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Interview with Zuberoa Aznárez (Diabulus in Musica)
Spanish Symphonic metal quartet Diabulus in Musica will release their new, fifth studio album “Euphonic Entropy “on St. Valentin’s day. Depicting the chaos of new life, this album is their heaviest and intimate album to date. 12 symphonic arrangements combined with detailed classical impact brings power ballads and beautiful melodies. We were among the first ones who got the chance to talk with frontwoman Zuberoa Aznárez.
It’s been almost four years since the last album. What are you guys up to? How did that period influenced on new material?
Yes, the main reason is that we became parents for the second time and besides, I had an intensive working period as a singer in the classical field and studio projects. Gorka and me didn’t have the time to sit together to plan the new album and we also were a bit tired, to be honest. When you feel like this it is always better to wait until the inspiration and motivation comes again and fortunately it happened. We felt the need to write songs again for DiM, but we didn’t want to work with any pressure. We wanted to write a great album and to be totally convinced of what we were doing, not just write an album because it was the time. We didn’t mind if we had to wait longer. It is amazing to see how quickly all the ideas emerged. Then we worked a lot until we felt the songs were totally “round”, if you see what I mean.
Of course, the music and lyrics are clearly influenced by this new situation. It has been the main source of inspiration. I think the overall energic feeling of the album perfectly represents our lives right now. The feeling of rush you get when listening to it is probably the same we had when writing and recording this album with two little babies at our side haha But it turned out very powerful, and that “power” is also the feeling we got when we finished the recordings of the new album. The title itself reflects the content of the song very well, our personal race to find the balance in our lives as parents and artists.
I really love that you incorporated another language in your album. It’s like going back to the roots. But tell me more about the idea using the Basque language. It’s not the first time you’re using it.
Thank you! In fact, we always included Basque language in our previous albums, but just some sentences, verses or titles, as well as Latin and Spanish, even if the main language in our songs is English. This time we decided to write a complete song in Basque. We are the only Spanish band in the label, so they thought it would be interesting to sing again one or two songs in Spanish. I proposed to sing one in Spanish and another one in Basque as it is our co-official language here and mostly an unknown one for most of the people in the rest of the world. The song talks about the loss of our cultural identity through the time. Here we speak Spanish and Basque, but Basque is still a minority language in the Basque country and Navarre and it is a big treasure as it is one of the oldest languages in Europe. That’s why we felt the need to spread the world about this important heritage.
Last album was more into mythology, tales and stories, but this one is more about emotions. Was it hard to put them into songs? Do you feel like songs are some kind of your diary?
Somehow yes, but as always, we try to talk about general feelings, so that each one can relate them to their own lives. Afterall, we talk about human feelings that I’m sure many of us have experienced once. I must admit that I prefer writing music than lyrics, as I feel music comes to my mind easily, nevertheless, sometimes it is difficult to find the words to express what I want to. I find music a better way to express myself than words. I always write the music first and then the lyrics at the end, so it is sometimes difficult too to make them fit to the vocal line. Anyway, these lyrics came faster, probably because there were too many mixed feelings in my mind that wanted to speak by themselves.
Listening to the album, I got the feeling that you are talking to humanity. Like we all forgot about good values and the bad/wrong ones are shaping our society. Is this call to wake up?
We don’t want to “indoctrinate” anyone, but it is true that we have always included some social criticizing in our lyrics too. Sometimes, it is my own conscience the one who talks to me in my lyrics, I find that cathartic and a way to motivate myself too. On the other hand, it is a positive album overall, as most of the songs talk about willpower and overcoming oneself.
This is self-produced album. When you work like that, how hard is to stay “on track”? You write music, you have rehearsals and the songs are constantly in your ears. Do you let somebody outside the band to listen to your ideas?
It is not easy, but the good thing is that I do most of the music and Gorka does more the function of the producer, so we make the perfect team. It is besides something that came out naturally. My mind is more chaotic and he is more organized. Normally, I don’t show him a song until it is not finished for me, this way it is like listening something for the first time for him. If needed, he takes the song, cuts here and there, adds or removes some parts… until we feel the song flows. The same with all the arrangements, I write the songs with the guide of the orchestra and choir and then he spends more time searching for the sounds that fit better. It is the best formula we have found to work faster. Sometimes it is good to have someone outside the band to listen with “clean” ears, but in our experience, it hasn’t been that good, as we are sure when a song works for us and sometimes producers insist in something you don’t feel should be that way, so it has no sense to search for an external ear when you know what you want to achieve and how to do it. I rely on Gorka for this a lot. On the other hand, this time we couldn’t do all the preproduction in a row because of our familiar situation, so some songs were on standby for a while so we could see them with a more objective perspective after some time.
The cover is really beautiful. Who is responsible for the artwork? And what’s the story behind it? Does it reflect two sides of emotions?
Stefan Heileman. We have been working with him since our second album. He is a fantastic artist who perfectly catches the essence of each album with only a few explanations. The cover is great and I think that can be interpreted in many ways. I have my own interpretation and he never tells his own. I prefer it to be this way, so that each one can do his/her own reading, the same as with the lyrics. I find there are elements that can be related to a new life, to the chaos and order of the universe, the beauty, the duality (which is something always present in our lyrics and band name) and there is also space for mystery, which is something we like too.
Is there some special reason that you’re releasing album on st. Valentine’s day?
The release date was scheduled by the label, but I think the date couldn’t be more symbolic. This album is something very personal that comes from a couple who has been together for 17 years now and that 4 years ago formed a family. The album reflects all the feelings resulting from this, so being released this day is something significant. Besides, like a curious coincidence, our first child was born the night between February the 14th and 15th.
I remember back in 2016 (or so), you commented that you don’t play a lot in your home country. Here in Croatia we also have situations where metal bends are way more successful outside their country, even if they exist for 10 or 15 years. Since then, has the situation changed for you?
Not really. It is only in our hometown that we are more respected and we have played more, but in the rest of the country the situation is almost the same. The big festivals keep on taking always the same bands. Symphonic metal is not a popular genre here and only the very big symphonic metal bands are playing metal festivals or can play alone with some success…
I always wanted to ask you… Considering your name, do you use augmented fourth a lot in your music?
Heheh, it is not something deliberated, but in modern music it is used a lot anyway, it doesn’t sound weird anymore as it did in the Middle Ages.
And unavoidably question… What are your plans for this year? Do you plan going on tour?
We were working with a booking agency for this (they even called us to work for us!), but they suddenly decided not to work with us anymore claiming they didn’t have the time, very unprofessional by their side! We are really upset as we were informed only a month ago or so, when the tour started to be booked. We relied on them for that and now we have to deal with all this and start from scratch alone or to search for another booking agency. This has been a hard mishap for us just when we are starting to promote the new album, which we think is our strongest one… Anyway, we cannot wait to hit the stage again and we will do our best to build a European tour as soon as possible.
On the other hand, we have already booked a special show in November in our hometown. It will be a big thing, a kind of celebration of our 10th anniversary since the release of our first album. We are very excited about this show and we will give more details soon.
Thank you for your answers and time!
Thank you for this interview, it has been a pleasure!
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Intervju sa Zuberoaom Aznárez (Diabulus in Musica)
Španjolski symphonic metal kvartet Diabulus in Musica na Valentinovo će objaviti svoj novi, peti studijski album “Euponic Entropy”. Oslikavajući kaos novog života ovaj album je najteži, ali i najintimniji uradak do sada. 12 simfonijskih aranžmana s klasičnim utjecajem donose snažne balade i prekrasne melodije. O novom materijalu smo među prvima porazgovarali s frontmenicom benda Zuberoaom Aznárez.
Prošlo je gotovo četiri godine od vašeg posljednjeg albuma. Kako ste proveli to vrijeme? Kako je to razdoblje utjecalo na novi materijal?
Da, glavni razlog je što smo po drugi put postali roditelji, a i ja sam kao pjevačica imala intenzivan period rada na području klasične glazbe i na studijskim projektima. Gorka i ja nismo imali vremena zajedno sjesti i planirati novi album, a i iskreno, malo smo bili umorni. Kada se tako osjećaš, uvijek je bolje pričekati da se inspiracija i motivacija ponovno vrate i na sreću, to se i dogodilo. Ponovno smo osjetili potrebu pisati glazbu za DiM, ali nismo željeli raditi pod pritiskom. Željeli smo napraviti sjajan album i u potpunosti vjerovati u ono što radimo, a ne da se napiše album samo zato što je vrijeme. Nije nam smetalo što smo morali čekati malo duže. Bilo je nevjerojatno vidjeti kako su se sve ideje vrlo brzo pojavile. Zatim smo puno radili dok nismo osjetili da su pjesme „zaokružene“, ako shvaćaš što želim reći.
Naravno, glazba i tekstovi su očito nastali pod utjecajem nove situacije. To je bio glavni izvor inspiracije. Mislim da u suštini energija albuma savršeno predstavlja naše živote kakvi su sada. Osjećaj uzbuđenja koji dobiješ slušanjem albuma je vjerojatno isti koji smo mi imali dok smo pisali i snimali album uz dvoje djece pokraj nas hahaha Ali ispao je vrlo moćan, a ta moć je još jedan osjećaj koji smo imali kada smo završili sa snimanjem novog albuma. Sam naslov vrlo dobro odražava sadržaj pjesama, našu osobnu utrku za pronalaženjem ravnoteže u našim životima kao roditelja i umjetnika.
Jako mi se sviđa kako ste ukomponirali druge jezike na albumu. Gotovo je kao povratak korijenima. Ali reci mi nešto više o ideji korištenja baskijskog jezika. Ovo nije prvi put da ga koristite.
Hvala ti! Zapravo, uvijek smo koristili baskijski jezik na prethodnim albumima, ali smo neke rečenice ili strofe, kao i latinski i španjolski, iako je glavni jezik naših pjesama engleski. Ovoga puta smo odlučili napisati kompletnu pjesmu na baskijskom. Mi smo jedini španjolski bend u izdavačkoj kući, pa im se učinilo zanimljivim da ponovno otpjevamo jednu ili dvije pjesme na španjolskom. Predložila sam da jedna pjesma bude na španjolskom, a druga na baskijskom, obzirom da nam je to drugi službeni jezik i uglavnom je nepoznat većini ljudi u ostatku svijeta. Pjesma govori o gubljenju našeg kulturnog identiteta kroz vrijeme. Ovdje govorimo španjolski i baskijski, ali je baskijski i dalje manjinski jezik na području Baske i Navarre i on je veliko blago, obzirom da se radi o jednom od najstarijih jezika u Europi. Zato smo osjetili potrebu za širenjem svijetu o ovom važnom nasljedstvu.
Posljednji album je više govorio o mitologiji, bajkama i pričama, ali ovaj se više naslanja na emocije. Je li ih bilo teško staviti u pjesme? Osjećaš li da su pjesme tvoj dnevnik?
Na neki način da, ali kao i svaki put, pokušavamo progovarati o uobičajenim osjećajima, tako da se svatko može s njima poistovjetiti. U konačnici, govorimo o ljudskim osjećajima za koje sam sigurna da smo mnogi od nas barem jednom doživjeli. Moram priznati da više volim pisati glazbu nego tekstove, jer osjećam da mi glazba lako dolazi, međutim ponekad je teško naći riječi s kojima ću izraziti ono što želim. Bolje se izražavam kroz glazbu, nego kroz riječi. Uvijek prvo napišem glazbu, a onda tekst na kraju, pa je ponekad teško napisati ih tako da pašu na melodiju vokala. U svakom slučaju, ovi tekstovi su došli brže, vjerojatno jer je u mojoj glavi bilo previše pomiješanih osjećaja koji su željeli progovoriti.
Slušajući album, dobila sam dojam da se obraćate čovječanstvu. Kao da smo zaboravili na dobre vrijednosti, a one loše/krive kao da oblikuju naše društvo. Je li ovo vaš poziv za buđenjem?
Ne želimo nikoga „indoktrinirati“, ali je istina da smo uvijek u naše tekstove uključivali socijalnu kritiku. Ponekad je moja savjest ona koja razgovara samnom u mojim tekstovima, smatram da je to katarzično i način na koji se i sama motiviram. S druge strane, u globalu se radi o pozitivnom albumu obzirom da većina pjesama govori o snazi volje i nadvladavanju sebe.
Sami ste producirali album. Koliko je teško ostati na pravom putu kada tako radite? Pišete glazbu, imate probe i pjesme su ti konstantno u uhu. Puštate li nekom izvan benda da posluša vaše ideje?
Nije lagano, ali dobra je stvar da ja radim većinu glazbe, a Gorka je više u ulozi producenta, tako da činimo savršeni tim. To je nešto što je došlo prirodno. Moj um je više kaotičan, a on je više organiziran. Normalno, ne pokazujem mu pjesmu dok ju ne smatram završenom, tako da je njemu to kao da nešto sluša po prvi put. Ukoliko je potrebno, odreže tu i tamo, doda ili makne neke dijelove… Dok ne osjetimo da pjesma teče. Isto vrijedi i za sve aranžmane, ja napišem pjesme sa smjernicama za orkestar i zbor, a on onda provede više vremena za potragom zvuka koji će bolje pasati. To je najbolja formula koju smo do sada pronašli kako bi brže radili. Ponekad je dobro imati nekoga izvan benda da posluša pjesme, ali iz našeg iskustva to nije bilo toliko dobro, jer znamo kada pjesma za nas funkcionira, a onda producent ponekad inzistira na nečemu za što osjećaš da ne bi trebalo biti tako, tako da nema smisla tražiti nekoga izvana, ako znaš što želiš i kako to postići. Jako se oslanjam na Gorku. S druge strane, ovoga puta nismo mogli napraviti svu pred produkciju u komadu, obzirom na našu obiteljsku situaciju, pa su neke pjesme jedno vrijeme čekale, kako bi ih nakon nekog vremena vidjeli iz objektivnije perspektive.
Cover je doista lijep. Tko je zaslužan za likovno oblikovanje? I koja je priča iza njega? Reflektira li dvije strane emocija?
Stefan Heileman. S njim radimo od našeg drugog albuma. On je fantastičan umjetnik koji savršeno hvata esenciju svakog albuma uz samo nekoliko smjernica. Cover je sjajan i mislim da se može interpretirati na mnoge načine. Ja imam svoju interpretaciju, ali on nikada ne govori o svojoj. Preferiram da tako i ostane, tako da ga svatko može protumačiti na svoj način, baš kao i tekstove. Mislim da su tu elementi koji se mogu povezati s novim životom, s kaosom i redom u svemiru, ljepotom, dualnošću (što je nešto uvijek prisutno u našim tekstovima i nazivu benda), a ima prostora i za misteriju, što također volimo.
Postoji li poseban razlog zašto objavljujete album baš na Valentinovo?
Datum objave albuma je odredio izdavač, ali mislim da on nije mogao biti simboličniji. Ovaj album je nešto vrlo osobno što dolazi od para koji je zajedno 17 godina, a prije četiri godine je osnovao obitelj. Album reflektira sve osjećaje koje su rezultat te veze, tako da je objava na ovaj datum značajna. Osim toga, kao zanimljiva slučajnost, naše prvo dijete je rođeno u noći između 14. i 15. veljače.
Sjećam se da ste 2016. godine komentirali kako ne svirate puno u svojoj državi. I u Hrvatskoj imamo situaciju gdje su metal bendovi uspješniji izvan svoje države, iako postoje 10 ili 15 godina. Od tada, je li se situacija kod vas promijenila?
Baš i nije. Samo nas u našem rodnom gradu više poštuju i više sviramo, no u ostatku države je situacija gotovo ista. Veliki festivali stalno angažiraju iste bendove. Ovdje symphonic metal i nije toliko popularan žanr i ovdje su samo jako veliki symphonic metal bendovi svirali na metal festivalima ili mogu donekle uspješno samostalno nastupiti…
Oduvijek sam vas htjela pitati… Obzirom na vaše ima, koristite li često u glazbi povećanu kvartu?
Heheh, to nije nešto namjerno korišteno, ali u modernoj glazbi se svejedno puno koristi. Više ne zvuči čudno kao što je to bilo u srednjem vijeku.
I nezaobilazno pitanje… Kakvi su vam planovi za ovu godinu? Planirate li ići na turneju?
Za ovo smo radili s jednom booking agencijom (čak su oni nama pristupili), ali su odjeno odlučili da ne žele raditi s nama tvrdeći da nemaju vremena, što je vrlo neprofesionalno s njihove strane! Jako smo uzrujani, jer smo tu informaciju dobili prije mjesec dana, kada se počela dogovarati turneja. Za to smo se oslonili na njih, a sada se sami moramo za to pobrinuti i krenuti sami od početka ili da potražimo drugu booking agenciju. Ovo nam je bila teška zabluda taman kad smo počeli promovirati album, za koji mislimo da je naš najjači… U svakom slučaju, ne možemo dočekati da se popnemo na pozornicu i dat ćemo sve od sebe da što prije dogovorimo europsku turneju. S druge strane, već smo dogovorili specijalni nastup u studenom u našem rodnom gradu. Bit će to velika stvar, na neki način proslava naše desete godišnjice od izlaska prvog albuma. Jako smo uzbuđeni zbog tog koncerta i uskoro ćemo otkriti još detalja!
Hvala ti na odgovorima i vremenu!
Hvala ti na ovom intervjuu, bilo mi je drago!
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