Hello everybody! We're here today with Vanden Plas.
You played yesterday at the Heavy Weekend festival — how was the experience? What did you think of the crowd?
Andy – I can say for me it was unbelievable. The last time we had a show this big was like seven years ago or more. We haven't played that often as a band — we've done more theater productions, and there we had around a thousand people in the theater, but that’s something completely different. So in this case, in such a big stage, it was very massive, and I felt the reactions were great, very warm and welcoming.

 

Do you prefer the atmosphere of a festival or a regular concert?
Andreas – Both.
Andy – We like both, to be honest. We had three types of shows recently — in Lyon, we did a rehearsal in front of people, just 50 people in a club with 30 square meters, that’s it. Then we played clubs with 350–450 people. And all of it is great. I mean, we are a band that has grown over the years, and we are not afraid to play anything. The intimate stuff is great, but something like this, open air — we really feel it on stage. It has something very special.

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Your latest album The Empyrean Equation of the Long Lost Things was released in April 2024. What kind of feedback have you received so far?
Stephan – Just fantastic reviews. It's like people were really waiting for a new CD. And since we had a lineup change, we were a bit under pressure to write it, because we both had written almost all the material for The Ghost Xperiment and both CDs, so we were used to that. But when we wrote this new album, Alessandro wasn’t in the band yet — the songs were already completed. Then we brought Alessandro in, and we had to present the songs to him and work them out together. He had to arrange them for keyboards, of course. But when we were writing the album, we already felt it would be something special. Our mindset was different from the previous records. For example, I wrote some instrumental material, and we decided to start the CD with an instrumental. We hadn’t done that since 1997, when we did The God Thing. That was almost 25–30 years ago. And we thought, why not? We’re doing progressive rock, and in this genre it’s allowed to do that. So we went ahead with it. And when we composed the instrumental, it ended with a kind of chorus — and we said, yeah, let’s do that. Then we decided to make the final track, which is about 15 minutes long, and put it at the end of the song. We tried to give something special to each song. And I think people noticed. We still have some more commercial stuff, like My Icarian Flight, which is a single. But we also have tracks like Sanctimonarium, which is ten minutes long — we played that one yesterday. We really tried something new, and people accepted it and liked it.
Andy – And also the press. I mean, we do this for ourselves — we’re not getting rich or famous. We know that. So as musicians, as artists, the only thing you can do is follow your vision. And if fans and the press like it too, that’s a gift.

 

We’re here at a heavy metal festival — how do you feel about the resurgence of heavier music in recent years?
Andy – I love it. Today I’m here to see Slipknot and Mass Hysteria. I’m very excited to hear them sing in French! And yeah, I love heavy music, but I also enjoy very different kinds of music. My musical taste is very broad — and that’s a good thing.

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Will it be your first time seeing Slipknot and Mass Hysteria live?
Andy – Yeah, for me, it’s the first time seeing both.
Stephan – No, I haven’t seen either of them live. But I did see Slipknot once as support for Metallica years ago. They opened the show — so it wasn’t the full production. You don’t get to see what they’re really capable of. But when you watch the videos on YouTube or live DVDs, you realize how big their show is. So I’m expecting a lot tonight. I’m a big fan.

I actually saw them last December in Paris for their anniversary show — it was amazing. I can’t wait to see how they adapt it to the festival setting.
Stephan – We’ll see if the stage is still standing after the show — or if it’s burned down.
[Laughter]

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You’ve been active since the mid-80s. How have you seen the music industry evolve, especially for progressive metal bands? What have been the biggest changes for you?
Andy – I mean, we can talk about Spotify. It’s good in one way — you get more exposure. Maybe someone listens to one band, and Spotify says, “If you like this, try that,” so you can reach more people. But you don’t make money from it. And most people don’t say, “Oh, I like this, I’m going to buy the CD.” So the music industry is suffering, because CD sales are down. We are really dependent on those CD sales. I don’t want to say Spotify is totally bad, but it’s pretty hard for bands like us that aren’t huge.
Andreas – But what has come back a little bit is vinyl. I think our audience — people over 50 — like it. People are starting to collect again. They want to listen to vinyl. And there’s growing interest. It’s not a big business, but it wasn’t there ten years ago.
Andy – It’s a statement. If a band is interesting enough that people want to buy their vinyls — that’s a great thing.
Stephan – But music has lost a lot of value. Young kids today grow up thinking music costs nothing. That’s the biggest problem. You can get it everywhere for free, and people are used to that. It’s different with concerts — attendance is growing. But we also give lessons; we run music schools... And when we talk to younger students and ask, “What’s your favorite band?”, they say, “I don’t have one. I listen to pop or rock.” In the old days, we’d say, “Iron Maiden” or “Saxon” and we’d own the CD, vinyl, or tape. Today, they don’t even know the names of the songs. They’ve lost that connection to bands. In metal, it’s a bit different. I have some students who listen to metal — they know the bands. But with kids growing up on various styles, maybe they know the artist, but if you ask about a specific song — they know nothing. It’s not their fault. That’s just how they’ve been raised.

We were just talking about that — people tend to stick to the radio and don’t really explore new music. So it’s nice to see vinyl making a comeback. It helps people discover new bands.
Andreas – And something else that’s coming back is the live experience. We thought that as people got older, it would be harder to draw a live audience. But it’s getting better. Maybe their kids are grown now, and they want to go out again. So that’s important for us — to play live. Because as Lemmy said, “You’re only a band if you play live. If you don’t, you’re just a project.”

That’s true.
Andreas – Lemmy’s always right.

 

What’s the secret behind Vanden Plas’ longevity and stability as a band?
Andreas – Because we’ve been together for 40 years now.
Stephan – We had a small split two years ago, but before that, since 1990, we’ve had the same lineup. We’ve experienced so many things together — like theater. The first time we did theater, we did it with these five people, with Gunter. First time recording a CD, first tour years ago — all these things we did together. That’s probably the secret. And having these two musical lives — Vanden Plas and theater — helped us stay together. Without it, maybe one of us would’ve said, “I need to find a real job,” and then wouldn’t have been able to do music anymore. But we live for music, and theater gave us the means to do that. You see in other bands — if you have a main composer or two, they can make it. But everyone else often has to leave because they can’t survive on music alone.
Andy – Another secret is that everyone in our band listens to different styles of music, but as a band, we always find a way to create music that everyone likes. That’s also a kind of secret… and maybe a bit of luck.