Arjen Lucassen has explained how his love for Led Zeppelin’s heavier music finally led him to folk-rock icons Fairport Convention and Renaissance – and finally to upcoming The Gentle Storm album The Diary.
Released on March 23, it’s a collaboration with Anneke van Giersbergen featuring ten tracks recording in “gentle” and “storm” versions.
In the exclusive video interview below, Lucassen says: “I was this metalhead. With Zeppelin you’d hear the heavy songs and there was this ‘acoustic shit,’ but it was an LP so you had to listen.
“After five listens it was, ‘Damn it, I love those acoustic tracks too.’ After a while it was, ‘Maybe I like the acoustic tracks more – let’s delve into that kind of music.’ I discovered Fairport Convention, Renaissance and the whole folk thing.”
He hopes The Diary will have a similar effect on another generation, joking of the “gentle” tracks: “Metalheads maybe won’t admit it – but at the back of their heads they might go, ‘Damn it, I like this…’”
The Gentle Storm teased their video for Shores Of India earlier this week. The Diary is available to pre-order in a variety of bundles via Lucassen and van Giersbergen’s websites. The Gentle Storm play their debut live show in the Netherlands on March 26 with Lucassen – although he won’t be in the lineup for the band’s live dates in the UK in April:
Apr 23: London Garage
Apr 24: Leicester Musician
Apr 25: Manchester Roadhouse
