Picture

Being active for almost 40 years, Picture has been giving heavy metal to our ears, and now they are back with the original line up, with Ronald on vocals and the addiction of Appie de Gelder on lead guitar. We had a talk with Laurens Bakker, original drummer of Picture.

Q. - You started the year with one more show in Portugal, were you happy with this new passage over here?

Laurens - Haha, yes I was very happy!!

Q. - Do you feel you're starting to have a solid fan base in Portugal? Did you like the fans reaction to the last show?

Laurens - I was surprised how the fans react, it was more than great so I think playing with the original members pays off, because we have the same reaction in other countries!!

Q. – This year are you going to play only festivals or doing a headline tour too?

Laurens - Probably only festivals with here and there a headliner gig and maybe a small tour South America.

Q. - Will you take advance of the original line up reunion to record a live album or DVD? Any special version of Heavy Metal Ears?

Laurens - Well, for a long time we didn't knew what to do, but recently we got an offer of a record company and we are now discussing the possibility to release an album with both live studio songs.

A new version of Heavy Metal Ears, hahaha, to be honest, we never thought about that, but maybe its an idea hahaha!!

Q. - After all these years, to have the original line up reunited, brings you a special feeling?

Laurens - Yes its like a dream come true, the hair is thinner,the bellies are bigger,but the feeling of 40 years ago is like the day of yesterday, as if we never stopped!!

Q. – How do you resume these almost 40 years of Picture? How has it been?

Laurens - With highlights and lows and always the feeling that we have chosen the wrong record company who didn't want to invest in anything, how else could it have been.

Q. - Is there any Picture album that you like more?

Laurens - Not really, every album has its own charm, but in terms of recording and mixing, for me Warhorse is by far the best.

Q. - Was Picture the very first band you formed back in the day, or have you been into some other acts previously?

Laurens - No I played in a band called John Ridge & Cocon, after this band I formed Picture with Harry Bruintjes (Lemming) and John Ridge (John Boutkam}, who lived in Hamburg for a while, jointed the Swedish E.F. Band in 1982.

John was a great singer but unfortunately he passed away in 2003!

Q. - Did you join another band or try another kind of music when you leave Picture after Eternal Dark?

Laurens - No I stopped completely for 23 years and started at the end of 2007 again.

Q. – When you’re on tour, is there any place where you like to play most?

Laurens - For me South America is the place to be, the fans are incredible, they sing along all the songs and make almost more noise than we do hahaha.

Q. - It's been a while since the edition of Warhorse, are you planning a new album in a near future?

Laurens - Like I already said, the plan is 6 live songs and 6 studio songs, but, things can always change.

Q - Do you think that the constant line-up changes, prevented you to reach a higher level or being bigger than you are?

Laurens - We shall never know, it is what it is, we never changed for fun, you know.

Q. – What are the main difficulties that you have encountered all over these years?

Laurens - To keep a band together hahaha

Q. - How do you see the heavy metal scene nowadays? Do you keep interest on new bands?

Laurens - The same as 40 years ago, only small-scale, so less people but more older faces, but that’s inherent to our music, I guess.

It’s not something that keeps me busy, but so now and then I see and hear very good things!!

Q. - How would you like to end this interview? Anything more you want to say?

Laurens - Well, I want to thank you, Paulo Rodrigues for your interest in us, I wish everybody the best and hope to see our Portuguese fans very soon again, because our last concert tastes like more and stay metal!!!

Thank you for your time Laurens, and wish you all the best for the future!

Cheers,

Laurens