Royal Jake - Interview

Hey, Breathing The Core fans, here we bring you another interview of the Metal/Metalcore band Royal Jake from Belgium, so here you can see and give a like to his FACEBOOK PAGE. We have nothing more to say, so enjoy this interview!

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

The name goes back to the early 90’s, when the band was formed as a ‘teenage grunge band’.

RJ today (of which Peter is the only remaining member) has got nothing to do with the RJ from back then but the name was kept and through the years the band was shaped to its actual form.

‘Royal Jake’ refers to the fact the average man in the street, as simple he might be, should have his own pride. ‘Jake’ that man in the streets, is just as ‘Royal’ as the man in the castle.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Because of the freedom to mix in, any kind of heavy music we like. These are general metal influences that we combine with pure core elements taken from death-, metal- and hardcore.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Nope, we met each other when former band members had to be replaced. The funny thing is that Kjell (Drums) and Peter (Vocals+Bass) live only 100 metres from each other but never met until the audition took place.

4. Each band member’s favourite band?

In the core genre that would be ‘Parkway Drive’ for Kjell. ‘As I Lay Dying’ for Peter and ‘The Ghost inside’ for Arjen (Guitar).

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

We observe the world around us and take that as an inspiration.

6. Where was your last gig?

At JH Nijdrop (Opwijk - Belgium), together with the befriended bands Hexa Mera and Dawn of Clarity.

7. Where would you like to act?

Well, we enjoy playing anywhere but we have to admit that playing at one of the bigger Belgian metal/hardcore/metalcore festivals like Groez Rock, Graspop Metal Meeting, Yper Fest or Antwerp Metal Fest would be a dream coming true…

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Can’t think of someone in particular right now but any chance to work with a good skilled artist would be really great.

9. Whom not?

We don’t like people who are too full of their selves... So none of those, please ; )

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

Peter hasn’t, Arjen often has but has learned that if he drinks one beer before the show everything comes loose when it’s time to perform J Kjell sometimes suffers from stage fright too but once he’s on stage he will enjoy the show and give everything he has because it’s important to entertain the crowd and leave them with a nice feeling when the show is over. A tip from Kjell is to practice all the elements of the show that you are about to bring to stage. When you’re comfortable with your ‘skills’, the playing and the moves, you shouldn’t be afraid of anything going wrong. So, go and get them and just enjoy every show!

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

That is something that’s different for all three member; for Peter that would be bands like PWD, Whitechapel but also Mastodon for instance, Arjen his main influences are Pantera, Lamb of God and Devil Driver and Kjell is more influenced by ‘none core’ metal bands like Dream Theater, Kataklysm, Nightwish and many more… but he also gets inspired by bands like PWD of course.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Nothing weird has happened yet but then again, what is weird, right ; )

13. What do you think of your fans?

They are the greatest and we are really happy that our music is enjoyed by them and that we can show them a good time at our gigs! We put our heart and soul into our music and if you dig it, any fan is welcomed by us, no matter who you are, what music you listen to, where you come from or what you look like...

14. What do you think of our site?

It’s a really good site to discover new bands, future friends and new influences. It also provides starting bands with an opportunity to spread their music by giving them new locations to perform and a good platform to promote their music. The site is a great initiative for bands.

15. Something to add?

First of all, thanks to BTC for supporting the smaller fish in the scene, just like us. Every big band has started small and a great initiative like this really makes a difference. We put a lot of effort in our music so we appreciate all the support we can get from the people who like it. Our new Ep is called ‘Tenacity’ and it will come out early this spring. We are all looking very much forward to it and hope that you will be pleased by it \m/