ASRAI

Asrai's story began in 1989 when the twins Margriet and Karin Mol started an all girls band, Twins No Twins. In time some people left the band but the twins held on. After a while the also let men join the band because they really wanted the reach something with the band, is want important anymore if the new member was a man or a woman but if he/she could play good. The band members now are: Margriet Mol (vocals), Karin Mol (drums), Manon (synths and violin), Rick (guitar) en Martin (bass guitar)

CD's:
As Voices Speak
Touch in the Dark

An Asrai is a kind of small female fairy!! If they are captured or held in sunlight they turn into a puddel of water......

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A Little Interview

   Margriet                               Manon                             Karin

Martin                                         Rik

1  If you could live in an other time what time would that be and what
kind of person would you be?

Margriet If I can choose all the same I want to be a time traveller, surly in the surroundings of England, especially in Cornwell so I can taste the pureness of the land and be closer to the magic, but be able to get away once they make it hot for me. The clothing of the medieval times was great, it must have smelled terrible, but i would probably be poor and work hard….what changed sigh.

Rik: Medieval times, I’d want to be a (not poor) art painter

Manon: I’ll go back to the time of the Arthur legend and then it’ll be
Morgana LeFay. Read the Mists of Avalon, by Marion Bradley and you know why. A lot has been written about the Arthur legend but Marion Bradley wrights more about the parts of woman and also about the habits and religions of that time. And that is something that really appeals to me.

Martin: I’d go back to the beginning  (There once was..) And that instead of Adam, you’d have  Martin en Eve. Running around uncomplicated with a fig leaf. 
If I think about it like this I’d want to be a kind of hermit. That’s why I’m bassist, never understood :).
Further I’d like to live in every time for a month, for as far as you’ll survive that. And reading back the history books I think the time in which id want to live, still has to come. Indistinct answer. Nice to meat you. I am Martin

Karin: There are a few aspect of different times that appeal to me, for sure the extravagant dresses from the Renaissance and the 18th century prickle my fantasy. But only the thought how people then stood under the pressure of the church, there religion and keeping up ranks, especially keeping poor people dumb is to much against my feeling for justice and makes it less attractive to live in that time. Concerning to that its a pity that religion always has so much power, but above all bring oppression and fear with it (even now). Where religion rules science must be silent. Also the time of the beginning science sounds like an imposing time for me. The excitement of discovering new things must have had an enormous impact. When I was at the tower of Pisa you could almost feel how Galileï proved his gravity theory. Almost as if the magic of that moment still hung there. Also walking around in a museum of early medicine practise it does something with you. For sure if you think of on how many misunderstandings the most horrible methods where let loos on people, (it’s not for nothing that they didn’t get very old). You start to appreciate the fact that you where born now and on this continent more and more. In which the earth is round, and your opinion your own,.. but you can sometimes still experience the magic of past times.

2 Your band is called Asrai, that’s a kind of fairy, what’s so special about fairy’s?

Margriet: I find the elusiveness of fairy’s fascinating . It is an conceited little folk who made there own world enchanting beautiful. Nobody can rate it because the border between lovely and mean is very  fragile. You can’t feel there magic everywhere but especially in England its almost tangible. A nice story is that of Brian Froud who lives in Devon, he had to write a follow up book and went to America and he couldn’t come up with anything and then he went back to England and there it went almost by it self.  

Rik: The name was made up by the lady’s Mol. I think the name is very beautiful but I don’t care so much for fairies, although I like to walk trough a fantasy shop.
 
Manon: Well, three band members have a tattoo of a fairy... Looks like a good indication of how important they are for us. There are also a lot of fairies in our houses.

Martin: I sometimes step on one...  (running around in a fig leaf)

Karin: Fairies and actually everything that has to do with fantasy gives an extra enchanting dimension to the reality of life for me. Especial the fairies come to live in the artwork or Brian Froud.

3 Karin, you’re a female drummer (me too!!:D) do people think that’s strange  , or are there more female drummers in the Gothic scene?

Karin: Sometimes it happens that people think it’s weird that I’m the drummer. Mostly they expect you to sing. But because the Gothic scene is more about Industrial then about Rock it’s sometimes already hard to find a drummer. It has happened that we where the only band on a festival that played on a drum set. Was a pretty particular experience, let alone that we had a female drummer. I hope that there are more female drummers in the Gothic scene, I think it would be nice to meet them. Because I do meet them from other music movements. What was very fun was that at a drum clinic we were already with three female drummers.

4 Where and when did you make the promo pictures (the purple one’s??) I really love them!!!

Karin: Thanks for the compliment!! Angelique van Woerkom  made the pictures .
For the pictures we rented castle Wijk bij Duurstede.. Really great, exactly the atmosphere we wanted....  To bad that the time there went so fast.

 5 What is are favourite song lyrics of your album Touch in the Dark??

Margriet: I have a few favourites like Whisper, Restless en Child. Of the older work Alice is a favourite for sure...don’t feel any inhabitation to listen to that one as well.

Rik:  Pale light.

Manon: In the most lyrics there is something hidden that attracts you. Its very personal and becouse of that it depends the moment what you like

Martin:  I think Tower has beautiful lyrics, just like Shadows, yes actually witch song doesn’t?

You can read the original interview in Dutch here.
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