N.E.LENJ.P We can truly speak of a sensation. Just about everyone seems enthusiastic about N.E.L & J.P, the new project by Nel Mertens and Jean Paul De Brabander, combining sharply written punk poetry in Dutch with industrial electronics. N.E.L & J.P did it and they are asked to perform just about everywhere. We asked them too. On 23rd December, we will invite the duo to the first new style Dark Entries Night,whichwill still take place for free in the Kinky Star in Ghent. We checked whether the two can still keep their feet on the ground with the success. Hello N.E.L& J.P. As you know, we at Peek-a-boo are very enthusiastic about your debut EP ‘Honger’ (Hunger). Are you satisfied yourself and did you expect this positive reception? Nel : I couldn't estimate it at all... I certainly didn't expect the positive reactions – from our first single ‘Zelfbeeld van denaldie’ (Self esteem of the Aldi) –and especially the many performances that immediately followed. JP immediately suspected that it would ‘catch on’. With his musical experience,he knows whether somethingwill ‘get caught’by an audience or not but it was still exciting to wait and see whether our work would be picked up. And of course I am very happywith the result.It goes without saying that JPand I will only release things that we are both excited about. Sven, the frontman of This Can Hurt, contacted me at some point. They had almost finished their semi-acoustic EP ‘A Deeper Shade Of Blue’, with an instrumental track as the closing track,with which theywanted to do something with poetry.Amutual friend told them that –in addition tomusic reviews – I also wrote poetry and that's how they came to me. I wrote a lyric for their track and we recorded it. JP : We liked that so much that I suggested we work on a few more songs together.We were off! In just a few weeks we had recorded a few songs. Then the Ghent new wave band Fragments asked us to play the supporting act on their EP release.We are quite impulsive and like to say'yes' to everything, so that was quickly arranged. On the bill, we were announced as ‘punk poetry in dream rooms’.Nel writes punky poems. But the songs we made together didn't sound punky yet! Slight panic. We threw everything in the trash bin and wrote new songs and new lyrics in six weeks. It was just fitting to be able to open for Fragments with an electropunk set in a sold-out Trefpunt! JP, as mentioned, you have caused a stir in the past with This Can Hurt, the sound of which you describe as If we dream together, maybe the world will wake up. JP : I ampersonally very satisfied with the EP.It gives a good idea of what we are doing and of the possibilities in terms of sound, lyrics, etc. It really is a bit of a journey of discovery for us and we are only at the beginning. (laughs) How people will receive your music is really difficult to estimate in advance and something I don't want to deal with at all while writing. I think the healthiest starting point is always: try out musically things that give you goosebumps, and lyrically express things that are important to you.And then you will see whether there is an audience for that.But I really enjoy that our music is so well received. If I understand correctly, your collaboration resulted from a one-off collaboration between Nel and JP’s group, This Can Hurt. Can you tell us exactly how that worked? Nel : I already knew the gentlemen of This Can Hurt a bit from concerts and interviews I did with them. But I actually had the least contact with JP. www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 28 - ‘industrial postwave’. Do you have any other projects? Aren't you afraid that the success of N.E.L& J.Pwill cast a shadow on your work at This Can Hurt? JP : I have just finished Villa Voortman’s double album, which will be presented at the Handelsbeurs in Ghent on 15th December. 28 tracks on a double vinyl, ranging from drum 'n bass and punk to cabaret... In short: a particularly eclectic soup. (laughs) With Nel, I am working on the pre-production of our debut album, scheduled for the spring... and with This Can Hurt I am reworking a lot of songs that are planned for the third album... So my hands and agenda are full! Since there is so much difference in style and working method, it is not really a problem to have everything coexist. It’s just those agendas… There is awhole storybehind the title ofyour EP:‘Honger’ (Hunger). Can we knowmore about that? Nel : You can actually recognize hunger as a common thread through all the tracks on the EP. Everything but the most concrete, literal meaning of the word, as the basic need for food. Rather, it concerns what is referred to in today's society as ‘basic needs’... and that is sometimes positive when it comes to hunger in the sense of ‘yearning’. So we have the desire, the hunger for real contact in ‘Huidhonger’ (Skin Hunger). Because if we dream together, maybe the world will wake up. Or the beautiful admission of fragility, missing an old love, the beautiful memory of it, the secret longing for a reunion, in ‘Ik beken’ (I Confess). But sometimes – or usually – that ‘modern hunger’ is also negative, when it comes to the constant urge for more. ‘Traan’ (Tear) is about wanting to emphasize difficult emotions even more than they really are. In life, really
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