Artist Spotlight: Meet Fortress
How did you come up with the idea?
The idea for this song came about 8 years ago. It was one of the very first songs I ever wrote for Fortress. Although the production was finished and all was set to release it as a single something didn't feel quite right. Seven years later, I started from a 'blank page' again and started all over again. I guess the song and production sound much more ripened now since we know better who we are as a band and what sound we want to bring to the audience.
Music-wise I work very intuitively and let me guided by my own sound design and (mostly) late-night jams. For the lyrics, I felt inspired by childhood memories. Specifically warm summer days, running with my peers through the meadows behind my house. I tried to grasp this longing into a song. Long-forgotten memories suddenly are coloured again in our minds.
How do you feel "Colours" represents your artistic identity?
I feel that with Fortress we bring a dark but dreamy, almost ethereal and eerie vibe. Our songs are always beat-driven and wanting to make people dance at our shows. It's a big and bold energy that we bring, masculine when it comes to the beats and bass but more feminine in the melodies and refined sound design. I love having contrast in the music between light and dark, bold and fragile. It's a lot. I guess we are a lot, but it nevertheless is honest and the world that lives in me as a songwriter and producer. In the music video you see this represented as well: The black and white in contrast with the vivid, psychedelic colours. This describes our music as well.
What was your favorite moment in making the music video?
The fact that we did it by ourselves. Zero budget. There's an extremely beautiful power that comes with it. I feel proud about our strength and focus and the fact that we are such a great team together, realizing these little dreams of ours. We laughed a lot during the recordings. Although I even lost all the files after the first day of shooting, we did it all over again, the second time even better. Yeah, I feel proud about the fact that we have such resilience.
Can you tell us more about you as a band/artist?
We are independent artists, living in Antwerp (Belgium). The excitement and energy we get from our live shows thrives us to create more heartfelt, energetic and danceable music. It's our emotional outlet, our ticket to create whatever we hear in our minds. We love to follow our instincts and stay true to our own sound, although that can be hard at times when we don't get the coverage we are longing for. We love to do as much on our own as we possibly can: creating our website, directing our videos, producing our music, programming our light show... There are so many facets to being in a band and over the years we developed multiple skills. Our singer Hanne plays the leading role. She is the songwriter and the producer of the band. Nils (the bass player) is the engineer, he wires all the synths and lights and builds anything technical for us. Joppe, the synth player, is theoretically the best musician of us three. He is an outstanding pianist and although he is 12 years younger than Hanne and Nils, he is incredibly mature and we know we can count on him no matter what.
Is there a specific show that holds a special place in your band's history?
When we played in our hometown, Antwerp. Especially when we released our debut EP and played in a beautiful venue 'Arenberg'. I felt like we were on top of our game, and proud to present this album. Our friends and family were there dancing to our songs. It felt so loving and open. We could be completely ourselves. Shows like this really elevate me to another state of consciousness almost. When I see people dancing and enjoying our shows, that's the best it can get.