Dead Rhetoric: There were also a number of different pre-order packages to choose from for The Holographic Principle – do you think the business model for releasing an album has changed over the years to be more important in regards to finding little extras to be sent off with the album so as to pull in some more fans to entice them to buy it?
Jansen: I think nowadays merchandise has become way more important for bands because we all know that due to downloading, which I’m not complaining about, but there’s less income for bands. So you have to find new ways to find income. Merchandise is still a great way to do that for bands. I think it’s the main income for bands nowadays next to live shows. I think the way we present it – we take a lot of care of our merchandise. We try to do special things like high-quality shirts, and I think that really helps us. I always hear from fans because we ask how they like our webstore and they are all happy with it. So I think it’s very important, and I would suggest to other bands to do it the best they can because that will be what makes you survive as a band now.
Dead Rhetoric: So is there anything else that has changed over the years, other than the downloading piece?
Jansen: The Internet has changed many things. It was also hard to record a good album. Nowadays, you can have your own home studio, with pretty good quality recordings that you can do. Many things have gotten easier for bands, but some things have gotten harder. Basically, any band can sound good, or at least decent, if they do their best. So it’s harder to stick out for newer bands and harder to say, “Hey, we are here and come to our live shows.” But every time period has its advantages and disadvantages. I’m pretty sure that new bands that are really amazing find a way to make it to the next level. But I’ve seen many things change all around us, and it’s about jumping on the right train every time and making the best possible decisions in the time period. I always have to laugh about bands that complain about how “everything was better in the past.” Things are the way they are now, and you have to deal with it whether you want to or not. We like the way it is now. The few disadvantages that are there – you just come up with other ideas to make things work.
Dead Rhetoric: Outside of the band directly, Epic metal fest has grown for the second time around. What, for you, is the goal of the festival?
Jansen: The goal is ultimately to have a festival that everyone knows and everyone knows for having a good experience. That’s the most important. The first time, the goal was to break even, and we made it. So we didn’t lose any money fortunately. The second edition, we hope to break even, and we are well on our way. So we hope that it can become a yearly event. We also hope to do it in different countries now and then. It’s not bound to one place, and I think that’s the strength of the festival name. We can do it wherever we want; wherever there is a good opportunity. We hope it will keep growing, and if it for whatever reason, it doesn’t work out, I’m happy that we tried it and it’s a nice addition.
Dead Rhetoric: So you’ll be out on the road soon – considering the number of albums and the length of your songs, is it hard to come up with even a satisfying headlining setlist at this point?
Jansen: It’s not easy because there are many fans who have different opinions, and there’s not a single album that nobody likes. You try to satisfy everyone, but of course that isn’t possible; so you try to make everyone as happy as possible. It’s hard, because we don’t want to throw out all the old classics out that we play often, but we don’t want to play the same setlist. So we are thinking about how we are going to solve that now. But I think it’s not bad, with the upcoming tours, to skip a few songs and play some that we don’t play so often, along with some songs from the new album. I think it will be a very interesting setlist. People that say that we focus on the same songs too often – I think they will be surprised.
Dead Rhetoric: I was reading that one of your favorite hobbies is sports/fitness. Do you do anything when you are out on the road to stay in shape and ease the touring lifecycle?
Jansen: On tour, I always try to keep active. I try to bring my running shoes with me because that’s the easiest. Wherever we are, there is the opportunity to run unless it’s snowing and there is a layer of snow on the ground. Even when it is -10, I still go out and do a run. I also try to ride a bike or bring a bike along. Whenever there’s an indoor swimming pool around, I love to do that. Otherwise I find a gym and work out for a few hours. So there is always something fun to do, and for me the variation is what makes it even more fun. If I only did running or cycling, I would easily get bored. So I do something different every day – I don’t follow any programs or anything. I just do what I want to do that day.
Dead Rhetoric: At least it clears your mind when you are out on the road…
Jansen: I also like to have a beer with fans that I meet. Touring is a perfect way to see people I’ve met all over the world again, so I don’t skip my beer. I’m not an excessive drinker, and I don’t take any drugs – the sports are something I do to feel fit and clear my mind as well. When you are always busy with music, it’s nice to do something that is completely different.
Dead Rhetoric: You started 2016 with touring North America and ending 2016 doing the same – what else lies ahead for Epica?
Jansen: We are also doing a European tour with Powerwolf. Next summer we will hopefully do many summer festivals. With the release coming up, it should be quite easy to get a lot of summer festivals. After the summer, we’d like to do some other tours and hopefully get to Japan for the first time in our careers. We plan to do other tours as well, but we also intend to have a short rest, finally, after 15 years of existence. We haven’t had a period of rest in our career – it doesn’t need to be long. But long enough to do something completely different, for example, someone doing a big travel event they wanted to do, or stay home for a half a year or so. So everyone can do something that they would like to do, and then we will continue.
Dead Rhetoric: Well, it’s good that you can plan for a break and get some rest.
Jansen: It keeps on going, and it’s all fun and all exciting, but then you start to feel that life is going so fast. It seems like I just turned 30, and now I’m already moving towards 40 and it’s going faster and faster! It feels like a high-speed train!