Interview: The Last Element

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What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today? For each a different story, for me (Jasper) it started at an age of 6 when I decided I wanted to be a Rockstar, not that I played an instrument or had any talent, I already decided it was a good choice for me. Took me a while to come to the conclusion it wasn’t that simple! Fast forward to today, Music is a big part of life, but none of us are financially dependent on music, each of us has a different job beside making music. But for all of us it is a way of life, something really needed to even out the daily and it’s a good way to let loose our creative sides. 

What do you like to do when you’re not playing music and how does that influence your creativity? A lot of different things, some of us do a lot of sports, stuff like kitesurfing, kickboxing, snowboarding. Others are big film fanatics and all of us find our way in love and relationships, getting peace and tranquility that way. 

How long has your band been around?

Nick, Jan and Robert have played together for approximately 6 years before they formed The Last Element with Jasper and Noah. 

Each of us had experience with other bands and projects. Jan and Robert have the most experience with touring, recording bands and the music business, while Noah, Jasper and Nick make sure there is a good balance for the new, now and the current business. Together we make a great team!

When we started making music together we glued together quickly and created our own signature in songs and sound. We started practicing for live sets, did gigs and recorded a lot of songs!

Without a doubt, for all of us, this is the best line-up we’ve ever been in.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

We are from the Netherlands, what can we say, I don’t think it really influenced us a lot, since the scene for this kind of music isn’t that big here. We do have certain political and societal views that are more in line with the Dutch mentality. But most of musical inspirations come from the UK and the US.  

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you.

We were searching for a way to explain the driving factor behind our band, our music has always been very close to our hearts, we write about things that really matter to us, but that we believe also really matter to a lot of people. We were searching for a way to explain what could combine the elements of, hardship, love, trust, friendship and perseverance. That's when we decided all of these combined could be seen as: The Last Element – When we are together, we are stronger!

Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.

We can say we are lucky, we only did great shows as supports for big bands like Skillet, Three Days Grace and Red. 

Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?

That’s a hard one! We loved each venue we played at, some Dutch venues we really want to play at, are de Melkweg and Paradiso, but let’s aim a little bigger, Ziggo dome would be pretty nice to! 

We would love to also explore venues in the UK and America, for instance O2 academy looks like a blast, but playing Lincoln hall would be pretty sweet 2. 

If you could play any show with any lineup who would be on the ticket?

We would love to play a show with Bring Me The Horizon, Breaking Benjamin and I prevail, man we’d just be hanging in the crowd though to see them play!

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?

Work hard!!! It’s a though road, a lot of let downs, but also a lot of highs! It’s all a matter of endurance and practicing a lot to get better and better! Always remember that the most important thing is, you write music that you love and hopefully others will love you for it!

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

We don’t know we still haven’t figured out this industry! It’s pretty difficult and complex. We think we are doing things right, but that’s what we always did. Just believe in ourselves, our music and write what we love and what resonates within us. 

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Yeah that will be new and unreleased songs… there are so many that we have, that we love and that we just would love to release. But we want to wait for the right time to release each song. From the existing songs, it would be Hollow, that one is just an overload of emotion, it’s a song about that empty feeling someone can leave behind. Feeling like you gave your everything but it still wasn’t enough. Even though it has always felt like things were right, that there was a balance, sometimes out of the blue people can have a change of heart. Hollow just feels like a perfect match between lyrics and music. 

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

One of our all-time favorites is The Devil, live it has so much energy, each step along the way the song just builds up, until we finally reach that break and everything explodes! 

Another favorite is Damaged, we did a live recording of that one on YouTube, that was such a blast!

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

The creative process of the songs lie within the hands of Jan, Noah and Jasper. Mostly Jan and Noah write the instrumental parts and Jasper writes the lyrics and vocal melodies. However sometimes they all sit together and just jam a little, or even Jasper comes up with some guitar parts from time to time. There are no limits, we just go with what feels good and then keep polishing it until we have something we love. 

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?Good one, actually each song has a different message, but if there is one thing we would like to get across, it would be: Together we are stronger, believe in the people around you and keep giving them your all, there is always someone you can trust, love and keep close. We all know hard times but all lead different lives, in the end we all want the same, to be happy and safe with the people we love. 

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Sure we do, it’s really hard when there are 5 figures in a band with their own firm believes, however we always believe in a democratic approach, if the majority believes its best for the band, we go with that!

So far that has worked and we are all happy with the direction of the band.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up?

We have a lot of things planned, first of a new single that will showcase our new and improved sound. We are working hard everyday to get our mixes top notch, to be able to compete with the best. Then each time new albums are released by the big guys, they set the bar higher and higher. But we work hard to keep up with that bar and hopefully pass it one day. Furthermore we are working hard on improving our visual image getting everything more and more in line with the music!