Interview by Miriam Cadoni
Her Chariot Awaits represents the comeback of the Spanish singer Ailyn after her departure from the Norwegian symphonic gothic metal band Sirenia. This project that was primarily born from Adrenaline Mob‘s guitarist Mike Orlando with the collaboration of the Italian label Frontiers Records. Her Chariot Awaits shows a new side of Ailyn‘s vocal peculiarities. If you’re up for a challenge, you’re in for a treat. Enjoy!
Hi Ailyn, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine, how are you? And how are these precarious times treating you?
Hi, I’m fine, thanks. Well, in these crazy times, I’m stuck in Spain. I came here to visit my family but all this started and I wasn’t able to fly back home. For now, I’ve been here already 2 months and I don’t know when I can go back home again. Everything is quite bad and I know that in Italy, it’s almost as bad as the Spanish situation.
So, on 22nd of May was released Her Chariot Awaits debut album. What can you share about its production?
Actually, it was supposed to be released in April but due to the Corona situation, we had to postpone it. We’re very looking forward to it and finally, the project sees the light because it’s something new for both of us. Especially for me because before this musical adventure, I was involved in something completely different both musically and vocally. We’re really excited to know how everybody will react and so far, the feedback I got is positive and we’re very happy about it.
Do you mind sharing some details of how you and Mike Orlando put forces together for this new project?
At first, it was Frontiers Records who contacted me because I had already collaborated with one of their artists, Chaos Magic. So, they heard me singing and they have subsequently contacted me by saying that they were putting together a band with Mike Orlando. They asked me if I was interested in participating in it and for me, it was quite interesting because I was aware of who Mike Orlando was and his musical style. After, they put me in contact with him and we chatted over his idea and it turned out that we were both on the same wavelength. In effect, the musical compositions were already there, I just managed to help him with some minor details such as the lyrics.
If compared to your previous experience with Sirenia, how this musical adventure challenged you as an artist and what did you learn from it?
Well, [laughs] the big challenge was to learn how to scream a bit because I never did it before. So, when Mike pushed me to try that different technique, he advised me to check out Halestorm. However, it was a big challenge and I also didn’t have too much time on my hand for practice. Even if it was difficult, it turned out to be really funny, considering that I was and I’m still used to singing like I did before in Sirenia. It was a new experience and I did enjoy it a lot.
In some ways, Her Chariot Awaits represents your comeback after more than 2 years break from the scenes. What’s happened during this time?
Actually, when I was out of Sirenia, my mom died some days before all that happened. So, I just needed to take some time for myself to heal the wounds. In this case, time is the only thing that can help that healing process. I think I was trying to recover and when I felt a bit better, I started working with new collaborations and I joined other bands on tour. Then, I had the idea to start a solo project and in this moment, that Her Chariot Awaits project knocked at my door.
You have just mentioned the idea of a solo project, do you still have concrete plans for it?
Yes, I do. Up to this moment, I momentarily stopped because I wanted to put my entire focus on Her Chariot Awaits. Now, that the recording process is concluded, I can continue to dedicate myself to it. I just have to change a little bit its main core idea because inadvertently the music style I wanted to sing was too much similar to Her Chariot Awaits. Now, I need to come up with something different and I don’t want to have a solo project that sounds too close to Her Chariot Awaits.
Do we have to consider Her Chariot Awaits a mere studio project or are they actual plans to bring ASAP the band on tour?
No, we really hope after this COVID 19 situation, we can start thinking about touring. As you know, the release of the album was delayed and all of the sudden, we had to stop everything and right now, it’s almost impossible to tour. However, we really hope we can do that.
With this question, I’ll introduce the singles a little bit. I’ll start with the first one, “Dead and Gone” and next, we have “Take Me Higher”. Do you have some funny anecdotes to share about both shootings?
Yes, [laughs] there’s some funny stuff that happened during the shooting of both videos. Considering that I’m really shy, naturally this musical genre is harder and you cannot act like a sweet girl in front of the camera. So, they guys were instructing me how to look much stronger and more badass [laughs]. Everybody from both the film crew and then the band were laughing a lot but we had worked really hard on that video. We were busy shooting for a lot of hours and between several locations at the same time in New York. It was a great experience.
As I told you before, I’ve listened here and there and what I’ve noticed is that you have experimented a lot with your voice by creating a lot of layers, how much difficult it has been for you?
Actually, it wasn’t difficult but it was just something new and different. Of course, you have to change the way you think when you are acting. Anyway, it was really fun because I really liked to experiment with my voice. It’s also something that Her Chariot Awaits allowed me to do. Since I love to experience new challenges, I felt really motivated to do my best. What I’ve also discovered is that it’s really challenging to use your voice in a different way. I had to completely forget the sweet and kind voice that I used when I was with Sirenia and change into something different. I really loved it.
As an introducing single, it was released as a lyric video of k.d. Lang‘s cover “Constant Cravings”. Why do the choices fall on this specific song and how does it relate with the entire lyrical mood present on the album?
In truth, “Constant Cravings” is a song that Mike [Orlando] really loves and he already had this version ready. However, he wasn’t able to use it before , so he thought that it could perfectly fit my voice. Consequently, he offered me to record it and to see how it would have turned out. Once we have recorded it, we have sent it to Frontiers Records for feedback which was a great success because they enjoyed it a lot.
Right now with the ongoing situation, I always feel a bit awkward to ask this question . However, we have to come to this: what 2020 has in store for Her Chariot Awaits in terms of promotions?
At this moment, the plan is to wait and see what happens with the COVID 19’s situation. Obviously, we are trying to promote our release in the best way we can. Consider also that we are a new band, so this implies a lot of work to share our work and spread the word around. There are still a lot of people who are not familiar with the fact that me and Mike have released an album which complicates a little bit the entire situation but we are working hard on it with the help of our networks.
So, Ailyn, we’re almost at the end and with this please be free to say hi to your fans and readers. Thank you so much for this interview.
Hi guys, I hope you all are fine and safe. Please take good care of yourself. I wish you’ll enjoy our new release as much as we did while creating it. Hopefully, we’ll see you on tour soon. Thanks a lot.