“I started working with Jack Driessen, the first keyboardist from After Forever," Jansen says of how things began. "We met Sander one day and started talking about the project, and we thought that if Sander would join us and it worked we could have something really great. We felt that we needed a guy like him because we’re very melody oriented and Sander has always been very riff oriented. So, we got together and tried some stuff out, and it worked out really well. Whenever we have time we get together and write music. The goal is to write music without and pressure, just to have fun with it, and once we have enough music we’ll put 100% into it and try and find a company to release it.”
“We want to make it a lot different from Epica and After Forever," he adds. "Otherwise there would be no point in doing it. Also, we don’t want people comparing the new stuff with those bands. It’s a bit louder (laughs), closer to what Sander did with HDK.”
After Forever fans were surprised for the most part when news came down about the collaboration, as Jansen was fired from the band in 2002 due to creative differences. Water under the bridge as far as Jansen is concerned.
“It’s sort of like if Dave Mustaine was working with Metallica again," Jansen laughs. "A lot of people were very surprised, but I don’t stay angry about things in the past. There’s a point where you have to get over it. I don’t want to have enemies in this world, and Sander and I got past that point several years ago. It was time to start working together again.”
BW&BK will be following the development of the project. Stay tuned for updates.
