ENGLAND = 1995  (SUNRISE - NEW  ALBUM)
m --> Why haven't you been to England in so long?
S --> Nobody invited us.  Our record label (then 'Play It Again Sam') didn't release the Sunrise project (Zita Swoon's second album, music for FW Murnau's 'Sunrise,' 1929).  They (Warners Benelux) said they will release the new album (I Paint Pictures on a Wedding Dress), but I haven't heard any more news.  Two months ago, they confirmed that they wanted to.

MUSIC TO DANCE TO (BAD TIMES  -  ISLAND)
m --> The new album is quite different, still bluesy, but more upbeat and optimistic - tonight you could feel the crowd getting into it.  You recorded the album in New Orleans, did this have any influence?
S --> No, not really, we wrote most of the songs and the arrangements here.  We had a pretty rough time - we lost our management and Island records.
m --> You didn't choose to leave?
S --> No we didn't, they didn't want to go on.  And I left dEUS and we had a really hard time.  So we had a lot of time with not much work, not many gigs.  We rehearsed a lot , wrote a lot of songs, so we were pretty ready when we went to New Orleans.

A SONG OF TWO HUMANS, ANOTHER VERSION (SUNRISE)
m --> I'm sorry to cover so much old ground, but as I said, I haven't seen you play live in three years, since the release of the first album in fact.  How did Sunrise come about?
S --> Someone proposed it really, as just a one-off thing.  They asked if we wanted to do a project like that - not for that film, just a film.  We thought Sunrise had possibilities.
m --> It didn't have a very sympathetic soundtrack to begin with.
S --> I haven't heard the original soundtrack.  Before we wrote it, on purpose I didn't put on the sound because I didn't want to be influenced, and then afterwards, I didn't really bother because I'd seen it hundreds of times writing this thing, so I didn't want to see the movie.  And playing these shows we watched the movie a lot of times.
m --> Will you be taking the Sunrise show to England?
S --> I would love to, yes.  We're surely going to do more tours next year with this - we're going to do another tour of one month with the show.  Hopefully after the Zita Swoon record now, people will be more interested

TONIGHT, THE GOOD TIME (INSOMNIA  -  LIFE POST-dEUS  -  MATTHIEU)
m --> You seemed to be having a lot of fun tonight.
S --> But we are.  It's going great.  We have so much work and it's going great.   Not only with the band, but with the play also.  I got up at 7 this morning.  I couldn't sleep.  I'm too happy to play - because it's been so long since we really toured and played every day.
m --> You seemed to be really getting into it - I've seen you before (offstage) and you seemed a bit uncomfortable.  Tonight, I got the impression that everything was working a lot better, just seeing things happen - before you even came on.
S --> I was never really uncomfortable I think.  But yeah, now we are...as I said, we have lots of time when we didn't play.  I didn't go out.  I stopped drinking and smoking, which is very good.
m --> Was that after dEUS?
S --> Yes, I stopped after dEUS, but I started again a little bit, but now I really stopped.  5 or 6 months already.  I've completely stopped. Yeah, and so we spent all that time really preparing for if some day we would have another chance.  We were writing songs, organising the band really good - financially and everything.  We are very well organised.  This is a very nice feeling.  We have a great crew, nice people, really good to work with.  We have a great support act as well, Matthieu Ha.  Amazing.  I saw a show on him on TV.

PLAGE + TATTOO = ?  (DANCERS  -  CHIC  FESTIVALS)
m -->  What plans have you got - there's the single, the animated video, and what about this dance project I keep hearing about?
S --> It's called Plage Tattoo/Circumstances - Plage, the Beach...we're making a story with two dancers, and one actor (and his daughter) and three of the band, Aarich, the drummer, Erik, the guitar player with the moustache. The premiere is in June in Amsterdam in a local theatre festival - it's a very chic (Stef gives a very wry grin) festival.  We will tour probably in October and November.   There's a lot of songs actually.  I've been writing five, six songs already.

RAGDOLL BLUES, MANY MORE VERSIONS
m --> Why did you decide to rework Ragdoll Blues, from your first EP, (twice) on the new album?
S -->  Warners asked me to do this.  At first I was like, 'Oh no!'  The guy from Warners really liked the song and so if we recorded it, it could be a single for America maybe, but I go, 'oh, I wrote so many songs...' but he kept insisting and I go, OK this guy is very nice to me, he took care of the band, so I might as well try - and it worked out.  We recorded lots of versions actually - we played this song so many times, it's the oldest song we have.  I wrote it when I was sixteen.  It was hard to put new life into it, now we're really happy to play it again.  It's nice.  First it was no, then yes!

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND (MARIA  -  DAILY REMINDERS  -  DISCO!)
m --> You mentioned that a release of Sunrise in England would be difficult, as there are no clear singles that could be released.  What could you identify as the singles on the new album?
S --> 'Emotional Recovery of a Girl Named Maria' (released 29th January) that will be the first one, the second one is 'Daily Reminders' and the third one, if there is a third one, will be 'Disco'.

So, this is what have to look forward to.  With more dates confirmed for the Netherlands, Stef should be an insomniac through excitement about  touring.   A shake of a hand, a swish of a coat, a flurry of a scarf and I'm out into the crisp night air of Antwerp, looking for the next train bound for London.