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Spotlight: Ocean Encounters (BE)

Posted by Glenzer Blegh op Thursday, 11 May 2023

Ocean Encounters is een Belgische band die een mix brengt van diverse metal genres zoals djent, metalcore, death en speed metal, gooi daar nog eens de occasionele rap bij en je krijgt een idee wat deze unieke band te bieden heeft. Hun recentste aanwinst als vocalist is Lola gekend voor haar vele covers op YouTube waaronder de metalcover met McFly en Carlito.

In 2015 ontstond Ocean Encounters in de Belgische stad Doornik. Binnen slechts een jaar speelden ze al snel veel shows in de omgeving, waarbij ze soms werden gevraagd om twee shows per dag op verschillende locaties te spelen. Met een muziekstijl die is geïnspireerd door een breed scala aan verschillende muziekstijlen, is het moeilijk om deze groep in een enkel gedefinieerd genre te plaatsen. Door zware ritmische secties van djent te versmelten met brute zang en immense breakdowns van metalcore, vullen ze de gaten op met af en toe een machinegeweer-rapvers en slagen ze erin het beste van alle werelden samen te brengen.

Lola heeft zich recent bij het team gevoegd als de nieuwe zangeres! Ze heeft furore gemaakt met haar covers met Mcfly en Carlito, en nu brengt ze haar epische zang naar Ocean's nieuwste nummers zoals Potential, Fanatical en Spawn Of Atlas, alsook hun aankomende album en hun aanstaande tours in 2023. Ocean Encounters heeft het podium gedeeld met onder meer Skindred, Caliban, Suasion en Betraying The Martyrs. Bekijk ook zeker eens de videoclip van Potential op YouTube: https://youtu.be/zVPKwGxeM6g

Bandleden

Vincent Bédier:

Hij is de lead gitarist en verantwoordelijk voor de externe communicatie, verder voegt hij zijn muzikale invloeden bij aan het schrijfproces.

Quentin Barbet:

Hij is de drummer en zorgt voor de mix en mastering van de pre-producties, zijn inbreng bij het schrijfproces is voornamelijk rap.

Pieter Maddens:

Hij is de vocalist/bassist en beschikt over de kennis van meerdere talen, bij het schrijfproces draagt hij bij met rap en metal.

Grégoire Dedeyne:

Hij is de ritme gitarist en staat in voor het regelen van optredens, bij het schrijfproces brengt hij de grootste metal invloeden.

Lola Didier:

Zij is de nieuwe zangeres en is vastbesloten om nieuw leven in de groep te blazen zowel menselijk als muzikaal.

Interview

Which festival would you like to perform at and why?

Ocean Encounters: "For us if we’re playing in front of 5 people or 5000 people we’re gonna give it 110%. We do everything in life to make sure we get on a stage, so whatever stage we’re given we will give it our all. If we really have our pick we’d like to choose one of the big four (Wacken, Hellfest, Graspop or Download) in a nice slot. Evening on the 2nd or 3rd night would be perfect. We can dream!! Hahaha"

What is the wildest memory of the band during a show?

Ocean Encounters: "We had a classic Murphey-law show where every. Single. Thing. Went wrong. From the set-up, to the sound check, to the show itself. NOTHING went right. First the evening had racked up a huge delay from the previous bands, so we were rushed. Then our metronome (the click) had been routed through the main PA and none of the sound engineers knew what to do about it. Then when time came for the show we had put our costumes in a back room so we could get changed before the show, but someone had locked the room and we couldn’t find them any more so we couldn’t access our costumes. Then once the show finally got going we kept getting a really bad feedback sound that just couldn’t get resolved. Then because of the delay we decided to cut a few songs from the set so we never got into a good flow. Then to top it all off our bassist broke a string on his bass guitar about half way through the set, so they had to try and figure out a way to play the songs on another string."

How do you distinguish yourself from other bands?

Ocean Encounters: "We believe in a work hard-play hard mentality. We work our asses off to make sure that when we get on stage we can play the songs blind and deaf. Then once we get on stage we make sure there’s heads moving and toes tapping. Pieter has spent a big portion of his life on stage so knows a few tricks to get a crowd rowdy and ready to go berserk. So far our record for the smallest wall of death has been one with 5 people. Which we definitely see as a sign of being able to get any crowd up and running and ready to go!"

How did Lola ended joining the band?

Ocean Encounters: "We were looking for a new lead singer and stumbled across a few of her many vocal covers online. Both her vocal skills and the fact that she had a basic knowledge of recording and filming herself made her a very good candidate. But what really sealed the deal was our first practice together. The first note of the first song was spot on, and she sang the next few songs seamlessly. We knew it right away."

What are the future goals of the band?

Ocean Encounters: "Shows. Everything we do in life is for shows. We write music to play them on stage. We drive hours and hours and haul heavy gear in and out of venues and vans so we can play shows. Even the recording of the songs is so we can play those songs on stage. So what we would like to be able to do is play as many shows as possible, as long as our bodies permit!"

Which song you made has the most emotional meaning and why?

Ocean Encounters: "Purely from a lyrical standpoint I’d say our single Disappoint was written at a time where Pieter was very frustrated with the state of the world and the lyrics reflect that. A newer song “Subliminal” that still needs to be recorded but is also written from a place of frustration at the current state of the world. Everyone knows what is wrong and what needs to be done to fix it, but the population is not allowed to put those things in action because of the status-quo"