Interview | Pien Van Meegen | James Taylor

Soulful, honest, authentic, raw. The organic and penetrating vocals of Dutch singer-songwriter Pien van Meegen - performing as PIEN - announces an exciting new sound in the folk-pop genre, and we at Disobedient were lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak with her following the release of her stunning debut EP, 3.0. A collection of stripped-back, tender tracks, often with only a piano or strings to accompany, allows PIEN to showcase their powerful vocals, combining to impressive effect. As well as being a talented vocalist, PIEN is also an accomplished actor, having attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe; we chat about the link between her acting and musical roots, as well as David Bowie, storytelling, and trusting your instincts.

Thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us Pien! Especially at such a busy time for you, having just released your debut EP, 3.0. How have you found it, bringing this selection of your music together for the first time? 

It’s been a weird and magical time lately, to be really honest! The process of writing this album, my first EP, was very special. Specially because I took the songs with me from the Netherlands (where I’m originally from) to Glasgow, to London and now it’s just this little piece of me that I proudly present to the world and will carry with me on the rest of my musical journey. 

How would you define your sound as an artist? What kind of niche would you say you occupy, and how did you come to define your personal sound? 

I always have a hard time defining myself. I’m interested in so many things, art, music, theatre, environmentalism, feminism, to name a few. And I think all those different elements of myself really reflect in my music and my artistry.

I think technically you can define my sound as folk-pop but I would like to expand my style with every album that will follow this one. I love to learn new things, meet new people and try as many different things as I can, especially musically. 

I’d love to hear a little about your writing process for your tracks. They have such an intimate, soulful quality - where does your inspiration come from when you’re writing? Has your approach to songwriting changed as you’ve gained experience over the years? 

Ah thank you! I always love to hear what other people hear or feel when they listen to my music or when they see me perform, because the way we experience things is so personal and unique. 

For me it all starts with a feeling, an emotion. It needs to be a strong one so I can fully surrender and write from there. I write from raw, direct perspectives and motives. Sometimes they’re so intense that I need to write them down first and then I’ll get my guitar and write the music or it comes to me before I go to bed. The moment I put down the light, a melody pops into my head, very annoying haha. I’ll grab my phone, record it as a voice message and then  try to go to sleep, which is such a challenge for me. I’m such a bad sleeper, I always was. 

I’ve only been songwriting for a few years, before that I just wrote poems/ short stories/ translated a bunch of songs (from English to Dutch) but I noticed since the release or a few months before the release of my EP, it’s been easier for me to put all those complicated feelings into words and make them more poetic. Or less poetic, I think I know better now what a song needs or at least what I need from the song, if that makes sense?!

How long have you been performing, in any and all capacities? Where did the journey to making this EP begin for you, would you say? 

I was one of those annoying little kids who was singing all day and busy writing or making up stories. (I feel really bad for my parents haha) My mom signed me up for singing and musical theatre classes when I was 8 years old and it kinda started from there. 

The pandemic (as for a lot of people) was a really hard time for me, my then boyfriend and I broke up, my grandma (who I was really close to) died, my graduation from undergrad was very challenging and unnecessarily difficult, the pandemic itself was ruthless for the art/ creative scene (like everywhere else), and I always wanted to move to the UK and that year I was about to do that but Brexit hit so it wasn’t that easy anymore to just pack my suitcases and go. 

Because of all those challenging things I felt really down, depressed you could say. I saw my purpose in life flushed down the drain and I didn’t know what to do. 

I thought, It can’t get possibly any worse than this so why not start writing songs about it?! I’ve never written an original song before that but I feel that period in my life gave me the space to try something I secretly felt I was born to do. It sounds a bit pretentious but I do really feel that I’m here to sing and write about my experiences to inspire and help others. 

What can you tell us about the release of your next single, due out on January 30th? How do you feel it works alongside the EP? 

Yeah, that’s a fun one! I’m really excited for this release, it’s actually a re-release of one of the songs that’s already on the EP but I felt it needed some more attention. It deserved to be released as a separate single. We’ve shot an AMAZING music video for the song as well, on the one snowy day in London a month ago, and since moving to London I’ve met so many creative people who really inspired me to keep exploring and working on new and ‘old’ stuff. 

This must be a question you’ll get a lot, but I always find it fascinating hearing about the artists who’ve influenced your particular sound - are there any artists that spring to mind, who’ve had a direct impact on your own work? 

I love this question actually, it is very fascinating to hear how people get influenced by other people’s work. I would say for this EP defiantly Joni Mitchell and maybe a little bit of John Lennon but in general I’m a massive Bowie fan and a great admirer of Maggie Rogers. I’m in LOVE with all things 70’s and especially the fashion and music. So that’s a huge influence as well.

You’re also a professional actor, having performed in some major productions, most recently in last year's Edinburgh Fringe. How do you find balancing these two aspects of your creative self, the dramatic and the musical? 

That’s a good one haha! I don’t know, for me the most important thing is storytelling. This can be through music, film, (performance) art, musical) theatre, you name it. I don’t really mind the form of the way it’s been told as long as it’s a good story and/or great music. 

I think it’s important to, when working on one or the other, to approach them differently but stay true to your instincts. For example, when your acting you need to incorporate different techniques than when I’m ‘just performing’ or writing my own music, but they both need my instincts or gut feeling to make the right choices. I do everything on gut feeling btw, from ordering food to making life decisions. It’s the only thing I know I can trust and the one thing I’ll never doubt.  

Do they compliment each other, in a way? How does performing in musical theatre, for example, contrast to you performing solo, with your own material? 

What I learned from musical theatre (I did my first big show when I was 10 years old) is discipline and technique, vocally and performance wise. I do believe that my voice and the way I’m performing at the moment would be totally different if my roots weren’t in musical theatre, I can’t tell you if it would be better or worse but just different. And I’m very thankful for that. 

The biggest difference between me doing a musical theatre show and a gig as PIEN would be the preparation. As PIEN I’m just myself and I’m not trying to be anything else than that. Just flow, trust my instincts and have fun. 

When I’m an actor in a musical, the preparation is way more complicated and rehearsed. I have to commit to the story and the directions of the director, of course I still have creative freedom of my character but the frame is a bit smaller then when I’m on stage as myself.

What are some of your aspirations as a musical artist? Where would you like to see yourself in the future as a performer? 

I only dream big cause that’s how I kinda got where I am right now and I’m super thankful about that so I would say, I would love to do a European Club/Festival tour with my next album (which I’m working on right now) and do a (musical)theatre show in London. I don’t mind if it’s on the West End or not, I just would love to be in a show again. 

And one of my ‘guilty pleasure dreams’ would be to represent the Netherlands on the Eurovision Song Contest. 

I would like to see myself in the future hopefully as happy as I am right now and as hungry for adventure and (new)projects as I started this year! I’m just very grateful and proud of all the work I’ve done so far and of all the dreams I already made come true. I think my 8 year old self would be freaking out if she would see me now.

And finally, are you able to tell us about any forthcoming projects or performances that we might look forward to in the future? 

Well, first things first, my single MASCARA TEARS will be (re)released on January 30 on Spotify and iTunes with an official music video on Youtube! 

I’m working on some new songs which one of them will be released in a few months (I’m aiming for April so hopefully it will be finished by then) and I’m planning some fun gigs for the summer so if you want to keep updated on that, give me a follow on Instagram @pienvanmeegen!

You can also follow Pien on Spotify, Youtube, and Tiktok, and find more information on her website.

Words by James Taylor