“All it takes is a lot of work and practice.” Vlad
A story of 5-piece unique musicians started in Zagreb, Croatia. Angel of Fire is fronted by a beautiful female lead vocalist/guitarist, a drummer at the age of nine, smart rhythmic/lead music lines and very powerful bass lines. They gathered to make their own Gothic metal sound and to present it in “Lift Your Flames”. Let’s get closer…
Magdalena; as the band founder and music composer, while writing your lines; is there a particular lyric theme that goes in your mind. Or do you just write what you feel?
Magdalena: I certainly compose what I feel because I started to make music when I was a child and I didn’t have any musical education then. For me it is the purpose of creating the music – one melody appears among endless possibilities, close to the author’s emotions. And yes, sometimes a word or a sentence comes to my mind with a melody, that our singer and guitar player Igor fits into the whole story. I feel honored to have an opportunity to communicate with that universal language and share ideas with the broad masses.
The songs from your album “Lift Your Flames” are about love, loneliness struggles, and other topics. Are these your main themes or was it just the vision for this album?
AOF: We practically began from nothing. A small group of people with a wish to play music gathered, without having any particular plans. We immediately skipped the job of covering the songs of other bands and Magdalena wrote some chords for our first song Stoneflower. Igor wrote the lyrics and we met for rehearsal. Each made an arrangement for the song in his or her own instrument, and we began to rock. After several weeks of practice we played Stoneflower at the Zagreb Rock Academy (most band members are its students), and the people liked it. We decided to keep on writing new material. The sound and inspiration for these songs came spontaneously from hanging out together and meeting the band members, as well as from personal interests. In our next album we plan to show people some stories from Croatian mythology and bring them to life through powerful music.
It is written on your website that you are “looking for a Music Publisher”. What does this mean?
AOF: Our first album “Lift Your Flames“ was released in Croatia a month ago. We chose English as we hope that in this way more people will be able to understand us and we will have an open way to the world music market. Some contacts with foreign publishing companies have already been established, so we hope that we will soon be able to publish a CD outside Croatia.
The layout of the website; has some very ancient flavours. Does that have a concept with the band’s vision?
AOF: Our songs are like short stories about different topics in life, human emotions and wishes which have not changed through history. For instance, the first song in the album is named after the band, and speaks of an angel of fire as a symbol of conversion to a better life, Mirrors of Fate questions human destiny, The Dawn is a fictional story of the end of time which lasts about ten minutes, Stoneflower speaks of inner strength which helps us to view the world with an open heart. Igor, as he is a student of history; gets some inspiration from historical texts, which is connected to the old paper on the web page wallpaper.
On your FB like page, the band genre is Metal/Gothic/Rock. Do you think it is the new mainstream among recent rock bands, to add many styles as the band’s music?
AOF: We find it difficult to put ourselves into a certain style, as we have not heard a similar style in Croatia, or even anywhere else. Five different persons are in the band; it is a style which comes from different views of music, the personality of each member crafted into one style.
Magdalena; as for mainstream music nowadays, some people think that Metal is no longer invading, how do you comment on that?
MAGDALENA: I don’t see that the popularity of metal is fading. On the contrary, there are more and more rock and metal concerts in Croatia, and I think there is more of an interest for this kind of music. We are often visited by foreign bands that have concerts in Croatia, and I find this to be very good. It would be great if metal had a better status here or in general, and I hope that the scene will become stronger.
As for your 9 year-old drummer, do you sometimes face troubles with delivering your thoughts to him?
AOF: Vlad has been in the music world for a long time. He goes to a music school, and he is very musical at the same time. So although he is very young, he has enough experience and confidence to make his own drum solos. He accepts all our ideas that are good, as we accept his. We work very well together, and we have knocked down the age barriers.
Magdalena says: He gives us a good time.
Vlad, what vision do you try to deliver to your audience through Angel of Fire, and how do you see the worldwide metal scene 10 years from now?
VLAD: I want to show that young people can be successful musicians , without regard for age. All it takes is a lot of work and practice. I love what I do and I am very happy to be working in Angel of Fire with such talented colleagues. I couldn’t answer the second part of the question, time will tell. But what I can say, is that music lives forever, as will metal.
Igor, as an old school fan and your favorite styles are hard rock and blues, how is it helpful for you to write songs with a Gothic Metal imagination?
IGOR: Music is the most important inspiration when writing lyrics, so my words are based on a gothic sound which permeates most of our songs. Magdalena’s music creates an atmosphere suitable for gothic lyrics, and as my imagination has always been opulent it allows me to put myself into various situations. I often succeed in creating such an atmosphere due to my knowledge of ancient legends. Of course, parts of my hard rock and blues affinities always show themselves, as they are parts of my personality.
Angel of Fire, tell us more about your experience at the studio while you were working on “Lift Your Flames”.
VLAD: I felt great in the studio. My first recording gig was when I was five, so there was no nervousness or such problems. I was happy that we would make a CD, I think that any studio experience is important for a musician.
IGOR: The studio experience has been unforgettable. I have always thought about how it looked when music we heard on a CD or on the radio was shaped and how the process worked. I have to admit that I have learned a lot recording our first CD, and I’m sure that this experience will help us in our next creative works.
EMIL: I found it both interesting and fun. It wasn’t as I supposed it was going to be, so I was a little surprised. There is much more work to be done than you would think. All in all, a fun and positive experience.
VANJA: It all went smoothly, due to the band’s experience and the quality of the equipment. The recording took a long time as we dealt with details and tried to make everything really good. I like the fact that there was room for improvisation.
MAGDALENA: I think it was great. There was much work and concentration in the studio, but it was nice at the same time. It was great working with producers Enio Vu?eta and Adam ?viga?. We played around with various guitar sounds and I learned a lot. Vlad always came in with his toys, so it wasn’t boring during the breaks.
Did you have a specific plan of events for your album release?
AOF: We had a concert promotion of our album in a Zagreb club, and we will continue with the concerts during the summer with some festivals. We are often on radio shows because of our new album, and we have been on some TV shows as well, because of our new video for the song My Call.
Tell us about your upcoming events and music thoughts…
AOF: We would love it if the readers would visit our web-page, where they can monitor all the news and activities regarding the band.
Thank you Angel of Fire for this fruitful interview, and we wish to see you in Egypt through your GLOBAL tour someday…
AOF: Thanks, we would be delighted to visit your country and give some concerts. We have heard many things about the beauty of Egypt, and your history if astounding. We hope we won’t have to wait long for our visit. Lots of greetings to the readers and everyone who is a part of Rock Era!
Keep it rock!
