interview with Nota Profana
How was the band formed? Nota Profana was formed mainly by musicians belonging to orchestras and conservatoires from Venezuela. It started in 2005 as Haggard Project, the reason behind that name was that we wanted to be recognized as a band with influences from Haggard, but then we started writing our own material, and in 2006 we took the name of Nota Profana.
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band?
Gaby Koss: Soprano (Germany)
Renzo Lucena: Voice & Growls (Venezuela)
Carlos Mosquera: Guitar, conducting & music writing (Venezuela)
Brian Simmons: Drums (Venezuela)
Mariana Rojas: Bass (Venezuela)
María Eugenia Vásquez: Piano (Venezuela)
Joanmary Montes: Cello (Venezuela)
Sonali Sambrano: Violin (Venezuela)
Ana Paola Alarcón: Violin (Venezuela)
Daniel Padrón: Viola, music writing (Venezuela)
Erika Perera: Double Bass (Venezuela)
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Nota Profana is a symphonic metal band, but it’s hard to define it more clearly because for us there should not be any limitations in terms of style. The fun thing about having a band composed of classical instruments plus the traditional instruments that you find in metal music, is the wide range of possibilities when you write music and arrangements. We try to blend the “classical” part of the band with the elements that are ubiquitous in metal music, and in this mixture the violins, viola, cello, piano or double bass can be at times as important as the electric guitar. But in the end, the best way to know a band is to listening to their music…
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? Both Carlos and Daniel write the music, and most of the lyrics are Daniel’s.
Who has the best sense of humor in the band? That’s very difficult to say since everybody has different personalities, but we could say that Carlos (Guitar player/ composer) has a knack for telling jokes… not very good jokes necessarily…
What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? We feel is safe to say that we play symphonic metal, but our music ranges from heavy metal to black metal with the added element of classical instruments. It depends of what song and what album you are listening to.
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? We picked this style because it gives us the chance to write and play metal music with the possibilities of two different worlds, heavy metal and classical music. In terms of the lyrics there are no boundaries, one song might be a about Nordic mythology like The Trickster and another one could be about something completely different, like an imaginary situation of a man being haunted by painful memories of his childhood.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We play and record our own music, but we do play covers live. We also have recorded some covers from Mozart, Beethoven and Carl Orff.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? We have released two albums: Violent Whispers (2008) and The Devil’s Playground (2013).
Do you have any clips on YouTube?
Several, but most of them are recorded by fans and friends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap1-k-hv0C8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml0OztBieVw
We had a small tour some years ago in Mexico, we were invited to play supporting Execror Vecordia. Sadly, we haven’t got any chance to do more tours.
Where do you usually play? There’s no specific venue. The important thing is the size of the stage because it needs to be big enough for no less than 10 musicians.
What are your goals with your music? The main goal is always to make good music. It sounds cliché, but we try to be “original” and do something that comes from ourselves, that and of course reaching out to other people that likes our music.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Interesting question… Older bands will always be a strong influence but there are some good modern bands too, and it’s difficult to say what’s influencing you when you write music, especially when you want to make you own music. We think there’s definitely a combination but it’s hard to say the extent of that influence.
What are your sources of inspiration? Sources of inspiration can be anything, from movies to literature and other different form of art. The music of composers like Beethoven, Mahler; writers like Poe, Golding and many others are a great source of inspiration.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? Internet gives you the possibility to be heard, and it is a good thing that people share their taste in music with others… but if it is abused, then it ultimately hurt the artist as well. There should be a balance. We hope that in the end those who like our music would buy the album if they can.
What would be your dreams for the band? To have a good record deal for our albums with total freedom in terms of composition that allows us to go touring around the world. The dream of every band in the world.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Blackouts!
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? Many of us play in different orchestras, and some others have a career as sound engineer.
How important are your fans? Fans are really important because they are the foundation of everything you want to do. The more people you reach out to, the better the chances of getting known and going on tours.
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? The Lake and Unending Sorrow.
Do you have any webpages?
https://www.facebook.com/NotaProfana
https://www.youtube.com/user/NotaProfana/videos
How do you view the music industry of today? Changing. Big record companies are struggling to find profits while many bands are promoting themselves and trying to do fund their projects via crowdfunding or by some other means… It’s tough for everybody.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? To stay true to what they believe is right… especially if they’re not making mainstream music.