interview with Valfreya
What´s the name of your band? Valfreya
How was the band formed? Crook had several compositions and she decided to create a band to play them.
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band?
We are all from the Montreal area, Quebec, Canada.
Crook: Singer
Graz'zt: Guitar and back vocals
Karhu: Guitar and back vocals
PiNcH: bass
Jotunn: Drums
Shark: keyboards and orchestration
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? The ambition is simple: create music we like and playing shows.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? It is a mix between black metal and power metal = Symphonic Viking metal. Our compositions are influenced by bands as Equilibrium, Moonsorrow, Dimmu Borgir, Rhapsody, Wintersun, Carach angren... Etc
Where was your first gig?
It was in Montreal, Qc.
2010
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? Crook mainly writes the song and lyrics, but Graz'zt helped on several songs.
Who has the best since of humor in the band? This is a hard question... We are all humoristic in our own way, but are we funny ? Hahaha I would say Karhu, Shark and Crook.
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? Because it is aggressive and symphonic at the same time.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write everything.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they?
We recorded 3 albums and we are working on the 4th one. ( full length album )
1- demo - First Chronicles
2 - full length album - Path to eternity
3 - Ep ValfreyaCoustic - Acoustic Chronicles
Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes, there are quite a few of them but only one “real” clip for the song “Odin’s Fury”.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? As Valfreya, We were between 20 and 35 years old
What year was the band started? February 2009
What places will you be playing in the immediate future? Rimouski, Quebec city and Val d’Or (in the province of Quebec, Canada)
Where have you played from then till now? Lots of places. We’ve played from the east to west coast in Canada and now looking to expand that the Europe and the U.S.A. in the future.
Is it always the same songs live? No, we change the setlist all the time, even though we only have 1 album so far.
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? The biggest has been touring Canada with Arkona so far.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? Finish learning the songs for our 2nd album and starting the recording for it.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? It’s mostly modern because symphonic-style of music wasn’t very common back in the days. We aim for our own style as much as possible but it’s almost impossible to be 100% original.
What's the first step when making a new song? At first, we had the story concept for the album that was decided. The story was then divided into “sections” or songs so we knew what the song would talk about. Afterwards, with that in mind, we started working on the songs. Crook took care of most of the writing except on “Beyond Illusions”, which was a collaboration between our drummer at the time “Mahwjey”, Crook and me (Graz’zt).
How do you feel about the downloading of Music? We understand why people do it and it helps promote the music, even bands you would never hear about (made me discover amazing bands that I love like Carach Angren and Septicflesh). On the other hand, if people only made sure to buy from the artist in exchange for the music, that would be better. I mean, if there is a band you like and you want them to produce more music, they will need your support and money. So, ideally buy some merch from them or if you like their music, buy the CD after to show your appreciation. But hey, that’s probably too much to ask