Earth MK. II

Hugo van de Poel, Jacco Gardner pal and the mastermind responsible for haunting yet melodious neo-psych act Earth Mk. II, unveiled his Excelsior debut at OT301 just over a month ago. With a supporting role at the Las Kellies show at Roodkapje, Rotterdam, we talked to the drumming frontman about building music as a sum of its parts, and taking it apart with purposeful decisions and dreamy memories from his childhood

Interview by Sanja Brkanovic, photos shot by Nick Helderman

‘My grandfather gave me a mineral rock once. It was a purple amethyst. I remember I was smashing it apart with a hammer thinking I was exploring the rock, but I really just beat the hell out of it’

How would you describe your creative process?

Right now we have a lot of shows, so there’s not really any room for composing new songs. When I do have some spare time, I’ll play some random chords on the guitar until something strikes me as a nice combination.

Do you like to make mistakes in your creative process?

Well, there are always moments where you’re trying out new things, to get a better sound. But it’s not about making mistakes on purpose. It’s about trying out new sounds and chords on purpose, which lead to a more creative recording.

Any mistakes that made it on to this album?

Well, this one’s not really a mistake, but there’s this one song on the album that needed to be finished within an hour. So I thought, Okay, if I force myself, maybe something good will come of it. I read in some reviews later on that that song, called ‘Memories’, is qualified as the best song of the album. I like simple songs and when you don’t have too much time to think about it you make simpler sounds. Pressure won’t always work, but this time it did.

How do you feel you’ve evolved as a musician?

I started writing songs at 12. I think some people can write a song for the first time, when they’re 20 or 25, and it’s good. But I would say I’ve really practiced to train myself to be a better songwriter. When I was 14 I forced myself to write a song every day. And I wrote one every day, or almost one every day. I had all these notebooks full of songs, I think there’s more than 500 songs in there now.

Would you describe your process as a sum of parts?

Yes.

What bands inspire your work?

I mostly listen to ’60s music like early Pink Floyd, everything psychedelic. And some bands from the last ten years or so like Belle and Sebastian. The song ‘Waiting For the Moon to Rise’ was one of my biggest inspirations for this project. It’s where the girl sings the whole song and it’s really moody. I like that.

Are there any childhood memories that seeped into your music?

Childhood feelings are direct, and the emotions you have as a kid are straightforward, so it’s easy to relate that to music and make a song from that pure emotion.

How about breaking stuff, a whole other emotion?

Actually there’s one memory that comes to mind. My grandfather gave me a mineral rock once, a purple amethyst. I smashed it apart with a hammer thinking I was exploring the rock, but I really just beat the hell out of it. It took some force, but it was still controlled in a way. I thought I was doing something very rational, but I wasn’t of course. I remember my parents getting really angry with me.

Do you like breaking things now?

No, not really. I’ve never smashed a guitar.

If you could host a house demolition party or a house building party, which would it be?

Depends. If it’s my house, it’s going to be a building party, but I’d like to demolish a house. It looks so cool on TV.

Hugo van der Poel and his Earth Mk. II are at Roodkapje on Sunday, 6 September with Argentinian garage rock trio Las Kellies. The show is free for members. For more Roodkapje events visit, Roodkapje.org