DARKER from Jeps that he’d been making music since the late Darker has already caused quite a stir in the Netherlands, and we can certainly say they are a promising name in the darkwave genre. They started convincing the world with a number of singles released during the coronavirus pandemic, and since 2024, they have also released a solid album, "Memento."We invite them to perform at a Dark Entries Night at the Kinky Star on Friday, October 24th, along with Subatomic Strangers, and we also invite you to enjoy these performances for free. We talked to master brain Jeps Salfischberger. According to the biography on your website, Darker was formed in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, by a coalition of Jeps and Evil-ien inTilburg andValerio from The Hague. Tell me how you came to form this alliance. Evil and I formed Darker, and the original plan was for Evil-ien to sing. But we weren’t achieving the sound and songs we envisioned, so we decided to place an ad on Facebook. Several people responded, including Valerio. I knewValerio from his previous band,My Propane.He sent us demos, and we hit it off instantly.We clicked, and after a few phone calls, we decided to work together. That’s what ultimately became Darker. He had his own studio in The Hague, and we had ours in Tilburg. Initially, we sent demos back and forth via WeTransfer, but after the pandemic, we started recording in each other’s studios. Mixing was mainly done in Waalwijk at Jan Bijlsma’s studio. This collaboration also proved to be invaluable. I think you’ve had musical experience before. I learned www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 14 - ’90s and that he’d previously been active in other bands. I also read that Valerio had previously been active in other bands. Could you provide an overview? And are you working on different projects simultaneously, or is Darker your main project? My first band was Brotherhood Foundation, which I played with quite a bit back then. Fun fact: the drummer and guitarist from that band are now in Within Temptation. After Brotherhood Foundation, I started playing synth guitar in the band Chillburn. Shortly after that band broke up, Darker was formed, sometime around 2018. Besides Darker, I also write music for the trip-hop project Fallen Angel. Valerio had just left My Propane and was working on a new band called Voodoo Chamber. Besides Darker, he’s also in an Italian rock band where he plays keyboards and sometimes tours with. Our live drummer, Jurgen, has also had several musical projects. I was in one of those projects with him. I think the band was called Exzeem, but I could be wrong. Ha ha, it’s been so long. (The correct name was apparently Feature, ed.) You’ve written 84 songs since you formed, but some of them are only just being released. How were you able to be so productive in four years? I think it has to do with my ADD (attention deficit disorder).When I have the time and the inspiration—and I did—writing comes very easily and quickly. I would sometimes write two songs a day, day in and day out, and that’s how we ended up with a huge collection of songs from which we now make selections. We polish them here and there and then release them one by one. Many of your songs were released as individual singles or as four- or five-song EPs. Your full-length album, ‘Memento,’ wasn’t released until 2024. Are you—as befits the zeitgeist—more song-oriented, or still more album-oriented? We’d love to release albums, but due to the distance and lack of time, we often end up releasing singles or EPs rather than full albums, even though we have the
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