interview with Onyria
Have any of you played in other bands? We had previous musical projects, but nothing that really stood out. I (Simon) was in a hard rock band that released a few albums, that's where I started to develop my recording skills. The singer performed in many local acts and even as a solo artist, and she is well renowned for her renditions of classic tunes such as My Heart Will go On.
How is it that you started playing music? We decided to challenge ourselves by doing a modern rock music that was capable of containing heavy and angry elements paired with softer ballads and catchy tunes. We always try to write a song that sounds like a song and not like a bunch of instrumental solos glued together
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Helena - Vocals - 22
Simon J. Gillman - Guitars / Production / Drums+Bass+Keys for the debut album - 26
Benjamin Kiem - Bassist - 26
Patrick Raffeiner - Drums - 23
Have you had other previous members? Yes, but we really don't want to mention or credit them, apart from the great Luca Contini from Oristano, which really helped us develop the first drum patterns some years ago.
Did you make music even when you were young? Not at all!
Where are you from? We are located in north Italy, near Bolzano, but our singer is from Sardinia island, our guitarist is from United Kingdom and the bassist and drummer are two locals.
What year did the band form? Our official formation year is 2012, even if we recorded something before that date. We consider the release of our cover "Skyfall" as our formation anniversary.
What's your style of genre? Our debut album has been labelled as gothic rock, symphonic rock, heavy metal. We tend to consider ourselves "modern rock / metal" with a twist of everything. There's double bass drums, there's guitar riffs, solos, slow ballads and epic tunes. We will let people label us, it's more interesting that way!
What inspires you? Good and bad things that happened to us, things we see and hear, and our own feelings as well.
How often and where do you reherse? We rehearse in a local rehearsing room that has been kindly offered to us by a local corporation. Usually, once a week
How have you developed since you started with the music? We feel we are slowly heading to a modern rock path, as the latest songs we wrote (Revenge, Don't Forget Me) are quite different from the other songs, which are mainly songs written in 2012. There's definitely a different vibe and approach, I realized that after a few months that we released the album. But we are proud of it!
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? The singer works in the fashion industry, and that's one of her passions, the guitarist is a web marketer. Everyone in the band is really passionate about music, books and movies mainly
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We are constantly looking after bookings and management agencies, and we are looking at someone which is not so deeply involved in the pay to play circuit ring. But we are aware that's the way music goes lately, so we are open to almost every kind of deal. The ideal booking agency has a direct relationship with the band, and they grow together.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We started to produce everything by ourselves because of the lack of a label. We do think that during these days, a label has to be helpful to the band, helping them to build their fanbase, live circuit and withstand marketing and business costs.
What made you decide to make this music? We just wanted to showcase something that was heavy, angry, yet melodic, with a twist of orchestration and symphonic in it.
What are your songs about? Our song lyrics usually deal with anger, revenge, love, hate, introspective themes and the seek of self consciousness.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? The song composition is done entirely by our guitarist , while the lyrics are written by Helena and the guitarist
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? We usually start with a full song, that is created in accordance of the mood we are feeling during that period
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? When there's snow or rain outside, compositions tends to flow out better! Haha
Have you done any covers live? We perform My heart will go on live, and are planning to include other covers as well.
What language do you sing in? We sing in english language, but one of our songs (Lagrimas De Cinixiu) is sung in italian, with the hip-hop part sung in sardinian language.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? Definitely Germany, Austria, Belgium, UK, France
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? Currently we are offering a limited edition bundle of our break the silence release.
Where can people buy your merchandise? On our official website: www.onyriaofficial.com
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? It's how things works in this era. We let people stream our album absolutely for free on Youtube, on Bandcamp and other sources. If someone likes it, he can buy it afterwards. Unfortunately, even if you're not giving your material for free, there's someone who will pirate it the day after.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? There's certainly less money for everyone in the industry, times are tougher for artist that wants to make success, but you have to morph and adapt to the ever changing times you're living in.
What do you think of my work? It's a great way to let people know about upcoming acts and to speak about the more "unknown" side of the music business. Keep up the good work Robex!
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? We hope to gather new fans and let people know our vision about the music industry. We are very transparent and have always spoken about those issues without any problem.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Some classic tunes are everlasting testaments of how a good song is written and made. But there's some cool modern acts as well. Contemporary bands tend to be more creative than the old legends.
What have been your biggest obstacles? Certainly the constraint we experienced during our first years while being bind to italian producers which promised the world and gave nothing. Also, starting as a duo and pretending to be a metal act was really difficult. People tend to believe more in what they see rather than in what they hear. The lack of local musicians really impacted on our timeframes as well.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Create something new, don't label yourself and continue to follow your path.
Do you have any new material? We do! We will release an EP very soon, and have tons of new stuff coming out!
What are your web sites?
Official website: www.onyriaofficial.com
How can people reach you? We try to keep up with every comment made on our videos and facebook page. We offer a contact form on our website which is maintained by our great staff.
What are your plans for the future? Perform around the globe!
Do you have something to add? Thanks for the opportunity and keep up the good work!
