Pirates of the Caribbean Medley by Epica (Interview with Mark Jansen)
On May 11th Epica will release their newest album “The Classical Conspiracy” taken from their live performance in Hungary. On the album you will find “classic” Epica numbers performed by an orchestra and classic music performed by Epica. Epica is a fantastic band who create a mix of rock, (symphonic) metal and “film music like” compositions with the classic trained voice of the beautiful Simone Simons. I am a big fan of their music and can’t wait to put their newest work into the CD player.
Epcia already proofed that metal can be mixed with Disney by performing at Disneyland Resort Paris in the past, but this time they add a Disney tune to their CD, a Pirates of the Caribbean Medley. Once I saw this play list for the new European version of the CD I contacted Mark Jansen from Epica and asked him about this project.
Andy: How did you get to the idea of adding a Pirates of the Caribbean Medley?
Mark Jansen: Pirates is a tune that is well known around the world by now. It was a pleasant surprise for the listener to have some scores between the traditional classic pieces we performed. Pirates was spectacular during the live performance. Also on the album it stands out.
Andy: Who transformed the score?
Mark: Yves (Yves huts is the Bass guitar player of Epica)
Andy: Was it difficult to transform the Pirates music to a rock version?
Mark: No, the pieces are very accessible and gives multiple option and possibilities to create something beautiful out of it. Obviously you need the necessary experience, but after all the years we acquired this and are able to put our hands on this classic. There is a rhythm at the end of the medley that gave us some headaches, but we got it done.
Andy: Why can we only find the Pirates Medley on the European version of the new CD?
Mark: Walt Disney isn’t easy when it comes to copyrights. In the USA the copyright system is different as in Europe. Nuclear Blast (the music Label) didn’t want to take any risks and wanted to avoid a claim from Disney in the US. However, as this is a one to one translation from classic to rock (We used the original medley and used the theme’s in the same order without adaption) it is no problem to release it on a European market.
Andy: What else can we expect on this CD?
Mark Jansen: You can find pieces from Vivaldi, Verdi, Prokofiev and Händel on the CD, but also compositions from Star Wars and Spider-Man. The CD has the full recording of the live performance in Hungary with Epica and the Orchestra. The CD will be well worth it. It has costs us blood, sweat and tears and more then 6 months of preparations and a total of more then 1 year of hard work to get this CD on the market.
Andy: I am very happy there is a CD coming out of this one time show. I found it a shame I could not be there on the live performance. Now that the CD will be available I can play it until the CD is broken. (Something I managed with the Phantom Agony CD, so I had to get a second CD of it)
Mark; That is something we like to hear.
Andy: Thank you Mark for your time.
So, if you’re a Disney or Pirates fan make sure to check out this CD from Epica. We still have to wait a couple of days before it will be available but, knowing their previous work, this will be well worth the wait. You can order the CD (European Version) on Amazon in Germany! (Avoid ordering it from Amazon US as this will have the US version without the Pirates medley and don’t risk the UK Amazon as it isn’t know what version they will offer. The UK Amazon has no track, list showing)
You can listen to a track list here
