Features

Waterlelyck

Email interview by Maija Jussila
Photos shot by Annabel van Royen in The Hague, The Netherlands

 

Lyckle de Jong, aka Waterlelyck, is a peculiar individual, and we mean nothing but the very best in saying that. It’s a wonderful thing, which translates to an unrivaled sound of keyboard pop – bizarre and pure as driven snow. With two songs out on SoundCloud, we’re hanging onto hearsay of an EP in the near future on Purple Noise Record Club. We reached out to get some answers but as he’d left his home base of The Hague and changed scenery entirely, we pried into the trivialities of his time off.

Waterlelyck 02 © Annabel van Royen

What zone are you in?

(UTC + 9) Japan, comfort.

What are you doing there?

Honeymoon, camping, field-recording, 5G, surfing the Pacific beach breaks. (Gruwelijk)

I saw my girlfriend Bernice standing in the river, confronting a wild monkey that came out of the bushes towards her.

When will you return to normality?

The timezone, bodyclock, summertime jet lag calculation was too hard for me but I think it’s when I’m in my room, seeing all my friends again, rehearsing for upcoming shows and eating kapsalon.

What’s your best holiday tune?

I try to save my battery for emergencies but when it’s deeply charged I listen to Lifetones’ ‘Good Side’ or Ravel’s ‘Pavane for Dead Princess’, which works well with nature.

What do you miss the most?

The presence of plenty public trash cans & cheap fruit.

Best thing that’s happened this summer?

We were camping in the mountains at a secret riverside spot that our Japanese friend discovered many years ago. From a distance, I saw my girlfriend Bernice standing in the river, confronting a wild monkey that came out of the bushes towards her. She got hold of a big piece of driftwood and was ready to fight this monkey. It didn’t attack but I’ll never forget this image. Sooo wild!

I’m more anxious and afraid of foreign insects than I thought I would be.

New music you’ve discovered?

Godzilla’s roar, made by Akira Ifukube. I bought one of his record with a marimba piece on it. Don’t know if I’ll like it but I sure like the sound of marimba. Also heard hadu drum (hang drum in water) for the first time. plinki plinki plong!

Something new you’ve discovered about yourself?

I’m more anxious and afraid of foreign insects than I thought I would be. I found a leech on my lower leg. I freaked out. It was full of blood.

What do you look forward to?

Quality recording times with Elias Elgersma (Yuko Yuko, The Homesick) at his home studio. We’re gonna do our best to make a really nice Waterlelyck record.

What don’t you want to leave behind?

A blouse I really liked. I left it to dry by lake Ashi.

A word of advice?

Follow me on insta, please come to my shows, upcoming The Homesick and Lamellen album, and don’t be mean keep the water clean.

Any regrets?

The blouse.

Waterlelyck © Annabel van Royen

Come see Waterlelyck play together with Rendez-Vous at s105 (De School), Amsterdam on Wednesday, 7 September.