Metal-Ways: How do you feel about the soon to come release of the Black Symphony DVD?

Robert: I'm very proud of it, and it doesn't happen very often. I know that, at least for fans, it will be amazing. I think they will enjoy it a lot. I think that the special thing with this DVD is the concert because it's recorded in such a high quality and it was such an experience! Besides, there is quite a nice interview with the band, from a Dutch television channel. We never had it on a DVD before, so it's really nice.

M-W: In which way were you involved in the editing and the producing process?

They make the first mix and then we go through the whole thing and we say: "Can you take a shot from this, can you take a shot from that…" This is how it works. The better the people are, the less you have to do.

M-W: In a previous interview, you said that the band really likes acoustic performances, and that it is one of the reasons for the Theater Tour. Are there other reasons?

You know, we got the offer to do it. Then, I also checked with another band that was playing in a theater. What's so nice about the theater is that it's very intimate, much more than a club show, even if it's a club show for 300 people. If everybody sits, everybody sees everything perfectly. It's very much about the music. That's a very exciting thing.

M-W: But do you really think that people are going to remain seated? Because WT fans are clearly not used to stay still!

Yes, I think they will. Well, I hope that in the end they will stand up. That would be cool.
You know, it's a different show. I mean we are also going to play electric. It's not going to be full acoustic. We're going to play songs differently.

M-W: Are there going to be surprises on this tour? For instance special guests or very old songs?

Yes, there are going to be some songs we haven't played a lot, and also some songs which you wouldn't expect so much to be played acoustically. And show wise, I think there will be a few surprises.

M-W: Could you give me a hint?

We're going to try to make it a very magical show...

M-W: In a French interview, I read that you were going to use this acoustic concept to make another DVD. Can you tell me more about it?

No, we won't. There's no plan for that. At this point, we're just going to record it for ourselves.

M-W: This year, you supported Iron Maiden on a few gigs. Their tour was called Somewhere Back In Time, and they performed very old songs. Is it a thing that you would like to do with Within Temptation somewhere along the line?

I think we need at least five more albums to do something like that.

M-W: You said many times that the French audience was really nice. So do you think that one day there will be a Live in Paris DVD?

Live in Paris sounds very nice. That's great, that's like Live in Tokyo. Absolutely, maybe if we do more Black Symphony concerts with the orchestra in other countries...

M-W: Is this something you're working on?

Yes, we are working on it. We don't know if it's possible but we're going to try to do it [still talking about Black Symphony concerts in other countries].

M-W: In Rock en France, you did an interview where you said that you hadn't any new material yet. But do you know in which direction you want to work?

Yes, it's probably going to be kind of a concept, but it's so early still that nothing is really sure yet. But we're trying to look in that direction.

M-W: Will it still be less metal than before?

We never felt that we sounded less metal. I even think that the last album is the heaviest record we made. So for us, that's never a discussion. It has to do with the music which comes out of you. We are always experimenting more to ourselves, although I don't think we make such big changes.

We have to surprise ourselves (in a good way of course). That's for us the most important thing.

M-W: In Rock en France, you opened for Metallica. The French Mets fans were not that respectful to you. How did you manage to keep smiling and trying?

To be honest, I hardly see them. I'm so into the show... I don't really have problems with it. And it's also the other way around : if there are people supporting us, among them there will be people looking completely bored at the other bands. That happens as well. It's fine...

M-W: Over the past eight years, you only missed two editions of the Appelpop. What's so special about this festival?

I don't know. It also surprises me that we played here so much and I think that it's also because our schedule is often free at the beginning of September because we have no tour and the festival period is over. So it's again the last festival we're going to play this year. Another strange thing is that it's always great. Every year you think that maybe Appelpop is going to be boring, but it never is.

M-W: What would be for you the best thing about being a part of Within Temptation?

The best thing is that you can make your music. The creative part of the whole thing is, for me, absolutely the best thing.

Within Temptation official website: http://www.within-temptation.com/
Within Temptation on MySpace:     http://www.myspace.com/withintemptation