What have been your musical epiphany moments?
Alex_Y: “Ugh... There were a lot of them. I've been making music for a long time, almost 25 years, and as I've "matured" so to speak, as all sorts of epiphanies have occurred. That is, you can't do it, you can't do it, and then, like a snap of a finger, you realize what to do and how to do it right. This applies to all aspects: composing music and lyrics, vocals, sound production.”
Sydius: “Every time getting in touch with inspiring music. Today watched the score of 24th h-moll Bach’s Prelude & Fugue. The fugue theme is a real chromatic metal riff!”
Glam_Dickens: “The first time I heard KISS. The things have grown over and now I am inspired by the emotions of the audience I am performing in front of.”
Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?
Alex_Y: “Well, as our main composer I can say that the music is always composed first. It always appears in different ways: sometimes as a riff, sometimes as a vocal melody, sometimes as synthesizers and beats. It's always different. And then a huge work on bringing the composition to the mind begins)))”
Sydius: “Chat GPT does all the work))”
Glam_Dickens: “Every time it differs, never know how or when the next song starts. Here are no rules or prescriptions.”
Who has influenced you the most?
Alex_Y: “Well, for me, Metallica. Just because they were one of the first bands I ever heard)))”
Sydius: “My music teacher in school - I wanted to be everything but not like her! I tried to find a music genre to completely piss her off”
Glam_Dickens: “I can not say the most. It is like a bunch of all influences for all years. But I do not represent the influences, they only could help me build myself, personality, etc.”
Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?
Alex_Y: “They come from completely different directions. Usually by accident. I am a very inquisitive person and am interested in many things in completely different spheres. Any of them can be an inspiration.”
Sydius: “Watching porn))”
Glam_Dickens: “They come from everywhere: people (familiar or not), news, art, music, fantasies.”
We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?
Alex_Y: “It's a complicated enough question... Our collective was founded in Russia, in the city of St. Petersburg, soon after 15 years ago. The problem is that our project has been frozen for a long time. Going back to the question above about the epiphany, it took about 10 years to "get an epiphany" and understand what and how to do it, to come up with a concept. The fact that we founded the band in the city on the Neva definitely influenced us and our worldview. We have one track about this city in our luggage - "The City Built on Bones", as well as our first music video for this track. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, due to all known events, we had to leave Russia in general and this chapter of our history is over. But I can say that this musical concept of ours was born.... No, not in St. Petersburg, but in Helsinki)))) It so happened that I went there to live for one year. And it was there that I came up with the idea of crossing metal, classical and electronic gothic. I think it was influenced by the local Finnish atmosphere: the cold climate, the presence of a huge number of world stars, some of whom I knew, and of course the fact that heavy metal is supported there almost on the state level.....”
Sydius: “That’s funny cause we all started in different places and finally ended separately in another”
Where'd the band name come from?
Alex_Y: “This is a question we get asked in every interview)))) Well first of all it is dictated by my love for Nordic culture))) And the second nuance: when we first got together, we lived as a group in my apartment, which I rented in St. Petersburg not far from the Arktika club, which is located in the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. At that time, the most important metal concerts were held there, including performances by legends of the world metal scene.”
Sydius: “From an arctic dream”
You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the soundtrack for?
Alex_Y: “Lord of the Rings or Jigsaw”
Sydius: “I actually did…”
Glam_Dickens: “Horror movie”
You now write for a music publication (The Ripple Effect?). You're going to write a 1,000 word essay on one song. Which would it be and why?
Alex_Y: “”This will be our track "The Way To Infinity". It touches upon the theme of immortality and the frailty of physical existence. Not everyone will understand the lyrics the first time around
Sydius: “Maybe Monteverdi? Technically not songs, but the way his madrigals anticipated popular music is worth a good study”
Glam_Dickens: “"We will rock you". I am still amazed how could they dare to write such a big hit without musical instruments! Amazing!”
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?
Alex_Y: “Oh, even though the project was in a freeze for a long time there were plenty of them.)) Once Glam_Dickens and I were at a concert of Die Apokalyptischen Reiter. I managed to get a rubber inflatable boat as a gift, which the band used for the show. You know, they threw this boat on the crowd and put some girl in it)))) After the concert we went back to our apartment and drank a lot and I wanted to swim on this boat))) It was winter and it was very cold, more than 20 degrees Celsius, but we had an unfrozen river flowing through the old cemetery and into the bay. I remember that we inflated this boat and went to this river, climbing over the fence. I don't remember exactly how it all ended, but I think we managed to get away from the shore and I think we were caught by the police near the nearest bridge, ha ha ha ha)))”
Sydius: “To confess… one of our gigs was so unbelievably exciting that I ultimately allowed myself to undo the top button of my shirt”
Glam_Dickens: “Once I played with my ass on a guitar.”
Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you and for your fans?
Alex_Y: “For me, it's always an exchange of energy with the audience. It is an unforgettable feeling that cannot be conveyed in words.”
Sydius: “It is going to be a long-long story... not about two or three sentences.”
Glam_Dickens: “Ok. Playing live is a creative activity musicians often do that consists in organized collective extraction of musical sounds from specific tools of labor that other people usually defined as fans find entertaining to watch and listen to on spot”
What makes a great song?
Alex_Y: “That it is created from the depths of the heart”
Sydius: “Something catchy: melody, chorus, intro.”
Glam_Dickens: “Something catchy: melody, chorus, intro.”
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
Alex_Y: “Oh It was so long ago that I don't remember exactly)))) I started music 25 years ago. I think it was some kind of heavy metal.”
Sydius: “These were simple riffs noted with a kind of my own self-invented type of tablature before I discovered the correct one”
Glam_Dickens: “As I am getting older my new memories overwrite the previous. I do not remember. There were a lot of them, but I do not really remember the first.”
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?
Alex_Y: “They are like children, I like absolutely all of them.”
Sydius: “Who is proud? My mom is proud of any of it. Even those tablatures in school workbooks))”
Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?
Alex_Y: “Cradle of Filth))) These guys are unique. They've been on the scene for years. At the same time they always follow their style and make great material all the time.”
Sydius: “mmm… also people?”
Glam_Dickens: “Nowadays I try to gig into the old stuff I have not heard before. ”
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?
Alex_Y: “Vinyl, of course. The luxury embodiment of music. It's a ritual to listen to a record and look at the envelope.”
Sydius: “I prefer clay tablets))”
Glam_Dickens: “Each of them. It depends on the situation.”
Whiskey or beer? And defend your choice
Alex_Y: “Non-alcoholic beer at most)) I haven't had alcohol in years.”
Sydius: “I don’t know. Never tried both”
Glam_Dickens: “I am fond of weissebier. And I like whiskey too. Sometimes I can drink them both one night.They complement each other. I can not say the same about beer and cognac.”
We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?
Alex_Y: “We have a great one in Belgrade.... I don't even know what to call it..... A bar with a summer terrace and at the same time a vinyl store. So you can go there with your friends, listen to releases, have a beer and discuss them. The place has everything from the first Beatles and Elvis Presley records to tracks by modern underground bands. That's where I would call you first and foremost. ”
Sydius: “So now I need to be responsible for the clay tablets? I don’t now about them but you should definitely check the birch bark manuscripts. That was on top of culture in Novgorod - and it could become a real world center, until destroyed by Moscow with the help of the Golden Herd”
Glam_Dickens: “I am in St.Petersburg. I do not think there are such good stores. Mostly, there are private sellers.”
What's next for the band?
Alex_Y: “New album, new video, new gigs”
Sydius: “ A lot of loud and noisy sound pollution))”
Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?
Alex_Y: “Never surrender!”
Sydius: “Brush your teeth and learn one new math theorem a day.)) It will make you a very dull sociopath not compared with a metal fan.)) And than you could at least be happy with your smile))”
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