Interview by Miriam Cadoni
Even if Svetlana Bliznakova is mostly known as the front singer of the Bulgarian hard rock SEVI (which at the moment is busy producing its fourth album), recently she has released her debut solo album “Tomorrow”. Her full-length features also a collaboration with Hardline’s Johnny Gioeli and is almost an acoustic confession to her fans. Let’s learn more about through her words.
Hi Svetlana, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine. How are you and how is life treating you in these precarious days?
Hi. Thank you for this interview. I am fine, thank you. This year was really a challenge for everyone. But I am thankful because despite everything I managed to realize most of my plans and I had the honor to work with some amazing, talented people.
First, for who’s not familiar with you and SEVI, would you like to tell us how the band came together?
Well, the band was established by me and the bass player in 2010.We had many ideas to share back than so we decided that we needed a crew. At the beginning we were 6, than we became 5 for a while and now we are 4. In the past 10 years, we managed to achieve many of our goals and to play on some great stages and festivals. We have amazing fans so I believe we are heading in the right direction.
On November 15th 2020, you have released your debut solo album “Tomorrow”. What would you like to share about its general production? When did you start to collect the first ideas for it?
It all started 3 years ago after Chris Cornell’s death… I just felt the need to share some deeper thoughts with my fans.
I worked with musicians like Alexandra Zerner and Rally Velinov on the music and arrangements and also with Peter Bratanov, Johnny Gioeli, Alberto Steri and Marin Murlev.
The process was long because I never had enough time to finish the album because of my tours and engagements with SEVI but thanks to the lockdown and its consequent free time I manage it. I am thankful to everyone who was involved. From Radostin Hristov-Stin who did the album cover design, to Simeon Slavchev who did the mix and mastering and to Ignati Yordanov who shot the amazing video for “Tomorrow” and everyone else who become part of this project.
After such a long career with your band, from where does it stem the desire to release a solo album?
Well, when it comes to music I always listen to my heart so as I said before I just wanted to share all these thoughts and melodies with the world. They are all quite different from what we do with SEVI but underneath it’s still me and I am sure fans will recognize me there as well.
Which meaning does hold for you this solo album?
It was a dream come true, really. It made me feel somehow accomplished because It was all just the way I imagined it to be and all the energy around the album and the people involved made me believe in miracles even stronger.
In general, what did inspire “Tomorrow”?
By some of the important questions we all think about late at the evening before we go to sleep. It’s inspired by life, by love and sadness. It’s like my personal confession.
“Tomorrow” features some amazing guest star such as Alberto Steri (Sugar Ray Dogs) and Johnny Gioeli (Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell). How did you manage to collaborate with them? And how was this experience?
Well, yeah I had the pleasure to work with amazing musicians on this album. So, Alberto is an old friend and when I started to talk to him about the album and publish some videos from the studio he offered to join in, I knew exactly the song for him and he did a great job.
I met Johnny Gioeli in 2019 and we are collaborating since then. We recorded a duet for the next SEVI album which it will be released this year. During the first lockdown, we recorded a new version of his song “Song of Hope” and then, he featured in my solo album with the track “Jaded”. I often say that I can’t listen to this song without his voice anymore. He is amazing!
Musically speaking, which are the main differences between your solo album and your band SEVI?
These are two sides of the same coin. It’s still me, even in a completely different style. I am glad that all SEVI fans enjoyed this solo project and this inspires me to think of another album soon.
What does the future hold for you and SEVI and how did the pandemic impact on your original plan?
Of course, some of our plans were postponed due to the pandemic. But, we had more time to work on new music which will be released in our next album. And then, hopefully many concerts.
So, Svetlana, we’re almost at the end and with this, please be free to say hi to your fans and your readers. Thank you so much for this interview.
Be safe out there everyone and don’t forget to stay connected, stay together. Because only together we can change things and create a better future.