Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands?

‘Oli: Yes over the years I played in several bands. F.e Stormwitch, Dorian Opera

Patricia: Yes, all of us have various experiences in different music genres even. My male collegues more than I of course. But I also had my share of trial and error and one or the other job.

How is it that you started playing music?Well, in my case it runs in the family. My father was an opera tenor and my mother is a professional conducter but worked in many different fields of the theatre. I had my first singing lesson with 15 - and was hooked ever since, but I have caught myself pretending to be a great singer and making songs for my stuffed animals when I was 6 years old as well - so it is kind of hard to tell when it started.

What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? My name is Oli Weislogel and I play guitar. I’m Patricia Cooney and I sing

Have you had other previous members?

Oli: No

Patricia: No we are all the originals here :)

Did you make music even when you were young?

O: Yes, I started making music at  the age of 6, first piano then guitar

P: Haha could you define "young"? I for my part tried various instruments

- Tried the piano many times in my childhood - wasnt really my thing. 

Played the violin with 6/7 which I wasnt really good at and later on the Trumpet which I was kind of good at but embarressed to admit to, but then I found out that Ronnie James Dio (may he rest in peace - great man) also played the trumpet before he started singing so then I was cool with it again ;).

Where are you from? Germany and Switzerland basically.

What year did the band form? P and O: 2012 in singen

What's your style of genre?

O: Oh, progressive femal fronted metal if there is such a thing lol

P: Our Style could be best described as progressive/Symphonic metal I think.

What inspires you?

O: Good music, DreamTheater, symphony X, Nightwish,

P: As for me both very cheesy and very complex music - both classic and metal and as for the lyrics - nature, philosophy, dreams - life - but also the concept of mortality.

How often and where do you reherse?

O: We only rehears before shows

P: We never rehearsed very much - of course we did more in the beginning but we know the material very well by now.

How have you developed since you started with the music?P: Well we got to know each other more and we all have more of an intuition of what works, I think our album is a great diary of our journey as a band. I as a singer had nudergone some metamorphosis in freeing some sounds I didnt think I was capable of. You can actually hear the difference between older and new songs if you know something about singing techniques.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? P: Do you mean other bands or other work in general? These days as a musician you do other jobs and bands as well - I for my part do only a bit of classical music on the side occasionally and work as a Tattoo artist - as well as being an illustrator once in a while.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that?

O: Yes we need a booking agency badly, we want to play but there are only a few clubs in switzerland, so we need someone who got the connections outside Switzerland.

P: When it comes to booking it has certainly become harder - sometimes I wish I had been young in the 90s - we would have had loads of gigs from the start. Everything is for free now - if you want to check out a band you just go on youtube or social media or download snippets or whatever - in the digital age the natural joy and curiousity for concerts has faded quite a bit which is sad.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? O: We’ve signed at DarkWings and I think its pretty good for us now. But Labels have to earn money and so they only look for the big sellers. And still we are not a big seller.

What made you decide to make this music?P: I dont think you can call it a decision. It grows like an independent life form. Even Oli - who, even though he is very creative, is the most unromantic artist imaginable - says he is "pregnant" when he has an idea for a song. Oli and I started off as a duo and were thinking about only making a studio project, but luckily it became more.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?P: I write the lyrics and a little bit of the composing if you can call it that - I dont know whether you can call frantically humming at oli and expecting him to understand what I want "composing" - Lets say all the singing melodies - apart from distance - are mine and the rest are olis creations initially and he did the great job on the instrumental arrangements. The contents of he lirics are about abstract perceptions of life and emotions sometimes more of a structured and sometimes more of an intuitive nature. For example in "colours of silence" there is no "I" and "you" only the request to the listener to go beyond his or her learned perception "Hear the silence in its colours - do you feel the worlds symphony..." Or there are thoughts about mortality and our dual attitude towards it like in "the vigil" "(...) did you expect an happy end to your pleasing? It didnt please her to live - Farewell child, and make your way - you dont have to stay"

Do you start with the music or the lyrics?

O: Sometimes I start with a riff or a fragment of a song and Patricia has a good idea for the melody, or she sings first and I write a song under her voice. F.E Only Words is a song she had the melody and I wrote the song.

P: Like oli said the latest started with a riff, but the first songs were based on some of my poetry and some melodies I had for it then it changed towards more starting off with more structured ideas from oli who does the instrumental work - but Sascha and mankie also do a lot for the pulse, the rhythm and the harmony.

Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Yes I need my studio around me, there I can play the guitar stuff and programming some Drums and keyboards. Patricia can experiment with her vocals. So it’s a perfect environment for making good music.

Have you done any covers live?

O: Yes sometimes we play some

P: We do Thoughtless from Korn once in a while. I wouldnt consider myself a good shouter but it pleases me that most of the time I shock the audience in a positive way.

What language do you sing in? P: English. I really dislike singing in German - I just personally feel it is more of a language to be spoken not sung.

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs?P: I am proud to say that we have seen all ages, shapes and sizes.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? O: We often vary

P: Well it very much depends how much time we have - if we want to impress an audience in a short time like half an hour - we choose the best and fastest and most uplifting songs of course

Do you have a regular place you play live often? O: Yes St.Gallen Grabenhalle

What was your first gig like?P: Our first gig was awsome, actually didnt really expect it - quite a bit of crowd too - And these guys were great - We played together with beauty of gemina in St. Gallen. Even though I was recovering from a bad angine these people where cheering and clapping - we had a lovely resonance on that evening.

Have you had to cancel a gig? O: With Elyria not, once in my carrer I had to, cause I had an accident with my bike

Where do you plan to gig the comming year? O: We plan a lot, we want play all around Europe

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?P: It is a little ignorant to all the effort that goes into it, but on the other hand - how should they know any better? It is just a little sad because if we are honest in our everyday lives we have also profitted from the digital age - it just wasnt the best thing to happen to music.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? P: Drastically - and not in the cool way. As I said before there is no sense for the value of the music as such. But the industry has to adapt to the customer and that I think is a question of the "Zeitgeist" it is just a new aera and all we can do is stay true and professional towards what we do and hope for the best

What do you think of my work?How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? P: We think your work is great - it is showing the people that music isnt just something digital and - again: It would help us a lot if it were the 90s but now - well it is just worth it for having a really nice conversation and on top of that - we might reach even more people so of course we are grateful for the opportunity.

Do you have any role models or idols?P: Floor Jansen - she has a great technique - gorgeous voice - stunning charisma - and amanda somerville for the same reasons basically. Best female voices in my opinion.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today?P:I dont think there is much of a difference when it comes to talent - there are many talented young bands but there is one difference: You have to look hard to find them because they are not famous.

What have been your biggest obstacles?What advice would you give other bands or artists?P: Sadly the biggest obstacles where money and connections - very unromantic but unfortunately true. For younger bands Id say: Never give up practice even though it seems like people dont have an appetite for quality - the important ones do.

How do you get psyched for a gig?P: The boys dont need to they are used to it. It differs from day to day for me there are good and bad days - on a good day I concentrate - on a bad one i try to get my spirits high by joking around with the boys and I feel better

Do you have any new material? O: Yes but we will finish the new songs first and then play them live.

What are your web sites? www.elyria.eu

How can people reach you?

O: Contact site of our website or facebook

P: Yep, just type in “Elyria_band”

What are your plans for the future?

O: Making good music

P: Make a new smashing record with all the experiences we were lucky to have from the first one.