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Interview with
ARJEN ANTHONY LUCASSEN

(29th July, 2024)

Interview with Dave Bruce and Dan Gray

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Dave: Hello, Arjen Anthony Lucassen. You are listed as a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Talk a little bit about your connection to each of those roles, and the journey so far.
Arjen Lucassen: I am all those things, some more than others these days. I’m not sure about it all myself, but people still call me a singer.  Well, I had my first bands in the early 80s, late 70s. That’s how old I am. My first band was Bodine and we made our first album in ’81. And then I’ve been touring the world with various bands like Bodine and Vengeance, which were all typical 80s hard rock bands, you know, the whole hair metal thing. In the 90s, grunge came up and people were not interested in that kind of music anymore. So I was like, what is my passion? It’s rock operas. I used to love rock operas. It started with Jesus Christ Superstar in the late sixties for me. And, you know, the War of the Worlds, Pink Floyd, and Operation Mindcrime.

Dave: Who was in Superstar when you watched it?
Arjen Lucassen: Ian Gillan, of course. The original album, yeah. That’s what I wanted to do. And I thought, well, this is going to be the end of my career. All the rockers who liked my music in the 80s will hate this because it will have progressive and all these kinds of styles. But I didn’t care, so I called it the final experiment because I thought it was going to be my final experiment. It was under the name Ayreon. To my surprise and everyone’s surprise, there was an audience. It started selling and getting into the charts. Here we are 30 years later and 10 Ayreon albums later, and it’s getting more and more successful. I’m quite surprised. I’m not complaining.

Dave: So, was Ayreon producing or singing or songwriting? What was that part? What were you doing with that?
Arjen Lucassen: Ayreon is basically my main project. It’s a rock opera project and it has a whole storyline, mostly science fiction. I invite singers from all over the world. I’ve worked with 200 singers now.

Dave: Are you a musician in that?
Arjen Lucassen: Yes, I record everything myself. I play the bass, keyboards, mostly Hammond, guitars, I program the drums, and I produce the whole thing and write the whole thing.

Dave: And the singer-songwriter part, what’s that predominantly about?
Arjen Lucassen: I do solo albums, which is sort of singer-songwriter. I did two solo albums now. But I wouldn’t call it singer-songwriter. I’m very inspired by bands like Deep Purple, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Beatles, Pink Floyd. Those are my roots.

Dave: What are those collaborations that stand out the most?
Arjen Lucassen: Working with heroes like Bruce Dickinson, James LaBrie, Devon Townsend, Mikael Akerfeldt. Working with people from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep. Those are dreams coming true.

Dave: How would you describe your producing style?
Arjen Lucassen: My concepts are always about emotions. They’re hidden in a sci-fi story, like the old Star Trek, which was really about the people and not about the effects.

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Dave: When did you start working with Simone? Simone says she started listening to you at 15 or something like that. Why do you think she chose you or what was that whole connection? 
Arjen Lucassen: I remember her as a little girl, you know, coming to me saying “I love your music” and I was like, okay, cool. I’m a bit of a singer too. So it started back on the album 01011001, an Ayreon album. That was back in, I’m so bad at this, 15, 20 years ago. That was the first time we worked together and it was such a success that she’s been on almost every Ayreon album so far.

Dave: When did you start working with Epica?
Arjen Lucassen: I never worked with Epica. Vermillion is her solo album. And she said, you know, I would love to do an album together with you. And I said I would love that too, you know, because you’re a great singer. But I was just too busy. So it took five years. And then about two years ago, I contacted her, said, well, I have time now, you know, let’s do this solo album of yours. Her first solo album in 20 years, basically. So it was a big thing.

Dave: Describe that evolution.
Arjen Lucassen: So we really took our time for it. We really worked on it for a year. And we had a lot of Skype calls, you know, what are we going to do? What kind of what style of music are we going to do? And she had a clear vision. She wanted to call it Vermilion. We talked a lot about the concept and suddenly I came up with the idea, well, if you call it Vermilion, why it would be cool to have the concept of red, the color red just go like a thread through all the songs. And we talked about the style, of course, and we send each other a lot of music and found out we both like this industrial metal kind of stuff, you know, but also the more atmospheric ballad stuff. So we kind of made a combination of those two. I think I don’t know if you heard the album, but it’s a very eclectic album. It’s very versatile and you can find so many different styles on it. 

Dave: What are the signature tracks for you?
Arjen Lucassen: The first single we had out was Aeterna, which is like this huge song, you know, with the Egyptian oriental scales. And it has a lot of big guitars, little big choirs and lot of weird synthesizers and stuff. It’s six minutes long. And that was the first clip that came out and it was received really well. It has like almost a million views on on YouTube. So that was the track we felt would please the fans because it’s a little bit in my style, Aeryon’s style, and it’s a little bit in the Epica style. Then we had our second song, In Love We Rust, which is more of a very heartfelt ballad, which is a beautiful composition. That song stands out for me. And now we have our new clip out, which is called R.E.D., which is about the A.I. And it’s pretty heavy. It has some growls of the growler of Epica called Mark. And yeah, it’s just out. And the reactions so far are good. 

Dave: Is she going to tour the album?
Arjen Lucassen: Well, Epica is her main band, you know, and they just finished their own album. So touring with that, she just doesn’t have the time to do that, And I doubt, you know, with the band promoting a new album, that they’re going to play songs of her solo album. 

Dave: Maybe you could you do a show in Amsterdam together playing the album in full considering you both live there?
Arjen Lucassen: It’s definitely an option, you know, we already had a little plan that didn’t work out, unfortunately, to play one of the songs. But yeah, you know, if this is received well, then anything is possible. Absolutely.

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Dave: Tell me a little bit about Simone herself. Obviously, you’ve known her for 20 years. 
Arjen Lucassen: She’s a lovely woman, a beautiful woman as you can see from her clips and videos, with a sense of humor. And that’s something that’s so important for me. Also she loves animals like I do. I have a little doggy here laying at my feet (shows the dog).

Dave: Do you see her around often?
Arjen Lucassen: Not really. I’m a total recluse. I basically only see her when she comes here to record. She stayed here five times for three days each. It was always fun and creative. And she’s so fast in the studio. She’s an excellent singer, just watch the live clips of her. It’s so easy to work with her. 

Dave: When you talk about being recluse, is that a mental thing or just a busy thing?
Arjen Lucassen: It’s a mental thing. I’ve toured the world for many years. There’s a lot of unpleasant people I had to work with and there’s a lot of compromises I had to make and a lot of concessions. And I’m not that guy. I’m a total control freak. An anti-social control freak, you know, I have to be at home, I have to do my thing. And so no, I like it. And my partner, Lori is the same. And our doggy here is our kid.

Dave: That’s what it’s about. You’ve only got to live your life. You don’t have to live anyone else’s life.
Arjen Lucassen: I don’t anymore. I had to for a long time. And for a long time, I tried to please the audience and I tried to please the record labels and I tried to please the band members, you know. No more.

Dave: Let’s ask some simple questions to finish off. If you could perform with or produce any music artist, alive or dead, who would you choose and why?
Arjen Lucassen: My main inspirations are the Beatles, Floyd, and Zeppelin. If I could work with Gilmore, Robert Plant, or Paul McCartney, I’d be a happy man. Freddie Mercury would have been great too – Queen Two is my favourite album of all time. 

Dave: Any long-term aspirations?
Arjen Lucassen: Well, of course, doing a movie, because my concepts are so visual. If I could make a movie, that would be great. But I tried it. It’s so hard, you need millions and millions, especially a sci -fi movie. You need at least 10 million and not just that. I tried to get the people together and I almost succeeded. But then in the end it was too much work and I gave up.

Dave: With all your experience, what piece of advice would you give to an artist starting out?
Arjen Lucassen: Don’t try to please others. It’s not going to work. You can’t please everyone.

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Dave: What’s been the career highlight so far? You would have a few I would think.
Arjen Lucassen: Well, of course, the fact that my project, ARION, became such a success, you know, I mean, for 35 years, I’ve been trying to please everyone, keep saying it and I give up doing that and I do something I want and I get success, you know, so that was a brilliant moment in my life. And apart from that, working with my heroes. Also, I had the pleasure to work with actors. I got to work with Doctor Who. I got to work with Rutger Hauer who was in Blade Runner. I got to work with John de Lancie, who was in Star Trek. Those were moments that still make me cry now. I still get emotional when I think about it because they were all such nice people. It’s so great to meet your heroes and they’re nice people because I had otherwise met some of my heroes and was like, my God, wish I never did.

Dave: Let’s finish up. Dan, ask your questions.
Dan: Nice and quick Arjen. Nice to meet you. What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
Arjen Lucassen: I started a progressive rock opera in the 90s when people were listening to Nirvana. That was pretty crazy.

Dan: What is the one topic you can talk about for hours?
Arjen Lucassen: Science fiction for sure. Movies, not books. I’m not a reader. Old shit. Anything Science Fiction.

Dave: So “2001, A Space Odyssey” must have been a favorite?
Arjen Lucassen: I wrote a song about it. It’s called Star Child. It’s on my Star One album and one of my favorite movies of all time.

Dan: What is one thing you like most about yourself?
Arjen Lucassen: I think I’m very introverted. I think I can read people. I think that’s that’s what I’m good at, which is very important for me because I work with a lot of people.

Dave: Reading what sense, in terms of their feelings?
Arjen Lucassen: Their personalities, you know. Often when I contact a musician, I have a good feeling about him and often it works out, you work with that guy and it was right.

Dave: Is that a part of the protection that you have? It sounds like you’re in that introverted sort of space that you’re in, you’re protective of your person.
Arjen Lucassen: Very much so. I hate to be disappointed. If I’m disappointed, I feel total shit.

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Dave: Let’s finish with some favourite questions.
Dan: Favorite album?
Arjen Lucassen: It has to be a Beatles album or a Pink Floyd album. So I would say “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd or “Sgt Pepper” by The Beatles.

Dan: Favorite artist?
Arjen Lucassen: John Lennon.

Dan: Favorite movie?
Arjen Lucassen: Well, I have a big Jaws poster in my room and I could pick from millions but when I watch Jaws again, it’s really good. It’s got humor, it’s got everything.

Dan: Favorite place to visit in the world?
Arjen Lucassen: My home, my studio.

Dan: Favorite venue to play?
Arjen Lucassen: We play Poppodium 013, Tilburg, every two years and it’s such success and we love the place and we love the people. So that’s one for the ages. It’s in Holland.

Dan: Favorite food?
Arjen Lucassen: Well, unfortunately, I lost my sense of taste and smell about 15 years ago. So that’s totally crap because I loved Indian food.

Dave: Why did you lose that?
Arjen Lucassen: It was just virus in the wrong place on my nose and it was heavy. It got me into a depression. So that was not a good thing. Not a good thing. Terrible.

Dave: Terrible.
Dan: Favorite drink?
Arjen Lucassen: It’s, tea, basically tea without tea, but it’s got like a lot of ginger in it. So it’s sharp, and a lot of lemon, so hot water with lots of lemon and lots of ginger. So my taste is still there, but my flavor is gone.

Dan: Favorite tattoo?
Arjen Lucassen: I have no tattoos.

Dave: Thank you very much, Arjen for a great interview.
Arjen Lucassen: You’re very welcome. I enjoyed it.

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About SIMONE SIMONS:

For more than 20 years, ever since she was a teenager, SIMONE SIMONS has been carving her own path as a woman within the world of metal. As a lead singer, icon, and role model for a whole generation of female metalheads, the Epica lead singer remains one of the most prominent key figures in all things metal. After eight albums and countless global tours with her band, SIMONE SIMONS finally found the time to release her first solo album – a moment 15 years in the making! Her breathtaking debut Vermillion is a stunning feat chronicling her storied past as well as her rise to fame, and showcasing her many different influences ranging from prog rock to film scores to metal to electronic elements.

Of the timing for her eagerly awaited foray into the realms of a solo career, the Dutch singer says with a disarming grin: Epica has my priority and I always have the liberty to do other musical projects besides my career in Epica. Yet, I never had the time to dive into a project to this extent.

Some endeavors require patience and time, and rightly so. Simone chose not to rush her solo project, opting instead to thoughtfully consider how she wanted to present herself. Enter stage right Arjen Lucassen (AYREON). Her musical partner and longtime collaborator is no stranger to her soaring operatic voice. Together they have crafted a sonic universe that befits the influential figure she is. And while many would use their solo effort as a radical, even provocative departure from everything they stood for, SIMONE remains true to her love for epic melodies, huge choruses and monumental, intelligent music.

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Arjen Anthony Lucassen , Simone Simons (Epica)

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Follow Arjen Anthony Lucassen
Website – Facebook – Instagram – YouTube

SIMONE SIMONS – Website

EPICA – Website

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AMNPLIFY – DB