“It was never my dream to become a musician,” is the first thing Hanne Smets says. She plays the keys for The Haunted Youth, an indie rock band created by Joachim Liebens in their college years. Now, she calls music her passion and has a home studio. Performing all over Europe and the rock and roll lifestyle wasn’t her plan. But, as Hanne laughs, The Haunted Youth are well-behaved on tour compared to other bands.
My father told me: go, you need to study music. I wasn’t interested at first; I had other dreams, like opening a coffee shop so I could be my own boss. But he kept pushing, seeing my musical talent and wanting me to use it. Music has always been in my life. My family is very musical, and all of them play in the marching band. But it was my father who helped me realize I had a passion for it. He’s my biggest fan, attending every concert and sending me videos. It’s really cute.
Friendship is our first priority, the band comes second.”
Hanne Smets
You can still see our first gig as The Haunted Youth on YouTube. It wasn’t that good. We only had a few songs and were not used to performing, but it was fun. I had met Joa (Joachim, lead singer of the Haunted Youth) a few years before in college. He was a year above me at PXL-music in Hasselt, but we lived in the same dorm. The Haunted Youth was his brainchild, and he chose Tom, Stef, Nick and me for the band. We’re really close, we were friends before we created the Haunted Youth.
I remember that first gig well. Our manager discovered us there. We won a Belgian radio competition a few months later, which kickstarted our career. Everything happened suddenly. We sold out the Ancienne Belgique, a big concert venue in Brussels, only ten days after our first album came out and were able to tour through Europe. It was crazy. Suddenly, people were listening to our music and singing along. It felt more surreal for Joa than for me, as he’s not only the frontman but also the lyricist and producer. He’s a fucking mastermind. But I think that made it also the hardest for him to deal with the sudden attention. As members of the band, we don’t feel the pressure the same way he does. Like with the interviews, for instance, we want to help him out, but most of the time, people just want him. After all, The Haunted Youth is still his ‘baby’. We’re just thrilled to be a part of it.
Our best gig ever was in front of ten people in the UK.”
Hanne Smets
I love touring. Travelling to ten countries in twelve days is exhausting, but it’s worth it. People always ask me about the rock and roll lifestyle: drinking and being wasted on stage, having girls backstage… We’re not like that. We usually go to bed early and don’t drink a lot. The wildest thing we did on tour? Go clubbing in Hamburg. Our tour staff had to pick us up at the club in the morning to travel on to the next gig. But we’ve toured with other artists who do enjoy that rock and roll lifestyle, so it’s still a thing, just not for us. We prefer it more chilled. It’s playing live, in front of crowds, that gives me energy. Being on stage and hearing a thousand people sing along to your songs is such a thrill; it gives me the chills every time. No matter how big the concert was, we always had the same energy. Every single time. Our best gig ever was in front of ten people in the United Kingdom.
The UK definitely has a different, more enthusiastic crowd than Belgium, where people are a bit stiffer. If someone is dancing, they take three steps back because they don’t like bumping into each other. I prefer people just being themselves. They’re there for the music, so let them dance.
When I’m playing live, we’re all together in the moment. The connection between people is what I love most about making music. That’s why I’m not a session musician, I need to make music with people I feel close to. That’s what I enjoy most about playing with The Haunted Youth. But I have other projects as well. I DJ as Discohans and play in another band with my boyfriend. Still, The Haunted Youth holds a special place for me. That’s where everything started, and I went through it with my best friends. I hope that in sixty years, we’ll still be friends and perform on stage together. I’m happy my dad pushed me because music wasn’t my dream job at the time. It is now.
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