The name
“Lorelei” is associated in German folk culture with Greek sirens, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music
and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Though the Rhine is
not the Strait of
Messina, the river kept
its danger as well. The legend inspired Heinrich Heine, List and some other
poets and composers. Theatre of Tragedy devoted a song to this legend and now a
Russian band took the name of Lorelei. The name is chosen well enough, since it
describes everything the legend tells us about: death and tragedy with the
enchanting female voice. Lorelei is playing a very quality death-doom, enriched
by soprano and growl vocals. If you didn’t manage to come across with this
band, this interview will be a fine opportunity to get acquainted with it.
Moreover, I (Aleksey) never advised you anything which is not worth your attention….
except one case, perhaps… Anyway, today our guests are Alexei Ignatovich
(guitar), Marina Ignatovich (keyboards), Ksenia Mikhailova (soprano) and
Alexander Grischenko (bass).
Hi everybody! Since Lorelei has existed since 2003, I
can’t help but ask you about the main facts of the band’s history. Where have you been all this time?
What inspired you to start the project?
Alexei: Hi,
Alexei! That’s right, formally the band was founded in 2003. That time we lived
in a small Siberian town (Chita,
Zabaikalsky Region). But even before that we made some attempts to start the
project and gathered a band in 1999, but we succeeded in this only four years
later when Marina
joined the band. The line-up changed from time to time: from duet to several
people. But in the course of all this time only Marina and I have been in the band and
continued our project. In 2002,
inspired by H. Heine’s poem “Lorelei” we chose it as a name for our band. The
same year we wrote a song “Lorelei”.
Since that time
we’ve continued with the music. But earlier the band was more of a hobby and we
even didn’t think to offer our music to listeners. But sometimes when the
line-up was full we took part in concerts and small festivals. In 2007 we were
invited to take part in a festival in Irkutsk
and after it recorded a demo, consisting of 4 songs.
But after it
something went wrong and the band broke up. We tried form a new line-up several
times but our attempts were not successful. In 2008 we moved to Moscow.
Marina: In Moscow
we formed a new line-up. It has changed a little and now the line-up is almost
formed.
Now Lorelei is:
Ksenia
Mikhailova – soprano vocal
Marina Ignatovich
– keyboards
Alexei
Ignatovich – guitar
Andrei Osokin –
guitar
Alexander
Grischenko – bass
In 2011 we
recorded EP album “Ston Razbitoy Dushy” (“Mourn of the Torn Soul”) in recording
studio “Primordial Studio”. We included in the album songs of different periods
of the band’s history, that’s why a definite genre of it can hardly be defined.
It was our first experience of a studio recording.
Alexei: During
that time me and Marina started to work on new material, which differed greatly
from what we did before. We wanted our music to be heavier, deeper and more
melodic. We saw it as a fine combination of heavy guitar section, melodic
keyboards parts and contrasting duet of low growls and tender soprano.
Finally, we
managed to bring our idea into life 2 years later in the album “Ugrumye Volny
Studenogo Morya” (“Gloomy Waves of the Cold Sea”)…
But, as far as I understand, you didn’t plan to use a
female vocal in your music, didn’t you? Do you have any sketches that were not
used in the album?
Marina: In fact, we always saw our music with a female vocal
and considered it, as well as growls, as an important part of it. Before Ksenia
joined us we had an experience of implementing female vocal in our music. We
were amazed by the beauty of Ksenia’s voice at once, and it fitted the music
greatly. We are glad to feel her devotion and see development of her skills. As
for sketches, we have included in the album everything we planned to. By all
means we have some sketches, but they have a little to do with the album.
I know, that besides Lorelei’s line-up some guest musicians from well-known doom-metal bands took parts in the recording of the
album. The album mixing was done in Sweden. Will you tell us some words
about it?
Alexei: That’s
true, among the invited musicians are E.S. (Who Dies in Siberian Slush, Decay
of Reality) who performed parts for growls and Vladimir Lyashkov (Beheaded
Zombie, Decay of Reality) who performed the drum parts. In 2011 on one of the
doom-metal gigs in Moscow we heard E.S. growls live and we thought it a fine
idea to invite E.S. for the recording of the album, since his growls is exactly
the one we wanted to hear in our music. We are glad that his vocals fitted the
music extremely well.
Thanks to
Vladimir Lyashkov’s efforts the music became rich and deep in sound. He
perfectly performed the drum parties I spent so much time on, while composing
them. This album was also recorded at Primordial Studio. But for Hater’s (the
owner of the studio) experience in recording and his friendly attitude to us,
the process of the recording of the albums wouldn’t have been so nice. We
overcame all the difficulties with utmost ease.
Then we sent the
recorded song to Sweden
for mixing. It was a new experience for us. We chose among several studios.
Finally we decided to work with Dead Dog Farm Studio represented by Jerry
Torstensson from Draconian. He did a really great job and we are extremely
satisfied with the results.
How do you like the term “gothic” in connection with
your music? Some time ago this term conveyed negative meaning like this music
is only for girls and “please will you spare me this My Dying Bride”.
Alexei: I
wouldn’t like to judge about music genres in terms how good or bad they are. I
believe that both the so called “music for girls” and My Dying Bride have their
own fans. It’s up to everybody to decide what music to listen to. As for us, we try not to fit our music in
some particular genre. There was time when we were interested in gothic, our demo-album
of 2007 is a good example of that. Perhaps, now we are a bit tired of it. For
the present moment we make no connection with gothic, even though there is
growls-soprano duet in it. We try to make music our own and reflect in it what we feel is important, though sometimes
it contradicts some features of the genre.
On the website of Solitude Productions it’s pointed
that the tracks are filled with professional soprano. And that’s true, if you listen to any of the
tracks where Ksenia sings you’ll hear her fine voice. Where did you study? Did
you want to sing in a metal band?
Ksenia: I did
want to sing in a metal band. More than that, I wanted to sing in a band whose
music doesn’t leave cold. I fancied it to be not only technically well but
harmonious, beautiful and inspiring as
well. We got acquainted with guys in the internet, though we lived and studied
in one and the same town. I joined the band. I was glad that they needed soprano and I couldn’t help but admired the
way they worked. It looked as if they were professionals though they were not,
in fact.
I remember I’ve
been singing all my life. I finished music school and the teachers encouraged
me to apply to music college, but I chose the career of a dentist. But being a student of the medical academy I
couldn’t give up music and singing, and
for this reason I joined the Academy’s chorus. Then I realized that I wanted to
sing solo and began to take music lessons with a teacher. Then I left Chita and even dreamed to
enter the Academy of music. Now I continue with music lessons with Maria
Belokurskaya.
Did you tell your teacher about your work with
Lorelei? What did she tell you about it? And what’s the attitude of your
relatives towards your occupation?
Ksenia: I told
Maria (my teacher) that I sing in a metal band. And to my big surprise, she
supported me greatly in it. Almost all teachers of vocal are against such
hobbies of their students, especially if it’s heavy music. Of course it’s a
great responsibility due to the
peculiarities of opera vocal. But we work hard and I do my best not to bring
harm to my voice. I showed Maria
Lorelei’s tracks and moreover we work on the vocal parties at the lessons,
especially at complicated ones. This is a great experience for me. Everything I
can do is but for my teacher, she is a true professional. I must say that the
parties wouldn’t have been performed so well if it were not for her, for her
efforts. Unfortunately, we had little time to prepare for the recording, but
still when listening the album my teacher said that everything sounded rather
professional, as if we were professionals, not amateurs. As for my relatives I
can say that my mom has never shared my hobby and didn’t understand why I still
go on with singing if I can’t sing like Anna Netrebko. J But when she heard “Gloomy Waves…” she changed her attitude towards
what I’m doing. Of course, like every mother she didn’t like growls and even
asked if growls participation is necessary… J
Alexander: Since I
am not a professional my relatives are absolutely calm, and treat it as a
hobby.
As far as I understand Romanticism and Renaissance
literature form the basis of your lyrics and band’s concept on in general. How
important is to reflect these elements in your music and lyrics?
Alexei: In fact
there are no elements of Renaissance literature in our music or lyrics, except
for Petrarch’s sonnet which we took for one of our tracks since it reflected
perfectly the concept and the mood of the album. It unites all the tracks,
making them an indivisible whole. “The Gloomy Waves…” shows the insignificance
of a man’s life in a cruel world, which pulls the strings of his life, leading
him to destruction. It’s compared to
the raging sea destroying a frail boat, which cannot resist its might.
The basis of the
lyrics roots in Russian literature, Romanticism and Silver Age of Russian
poetry, which inspired me greatly. We tried not to use elements of this or that
literary genre deliberately, not to make it sound like cliché. Lyrics and music
cannot exist apart; they are in a fine proportion where music reflects the
lyrics building a particular mood.
Do these features of classical art are reflected
somehow in your music or you rather continue the tradition of death doom with
gothic elements whereas all the Renaissance elements remains only in your
lyrics.
Alexei: We are
trying to combine classical music with death-doom. Though we deeply respect the
founders of the genre we try to find our own way, we understand that repeating
someone’s ideas in music would be odd, since you it will never be unique. We
reflect theideas, features of classical art, Romanticism both in music and lyrics.
You mean some subjective Romanticism? To what degree
is “Gloomy Waves…” autobiographical? It’s not an accidental question. You know
different genres demand different approaches to express feelings and emotions.
For instance, it’s enough to say “life is shit, there is no money” for the
representatives of so-called Russian Rock movement, but here lyrics are full of
stylistic devices… I think I’ve brought myself to dead-lock
Alexei: I
believe that poetry as it is, is subjective, because it reflects the inner
world of a person. This is characteristic not only for Romanticism but for any
other genre as well. “Gloomy Waves…” is autobiographical to some degree.
As for lyrics, I
can say that the way the author expresses his thoughts depends on him. Some
people like realism and express their ideas and emotions straight, the others
like symbolism, based on the author’s sufferings. The ideas here are often implicit here.
The most unique band of this genre is Theatre of
Tragedy, their approach to their music was always integrated, though the genre
of the music changed several times. Are there any bands of this genre that are
perfect examples to you? Would you ever change the genre of you music so
radically as Theatre of tragedy?
Marina: I
totally agree, that Theatre of Tragedy is a fine band with perfect ideas and
wonderful lyrics, especially of the early period. There are also many other
good bands. However we don’t stick to a particular genre and listen to music of
different styles and genres. In my opinion, this strict conformity to
traditions, this orthodoxy, if I may say so, kills the creativity. You cannot
follow one and the same canon all the time. In the final and the music will be
exhausted. The changes are inevitable but I don’t think that in our music they
will be as radical as in Theatre of Tragedy music.
Ok. Thank you for the interview! I wish you success in
everything you do.
And thank you
for interesting questions and I wish you all the best back. There are lot of
talented people in Russia, but due to different reasons they give up. We would
like to wish them to be more confident, since all difficulties and obstacles
exist to be overcome!
Wishing all the
listeners all the best!
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