Interview with MALINCONIA for TheMetallist
Interview with MALINCONIA for TheMetallist
First of all, please introduce yourselves.
Anton — drums
Vladimir — rhythm guitar
Vitaliy — bass guitar
Tatyana — vocals
Yuriy — guitar
Yelena — keyboards
The band is at full strength because they have just finished their rehearsal before the concert at one of the local clubs, "Oriyana."
So here's a question: who is the leader in the band, or is it hard to single one out?
Without a shadow of doubt, Vitaliy answered: "Of course Anton, the drummer. In any case, he put the band together, and the credit goes to him."
Anton: Yes, I took a direct part in the formation of the group. There had been a long history before the current MALINCONIA. Before March 2004, the group was called CONSTELLATION, but after Tatyana joined us, we reconsidered all our old views and began developing in a new direction.
And how long did it take for the current lineup to come together?
Anton: The current lineup was formed in mid-February 2005, before our performance at the "Barvy" club.
Yuriy: It's worth noting that three of us have been friends for a long time — namely Anton, Vitaliy, and I were classmates, and we gave our first concert in 1999 at the KPI concert hall, at the graduation of our former vocalist — he studied at the KPI Lyceum.
Anton: At that time we played music different from what we play now. Well, you know — the early period, everybody has gone through it.
Who is absent now from your previous lineup?
Anton: Guitarist Yuriy Homenko and keyboardist Alexander Eine are absent from our present band. They were co-founders of the group in 2002, but we had to change the lineup because of personal and musical disagreements. And by February 2005, the situation in the band had gotten so heated that changes were necessary.
Vitaliy: Still, we can't underestimate the role these people played in the band. After all, they made an invaluable contribution to the creative work. In particular, we only reached our current cohesion with the present members. The critical factor in our split was the issue of motivation.
How strong do you consider the present lineup? Do you think you will be able to continue working with these people, or is this only a temporary arrangement?
Vitaliy: We are now riding a wave of enthusiasm and creative growth, and we are fully satisfied with all the members of the band. We think we have very promising future prospects. The old crew had run its course, and the new one literally inspired us.
Well, the reader is interested in the image and music of the band, so why do you play gothic-oriented music and not death metal, for example?
Anton: Well, the reasons are simple: we just don't want to play death metal; we simply can't play it. From the beginning, our music has been melodic — it's better to say melodic with a heavy element. And as for our style: frankly, it doesn't matter what genre we're classified as (note that Anton is a drummer!). The band doesn't consider itself goth and doesn't follow any gothic attributes... We are not burdened with that popular gothic bombast.
Yuriy: I'd put it this way: we play the music that expresses our personality. Besides MALINCONIA, I take part in another black metal project, and it has a direct effect on my creativity, which in turn provides a powerful input into the band's work.
Then a question about side projects of MALINCONIA members followed. As it turned out, there are none. Though many of the members played in different bands in their time, the aim was to gain more experience.
The vocalist Tatyana confessed that she had been a backing vocalist in the black metal band VICIOUS DELIGHT, but that was far from the band this woman deserved to sing in. She also told me that many groups offered collaboration, but she refused all those proposals in favor of MALINCONIA.
And what is your opinion about rehearsals — is it work or passion?
Vitaliy: Fortunately, rehearsals are a good symbiosis of work and passion for music.
Yelena: In any case, if you are seriously occupied with something, it can be a great means for self-actualization. The attitude toward the work must be, one might say, professional. Even if it is an inspired flight of fancy and soul, but your attitude to the work is careless, you won't get any results. Music is not self-sufficient; it is the synthesis of many people's ideas, and without coordination and cooperation at a high level, it won't be fully realized.
The process of writing music and lyrics is quite interesting. Who heads up this branch of your creative work?
Anton: The lyrics are written by Anton Eine, the brother of our former keyboardist, with whom we are on good terms. But the reality is a little more complex — first of all, we have to think through a rough vocal part, almost like nonsense text, and then we send it to Anton Eine, who tries to make something meaningful out of it. I write the music, in general, but in the near future that will change and the writing process will become more balanced. I think Yelena will be my partner in this.
Vitaliy: Practically, there is no rehearsal without Yelena's comments about the simplicity of the keyboard parts and how to make them more elaborate.
Anton: Yelena is the musician who is technically developed — she spent more than one year in music school, and it hasn't been in vain.
So, Anton, do you write the musical parts for all instruments?
Anton: Well, not exactly. I write the foundation using software, and then my creation is processed by every member of the band, of course with each adding corrections, reworking things, or contributing something new.
Vitaliy: Yelena processes the material especially well; her "carrying capacity" is so great that in the end, we are left with only the best and most coherent material.
Yelena: It's no secret that Anton doesn't play keyboards, and it turns out that all the keyboard parts are derived from guitar parts. But the capabilities of keyboards are greater than those of the guitar (Yelena thinks so!).
Anton: Yelena's technical mastery opens many musical possibilities for us. We didn't have such musical opportunity with our previous lineup, so with Yelena joining us, we are in a winning position. I can say that keyboards play the main role in MALINCONIA.
Do you often experiment with music during the writing process, and what famous bands have influenced your music?
Anton: As a matter of fact, each member of the band likes different genres. For example, I like gothic/doom genres...
Vladimir: Most likely, music in thrash and melodic death styles has influenced me — music characterized by fast and technical guitars. And this, in turn, has influenced my contribution to the music of MALINCONIA at the present time.
Vitaliy: I listen to gothic for the good of my soul, but that doesn't mean I won't go to a club and chill out there.
Yelena: Well, my contribution to the creative work of the band is shaped by the work of LACUNA COIL. In the technical aspect of music, I prefer doom, but if I had to choose an ideal, I think it would be TRISTANIA, which uses symphonic elements very skillfully.
It was always interesting to know — how did the band find a female vocalist with such a striking voice?
Anton: At the end of 2003, CONSTELLATION was in a critical situation — the former vocalist had stopped regularly attending rehearsals. During that period, many things changed. At one of the rehearsals, in the vocalist's absence of course, we came up with a new instrumental composition, "Feelings Are Gone" (it was called "Ocean's Despair" at that time). That very piece steered us toward gothic-doom, and we've been loyal to this genre ever since (at any rate, posters and websites say so). Then we decided to part ways with Masha (that was the former vocalist's name) and began looking for a new vocalist. Once, while we were sitting in Alexander Eine's office, we decided to post an ad about our need for a new vocalist on the Internet. We received six responses within two weeks.
Tatyana: I had read the ad by pure accident, and since I was interested in singing in a band, I decided to reply. Literally the next day, the former guitarist called me up and suggested we meet. We had a nice conversation that day, and I realized these were good people, so I decided to try singing in their band. I was given a CD with some recordings, but while listening to it, I thought my vocals wouldn't suit this genre of music. However, Yuriy insisted that I try anyway.
Anton: This trial rehearsal was held on January 8th, and we were astonished by Tatyana's vocal qualities. She joined our band, and we began working on new material.
And how many compositions has the band managed to create, and are you going to record them for promotion in Ukraine and abroad?
Vitaliy: First of all, the band was formed not for playing for our own satisfaction, but for showing people what we can do. We have nine full-length compositions that we constantly play, plus one NIGHTWISH cover. We also have a lot of recorded material on PC and "in our heads," as Anton added.
Anton: Basically, we have enough material for recording a promo CD, and we've started thinking about the recording. We plan to begin in about half a year.
Yuriy: After recording the promo CD, we want to send it to some mid-level record companies. Maybe we'll have some success — it depends on luck and favorable circumstances.
Well, do you have many friends or enemies among other Kyiv bands?
Anton: Yes, of course we do. We try to maintain friendly relations with everybody. We can mention our colleagues GRIMFAITH.
And the last question in our interview: have you ever had the urge to leave all this "musical" life, or to stop playing metal and do something experimental?
Yuriy: I think in everybody's life there is a period of misfortune, and the thought of abandoning music appears. But for now, MALINCONIA is alive.