INTERVIEW WITH ELINE EVERDINA OF THE BAND BATTLED

 

Battle, L-R: Martijn Louwen (drums), Jaron Biesheuvel (bass), Eline Everdina (leadvocals), Jos Louwen (guitarist), Manuel Verburg (guitarist)

 One interesting thing about the internet is that I can learn about Christian bands around the world. Last year, I had the honor of interviewing a pair of Swedish bands (Dark Valentine and Soundless Whisper). Today, I'll be interviewing a band from ... no, I'll let the lead singer of Battle tell you.

JR: Welcome to the blog. When and how did the band get started, and who all is in it?

EE: Hey there! Thanks for reaching out to us! We are an alternative rock band from Ede in the Netherlands. It all started when Jos Louwen (guitarist) and I had a strong vision to start a new chapter in our lives at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. During one of those awfully boring lockdown nights, we started jamming to some of our favorite songs on an old acoustic guitar. This became a habit and in the following days we both had this idea to start a band. 

During this period we wrote our first song called “From the Silence” which is the title of our first EP. We quickly assembled local musicians and started writing more songs to record. In February 2022 we released our first EP. Along the way we started working with musicians who make up our current formation: Martijn Louwen on drums, Manuel Verburg on guitar and Jaron Biesheuvel on bass.

JR: This might sound like a strange question, but if "Battled" had a mission statement, what would it be? In other words, is there a theme or target audience or something like that which is a driving force on your lyric writing? 

EE: Our mission statement would be: bring light and remain hopeful. We have all experienced that life can be messy: through life-events it can leave you hopeless or wondering. For me writing has always been a healing process and a way to grasp a feeling I’ve been trying to find words for.  

We try to write our own story. We are a rock band with all- Christian members, meaning we don’t particularly write spiritual lyrics and preach on stages. Let’s be clear, there is nothing wrong with that; there are absolute awesome bands doing that nowadays, but it’s just not our way. Still, we try to share a positive, hopeful message in our music and our appearance.

So our audience is hard to define: We guess somewhere between fans of heavy rock, pop-punk, metal and non-)believers.  

JR: I'd like to ask you to tell us about my two favorite songs by you: "From The Silence" and "Hold On."

EE: Thank you! The song "From the Silence" is about the silence you experience between you and God; you long for a breakthrough in the quiet. From the Silence is the first song we wrote for our EP which makes it very special to us. It’s the start of a new beginning.

"Hold On" is a song of encouragement. Our lyrics are heavily inspired by the miserable exploitation/forced prostitution of women and how hopeless they must feel during their experiences. It’s a song of hope for those who need it. 

JR: What would be the highlights of Battled's ministry? Any memorable concerts or practices or studio sessions? 

EE: Finding bandmates who love investing their time, energy and musical ability has really elevated our band to a new level! That’s also my personal highlight; going from just the two of us to a band with everyone bringing their input is inspiring and has evolved our sound. 

JR: The band's name reminds me of the Spiritual Warfare we're in. What areas of that warfare does the band face, and where does it get encouragement and strength to keep battling on?

EE: I feel like society tells us lies about what we are and what should be important. I feel like we get SO easily distracted by social media, our phones, our news resources. It’s hard enough to just be a individual in our society these days, let alone be a follower of Christ.  

We get encouraged and strengthened by trying to stay pure about who we are. We try to envision our path as a band by trying to stay pure, humble and try to focus on His Word.  

JR: Thank you for your time. Anything interesting coming over the horizon? (Hoping you'll end up in the Indianapolis area this summer.) How can we keep up with you? Do you have a web-pate to follow? 

EE: No problem, thank you for reaching out to us! Yes, we are currently working on new music! We hope to release this spring/summer. You can keep up with us via our socials (for Facebook page, click here)! It’s our dream to one day visit the United States and play our music for our fans overseas! 😊