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In the
midst of their UK tour we catch up with Lahannya to find out what's been
happening with the band since the release of their latest album
'Defiance'.
MM
-Thank you again for taking time out to do the interview.
L -Thank you, it’s not a problem at all
MM - Trillian’s ... shall we start
there, sorry about the turn out at that show.
L – Yeh, that’s sometimes the problem when it’s a free entry
show the promoter doesn’t really push the shows as they should.
It was a shame but we had a few fans who were really keen to see us
again so it was worth it for them.
MM – I saw at the end you were selling
quite a bit of merchandise.
L – Yes that’s right.
MM - It makes those shows when there
isn’t a particularly large crowd worthwhile.
L – Yes it was great to see people there to see us and not just
because it was a pub that had bands on. We play for those people.
MM – So how did the rest of the tour
go then?
L – It actually went really well, after Newcastle we went to
Glasgow and it was absolutely brilliant. You don’t know what to
expect from a new venue. We played in Glasgow before but not in
Rockers and we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but I really liked
the atmosphere in the venue, it had this really Rock n' Roll feel about
it and the people up there we absolutely mental. Seriously they
were jumping up and down in front of the stage, it was just mad. When
you have that it’s just such a pleasure performing. I mean we
always give 110% as a band.
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MM
– Yeh that’s what I found at Trillians even though the
numbers were small the band still gave it their all.
L – Exactly, whether we play for one person or for one
million, we’ll still play the same. If you can get
something back from the crowd that’s even better.
MM
– The new songs of the album ‘Defiance’ came across
really well live, it was the first time I’d heard the songs
performed live at Trillians, despite the sound system they
have there.
L – Yes it’s a shame, we have played a few shows where
the sound system hasn’t been idea, hopefully that will
change with the next tour as we become more well known.
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MM
- Going back to the album Lahannya, we briefly commented on it in the
last interview and it wasn’t completed then. To be completely
honest with you I was quite surprised when I first heard it. It
wasn’t what I was expecting following on from 'Welcome To The
Underground'. There was less of an electro feel to it and
Chris’s guitars were a lot heavier and Lutz bass line were more
punchy.
L – Did you
like it?
MM -
Yeh I loved it actually.
L – Excellent!
MM - It’s almost verging towards
Symphonic Metal.
L – Ok
MM - Yes, heading towards Within
Temptation and that sort of band.
L – Yes I think ‘Open Your Eyes’ and ‘Dying Inside’ are a
little reminiscent of that sort of sound, but I think that other tracks
have a more industrial side.
MM – ‘Our War’ and 'Piece By
Piece’ have more keyboard moments in them.
L – Yes ‘Piece By Piece’ is one of those that will go down
well in the clubs.
MM – Following on from this tour, you
said you would be heading out to Germany again?
L – Yes, we finished this part of the tour on Saturday in
Cambridge, and we’ve got four days break, then we’re off to Germany
to play in Munich and then we’ve got three more dates then were
finished touring for this year.
MM – Yourselves and a lot more bands
are finding it easier to tour Europe now because a lot of the borders
are gone.
L – Well for us, our studio is in Germany, our bus is based in
Germany and the majority of our equipment is stored in Germany. So
when we tour we usually tour the UK then do dates in Germany or visa
versa and then stick in some dates in-between in other countries say
France, Belgium, Holland in-between here and Germany it seems to make a
lot of sense to us.
MM – Going back to the album again, it
was your vision on the album of and Underground Society living in a CCTV
world and the songs seem to flow really well on the album.
L – Thank You.
MM – Unlike some concept albums that
seem to have tracks that seem to drag you along, the songs on your album
flow well as a listener.
L – Yes that probably has a lot to do with the fact that what we
were writing about is important to us and means something to us.
It is inspired by real events, especially in the UK at the moment with
all the political changes and surveillance technology being introduced
laws being passed, and the Oyster Cards which track your travel in
London. It wasn’t too difficult to imagine a future where all
these developments are used against person privacy and individuality.
So it was a strong message to send to start will and we set this in a
story where all these developments have gone a step to far really.
MM - It’s a future that isn’t that
far away from being truth, you could imagine this sort of thing
escalating in five or ten year time.
L –That’s right it’s not to futuristic as you say this could
all happen in five or ten years time.
MM – With yourself being based in
London you see these things a lot more than we do in other parts of the
country.
L - Absolutely, every time there is a new terrorist threat, the free
newspapers in London heighten these fears by placing stories that send
the fear atmosphere aspect higher and people become afraid and give the
government more powers it’s a whole game that’s going on.
After the attacks in July a few years ago there was a real atmosphere of
fear going round and the public was ready give the government all sorts
of powers. Yes it was for our protection but in the long term
who's to say that they wouldn’t use this information in other ways.
MM - Yes, we noticed when we’ve gone
down to the capital for a gig or a show that the atmosphere has
definitely changed after the attack in July. Especially in the
Tube if you look different or seem to be out of place all eyes seem to
be on you. Before that the multi-cultural Londoners seemed to mass
together unnoticed but that has changed a lot.
L - It was out of that sort of atmosphere that gave the inspiration
for the album and the 'Welcome To The Underground'.
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MM
- Have you started working a new album yet?
L – We’ve been so busy, we’ve not really had that
much time. The new album ‘Defiance’ came out in
October and after that we had a few festivals and then
promotion of the album. Maybe in the New Year we’ll take
some time off and then we’ll start chasing ideas.
Whether it’s for the new album or an EP I don’t know at
the moment.
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MM
– You mentioned you played a few festivals prior to the UK dates, how
did they go down?
L – It was absolutely brilliant, we had a wonderful time. It
started off fantastically when we played Leipzig, we played an
amphitheatre in front of 2,000 people, all donned out in Goth gear so
there were all these people dressed in black in blistering sunshine.
It was around 40º and they were all dancing around and singing our
songs, it was great. It was the best summer festival atmosphere
you could ask for.
The next festival was the Unrest Festival in Poland, which was equally
fun but was a hell of a long way to go, but it was really worth it.
It was a smaller festival but was set in a castle grounds.
Then we played the Fantasy Fest.
MM - Yeh, how did that one go?
L – That was fun, fun and a little bit strange because it’s a
different kind of feeling when you look out at the audience and instead
of seeing Goths and Metallers you see Elvin Princess’s and Storm
Troopers and Fairies and Pirates all dancing along, it was so surreal
you know! We had a real blast, it was just as much fun for me
looking at the audience as it was for them looking at the stage.
We stayed around for the two days and hung around with the fans and went
around the different attractions. They had jousting tournaments,
sword fights, gothic belly dancing, a Star Wars show, it was really,
really good fun.
Then we played the Metal Female Voices Festival, that was one of the
only indoor festivals which meant we could use the lights, because when
you play outdoor festivals you don’t really get the full effect of the
lights. The people that were there were really into Female Metal and
Rock music and we got an amazing reaction, which I was really really
pleased about because were not a full on metal band and you're never
quite sure when you play a full on Metal festival how people or going
react. You're never sure whether they're going to be open minded
enough to say yes ... I’ll give that a chance, or whether people are
going to say yes ... that’s not hundred per cent metal so we're not
going to like it. But honestly everyone was open minded and we had
a fantastic audience and a massive queue later on when we were signing
autographs, it was so flattering.
MM – You did the Metal Fest at
Birmingham as well?
L - Yes that was a few weeks later, yes it was a lot lot smaller but
still it was great to see a lot of people from all over the UK come to
see this sort of festival.
MM – Yes this is the sort of festival
we in the UK should be looking after, starting off small and building on
that. We can’t have an instant Wacken and so we need to start small
and build on a solid foundation.
L – Yes, sometimes it doesn’t have to be that big. Some
people don’t like the big festivals, they prefer a smaller one because
you can get closer to the bands and it has a different kind of
atmosphere.
I personally don’t really like going to the really really massive
festivals because you're so far away from the stage and the atmosphere
is sometimes lost. But if you go to a festival with maybe 1,000
– 2,000 people who're nearer the stage it can be real good fun.
MM - Yes, if I wanted to see a band on a
screen I’d buy the DVD.
L – Absolutely.
MM - So what does 2010 have in store for
Lahannya?
L – Obviously working on new music, I don’t know what shape it
will be in, but there will be something new from us. We won’t be
touring as much, we have a festival in Bristol on the 20th
March, and we might add a date on to keep ourselves busy, then spend the
spring and summer on festivals and new music, and then the next tour
would be in the autumn of 2010.
MM –
Well thanks again for taking the time out to do the interview.
L –
Thank you and thanks again for support us.
We'd like to wish the band every success with the
new album and the coming year and look forward to catching up with them
again soon. |