Interview by Marc “Peston” Sels
Obsidia is a five-piece metal band from Austria, with not one but two women in the group : Tajy on the keyboards and Lucrezia on vocals. They have just released a 5 track EP, “Back to Darkness”. So this was a good reason to ask Lucrezia some questions.
How’s the weather in Austria (February)? Can you ski over there? And do you do that?
Here in Austria the mountains are white and the weather is quite cold. Usually we have temperatures some degrees Celsius, below zero. There is enough snow on the mountains that skiing would be possible, but I go skiing seldom due to lack of time. You know, I prefer our warm cellar where I can play music.
I haven’t heard your cd “Back to Darkness” yet, so can you describe it for me? (Lyrics, musicstyle…)As the title might say we tried to go some years back in time. We aimed to merge the great atmospheric Gothic metal played at the end of the 90’s with our own style and we think that the result is quite presentable. The lyrics are considerable mixed – from the Greek Mythology via vampires to “simple” stories about life.
Is there a big Austrian Female fronted metal-scene? I only know you and Siegfried.Oh, also very well known female fronted bands like Edenbridge and Darkwell are from Austria. Anyway, the scene in general isn’t that big as in other countries. Especially in our area the metal-scene is very Death- and Thrash-dominated.
Austria has been in the worldnews lately with a few less items, Natascha Kampusch, and Hayder (extreme rightwing politician) getting killed in a car accident after leaving a gay bar. Does it has any influence on the music-scene? I can see punkbands jumping on this, but how do the metal bands react?I have to grin ’cause for me it’s quite amusing what Austria is famous for. I don’t think that such happenings influence our scene. Punkbands often make their music as protest whereas Gothic Metal should be the kind of music which helps to get out of the daily routine – a way to relax – a way to forget all daily problems.
Okay, now the lighter version. Can you live of being a musician, or do you (and the other bandmembers) have jobs, like most of us (hopefully)?At least we are not able to live from our music. We spend our freetime for our music because this is our hobby. To earn our money all of us have a profession. Beside some of us study on university.
Yes- as we’re already into song-writing for an upcoming full-lenght-album, we’re able to play live. We have played some headliner- and supportshows in Austria and Italy last year and will have our Germany-premiere in May this year.
Do you sing under the shower? If yes, what? What is your all time favourite cd? And what do you play on a sunday morning?Oh, I sing more often than I know myself; like last week when I recognized that I sing while doing housework. Sometimes I sing totally unconscious – I think this is for me a way to relax. The songs I sing are totally different : sometimes songs of my favourite bands, of course Obsidia songs and sometimes ideas for new songs allthough Sir Iwain (guitar and vocals) is our creative head. All time favourite cd – difficult to say… I love gothic/symphonic metal in general, so albums from Tristania, Epica, Within Temptation, After Forever, Therion, Nightwish….change in my CD-player.
Best book, cd, comic, movie, concert of 2009? And what’s your favourite pet, drink, food?I can’t say this is limited on 2009 but I can do it in general. Hopefully this is okay for you.
Best book : I love reading crime-stories like “Speak No Evil” (Rochelle Majer Krich) and I really love reading specialized books about nature, supernatural phenomenons and psychology.
Best CD : I’m really impressed by the “Live Gothic” of Therion.
Best comic : I’m not a big comic fan. Sometimes I watch The Simpsons on TV.
Best movie : Absolutely ungothic, but I love the film “Patch Adams” with Robin Williams.
Best concert : There are many concerts wich impressed me very much but I think the greatest gooseflash that I have got was the After Forever show at Wacken 2004.
Favourite pets : Cats. Because they have this mystical aura.
Favourite drink : Nonalcoholic drink : herbal tea. Alcoholic drink : white wine and gin.
Favourite food : International food from typical Austrian food to Indian cuisine. But I seldom eat fastfood like McDonalds because food has to contain a little bit of love.
What are the plans for 2010? Touring? A new cd ?As already mentioned, we are hardly working on material for a full-lenght album but we actually aren’t able to say anything about a release date. Of course we want to play live as much as possible but we don’t know whether we can manage to play a full tour.
And here it is : Can you give us a short history of the band?Obsidia was founded in the middle of the year 2006 by Sir Iwain and me. We started with writing some songs and then we searched for musicians, which is quite difficult in our area. First live concert was in May 2007, and now we released our first CD.
Especially for the fans, any “Famous last words”?Obsidia would like to inspire their audience and we hope that we can bring all of our fans “Back to Darkness”. In the meanwhile I have heard their first born, and I must say I liked it. Good heavy goth with musicians who know their instrument and a good, strong voice. I see a successful future for this young band, and I hope to be proven right.
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