Artist: Nemesea 

Date: 14 November 2011   

With the release of their new album The Quiet Resistance due shortly we catch up with lead singer Manda Orphuis to find out more about the band and their music.  

MM - Where does the name Nemesea come from and what does it represent to you?
Manda - When we started with the band, we chose a name the fitted the music at that time very well. Nemesea is the day the ancient Greek dedicated to the goddess Nemesis.

MM - Do you find it an insult or an accolade to be compared musically to Nightwish?
Manda - We don’t feel that’s an insult, although we feel our music is very different from them nowadays.

MM - What was the best thing that came out of using sellaband.com? Did it push you to try harder to sell yourselves?
Manda - The best thing was working with the amazing Tony Platt (AC/DC, Iron Maiden) and Ronald Prent (Rammstein, Lacuna Coil). These people have so much knowledge, you can learn a lot from them.

We were really happy with the album, so I consider that something great too. We always push ourselves. That’s not something that was different during the Sellaband period.

MM - What is your favourite song to play, either live or in the studio?
Manda - I like playing No More and Broken a lot! During the last couple of shows we also played a couple of new songs from TQR and I can tell you the Caught in the middle is also a great song to play  live!

MM - Do you have any little rituals or habits go through before going on-stage?
Manda - Not really. Just make sure to warm up my voice very well, since I ask a lot of it. And we always wish each other good luck, of course.

MM - What's it like working in such a small, tight-knit group? Do you have more or fewer disagreements?
Manda - We are a very tight group of people, friends to be exact. And of course we have our quarrels, but we are all very passionate about what we do, so in that case it’s good to have an argument of discussion now and then. It keeps you thinking about the bigger picture.

MM - Do you feel having a keyboardist enhances the tracks?
Manda - Yes, he did! We have this electro thing going on in our songs and Lasse has a lot of knowledge when it comes to sound design, so he did a great job with the electro parts of the new album. It makes the songs stronger and the sound thicker.

MM - Do you ever, as a band, want to branch out into different sub-genres?
Manda - Maybe not as a band, but as individuals we certainly would love to do other things besides Nemesea. Some of us are already working on other things. We all have a very broad taste when it comes to music. It’s nice to do something different also and it’s good for your development too.

MM - There have been changes in the line-up since 2003 – do you feel these changes enhanced the band?
Manda - Yes they did. For a couple of the ex-members the faith and believe was gone. They didn’t feel happy with being in the band anymore. Others had different interests that made them leave the band. We’re still in contact with most of them.
Frank and Lasse both brought something new to the band. Frank is a very heavy drummer that made the sound of the album thicker. Lasse, as I already wrote before, has a lot of knowledge when it comes to sound designing; something that’s very important for the sound of this band.

And they’re both really great guys…that’s also very important… J

MM - Have there been any times where you didn't want to continue as a band? How did you get through this?
Manda - Yes, there were multiple moments that we just wanted to quit the band. Right after the whole Sellaband collapsed we had a few of those moments. But we talked a lot and every time the outcome was the same; we didn’t wanna quit the band, we want to follow our dream!

Now we’re stronger than ever and ready to conquer the world with our brand new album TQR J.

MM - What would you be doing if you weren't in a band?
Manda - I would spend all my time taking care of threatened, injured and damaged animals.

MM - What’s been the highlight for you of this past year (2011) and what do you have planned for the year ahead (2012)?
Manda - Today I received a box full of TQR albums…..that’s the highlight of this year for me. Finally putting my hands on that one thing we’ve been working so hard for the last couple of years!

MM - Any final words or messages you’d like to share with all our readers?
Manda - If you like bands in the female fronted rock scene, if you can appreciate a nice electro touch, go check out our brand new album 'The Quiet Resistance'! In the stores on November 18th!

Interview by: Kerry H 

 

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