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Currently on
tour with Axxis, we catch up with Magica's lead singer Ana Mladinovichi
after their UK show in London to find out how the tour's going with
Axxis and how things are in the Magica camp following the recent release
of their breathtaking third album 'Hereafter'.
Also joining us for the interview we have Magica's lead guitarist Bodan
Costea.
MM - Hi Ana and Bodan, firstly thanks for taking time out to take
part in this interview with us today.
Ana - It's lovely to meet you.
MM - How did you feel the show went tonight here in London?
Ana - I felt it
went pretty good because the audience, I thought they would not know
Axxis very well but it was a pretty good show. It was a good one.
MM - How do you feel the tour as a whole
has gone so far?
Ana - I am very
happy with this tour and I'm very glad I accepted to do this
collaboration with these guys. They are all nice guys and we have
a good time and laugh a lot. It is a good experience for me and
good promotion for Magica as well.
MM - How were you first approached to
replace Lakonia on this tour?
Ana - I think it
was AFM our record label who sent me an email and asked me if I'd like
to replace her on this European tour, I accepted and I think I am doing
a good job. I try and even though these are not my songs and are
not written for my voice, I try very hard and I think everything is
fine.
MM - Did you have to make many
adjustments to the songs to accommodate your difference in vocals from
Lakonia's or were you ok with them as they were?
Ana - I am ok with them. We had
two or three rehearsals and then everything was fine.
Bodan - I would like to add that she only had two weeks in
advance to rehearse it at home. Axxis sent her about 20 songs and
she just learned the 20 songs in these two weeks.
Ana - Yes that is me, I always like to be prepared.
MM - What's the response been to the
bands 'Hereafter' album so far?
Ana - I think we've had some
good reviews and a few almost medium reviews.
Bodan - No, all the reviews are good, but they criticise the fact
that we are not very original. They say that they think it
resembles Nightwish, Eden's Bridge, or After Forever. I think this
is a little stupid because when I think how much money was invested in
the Nightwish production, you simply cannot compare that with what we
had to prepare this album with. There's a very big difference with
the production on the two albums. We also have pretty different
styles but some people cannot see past the fact that two bands who have
a female fronted acts can be different. They just see that it is a
female fronted act and they compare it. Everything is the same for
them, but not all of them of course!
The reviews were good though and they all said the songs are good and
the instrumental parts are good, and they all said Ana has a wonderful
voice. The critic was that it is not so original ...
Ana - How can a band be original these days? It is very
hard to be original.
Bodan - We didn't even try to be very original, I just wrote what
I liked at that moment in time. I wrote whatever made me feel
good. I am not trying to be original or to copy, I just write
about what makes me feel good.
MM - Well turning the coin on the other side, if people are comparing
you to Nightwish and they've had so much more money invested in the
production of their album, then if people think you are on par with
that, then that speaks volumes very positively about what you have
achieved with this album.
Bodan - Yes it is a good thing
and we are honoured that some people compare us to Nightwish, but I
think it is all a little too much. We just like to be ourselves
and do whatever makes us feel and do not try to be Nightwish. We
are from a different part of the world and we just like classic rock and
hard metal music.
Ana - Yes, we'd just like to have our own identity and not someone
else's.
MM - I personally would not say that
your vocals sound like those in Nightwish. I can see the
similarities perhaps in the music in some parts but I think your vocals
are much warmer and are not so operatic and cold. They have more
warmer classical sounds in them which is nice to hear, because there are
a lot of operatic type female singers out there at the moment. It
makes a nice change to hear a powerful warm classic rock voice.
Ana - I always try to find a way to be
myself because I want to escape from the Nightwish and Within Temptation
thing. I am a little sick of all that. I want to be me and
now I've found a way to sing like me.
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MM - The
band have already had quite a lot of success in France, South America
and of course your homeland Romania. Why do you think it's taken
so long for the band to conquer the rest of Europe?
Ana - Because we
came from Romania! (laughs).
Bodan - Well I don't think it's actually been that long because we
only started playing in 2003. Our first album was recorded in 2002
but at that time it was just a side project of another band we were
playing in at that time. We started playing with Magica as a full
band in it's own right in 2003, so now it's just the beginning of 2008
which is not so very long for a band coming from Eastern Europe to get a
deal with a big German label. I think it's good for us and I'm not
in a hurry to do anything, I'm just happy we've managed to get where we
are today for now. There's not many bands from our area lucky
enough to make it to where we are today. It's all good.
MM - Yes I must admit it is hard to
think of any other bands that come from the same locality you come from.
I think to try and name them would be quite difficult for most rock fans
so now you have put your area on the map for a lot of people.
Bodan - I don't think we have a very
big scene, just an underground and I mean deep underground scene.
I think the only bands that are now known on the metal scene from our
area are Magica and a more brutal metal band who play death metal.
They are a very extreme metal band and they have a contract with a
bigger Italian label who specialises in that kind of music. That
is probably the only two bands who are known from our area. But,
we are definitely the only melodic metal band to come out of there!
(laughs).
MM - Do you think the rise in popularity
of Gothic and Symphonic Metal has given the female vocalists a voice in
an otherwise male fronted genre?
Bodan - I think it is perhaps the
emancipation of woman and their power to be more each day. In the
past females were a little more put behind in this genre, but now they
are encouraged more and more to do this kind of thing. We are
living in modern times.
Ana - It is still not easy being a girl in the metal scene you
know, it is not easy at all. It is still very much a mans world,
the world of metal.
Bodan - I think it all depends on what kind of girl you are and i
t depends on what way you choose to do things.
There is always an easier way and a harder way. If you are a very
free and independent woman and if you just make everybody happy then it
is easier for you.
Ana - Ah yes that is just your point of view, a man's point of
view! I like my way which is not always your way, a man's way!
(laughs).
No believe me it is still not easy, but if you
like what you do then ...
MM - Yes I think there are a lot of pressures on female singers both in
the world of rock and metal.
Ana - Yes and even the competition
between the bands with female vocalists is there all the time. We
were touring with another female fronted band a few years ago and I
noticed some things between the girls ... and it's not easy for us
anyway, even with girls it is not easy!
Bodan - I think it is always best to just be yourself and not care
about others.
MM - What are the plans for Magica in 2008?
Ana - We wait for a European tour.
AFM said they would build us a tour and sort something out for us.
We wait with interest to see who we are going to tour with. I
would love to tour with Kamelot you know.
Bodan - That is just wishful thinking because she likes Khan!
(laughs).
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MM - As well as the tour I also busy
promoting 'Hereafter' at the moment?
Bodan - Yes that is one of the
reasons I am here on this tour, because I want to help Ana feel
more at home by being here and I just did not want to leave her
alone in the middle of these 40 German guys. (laughs) I
just did not think that it was so safe for her so I just came
along. I have also been doing some promotion for the band
by spreading flyers and giving interviews. It's a good
thing for Magica I think.
MM
- Well you know I don't think Ana would have had a problem being
alone with all these hot German guys. That's sounds alright
to me! (laughs)
Bodan - No, that's because I'm
here to save her! (laughs). (At this
point Ana is doubled over in a fit of giggles at my teasing of
Bodan).
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MM - Thank you both so much for taking
the time out to chat with us this evening. Is there anything you
would like to say to our readers to close off this interview?
Bodan - I'd like to thank you for this
opportunity to present ourselves to your readers and we just want to say
if anybody wants to find out more about the band can visit our website -
www.magicaband.com
and of course our MySpace page - www.myspace.com/magicaband
.
Ana - Thank you, I've really enjoyed talking to you.
MM - We'd like to thank Ana and
Bodan for being such wonderful company to chat to this evening. We
wish them and the band every success with their new album 'Hereafter'
and hope to see them visit our shores again soon. |