In a new interview with Belgian Jasper, DELAIN keyboardist, founder and main songwriter Martijn Westerholt spoke about the band’s musical and personal evolution, nearly four years after he announced the dissolution of DELAIN‘s previous lineup. Regarding the pressures of delivering high-quality performances at some of Europe’s biggest rock and metal festivals while introducing a largely new lineup, Martijn said: “The name is there, but some people are new to the job. And expectations are not less; they’re even more. So, you have to deliver. And so I was constantly kind of on the mode of, ‘How is it going?’ And I also consider that part of my job, to make sure that everything is, quality-wise, how we want it to be, people are happy, things are working well. So constantly you’re in that mode of evaluating, but because you’re constantly in the mode of evaluating, in a way you are not, if you know what I mean.

“I just came back from almost four-week road trip in the U.S.,” he continued. “I wanted that for years already, starting in New England and then ending up in Florida in the end… But that gave me the time to really take a step back and see, ‘So what has been accomplished and where are we?’ And I have to say that I’m really grateful for where we are, because it’s, yeah, quite something, the developments that happened in the last two and a half years, when you have this big lineup change and you have to play those big festivals — Graspop (Metal Meeting), Wacken (Open Air), Masters Of Rock, Summer Breeze, et cetera. But I think I’m really proud of everybody in the band, how they performed, and I’m grateful to the fans. (2023’s) ‘Dark Waters’ as a music, as an album, has been received well. My aim was to show people, hey, the DELAIN sound is there, and it’s called DELAIN still for a reason, because of the music that we make. And, yeah, I have the feeling that this is a mission accomplished. And, of course, there will be people that think differently, but there are also people that I focus on that are really enjoying it. And that’s why you do it as well. Not only for your own enjoyment and what comes out of your heart, but also for the people that listen to your music. So I’m very grateful and happy.”

On the topic of his working relationship with his current DELAIN bandmates — new additions Ludovico Cioffi on bass and Diana Leah on lead vocals, along with returning drummer Sander Zoer and original guitarist Ronald Landa — Martijn said:  ”Well, of course you try to coach the new people with the experience that you have. And for myself, which is a different aspect, it’s more of a team effort now, because in the past it was not so much a team effort. Charlotte (Wessels, former DELAIN singer) did a lot and I did a lot, and the last album, also, Timo (Somers, former DELAIN guitarist) was more involved, but that was only with the last album, really. So for the rest, I simply did so much that that was what was getting me into a burnout. And also missing the appreciation from people around me for everything that I did, because I’m only human and everybody needs some appreciation and doing something like DELAIN is very challenging. And, yeah, it’s very important that you are supported as a human being. And now this happens way better because we — how do you say? — share the tasks way more. There’s less on my plate and I can focus on what is my specialism, other people can focus on what they are good at, and I can focus more on making music, and that makes me really happy and grateful.”