On day four of the Music Interview Marathon, we speak to the band Arctic Dreams about their mixture of musical styles, the benefits of music forums and their dreams to tour the world.
Band Name: Arctic Dreams
Members: Alex_Y (vocal/music/lyrics), Sydius (guitars, back-vocal) & Glam_Dickens (bass guitar)
Genre: symphonic/industrial/dark-electro metal
Founded: March, 2009
Originated From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Discography: The City Built on Bones (Single, 2022), Let Me Introduce My Cosmic Hell (Single, 2022), The Way to Infinity (EP, 2022) & And the Agony Has Started (LP, 2022)
How would you describe your music?
In short, let’s say it’s a mixture of traditional heavy metal styles with classical music and electronic gothic. We are very strongly influenced by very different, cardinally polar musical styles. We follow the principle of creating something new, unpredictable and interesting. If it’s innovative – it’s worth. That’s the culture of progress still going on.
What is your musical creative process like?
Alex is our main composer and the author of the lyrics. This process is very sacramental for him. No one knows until the last minute what the idea will look like but Alex. The idea appears suddenly, often at the most inopportune time in the most inopportune place. Then it matures in Alex’s head, like a good wine for a while. It can be a month, it can be a year… And then, when the time comes, he just sits down and turns it into notes and lyrics in a few hours. Sometimes during the recording process, the musicians make their own edits, but they’re usually not significant.
How did the band form?
It all started in 2009. Alex moved to St. Petersburg and met Sydius on one of the music forums. Alex remembered Sydius came to his house to rehearse and got sick. And, as it happened, he stayed, we assembled the first lineup and started rehearsing and recording the first demos.
Music forums actually have been helpful this time. Usually people in the music industry get acquaintances from offline. So liberal people are so conservative in this.
How did you come up with your band name?
There are two reasons why we chose this name. First, Alex’s apartment where Sydius came was near the legendary Arctica club, where at that time there were concerts of all the bands, both world legends and local ones. And the second reason is that we love the north, the frost and the polar nights.
Who influenced you within the music industry?
That’s a really huge number of artists. The main ones are: Antonio Vivaldi, Richard Wagner, Hocico, Diary of Dreams, Rammstein, Megadeth, Metallica, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Jesus Molina, Jacob Collier, Tosin Abasi, Polyphia, Arch Echo, Owane, Ronald Bruner Jr and Drew of the Drew.
Have you performed live much and what was your favourite gig to play at?
Unfortunately, we haven’t had any luck with concerts yet((. It so happened that we sat for many years to create the concept of our sound and record the debut album. We had grandiose plans for concerts and promotions in 2022, but unfortunately the war ruined everything. This year was rich of events: we had four releases, an official music video and left Russia too.
As you understand, with immigration comes a lot of problems and we physically had no time for concerts. But we’re already working on it, stay tuned!
What is the best thing about being in a band/musician?
You can open up your universe to the listener through a recording or live. You can go around the world and talk to different people. Is also brings happiness. Just having a meaning in life. Feeling it’s full, has a purpose. Self-actualisation. Musicians are those who are ready to pay to have their job! It means and gives them everything.
It’s like driving on a highway to a dream remembering that “life is a journey”. To make and play music is great and being a musician is something special in society.
What’s the biggest problem you’ve had to overcome so far as a musician(s)?
It’s probably an overcoming of ourselves. You know, when everyone around you starts convincing you that you won’t make it and you start bending to it, but in the end you tell everyone to go to hell and go your way as you planned from the beginning. That was the hardest part.
Every day you’re at war with yourself: your weaknesses, inabilities, lack of talent, laziness and small desires. Maybe some genius musicians get a short way. Bigger talents require bigger effort.
What to say when you face the fact you don’t hear something and need to develop your ear, then learn its theoretical part, then apply it to the instrument. Imagine you can’t see the infrared spectrum and you’re trying to learn to distinguish it. First, you try to come up with a method to do it. then try to coach yourself. This is how it feels to surpass your weaknesses in musical skills.
What is your ultimate dream as a band?
To record a greater album, to tour over the world and to write a song which could become an impetus for somebody to live, to play and to become rockstars.
You can find out more about Arctic Dreams by visiting their website and following them on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Youtube.
If you’re in a band or a musician and would like to appear on this blog, please contact me and I’ll forward you an interview template.
Also, check out my other Music Interview roundups from 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 & 2022.
