Getting to Know… Before The Drop | Interview

For our 24^th interview, The Musical Hype chats with guitarist and vocalist Rob Dokter of the Dutch indie/alternative rock band, Before the Drop.

“You can feel the tension to play the shit out of these songs, while they require us to play controlled.” Now that’s some type of quote ladies and gentlemen! On The Musical Hype, we are open to musicians worldwide gracing our humble website in a variety of forms and fashions.  For our 24^th interview, we go to Europe, specifically The Netherlands to ‘get to know’ the Dutch ‘post-indie’ band, Before The Drop.  Before The Drop is comprised of five musicians: Rob Dokter (guitars and vocals), Maarten Righarts (guitars), Twan Bakker (drums), Marlouk Basten (vocals and guitars), and Bas Albersen (bass).  It is Rob Dokter who gives us the inside scoop on the band. Without further ado, Interview #24!

Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype (BF) Let’s get this started off right. For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes Before The Drop distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Rob Dokter, Before the Drop (RD): The band is a post-indie outfit played by musicians with a background in more heavy music. You can feel the tension to play the shit out of these songs, while they require us to play controlled. It rings through in the music. The double vocals give an extra depth, adding to that tension.

BF: Awesome! Let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Before The Drop form, and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

RD: It all started with just a two-week surge of chai latte overdose-induced inspiration from our guitar player Maarten, from which basically the fundamentals of a whole album sprung. Maarten contacted Twan (drums) and me (guitar and vocals) to play bass. Initially more ‘vibed’ as an instrumental project, we all soon decided the music asked for female vocals, which became Marlouk (keys/vocals) who brought some sweet vocal lines to the table. When I started singing along, I switched from bass to guitar allowing me to focus more on singing.

BF: Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

RD: We’ve all been playing in bands as long as we can remember, and for most of us, these bands worked out pretty well. We’ve collectively played all the A-list venues in Europe. Also, we’ve played at some sweet festivals in the Netherlands/Belgium/Germany (e.g. Pinkpop, Lowlands). With this band, we plan to do it as a group, as we feel we have something special in our hands here. Aside the obvious goal of world domination with this band, Twan aspires to be a professional curling player an Marlouk holds the world record for not eating gingerbread on Wednesday.

BF: Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

RD: Mostly we started out as a post-rock outfit, so in that’s also why Mogwai is high on our collective list. But also, the wave bands from the 80’s like The Cure and The Sound, mixed with 00’s hero’s like The Doves, Starsailor and Tom McRae.

BF: Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

RD: At the last show of the previous tour Maarten had his birthday at 0.00. At exactly that time we stopped playing in the middle of the song, and the whole crowd and us four sang out “Happy Birthday.” It was great to see how the crowd really chimed in!

BF: Cool. Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

RD: At the moment that would be our single, “Everything.” We worked hard on that one. “Everything” is a tale of impossible love, of attraction and separation, of hope and desperate rage. That feeling you have when you can neither be with nor without someone. At some point, it is time to move on. But who decides when that moment comes?

BF: Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

RD: Twan aspires to be a professional curling player and Marlouk holds the world record for not eating gingerbread on a Wednesday 😉

BF: Both things are definitely unique – especially the “gingerbread on a Wednesday,” LOL! Anyways, closing this thing out, what is you/your band currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

RD: We released a new single [“Everything,” on March 1^st] and we’re really excited. Also, the week after [“Everything” is released], we are recording new songs. We can’t wait to get in the studio. We got loads of new songs to record. [Editor note: “Everything” was released prior to this interview being published].

BF: Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

Connect with Before The Drop: Website • Facebook • Instagram • YouTube