wine?


„Wine, wine, wine! Now I'm whining … I like the taste of (some) beers but when drinking more than 5 the day after with the hangover sucks. I really don't like the smell and taste of beer the day after. When drinking wine I don't have that problem and the 'getting in the mood" vibe is much better with wine.“

Meat or vegetarian?


„Vegetarian since I was 19. Sometimes I will eat fish but not often. I never liked meat. When I got older I couldn't trust the industry anymore, there was and is lot's going on that just isn't correct and how mankind treats animals, horrible! Don't get me wrong, I'm not against people eating (honest bio) meat, I'm against people eating bad (industry) meat. This should be banned! Governments should act more responsible and help break the pattern that people need meat everyday because that's not a given, just a habit and a bad one If you ask me.“

Village or city?


„Village. I live in the city but grew up in a village. When the time is right I'll probably move to a village again because it's more relaxing to me. The city brings this extra "edge" that isn't always pleasant and I like to have lot's of space, hear trees and stuff. Best case would be water near the house because I like boats and stuff. I grew up in Grouw in Friesland and this lies next to a couple of lakes so we always went sailing or boating when we were young. Awesome times!“

Car or bike?


„Car... I know, I know … I just don't like to cycle long distance. In the city I grab my bike or just walk. When going out of the city I take the car and play music … loud! I'm not into cars, it's certainly not a hobby, I don't know anything about cars but I like driving, It's relaxing in a way. Cars need to work properly though, I really hate it when something isn't working!“

Make-up or natural?


„Natural with a little make-up ... yes that is very nice.“


Rock or Metal?


„Rock! To me more diverse, more dynamics and just more pleasant for the ear. When I was 18 It was the other way around. Favourite bands (to name a few) are (Rock) Queen, Biffy Clyro, Placebo, ACDC, Genesis and (Metal) Rammstein, Meshuggah, Deftones, Korn, old Dream Theater.“


Fender or Gibson?


„I'm a "fendy" so ... Fender guitars (Strats/ Tele/ Jaguars/ Jazzmasters) are more dynamic (in my opinion) and "feel" better when I'm playing. Also the fact that a good Les Paul is a very heavy guitar isn't really appealing to me. I don't own a Les Paul but when finding the right one I will definitely buy it since it's a awesome when being in the studio recording guitars.“


Studio or live?


„I prefer live because playing music with fellow band members in front of crowd is one of the best and most rewarding things out there. Downside of live is the stage sound/ mix. This often very bad and this makes it hard to play as good as you want and can. Apart from that ... live on stage is where I do it for!“


© Markus Eck, 10.05.2016

[ to overview ]

All Copyrights for band-photos & -logos reserved by its Respective Owners.

Advertising

+++