Genre: Metal
- How did you come up with the band Name?
Dave and I started the band in Los Angles, we want the name to reflect the contrast of where we come from, Dave’s background is rooted in rock/ heavy metal and I come from classical music/theater… Also the name reflects what life in Los Angeles is like, most are trying to create their own Paradise here, but one wrong move can push you off the edge, and it’s very hard to get back up. So it’s a bit of a false paradise out here!
- Tell us about where you come from and how that reflects in the music?
I started playing piano when I was 4, growing up in Moscow, Russia, my parents immersed me in the arts and I loved it. I played piano, did theater, ballet… In Russia, everything is very serious, so I had to practice for hours and hours each day… When we moved to the US, I was about 11, and I continued playing piano and went to a theater high school, then moved to NYC attend NYU for theater.
I never thought about creating a band before, or being a singer, it’s when I moved to Los Angeles and met guitarist Dave Bates, things kind of took a new turn for me and before I knew it, we had a rock band 🙂 But for me, it was perfect, as it’s everything I love to do, creating music, performing, filming videos, connecting with people through the language of the world, music!
- Tell us about the song-writing process, how do you create your music?
It varies from song to song. Sometimes I start it with a keyboard, create a rhythmic pattern and that gives me ideas for what I want the song to be about and the melodies. Usually the first melody I hear in my head, I go with it, and evolve it. Then Dave would come in and put some guitars on it, we finalize the arrangement, fight over it a bit 🙂 Sometimes, Dave starts with a guitar riff and we go back and fourth from that.
After we have a solid demo of the song, we go to our producer, for this record Mike Plotnikoff and Neil from Three Days Grace are co producing. So I record the vocals and we solidify the song arrangement. After that, we record the drums at the studio. From there, we take it back to our home studio and finish the song tracks with a bunch of guitar and keyboard layers 🙂
Then it goes off to Denmark to Jacob Hansen, and he puts his magic on it with his mix! Hearing the final version of the song, is the most rewarding feeling, because of the incredible amount of work, brings your vision to life!
- Who has influenced you the most?
I love Ronnie James Dio and how he put so much feeling into each word. And that’s what I love about rock and metal, it’s genre fueled by emotion. I also grew up on classical music, and I think it really inspires the way I orchestrate the songs. I’ve also always been a fan of Robert Plant, Freddy Mercury, I love Rammstein, 30 seconds to Mars, blues, my taste in music is very diverse 🙂
- What was the first song you or your band ever wrote? Tell us if you performed it, trashed it, etc.….
First song Dave and I wrote together was In A Dream, it’s off our album Immortal Waltz. That song put us on the path to discovering what we wanted to become. We were lucky to have had legendary Michael Wagener mix it, and after that we ended up going to Nashville to record our album with him, he’s really inspired us and fueled our passion and drive!
- What song are you most connected to or proud of ?
That’s a hard one! In A Dream holds a lot of meaning to us, but the new album Universe, definitely defines the sound of the band and it’s our best work, I guess I’ll pick FIRE, off of the new album. That song is such an explosion of energy, it’s about finding that fire and passion inside us and following that, no matter what! And we had such an awesome time filming the music video for it, with our friends Darren and Tina LaFreniere, we filmed in a spaceship set one day and then went on location to Bisti Badlans, it looked like we were on the moon, such a crazy adventure and we’re really proud of the outcome!
- Do you enjoy playing live and what do you enjoy about it?
Oh yes, we love it! There is no feeling that comes close to sharing the music that you put your heart and soul into, with people in a live setting! Music is such a universal language, no matter where we are in the world, wether it’s Europe, Japan, US, once you’re in that venue, you’re instantly connected to everyone in the room through music! I’ve always wanted to bring something positive to someones life, and the best compliment is when people come up to us after a show and say that our music holds meaning to them, it’s the greatest compliment! I also love epic lights and massive sound, the theatrics of everything, it’s like being transported to another world where you’re free and it’s just pure Paradise 🙂
- What is next for the band?
Right now we’re recording our next album, and it’s turning our really epic! It’s co produced by Mike Plotnikoff and Neil Sanderson from Three Days Grace, the new music is a continuation of Universe, but more cinematic, powerful and thought evoking! We’ll be doing more music videos, so focusing on creating a new world!We also welcomed our new drummer Jamie Moreno and are excited to get back on the road once the intergalactic travels resume 🙂
- Any additional thoughts or Comments you would like to add?
I just wanted to thank everyone for reading this, want to wish everyone strength and hope to get through these tough times! We have a giveaway going, I love to paint and have incorporated that into special edition items, so I’m making a canvas painting and giving it away once we hit 1 million stream on Spotify of our single Universe and 2 million on the album. We’re very close so, follow us on Spotify, we also have beautiful vinyls and CDs. We always love to hear from people, so say hello to us on any social media platform! Thank you again and we can’t wait to see everyone at the show!