As the weekend draws to a close, your exposure to new bands continues! Check out The Last Element…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from Amsterdam, the capital of the kingdom of the Netherlands!
How did you meet?
Robert Nick and Jan were in a band together prior to TLE, the singer of that outfit quit and Jan met Jasper via Youtube. Jasper put out some covers of his favorite songs when Jan noticed them while looking for a new singer. They contacted that same night via the net and the rest is history.
A year after that, we had to look for a new guitar player and Noah was one of the guys who applied to the add we put out. Although he was the youngest of the lot, he had the best performance and credentials to join TLE.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We’ve been together in this line-up for a little over two years now and we’ve become the strongest possible line-up we could ever imagine. Some nasty and bad things happened that made us even more determined to succeed so we’re afraid you haven’t heard (or seen) the last of us yet!
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
When Jasper joined, the sound of what we were doing up until that point changed a lot. It felt pretty useless to keep the name we had been working under so we changed it into The Last Element. We had a list of over 60 potential band names which we cut short to a shortlist of the 10 most powerful ones that felt good. At the end of the day The Last Element was the only name that suited us all.
We have more than one explanation for the name and where it stands for. It could be the element in the table of elements that still needs to be discovered (it’s expected to be a precious metal) or it could be the keystone of life where everything comes together and suddenly makes sense. Which one it is that holds the explanation for our name, is our own little secret and if we’d give away that secret, it would no longer be our own little secret, right?
What are your influences?
There are a variety of bands we like if that’s what you mean. We grew up on bands like Linkin Park, Disturbed, Nickelback, Breaking Benjamin, Hoobastank, and along came many other great bands like Bring Me The Horizon, R3D, Normandie, Crown The Empire, Chevelle, Hands Like Houses… and so on and on and on. We listen to what is current of course and we guess that influences the songs we write but then again we’re stubborn headed enough to remain our own little flavor.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
As said, we see our music as a blend of different styles and flavors. It’s hard to actually describe how we sound and we think that’s a good thing. To us, the song is very important, it needs to tell a story both lyrically as music wise. It needs to be balanced so the story can be felt and heard. We write, record, mix and produce everything ourselves which gives us the advantage of letting a song grow, rewrite what’s not in place and be meticulous about the songs we present and deliver to our audience. That’s a catch at the same time of course because we never have any pressure of finishing recordings within a limited time span or budget you’d have to pay for a studio. It’s a luxury problem of course. Sometimes it takes a little longer before we all are equally satisfied with a mix or part or whatever because we know there’s no financial pressure to finish a song. It has to have the TLE-flavor and signature all over it before we release it to the outside.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Jasper needs to really feel the lyrics he sings so every note is heartfelt and real that is on a song.
He writes the lyrics and sometimes conversations we have about a certain subject, or things that happened to us are the basis to take off from. We do dare to explore anything as long as it fits the feel of a song in the best possible way but mostly the themes are very relatable for anyone. On the other hand we really relate to important societal and generational issues that can really shape the themes of songs as well. In that way we believe that we as a society have too much division and segregation and the ‘Us vs Them’-mentality, which is something we really have to change if we want to achieve a better quality of living and ensure a good future. Those kinda themes keep us busy as well.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Energetic of course, it’s pretty hard to stand still and have a serious face while we play our songs. We like to be at our best of course performing the songs. Many of us have had a very long list of live experience with previous bands. The interaction with the audience is the most thrilling part of any show. We’ve done some very nice supports for bands like R3D, Three Days Grace and Skillet. We are getting ready again to play after a break since January this year when Robert had a multiple fractured leg. He’s recovered remarkably well and fast from this dreadful incident, but he’s back at the drumset recording new stuff again, so we’re going to set up shows again.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Oh man, don’t go there… your life will never be the same when we spill our guts about these stories!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Nick and Noah play PRS guitars and use Mesa Boogie and Kemper for amplification, Jan uses Fernandes bass guitars and Mesa Boogie amps, Robert uses a Tama drumset and Amedia Cymbals, Jasper uses his pipes, his charm and slick moves on stage!
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Right now, we’re promoting our latest single “Damaged”, a real nice banger that is certain to make your head move and your body tremble, check it out on any streaming platform. There’s a warning that you may like it a lot and play it on constant repeat so don’t say we didn’t tell you beforehand.
What are your plans for the rest of 2019 and into 2020?
We are still busy making our minds up about it but expect some more songs to come your way in the Fall up to early next year. We’re talking with booking agents, managements, labels, etc. that have shown interest in us so who knows what could come of that.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
The ‘match’ we would love is to tour with bands like Bring Me The Horizon or Breaking Benjamin, if it were possible Linkin Park with Chester but… bummer.
There aren’t too many bands here in the Netherlands that go in a similar direction as we do but if we had to mention any of the bands that are out here, it would be Life’s Electric and Kid Harlequin.
