Hello
Here is a new interview with Spain's Symphonic metal band Diabulus In Musica who discuss the bands new release "Dirge For The Archons" and the bands past and future plans.If you enjoy extremely well written and performed symphonic music check this band and the new release today.
Regards
Patrick
fiendformetal@live.com
https://twitter.com/PDeathrasher
https://plus.google.com/110515263288050247357?hl=en
Interview with Diabulus In Musica done by Patrick
1.Hello please introduce yourself to the readers?And at what age did you become interested in playing music?
My name is Zuberoa and I’m a singer, flutist and composer from Spain.
Music is a very important part of my life since I can remember, so I couldn’t tell exactly. I come from a family of musicians and I’ve been singing my whole life. I started singing in the choir my mother conducted when I was a child. Then I started to study flute and guitar when I was 8 years old so I wasn’t really conscious about my capacity or not to do music. I think I realized that later, when I was around 20. I remember the first time I joined a band, I was 18 and a friend of mine convinced me to apply as a singer in a rock band. I didn’t want to because I was very shy, but the band convinced me. Until then, I just sang in choirs and studied music, but I had never thought about joining a band. My “metal” career started by chance. I just was a metal fan, but no more than that. Back then I was singing in a rock band and then a metal band (Dragon Lord) called me to record some choirs. They liked the result and asked me to join the band as main singer. This was my first contact with a metal band as a singer. After this I started to compose songs and then decided to found my own band and that’s how Diabulus in Musica was born.
2.When did you first meet the other members of the band and how did you all choose Diabulus In Musica as the band name?
I met Gorka in Dragon Lord. He was the keyboard player. When The band split up I proposed him to start a new project. I had already written some songs that I showed to him. He liked the idea and we searched for new members. They were some other musicians friends we already knew. The lineup has changed since then (except for Gorka and me), but all the members are friends we knew from the local scene.
Regarding the name, it was me who chose it when I started the project. “Diabulus (or Diabolus) in Musica” is a Latin mediaeval word which means ‘the devil in music’. It was like that as they called the triton or the interval of the augmented fourth. The medieval ear was used to hearing perfect fourths and perfect fifths, (early music instruments are tuned different, in meantone tuning). The augmented fourth, being half-way between these two most common intervals, was about the worst discord imaginable. That’s why they thought that the devil was inside the triton.
The reason I chose this name was because of my music studies and my passion for Early Music. I studied classical signing but I’ve been above all focused in Historical singing. The name was perfect for us not only because of the meaning it has to me, but also because it sounds a bit dark, as our music sometimes. We like this ‘dark romantic aesthetic’ as well as Early Music (actually we have included these elements in our music more than once), so we thought Diabulus in Musica was the name that fit us the best.
3.Diabulus In Musica is getting ready to release their fourth cd "Dirge For The Archons" how long did it take the band to write the music for this release?Does the whole band take part in the writing process or does one member usually write everything?
It’s usually me who writes most of the music. In general, I write the whole song and then if the rest of the members think they can improve their instruments they do and if not it stays as it was. For this record, the rest of the guys have also written some tracks, generally riff structures, then it’s me the one who writes the vocal-lines and most of the “classical” arrangements. Gorka is the one who makes the job of a producer, deciding how the song works better and making the final structures. He usually works in the orchestral arrangements with me.
Anyway, I love when the guys write some structures because it is always challenging to put the “melodic” elements in a base you haven’t done. I think it’s richer than making everything oneself. Besides, the guitar and bass-player come from the death metal and metal core scene, so that makes our songs even more interesting. I personally like very much that mix between those styles of metal and the symphonic part, so I hope we can work this way for more songs in the future.
4.Who usually writes the lyrics for the band and what are some topics you all write and sing about on "Dirge For The Archons"?
It’s me who writes the lyrics. I talk about different topics, but there are some that I usually repeat: nature is always very present, psychology and philosophy as well, nowadays social issues and personal feelings are probably on my top. I sometimes use mythology as a metaphor too.
In the case of this album and its title, the Archons were the governors of a province in the classical Mediterranean world, but there is also a second meaning to the archons. According to some cosmologic theories, they are an alien force that intrudes subliminally upon the human mind and deviates our intelligence away from its proper and sane applications. In short, Archons here are representing control and mind manipulation over humans. With this title we claim for freedom and consciousness. The control systems (governments, multinationals…) are constantly playing with us and it seems we are not aware about it.
Also, most of the songs in this album are talking about perception. We humans are limited by only five senses to perceive all we have around (a perception that can also be manipulated by other factors, here the Archons), but these five senses are just physical… And what about our spiritual condition? We are losing this capacity and I think that’s very dangerous and one of the reasons why the world is getting so scary.
5.As mentioned "Dirge For The Archons" is Diabulus In Musica fourth release how do you feel the bands music has changed over the years?
I suppose the music is more mature now. We have grown with the band and the band with us. When we recorded our first album, we just wanted to do something good and work hard to achieve a high quality result. We had our music in our minds, but mixing all those elements (orchestra, choir and metal) was not easy sound-wise. That was our main obsession back then. We could have never imagined that our first album would be distributed worldwide. We actually had never thought what would come later, but once we got signed we couldn’t stop making more music. We are very passionate about it and very restless: we always want to improve and learn more and more and that’s actually what we have been doing with all the releases. We do everything by ourselves (except the mixing and mastering), we work as composers, sound engineers, producers, arrangers… So we are very proud of all we have learnt and achieved through all these years. The good thing is that we never get bored and we have always something new in mind that allows us to write more stuff and experiment with new sounds. I guess we will keep on evolving and trying to learn and search for new sounds in the future too.
6.Are their any tours or shows planned in support of the new release and if yes where are some countries the band will be playing?
Yes! We are very excited about the upcoming tour. Our label mates Amberian Dawn and us, we are celebrating our 10th anniversary and we are starting an European tour This Friday 10th (February). We’ll play ten dates in UK, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
7.What are some of your most memorable shows over the years and who are some bands you have shared the stage with?
There have been a lot! We enjoy live shows very much so each show is special. We love big festivals but also small club shows, as it allows us to have a more direct contact with the audience. One of the most special shows for us is the one we played last year in the main opera house of our city, with a full symphonic orchestra and big choir. We were 100 people on stage! One of our dreams came true because our music is conceived to be played that way, even if it’s not always possible to do so and we usually have to take the choir and orchestra recorded. It was fantastic!
We have shared stage with many great bands. We supported Manowar in Spain, Tarja in Belgium or Theatre of Tragedy in their farewell show in Mexico to name a few. Of course in metal festivals we have had the chance to share stage with many others: Doro, Arch Enemy, Cradle of Filth, Lacuna Coil, Therion…
8.Does the band have any plans to make a video for any of the songs off the new cd? If you could make a video for any of the bands songs which ones would you like to see made into a video?
We recorded one for “Invisible”. I personally would have loved to make another one also for “Ring around Dark fairies’ Carousel”, but it should be a very special one. For this song I was inspired by D. Elfmann and Tim Burton films so I would love to make a video in that style. Of course that would be really expensive to do, so not possible for now
9.Besides the newest cd "Dirge For The Archons" are any of the bands past releases still available and where can the readers buy them?
Sure! Our three previous albums are available in Napalm’s store or in our website diabulusinmusica.com
10.When not working on new music or band business what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I personally have very little time as I spend most of it working on music. Apart from Diabulus in Musica I have my solo project (Zuberoa Aznárez, ambient-folk music) and the folk trio Dryades as well as my classical projects and teaching. My other passion is Nature. I really enjoy hiking, trekking and climbing, so when I have the chance I run to the mountains. I also do natural soaps as a hobby. I like reading, yoga… In general I’m a very active person who loves to do quite a few bunch of things!
11.Thank you for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final words for the readers?
Thanks a lot for the interest, it was a pleasure answering your questions. Thanks also to the readers for taking the time to read and we hope to meet you all on the road one day! Love, Zuberoa.
Band Contacts
http://diabulusinmusica.com/
https://twitter.com/diabulusinmusic
Label Contact
https://shop.napalmrecords.com/
https://twitter.com/napalmrecords
https://plus.google.com/+napalmrecords
