RockOverdose had the change to chat with the wonderful Sharon den Adel, founding member, lead vocalist and one of the main songwriters of Within Temptation.
Within Temptation, the leaders of dark anthems, with a career spanning two decades, are going to visit Greece for an exclusive live performance in Athens on the 22nd of July 2022 at Technopolis of Athens and theywill play their iconic hits alongside with the songs from the latest record Resist.
Enjoy the video interview below along with the transcript!
RockOverdose: Hi Sharon, How are you? How are the things going regarding Within Temptation?
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : Actually very well! We’ve just started writing new songs again, we had two sessions. There’re a lot of nice and new music coming up, they need to develop a few more before we can release them, of course, it takes time, but there’re a lot of new things which are very interesting for the future so hopefully we’ll have a new album next year!
RockOverdose: Let’s start with your most recent album “Resist” (released in 2019) as well as the singles that followed in 2020-21 (“Entertain You”, “The Purge”, “Shed My Skin”…) I think that they continue the message of not giving up and generally a positive message to move on… after all that happened to the world with the pandemic, the war etc … Although this message to resist and move on is always up to date, would you like to make a comment on that depending on the feedback you got?
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : It’s still up to date indeed and even more now, still very strong and it reflects on everypart of the world and these days on what’s happening in Europe, which I’ve never expected to happen of course with the war happening in Ukraine. The message is important of course.
RockOverdose: After more than 20 years, the band manages to get even more and more relevant with the new generation of music fans, incorporating influences from other musical styles such as industrial and electronic music. Is that a personal choice or a need to catch up with the music trends?
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : Well, for us is very important to stay who we are but also to evolve and make a new version of ourselves that fits the year we’ve bringing out a new album. So we do want to sound updated, so we have to go along with new styles, new sounds and everything but it’s also important to make something that we really love, something that we feel we like it! We like to evolve because gives us the inspiration to make new music out!
RockOverdose: You’ve recently participated in the global charity tv marathon for support of Ukraine among other artists. How was that experience and what message would you like to share after this?
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : Well, for us it was an honor to participate and I think that as a band and as people we value freedom of speech and democracy no matter what some people may say, e.g. don’t be so political, don’t be so expressive, don’t take a side in things but as musician I think is important to represent who you are and what you share with your music. What’s happening in the world inspires us to write music and also you have to take a stand of which side you are. I think when it’s so obvious that there is an aggressor and a country being violated, invaded you should take a stand and be clear about where you stand in this conflict. We keep updated on what’s happening every day because we feel very sad to see a country that wants to be a democracy to be invaded this way. So we felt very honored to be asked to participate in this event, and happy to do it!
Let’s pray for the things to become better..
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : Yes! You see… we were happy that we survived corona and we thought that we’ll return back to normal soon and the world we will open back but it’s so strange… new challenges again that we didn’t expect so soon…
RockOverdose: Before some years you’ve stated that a participation in the Eurovision song contest would be interested for you. The recent years we see some popular rock bands and artists to take part, like Hooverphonic last year… and The Rasmus that will take part this year. Is any plan for your participation in the near future?
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : I love watching it but participating into this kind of “music battle” let’s say, I know what kind of way it is presented and what’s happening behind the scenes – everything is very hectic and stressful, and this isn’t the way I’d like to present the band! I’d like to present my band on a festival stage, where the atmosphere is relaxed… This television thing is mostly a television show and I don’t’ feel comfortable most of the time in front of a camera, I do feel more comfortable in a place where I just can do my music in a more free way! I like to play live with the band … I understand bands that take part and I don’t judge it, I think is very courageous and very cool that they do it, but for my own band and my band members I don’t think that we’ll be very happy to do it, because it’s very stressful.
RockOverdose: So, what's coming next for the band?
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : New album, lot of new shows in festivals, with IRON MAIDEN in America, we’ve played together a lot of times, Evanescence for Europe, a lot of nice things happening this year!
RockOverdose: What about your personal project “My Intigo”? Any news?
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : Well, I’d love to do that again but you know the whole craziness of the corona time we’ve just had, I was mainly focused on Within Temptation. Maybe when everything settles down out of this album I’ll have time for that. It’s a side project for me so there’s no pressure, I can do it whenever I want to, hopefully it will be very soon.
RockOverdose: What about your upcoming show in Greece! What should we expect?
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : We’re looking forward on that, it’s been too long we’ve played in Greece! I remember last time that we played I had a lot of fun being on the festival and also we had a day before or a day after to enjoy all the things that Greece has to offer us! Good food, good culture, great weather, good vibes from the people… passionate and all these that I hope to see again! Can’t wait to play again!
RockOverdose: So what is your message to the fans especially here in Greece?
Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) : I really hope to see you this time, now that covid seems to be gone! I can’t see getting in the way of really rocking the stage for you guys in Greece! Hope to see you there, bring your passion, bring your love and we’ll have a great time!
Thank you very much for your time!
For RockOverdose,
Zisis Petkanas
Questions, Edit, Transcript: Vivi Zapantiotou
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