Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Harbour of Souls started in 2010 as studio project by our singer Martin. He recorded 10 songs with our former guitarist Jesper, just for the fun of it, put ‘em on a CD and gave copies away. The reactions were quite good so he decided to form an actual band. We did our first gig in 2013, supporting Peter Pan Speedrock at a local music venue. There have been a few line-up changes through the years but now it’s:
Martin de Jong – Vocals
Bram Pelgrim – Guitars
Daniël Suykerbuyk – Guitars
Robbert van Hoften – Bass
Richard van Leeuwen – Drums
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
I think to anyone who has heard our music it’s obvious that we love Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy. We love the groove and the riffs of old hard rock but we like the rawness and aggression of heavy metal as well, particularly the bands from the NWOBHM era. We’re a band with an old fashioned approach but we’re not retro. As individuals we listen to lots of stuff, influences can range from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Morbid Angel and everything in between.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
Because we guarantee that we will make you bang your head. That’s what we’re about. We’re not trying to bludgeon you by showing you how br00tal and angry we are. We’re about good riffs you can raise your fist to and generally having a good time. As the first song on our latest release says: The Iron Never Lies!
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
We released our first EP ‘Mountain of Fire’ in 2015 and our new EP ‘Doomsayer’ has just come out. The responses to both have actually been pretty good so far. One zine labelled us the local equivalent to Thin Lizzy and one recent review said that if Bruce Dickinson ever decide to take a break from Iron Maiden our singer Martin would be the ideal replacement. That’s never gonna happen of course but it’s still pretty high praise.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
Yes, we do play live. It’s been pretty on-off through the years. There have been times we hardly played and there have been times we practically had a gig every week. Recently we’ve noticed an increase in gigs. Most venues where we’ve played ask us back so that’s a good thing. It’s mostly club shows though. Some more festivals would be nice since I think we’re perfect for that.
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
Because we’re good at what we do. Like I said, we do have an old fashioned approach to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal but we’re not a retro band. We’re not trying to relive the past or anything, but what we are about is riffs and songs. A lot of current metal is very angry, very dark, very compressed in its sound and everything. And there’s nothing wrong with that of course. We live in dark times and personally I like to listen to bands like that myself. But it’s not what we’re doing. When we’re booked on a bill with other metal bands we’re often the odd band out, and I’ve noticed people respond well to that. It’s like in between all the darkness and horror we give ‘em some space to breathe. We’re not a party rock band but we do play Heavy Metal because it makes us feel good. That and well, I don’t like to too my own horn but we’re a really f*ckin’ good live band as well. Come see us, you’ll see!
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
To play as much as possible and eventually we would like to release a full length album.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
We can be heard on Bandcamp and Spotify, seen on Youtube and our stuff is also available on CDBaby and Amazon. The best way to buy our stuff is to come see us live of course.
May 2019