Ελληνικά
On the occasion of your upcoming performances in Greece, we’re welcoming you at Metal Invader!
Hope everyone’s doing well! What have you been up to these days?
Melissa: We’ve been writing and demoing new songs for our next album. We are deep in the process. Also of course preparing for our Greek tour. In addition, we are hustling to survive and create for ourselves the ability to craft this expression. We do this as society plummets further into calamity. All of us together must be the stronghold of truth, power and human defiance against our world of would-be “masters”. They will never break us and we will drag them into the depths with us. Let us see who emerges in the end.
Your debut “Loud Arriver” has been embraced warmly by the audience and quickly became a Heavy Metal sensation. Did you anticipate such a fondly reception?
Melissa: I would say we expected that the passion and intensity we put into the music would finally be known in some way or another (this being our first release) but we did not know anything about the degree. We just wanted to play, to exist. It seems like anytime we’ve performed anywhere so far there has been a major welcome and we take that seriously. There is no rest, or taking it in. A million battles are in front of us. At first we wanted to make sure we were simply able to deliver, but now are coming to kick ass.
Does your debut success make you anxious about your next step?
Melissa: Actually, the state that we are in now due to what has happened from the first album and tours is the thing that brings me the most satisfaction. I am very happy about the state of the music right now. There was so much newness to what we had to create before and figure out. Now at this moment with certain things in place we are feeling the music flow through us in an intense and amplified way. If anything I feel confident that our path is true, and we are fueled up and ready to ride.
Do you already have something in mind in terms of material? Will we be hearing any new tracks or is there a new album on the horizon?
Melissa: Some people have asked us this and I feel strange with the idea of playing unrecorded songs live. We are not doing that, but maybe someday that will be something we consider. I always want to hear the songs I know when I see a band.
Your music has been accepted by fans of different genres; How do you feel about this?
Melissa: At our core we are rock n roll, we are heavy metal. But that’s just us as people and how we live our lives. In terms of music we will play anything and it will have that power and force. I think when something is real it transcends labels or genres and that is the highest compliment you could give us, so we humbly thank you for saying that.
You’ve incorporated different styles in your music, filtering your influences the beast way you can, I suppose. Which bands or individual artists have influenced the way you’re composing your material?
Melissa: I’ll point out specific inspirations from some songs: Nylon Nights- we had the music written and I needed to come up with the vocal melody…I was on tour with my old band and every day on the drives we were listening to Scorpions. So while I had downtime and listened to the demos of Nylon Nights I came up with the vocal melody while my heart was pumping to Scorpions. The lyrics are just from my life. Loud Arriver- as we wrote the music there were some drums parts were G tried to be very ZZ Top. I got inspiration from the format of Judas Priest “Blood Red Skies” for the lyrics, but again it’s about my life. Discretion For The Generous- the intro section is like Interpol or something. When we recorded we asked the engineer to make the guitar mix on that intro sound exactly like Anathema “A Dying Wish”. These are just some scattered examples. It’s our job to take the pieces of what we hear and melt them into something of its own.
What was the urge to start/form Sonja in these terms in the first place? Did you feel a power luring you into the forming of this band?
Melissa: yes it was sort of an unexpected impulse, but when it came it was all encompassing and overpowering. I was full time in another band. But I just knew somehow that it was time to start my own. With likeminded maniacs who approached music the same way as me. Luckily my best friend Grzesiek was also the best drummer. There was no rush. Just a devotion to making it right.
What’s the process you follow in order to compose new music? Do you follow any certain guiding lines?
Melissa: Any one of us can bring the first note of a song to the room, but the song must be fleshed out together. This is a band of collaboration. We expect and demand excellence from each other in the composing. And we inspire each other. We make no excuses from the outside world and we go into the depths and search every void to find what’s right for the song.
Even though I’ve never been in a band, I believe that there’s a huge difference between studio and live performances. What’s the one most outstanding or dominant emotion in both circumstances?
Melissa: For us as a three piece we experience a difference between studio and live. In the studio I’ll lay down a million guitar tracks for the sound. And then I will sing something over top. But live I need to play one guitar and sing from one voice and choose which melodies and rhythm combinations from the layers are possible to execute with maximum power and potency. It is like translating a complex ancient language into understandable modern speech.
Where do you see yourselves in the future? What are your next goals or aspirations?
Melissa: As a band we will be writing and playing. It’s hard to say what the world will even be. I think the forces of human power will unfortunately be doing whatever they can to end me or make my life as miserable as possible. So I will make music. Whether it’s on a stage in front of thousands or as a corpse lying on the ground. I don’t what conditions of existence as a human will be so I can’t predict the future of the band.
Would you like to collaborate with any artists in particular, either on or off stage?
Melissa: typically if there is a collaboration I seek I will take actions to facilitate it. Once we know the people we want to work with we do everything we can to seduce them. I don’t know who that is at present.
The Greek audience has shown its love since day one, especially during the Up The Hammers fest. What have you prepared for us this time?
Melissa: The Greek audience embraced us warmly and it means so much to us. We are coming to set the place ablaze with dark fire. This time it’s not about being “good”…we’re coming to be “bad”.
You can close this interview anyway you see fit. Would you like to send a message to your Greek fans perhaps?
Melissa: we can’t wait to see you all and detonate this reality together!”
