Note: This interview is special to me: I am from Amsterdam – the Netherlands myself and I always looked up to Driven, a band by 4 other Amsterdam high school kids that had a sound somewhere in between Earth Crisis meets Meshuggah meets Shai Hulud/Stretch Armstrong. They played multiple festivals in Belgium (Ieper, Vort ‘n Vis) and even Dynamo Open Air in 1998 next to Deftones and Rammstein to name a few. Very proud of this band and it is an absolute honor to have interviewed Rogier Stevens (guitarist). Give them a listen – at the bottom of this page is a link to their EP.
When did you start playing guitar and what guitar and equipment did you start on?
I tried an acoustic guitar for the first time at a friend’s house when I was 13. Learned to play the intro to Nothing Else Matters on the spot. Something “clicked” right away, which didn’t happen to me before with piano lessons.
My first own guitar was an “Action”, a cheap western acoustic guitar. The name was fitting – it had extremely high action. I got my first electric guitar for my 14th birthday, an Ibanex EX160. It was a budget guitar for rock and metal. A joy to play compared to the Action and perfect to start out on.
Which bands inspired you to start playing guitar and are there certain riffs or songs that specifically motivated you to start playing guitar?
Metallica. I remember seeing the Enter Sandman video on MTV for the first time when I was 11. It blew my mind. The first songs I learned to play were Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman, and all the big Nirvana songs. Practised a lot in my parent’s garage. After the Black Album, I picked up Master of Puppets. That one really opened the world of metal to me and turned me into a life-long fan.
Burn my Eyes by Machine Head was also HUGE for me around the time I started playing guitar. The heavy sound and atmospherics of that album are still legendary to me. My first concert was Machine Head in Paradiso in 1995, with Meshuggah as the opening act – best concert ever. I hung around Paradiso after school to get their autographs and got on the guestlist because I showed Logan Mader where the coffee shop was. Meshuggah’s opening song was Humiliative. And Machine Head’s opening song, of course, Davidian. Both got seared into my brain forever.
I was also heavily into Fear Factory (Demanufacture). I became aware of a lot of bands from watching Beavis and Butthead on MTV.
When did you really feel your guitar playing and equipment got more professional and you thought: “Yes, this is the sound I really like!” ?
I think around 17 years old. With Driven we had band practice in the Melody Lines (Übenraumte 7), a practice space in the east part of Amsterdam that no longer exists (Andreas RIP!). The amps there were Marshall Valvestates, which by coincidence sounded great for metal. After Joris Oonk joined, we really found our sound as a band on those amps.
At one point I bought a Marshall JCM900, because I thought it was more professional. I used it for a while for our shows, but it just didn’t sound as metal as a Valvestate.
I still love that sound. Being a dad now with a corporate job, I recently bought a Valvestate again just so I can play some metal in my shed. They can be found for really cheap second-hand. I tried many distortion pedals but a Valvestate still does the trick for metal. One of my other guitar heroes, Chuck Schuldiner of Death played exclusively on Marshall Valvestates – enough said!
Do these 2 go hand in hand or did it evolve differently for your playing and your equipment?
Equipment did not influence my playing that much, I think. We were broke teenagers, so we used what we had. The sound was just immediately “there” with the Valvestates.
Do you recall using what kind of amps, guitars, pedals and pickups on the albums?
On the Cowardice Consumer EP, Joris used a late ‘70s Ibanez Musician and I used a Gibson Les Paul Studio. For amps, see above. For picks, medium Dunlop Tortex. No pedals.
On the split EP that we released later I used a Gibson Explorer (see below) and whatever amp was available in the studio – I think it was a Koch.
I have noticed you changed gear over time with Driven, from, if I recall correctly, Ibanez to Gibson Les Paul Studio and then a Gibson Explorer: can you tell me a bit more why you changed the guitars and what every guitar means/meant to you?
I can’t believe you actually remember this! It is correct. I started with the Ibanez EX160. Moved on to a Gibson Les Paul Studio, a hand-me-down from my friend. Then I bought a matte black Gibson Exlorer Gothic around ’97-’98. That made me feel like a boss and was the first instrument I was REALLY excited about. Finally, around ’99, I traded it in for a more vintage styled Gibson Explorer in an antique natural wood colour. I put active EMG 81/60s in that one. Obviously, I am a total James Hetfield fanboy – the Explorer shape is iconic to me. Both Explorers were great, I wish I had kept them.
Have you changed your guitar writing approach when you had the 2nd guitar player (Joris Oonk) in Driven?
Yes, massively. Joris Oonk is actually way more talented than I am on the guitar and as a musician in general. He now composes film music. I would go as far as to call him a kind of musical genius, in his own way – I recommend you interview him!
Joris and I had complementary playing styles; he was capable of soloing and came up with intricate lead parts and melodies, whereas my strength was rhythm guitar. He could play what I played, but I could not play all his parts. Together, I think we were capable of creating some inspired stuff.
What kind of tuning did Driven use and what kind of strings did you use for that tuning?
I think we used standard tuning in C for the Cowardice Consumer EP. On our last release (two songs), we went to drop C tuning I believe. We used D’Addario 0.11 or 0.12s.
You used a pretty special technique with chords: dissonant chords but also more emotional kind of chords and all mixed up: how did you come up with this? In that time the slayer metallic guitar sound was really the default sound for most metalcore bands but for me it sounded like earth crisis meets shai hulud and meshuggah. Where those also the bands you listened a lot to?
In Driven I always tried to come up with “different” chords that sparked a certain feeling or emotion; be it melancholic or just evil. Then, Joris often put his special sauce over it, in the form of melodic leads on top of those chords. But Joris came up with a lot of banging chords and riffs as well. Groove was a big factor in our music too – props to our amazing drummer, Nickel van Duijvenboden, for that.
Our sound was indeed heavily inspired by Earth Crisis – in particular Gomorrah’s Season Ends was a big influence, in terms of riffs and groove. (We were their opening act once, in De Melkweg, and we brought the house down – that was a highlight!). And indeed, Meshuggah (Destroy, Erase, Improve and None) was a huge influence for me – well spotted! Gorefest too, for their evil-sounding harmonies on the low strings.
For clean parts, the pinnacle of sound to me was the intro of A Nation on Fire by Machine Head. I always tried to get that sinister vibe and sound in my clean parts (never quite got there).
There is a rumor that Driven would play Driven songs either acoustic or even reggae songs or on wedding parties: how much of that is true? 🙂
I forced the band into reggae cover jams sometimes, as I am also a reggae lover. We goofed around all the time on stage.
After our singer Vincent Hausman moved to the US to study, Driven fell apart. But we started another band, which included me, Joris, Nickel and bass player Max Porcelijn – aka ZITROMAX – who had joined Driven in later years and contributed his own special sauce to the Driven sound, slapping on his funky little Ibanez Soundgear bass. We played other styles of music in that band, mostly indie / alternative. Perhaps that is where some of those rumours come from.
Luckily, no one was stupid enough to hire us for their wedding party.
Did you take good care of your guitar or was it ok if it was scratched, dinged up or even broken?
I treat my guitars like any other random object. Scratches, dents, who bloody cares! It’s about the sound, mayne.
Do you remember some of the ADHC and H8000 bands and which ones did you really admire in the 90’s when playing and touring with Driven?
I must admit I didn’t really connect with the music of a lot of the ADHC and H8000 bands. There were a lot of cool bands, for sure, but I can’t say I had a favourite.
I mostly just remember the nice people! The Amsterdam hardcore scene had a little “thing” for a moment in ’97 – ’98, culminating with a ADHC compilation CD and a sold-out concert at De Melkweg. All those bands were friendly and hung out. The bigger hardcore scene was in Belgium with H8000, we played lots of shows there, sometimes to really passionate crowds. We had a few loyal fans/friends that followed us to all those shows. But also further abroad, people in the scene were always so kind. When we did small tours in Europe and the UK, we were generously hosted every night by people whom our singer Vincent had come to know in the scene.
Vincent is a super charismatic, passionate guy who was our driving force on stage and behind the scenes. We probably would’ve never made it out of the practice space if it wasn’t for him. Great lyricist, too. After Driven, he started another great metal band in the US called Howl, on Relapse Records. He is still one of my best friends and I hope he moves back to NL soon so we can finally start planning that reunion show…
What is your favorite guitar atm and why?
Two vintage guitars: a ’62 Fender Jazzmaster and ’63 Fender Jaguar. I got them years ago, when I was heavily into the vintage offset scene and before the market for vintage Fender offsets exploded. Both are somewhat pieced together, but lovely. The Jaguar is a basket case; the previous owner tried to convert it into a kind of Les Paul-ish monstrosity. Luckily, it had the original pickups and Martijn Vink, who worked at Dijkman Guitars, expertly restored it back to what a vintage Jaguar should be. It still needs work but it’s a special guitar.
I let a lot of other vintage guitars slip through my hands, when they were still semi-affordable. It makes me cry now, I wish I could have all of them back.
If you could choose one amp to play for the rest of your life; which one would it be for you and why?
My 70’s Fender Vibrolux Reverb. It has the best clean sound.
Which album are you most proud of as a guitar player?
The Cowardice Consumer EP. It was an obscure little release, but it seems there are still a few people out there like yourself that remember it fondly, also judging from Youtube comments. That is nice to know.
Looking back on it, I do think we crammed way too many riffs in each song. Our high energy made us get bored easily, so we put twists and turns all over each track. I guess I was also inspired by Death / Chuck Schuldiner in that way. But we could have used our riffs more sparingly and released full albums instead.
Is there something you learned over the years about guitar gear (for example: using a tubescreamer, specific pickup or strings, amps, cabs, passive vs active pickups etc.) and you wished you knew before and gave you an ‘AHA!’ moment?
Discovering the Boss SD-1 for low gain drive was a real eye-opener for me, recently. I like the guitar sound of Parquet Courts; turns out, they just use Squiers with SD-1s. It works really well with Fender amps and guitars, is affordable and sounds better than most boutique pedals to me.
Besides this, I’ve come to appreciate that the quality and sound of vintage Fenders just cannot be matched by modern guitars, unfortunately. It’s a real issue for my wallet.
Passive vs Active pickups: which one do/did you prefer for your style and band and why?
For metal, active EMGs. Just slightly more powerful and clinical for rhythm guitar. James knows best.
What is the most consistent item in your guitar rig and why?
At this point, Fender guitars. I like all Fender models. Leo was a genius; he designed them just perfectly right from the start.
Which riff of one of the songs you wrote are you most proud of and why?
I like the short intro riff of Pyramid of the Ants; a mean little dissonant intro, simple but effective. Sometimes I’m surprised that we came up with that riff instead of someone else.
Do you use a certain guitar playing technique that is instantly recognizable for who you are as a guitar player? (damping, blues licks, power chords/barre chords, pinch harmonics)
Plain old Metallica-style chugging!
Which guitar players of current existing bands inspire you as a guitar player and why?
Steve Gunn, for his earthy and atmospheric guitar playing. And I love Jeff Parker’s (from Tortoise) solo stuff.
I listen to lots of new music but haven’t been keeping up with new metal releases. I always go back to the old stuff like Death (Human, Symbolic, The Sound of Perseverance), and Metallica. …And Justice for All is my favourite Metallica album, and one of my all-time favourite pieces of music in general. The music is so uncompromising and relentless and the guitar playing so tight and melodic, it will always inspire me. Contrary to the popular opinion, I adore the production on that record too. I saw them play in Amsterdam last year, they are still on top.
Last but not least: any last words or tips for guitar players out there?
Put a guitar in as many rooms of your house as you can. Whenever you have a minute to play, there will be one within reach. Great tip for lazy people like me.
Check Driven’s ‘Cowardice consumer of the West’ here and for some more information about their discography see this link and also check out their split with Bowling Alone (Also a metalcore band from Amsterdam) and some really cool videos online of some shows.
That specific sound 
You must be logged in to post a comment.