quarta-feira, 1 de setembro de 2021

Interview: Anadom - Instrumental Heavy Metal for All Tastes and New Beginnings

 

                                            Versão em Português

An experienced and known figure in the Metal scene, mainly for his history with the Brazilian band Orquídea Negra - considered the first Heavy Metal band in the state of Santa Catarina - Robson Anadom recently have released his first solo flight: "....and a New Story Begins. .."An old dream of the bass player and multi-instrumentalist, the solo album finally began to take shape last year, including a crowdfunding campaign to support the costs.

The result can already be seen on digital platforms, and especially with the physical material, which was released in a neat digipack edition, containing a beautiful graphic design, where each song, all instrumental, received a text and art inspired by them.

We talked with Robson and practically dissected the album, with the musician telling us about his dedication, recordings, inspirations, quotes and other details. Check out!

 

RtM: First of all, congratulations for the album, and I believe that every artist, at some point, has the desire to show his influences, which somehow don't fit on his band, and reflect your more personal side.
Anadom:
This is a great reality. The artist who says he doesn't have the dream of releasing an album of his own, showing all his influences and mainly, expressing his feelings and the more personal side in the form of music, doesn't seem to be very honest with himself, this is inherent to the human being , wanting to show the “something more” without external interference, just the “inner self”, or they don't have the courage to admit this desire.


RtM: And how was the idea of ​​this first solo coming up?
Anadom: This desire that emerged in the mid-90s, when I started to create my own songs, knowing that they would be mine alone. I even painted a t-shirt with just the name “Anadom” and a design of tacky taste, and I said that it would be the cover of my first album (thank goodness I didn't use that design hahahahahaha) it was too crude.
With the arrival of the pandemic, everything came to the fore, a whirlwind of emotions, doubts, feelings and fears, perfect ingredients for every artist to create. Thus, the songs were born, each one at its own time.

 

RtM: And how was this beginning of production and creation of the repertoire?
Anadom: As I already had some ideas done, they were perfected, as they were just riffs, but most of the songs were created from June and in September when I had about four or five songs ready, I saw that I could make this big dream come true and composed the other songs to complete the album.
I did all the planning to reconcile the work with the vacation I would take to be able to go into the studio and in January I started the official recordings, finishing all the recording, mixing and mastering work in May.


 
RtM: What about title? "...and a New Story Begins..." , tell us about the meanings and general concept of the album.
Anadom: The title says it all, the beginning of a new story I'm writing with this release, as it will certainly be the first of many. We cannot be stagnant, we have to do something more, show that the world needs music.
I realized with this album that it took me too long to do this, but I believe that everything happens when it really has to happen, if it was now it was supposed to be now. And it came at a delicate moment the world is going through, it's a restart for all of us. When this pandemic ends, everything will be different, it's a new story starting, not just for me, but for everyone in the world.


 
RtM: The cover also brings an idea of ​​this general concept.
Anadom: The album brings this concept of restart, reinvention. When we see the cover, the scared girl, behind the curtain seeing a big explosion, a big world reset. Even the sunflowers have their backs to the sun, showing that “things weren't going very well” was all wrong and something needed to happen to try to reverse this situation.
As the opening line of the album says: the world was not going well and the people who lived in it were lost and sick, that sums up the whole feeling of the album. We need to do something, it's where we live, it can't be bad, it has to be a comfortable and happy place, no wars, no disagreements, no evil.


 
RtM: A very strong quality on the album is that, despite being instrumental, it is not music that will please only a niche, as they practically "talk" with the listener, as if in your mind, while composing the songs you imagined verses and choruses .
Anadom: You perfectly described what I thought when I was making the songs. In some of them, the melodies were first created in my head, and then passed on to the instruments. Others were born while I played and created something that sounded good to my ear, and from there, I created the rest of the music.
As I was creating, I was recording to listen and see what I could do to enrich the song, putting together what would be the stanzas, choruses, etc.
SomeI certainly created them by imagining a vocal line that was later replaced by guitar phrases.


RtM: And did you even consider having some songs with vocals on the album?
Anadom: The idea of ​​at least 3 songs was to have a voice, but then I realized it would be interesting to do something like that, different, and I really liked the idea. Maybe next time I decide to use the same songs, with voice to see how it will look.


 
RtM: A very cool idea were texts and illustrations that each song received, so that the listener, in addition to the sound part, will also have these other details to imagine the feeling you wanted to pass. Tell us more about this idea.
Anadom: All this credit belongs to my great friend Neto Santos. After following the entire song composition process, suggesting names, ideas for them, he decided to make an art for each song, and then write the stories, also calling some friends to participate, so that everything was linked, music, art and story.
Thus, when the person takes the CD in their hands, they will be able to listen to the songs, see the art  and read the stories, understanding what it is about. Because I believe that everything will be very clear, my intention placed in each of the compositions is understood by the listener.
Neto managed to capture this during the composition process, as we were talking about the music and that way it became easier for him to create the art.


 
RtM: Talking a little more about the graphic part, we have to highlight the beautiful work developed, where you, as I mentioned before, had Neto Santos in the general direction of the arts. Tell us a little about the general art and the beautiful cover.
Anadom: Exactly. This part deserves a very special highlight, as expressing through art what one tries to go through with music is not very easy, and Neto was correct in all the arts created. He managed to masterfully demonstrate this, closing with a golden key the album cover art, which is the icing on the cake. One of the most beautiful covers I've seen in recent times, which shows us innocently (a child) scared by the reality of the world, portrayed there with a big explosion, barely knowing that what's to come will not be pleasant at all .

 
RtM: Now, let's talk a little about the songs, we have soft and melodious themes mixed with moments very Heavy Metal and Power Metal.
Anadom: I wanted to put in the songs all my influences, all the music that I like to listen to, so there's this whole mix of styles. That's the good thing about doing solo work, because certainly in a band it wouldn't be possible.



RtM: "Wake Up to the World", for example, has doubled guitars and bass lines that refer to classic Heavy Metal, reminding a lot of Maiden.
Anadom: Wake up to the World, it's an uplifting, uplifting song, and as the title says: Wake up to the world! React, do something to change this reality. This was the first song I showed Neto and he already saw in the first few seconds that there was potential there. It was a little different, but the main one, which is the opening riff and the guitar phrase, were already present there. I just added a second part which is like a chorus, part this maid while taking a shower and this melody came into my head.

Its bass was completely different. In the demo version it is very simple. This final version was created the day before recording, which made me very happy, as this song called for a better, more exciting bass line.



RtM: And with softer and more melodic nuances, we have "Águas de Inverno" ("Winter Waters"), which brings a ballad atmosphere, calm and beautiful melodies.
Anadom: "Winter Waters" is already a more introspective, melodious song. While Neto and I talked about fish, fishkeeping, lakes, I said that I had built a small pond in front of my mother's house, which was often visited by a frog who liked to stay there a lot, enjoying the warm water, especially in winter . So he suggested that I write a song about it, something different from what I had been doing, and one afternoon I composed and recorded it, putting in it all the feeling of love for living beings.



RtM: A very curious title is "The Amazing Jango's Death", which has a Power Metal 80's, with fast tempo, something a bit classic Helloween. Tell us about its inspiration and about the title.
Anadom: This is without a doubt one of my favorite styles. The inspiration for this song came from a few years ago. After playing at a festival with Orquídea Negra, Neto said: "Dude 'Jango Live's (instrumental music present in our second album) needs to have a sequel, a part two". And that I already thought about too, but it had been forgotten, as time goes by and other things are being done.
During the writing process of ...and a New Story Begins, this subject came up and it was the perfect moment. That's why the song also has some references to the original, to remember the first one and to make with those who do not know, to come to know it.



RtM: Wow! I hadn't remembered it. Cool idea of ​​the continuation and references to the first part.
Anadom: As the first one celebrates Jango's life, now it's his farewell to this plane, hence the name Jango's Incredible Death.
The duel is interpreted by the keyboard solo (performed by Daniel Dante Finardi) and death follows, with the guitar solo, which tries to pass all the emotion and suffering of Jango after being hit by his tormentor. But then it goes back to being a happy song, demonstrating the satisfaction of those who stayed.

 
RtM: "Dreams Are Not Untouchable", besides the inspiring and positive title, has a very Progressive vibe.
Anadom: "Dreams..." is without a doubt one of my favorite songs, it was the penultimate one to be written. Its opening phrase would have been used in the middle of the song "People Call me Insane" (present on the Orquídea Negra's "Blood of the Gods" album), but ended up being left out. So I decided to use it now, creating the rest of the music from it.

With the participation of Deny Bonfante (excellent guitarist from Santa Catarina) in two solos, this song tries to express the feeling that dreams can really be touched, nothing is impossible when you feel like it.
A clear reference to the song "Touch Your Dream" (present on Orquídea Negra's second album) can be found throughout the song, hence the confirmation through the name.



RtM: "Da Costa ao Oeste"("from the West Coast") brings several tempo changes, highlighting the acoustic sections, with a folk feel, and the sounds of nature.
Anadom: On the other hand, from Costa ao Oeste is a great representation of friendship. Bonds created between people, whether they are in the north, south, east or west, but they have something in common, mainly the love of music. As Neto says: “arts from the coast and songs from the west”.

The acoustic part at the beginning of the song represents the coast of Santa Catarina, with a slightly Portuguese style, sounds of the sea and seagulls. The journey in progress is the way to arrive here in the mountains where the scenery changes, represented by our native birds, and the acoustic part was a special participation of the excellent group Quarteto Coração de Potro. With the arrangements made by Kiko Goulart, accentuating the mountain characteristic.


 
RtM: I couldn't let to ask to you to comment on one of my favorites, "Living on a Fairy Tale". In addition to the beautiful melodies, I identified with the title.
Anadom: Another one of my favorites (actually, they all are) because I like them all, but I'm suspicious to give my opinion.
This song was born at the height of winter and pandemic last year, more precisely in June on the 13th, I sent an audio to Neto showing an excerpt of what the song would become.
It was just that intro, but from there I was sure a great song would be born. I started working on it then, until it was finished and the name was given last.
Upon completion I realized that it had a fairy tale feel to it, which is even clearer with the piano part in the middle, which was created separately to be another song, but I realized it would fit really well there, and it worked. This song brings great peace every time I listen to it.


 
RtM: Another one that caught my attention on the first audition was "The Myth Behind the Waterfall Cave", which brings several climate changes, starting softly, alternating heavier and "mysterious" sections with other melodious and "forward" parts , also having sax arrangements. Tell us more about it.
Anadom: This song is about Plato's Allegory of the Cave, so in the beginning it comes with that weight, demonstrating the existence of a cave where prisoners live since childhood. With their hands tied to a wall, they can see only the shadows that are projected onto the wall ahead.
The shadows are caused by a fire, on top of a fence, situated at the back of the wall where the men are trapped. Men pass before the fire, make gestures and pass objects, forming shadows that, in a distorted way, are all the knowledge that the prisoners have of the world. That cave wall, those remnants and the echoes of the sounds the people above made was the restricted world of the prisoners.
Suddenly, one of the prisoners was released. 


Walking through the cave, he notices that there were people and a fire pit casting shadows that he thought were the entirety of the world.
When he finds his way out of the cave, he has a fright when he encounters the outside world (the liveliest part of the song). Sunlight blurs his vision and he feels helpless, uncomfortable, out of place.
Gradually, his vision gets used to the light and he begins to realize the infinity of the world and nature that exists outside the cave. He realizes that those shadows, which he believed to be reality, are actually imperfect copies of a small portion of reality.

The freed prisoner could do two things: return to the cave na and free your companions or live your freedom. A possible consequence of the first possibility would be the attacks that he would suffer from his companions, who would judge him as crazy, but it could be a necessary attitude, as it is the fairest thing to do.
And that's what he did. That's why the song returns to the beginning, with a sax solo. From the beginning when I recorded the demo version of this song, I already imagined a sax in the final part.


 
RtM: Great! After this philosophy class, let's talk about "People From the Otherside", which brings a lot of weight, and has voices in the intro whispering "Help me...Help me..."?
Anadom: This one brings the beginning of a sequel: People From the Otherside, Emancipation of the Soul and Returning to Myself. It's the heaviest moment of all the work. I tried to convey with her the existence of another world, where people can be trapped after death and asking for help. Lost souls who are not understanding what is happening feeling disturbed.


RtM: We could comment one by one, but I think we gave a general idea and some details of the work, but to close, comment the ending with "Requiém", with its melancholy and touching air, and at the end there is a sentence, which it is certainly a tribute.
Anadom: This one was composed in a moment of extreme sadness. The idea of ​​the tribute came on the day of the passing of a great friend, with whom I played for a long time and was one of my idols in Santa Catarina music, the late poet Daniel Lucena of the Expresso Rural group.

I thought of adding a guitar phrase, referring to the song “Certos Amigos” in one of my compositions, as a brief tribute, that's when Neto suggested making a track just for him. I decided to use the same notes as Prelude and I Saw the Future, and add this guitar. The phrase added at the end was the idea of ​​Daniel Dante Finardi, who made a beautiful arrangement to close this album with a golden key.



RtM: And the news about Orquídea Negra? Are you preparing new songs? And the documentary about the band?
Anadom: With the band we are currently working on another song that will be present in the tribute to the 80s, by Secret Service Records that released our last album in Europe, and we also participated in the Motorhead tributes with "I ain't a Nice Guy ", Black Sabbath with "Heaven and Hell" and Iron Mainden with "Prodigal Son".
We also have the last two recorded more recently, "Fly Away" which is already on digital platforms and "Sacrifice" which has not yet entered, but will soon be released (this one featuring the voices of André Graebin and Felipe Holmack). And the documentary about the history of the band is being finalized and should go on air by the end of the year.



RtM: Robson, thanks for the interview, send your message to the readers.
Anadom: I would like to thank you Caco and Road to Metal for the opportunity I was given to talk a little more about this work, talking about some details that people often don't know how they happen and that come to enrich every work. . I would also like to ask everyone who follows the site to get to know this work, which was done with a lot of love and affection.

Interview: Caco Garcia








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