Interview: Taymir



Hey guys!

It's one of these days where I'd just like to mention how nice it is to write for an audience like you guys, I just really appreciate to know there are so many music lovers reading.
house in the sand just really became a home for music lovers and a place for music to be supported.

Another exciting thing is how the variety of interviews is expanding so quickly. After chatting with Brooke Fraser from New Zealand, I just recently spoke to Taymir from the Netherlands.

Taymir are a four piece band from Den Haag, Netherlands.

Their current album "Phosphene" is genrefied as sixties inspired pop/rock mixed with their very own style.
Their live shows are known for energetic rock elements.

The four lads have taken over the United States by storm and are now on their mission to win over Europe. All of these adventures are captures in 60 seconds, but you'll find out more about that in the interview.

Taymir are:
 Bas Prins (vocals)
Quinten Meiresonne (bass, backing vocals)
Mikkie B Wessels (guitar, backing vocals)
Isai Reiziger (drums)


Find out what guitarist Mikkie told me about being in front of the camera, being on tour, The Strokes and a lot more.


Mikkey of Taymir: Hello, this is Mikkie.

house in the sand: Hi, it's Vanessa from house in the sand. Are you ready to do a little interview?

Mikkie: If I'm ready to do an interview? I'm always ready to do an interview.

HITS: That's perfect, so am I!

Mikkie: Okay, nice. (laughs)

HITS: So you're currently touring with The Arkells, how's touring life treating you so far?

Mikkie: Well, yesterday we had our last gig with The Arkells. We've probably done ten with them, I don't even know the exact number. Touring life, it is a lot of fun but it is also heavy and difficult at time of course. But yeah, it's just playing, showing people what you've got, changing lives. It's fun, but hard as well.

HITS: I see. Fans can follow your adventures by watching your "60 seconds videos" online. Do you sometimes struggle to sum up your days in just sixty seconds?

Mikkie: I'm sorry, what do mean exactly?

HITS: I imagine that sometimes there's so much going on in one day that it might be difficult to put all of it into one short video. Does that happen to you?

Mikkie: Ah, yeah. Very much! I mean, we don't edit the sixty seconds, we only star in them, but yeah, there are days where a lot of things happen.
But let me tell you this; the hardest thing about the 60 seconds is that you've got this where you are really tired and are not really interested in the camera, you know. But still you have to seem fun and happy of course. While you're actually struggling with the gig itself, you also have to make an interesting 60 seconds video.
And then the camera man who films it all, he also edits it and he sometimes has a hard time editing as well. Because sometimes, like you say, a lot of things happen in a day. And also sometimes a gig is really really really cool, like one of the gigs with The Arkells was the best one we've ever played and it's really hard to capture that on film, the whole vibe, the atmosphere and what was going on, if you know what I mean.

HITS: Yeah, I totally get it. But you're doing a great job, so it's fine.

Mikkie: Thank you so much!

HITS: But imagine those little videos could turn into a film. Who would you like to write the soundtrack for it?

Mikkie: That's really easy! That would be Kevin Parker. We really respect him a lot.

HITS: Really cool! I've toured with a band earlier this year and during those long journeys in the van, I just feel like you need to blast some music. So what is playing in the Taymir tour vehicle?

Mikkie: Well, to be honest, we're playing a lot of The Strokes. Every day we listen to The Strokes, especially the second album. So yeah, The Strokes mainly.
 And the new songs of Tame Impala. I think those two are the only things we've been listening to these last three weeks. Just The Strokes and the new songs of Tame Impala. Oh and a little bit of The Hives and Queens of the Stone Age. But mainly The Strokes and Tame Impala.

HITS: If it works for you, that's cool.

Mikkie: Haha, yeah! (laughs)

HITS: But let's speak a bit about your band. Can you tell us how you got into music and became a band?

Mikkie: Uhm... well, let me think, that was a long time ago.
I think everyone individually has got a different story of how they got into music. But how we got together and started writing the music is nice. Me and the singer have known each other all our lives. And the singer and the bass player have been best friends before they came into the band and we met the drummer at school. And eventually we were Taymir and made music because we liked the same ideas about music. Like on the current album that's out now, "Phosphene", you can hear a lot of sixties influences which we were all really interested in. Like, how do you write a good song? A good melody, good chords, just everything.
And the stuff that we now like to write is more raw stuff, and it's really nice to see how we're developing together, if you know what I mean.

HITS: Yeah, it makes sense. I think touring together changes the attitude of the band, you get to know each other on another level on the road.

Mikkie: Yeah, yeah and that's also the thing. A lot of people when they listen to the album, they think "ah nice, it's a nice, sweet sixties band" and when they see us live, it's a totally different experience. It's a lot more rock, it's large. And that's what we like the most, the live shows, the mentality, the rock'n'roll, the rawness.

HITS: You also play a big variety of gigs, don't you? You go from playing intimate club shows to playing massive festivals. Which of them do you prefer? Do you prefer being on stage in front of thousands of people or do you prefer smaller, more intimate shows where it's just you and a few people?

Mikkie: To be honest, we just like to play for as many people as possible. We want to hear people scream, we want to have a big party, see people jump around, going crazy. We just like to blow a lot of people away.
And we want to change some lives.

HITS: So, which song is your favourite one to play live?

Mikkie: On the current album probably "What Would You Say". It's one of the songs where we go crazy, it's the song which we can relate to the most from the album.

HITS: Pretty cool! And after tour is finished, what are the plans for when you're back home and all the craziness of tour is over?

Mikkie: The plans are actually quite clear. We're going to record the songs for the new album, write more songs for the new album. I just like the idea of releasing an album a year.
And now that we've released our first album in Germany, I hope we can keep up the good work.
So we're busy with that and then we're coming back to Germany to play some stuff. I don't know the concrete dates yet but I do know that we're coming back to Germany a few times this year to show people what we've got.
And next year, we're planning on taking over the world. Yeah, that's the plan, to take over the world.

HITS: Busy times ahead! I think that's a nice way to wrap things up, thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed this little chat.

Mikkie: Thank you, that was really nice.

HITS: Have a nice day, cheers!

Mikkie: You too, bye bye.

________________________________

Thank you for Mikkie for the lovely chat!
And many thanks to the absolutely wonderful Sony Music Germany staff for organising the interview.






Taymir online: Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube




Thank you for reading!



 




Credits // Text, questions: Vanessa Jertschewske | Image taken from Taymir on Facebook | Answers: Mikkie B Wessels of Taymir

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