Angel
Helena Iren Kristensen
is the voice and spirit behind Angel, a new band consisting of Imperia
members, which was contracted by the Greek label Black Lotus Records. Lately,
they have released an album under the very eloquent title "A Woman's Diary:
Chapter I". So, why don't you take a walk inside the mind of a woman?
-GEIA MAS!!!! HOW ARE YOU?
-I’M FINE THANK YOU! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF GREECE
BY THE WAY, SINCE YOU ARE HERE NOW?
I like the weather for the moment! It’s very
nice!!!
1. HI! FIRST OF ALL, I’D LIKE YOU TO POINT OUT
THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF YOUR CAREER UP TO NOW…
I think... Ohh they are just so many things
you know!!! I have to divide them in different categories... from the live
experineces or from the studio... But for me the most important moments
are the live shows! Especially when we played in Dynamo Open Air Festival
with Tristania and Sins Of Thy Beloved, etc. That was a very nice experience
that I can’t stop thinking about! I think that must be it!
2. YOUR ALBUM IS VERY EMOTIONAL WITH AN INTENSE
ATMOSPHERE AND LOTS OF MELANCHOLY. I’D SAY JUST LIKE LIFE IS MORE OR LESS.
YOU MANAGE WITHIN 12 SONGS TO INCLUDE THE WHOLE LIFE OF A WOMAN. I THINK
IT WAS A VERY DIFFICULT ENDEAVOR. HAVE YOU EVER FEARED OF NOT BEING ABLE
TO GET THROUGH ALL THESE?
Hmm... No, not actually! I’m not scared or
afraid of something like that... Well there might not be everything in
it, but there is more to come...
-WELL THERE MUST ALWAYS BE A PLACE FOR EVOLUTION...
Yes! You know we women have much more need
to talk about emotions than a man does. And we have more moods and changes
in our moods than a man has. This is what I tried to put out and capture
in my album.
3. IF YOU HAD TO REVIEW AND PRESENT YOUR ALBUM
TO THE LISTENERS, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM?
Oh! That’s very difficult for me!! I think
this is something totally wrong to do, you know! I can not review in a
critical way my own album, because this is up to the listener. I created
it and it’s up to the listeners to have their feelings with the album.
I respect both sides, but as long as I have a complete feeling that I did
the best I could do, then I’m alright with myself and satisfied. I really
can not review it as an outsider. It’s too difficult for me to do...
-OK! THEN LET ME REPHRASE MY QUESTION. HOW WOULD
YOU DESCRIBE THE ALBUM TO SOMEONE THAT HASN’T LISTENED TO IT YET?
That it is an album based on personal experiences...
4. WHAT DO YOU AIM FOR WITH THIS RELEASE? WHAT
DO YOU THINK YOU CAN ACHIEVE WITH IT?
I’m not out for anything in special. I just
want to express myself!
-BY THE WAY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD DO IF
YOU COULDN’T EXPRESS YOURSLEF THROUGH MUSIC?
I think at least I would... NO! I don’t think
I can think of something like that! Impossible!!! Hahahahaha! Oh my God!
I have a very strong need to express myself, so if I was locked this way
and couldn’t epxress myself through music, oopps!!! I don’t know!
-YOU’D GO CRAZY...
Hahahahhaa! Yeah! I think I’d end up being
something like that! Hahahahaha!
5. WHAT KIND OF AUDIENCE DO YOU THINK WILL LIKE
YOUR ALBUM THE MOST?
I think it could be an epic kind of audience,
because it’s a very diversed album and there is nothing blasphemous or
mean. It’s for children and for grown ups. All people can listen to it
and can like it. It’s not too hard or heavy and I think it’s for all kinds
of people that like a different kind of music.
6. PLEASE TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE LYRICS.
THE ALBUM IS OF COURSE A CONCEPT DEALING WITH A WOMAN, FROM HER BIRTH UP
TO DEATH AND PASSING THROUGH ALL THE BITTER AND SWEET FACES OF LIFE. IS
IT AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY?
Yes! Well, this is actually a very good question!!!
Because in one way it is as you just mentioned, but in another way it’s
not! Every person has their own experiences and I have mine and I happen
to be a woman so I don’t know how to explain it very well. Perhaps there
are some songs that people won’t understand at all, because they talk about
something they haven’t experienced, but that’s OK! They don’t have to understand
everything. As long as they can feel or understand the feelings of the
album, it’s fine with me!
-ARE THE LYRICS SOME SORT OF THERAPY TO YOU?
Oh yes!!! It’s my psychiatrist! Hahahaha!
I feel like talking to my best friend, because you can always count on
it.
7. IS THERE AN ELEMENT YOU’D LIKE TO EXPERIMENT
WITH IN THE FUTURE?
Hmm... Actually I like to try out everything,
all kinds of music styles you know, just to try it! Not something I would
do myself, start many different things, but I’m willing to try many things
in my music!
8. DO YOU THINK MEN CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT’S HIDDEN
IN THE SOUL OF A WOMAN?
Basically I think some yes and some no!
-MOST NO, I’D SAY!
Hahaha! Well, yes because... I don’t know
if you read the book “Men from Mars and Women from Venus”?
-NO!
It’s a very good book and it explains the
differences in mind and stuff like that between men and women! It’s a very
good book and actually I think the better a man and a woman they can communicate,
the better they can understand each other! If a man is a good listener,
I think then he will understand the woman much better!
9. DO YOU BELIEVE MEN CAN FIND YOUR MUSIC AND
YOUR LYRICS APPEALING?
Yes! I think so! I think as much interesting
it is for women, it will also be for men!
10. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS IN ORDER
TO PROMOTE “A WOMAN’S DIARY: CHAPTER I”?
Yes! We will start in Holland and then we
will do some shows in Belgium and then I will try to get some tours set
and hopefully we can play in Greece too. So, I hope to play in Greece next
summer! My feelings are that next summer I might play in Greece! Hahahaha!
-I WISH YOU LUCK THEN!!!!
11. ARE YOU STILL MAKING MUSIC WITH IMPERIA?
Yes! Many people think that I stopped Imperia
to do something else, but no! This is not true!
-DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR A FUTURE RELEASE WITH
THEM THEN?
Yes! We have most of the songs for our second
album ready and there are some things that we still have to do next, but
I don’t want to wait too long to make a second release with Imperia.
-DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ABLE TO WORK ON A PROFESSIONAL
BASIS WITH BOTH BANDS?
Yes! Because that’s the only thinkg I do!
I don’t have another work or anything else. The only thing I do is the
music and I try to come up with ideas and my head is just full of that!
-DON’T YOU THINK THIS MIGHT CAUSE A PROBLEM IN
YOUR TOURING PLANS?
Hmm... yes, but I think we can support ourselves!
Hahahaha! You knwo that could solve the problem because we are exactly
the same people!
-AND YOU COULD PROMOTE BOTH BANDS AT THE SAME
TIME!
Hahahaha! Exactly!!! That’s the good thing
of being with the same people in two bands actually! You can not have a
collision in your touring plans you know!
-IF YOU HAD TO LEAVE ONE BAND, WHICH ONE WOULD
YOU LEAVE?
Oh! None!!! No matter what!
-WHAT DIFFERENT ARTISTIC NEEDS DOES EACH ABND
FULLFIL TO YOU?
Imperia is cloder side and Angel is the warmth,
more vulnerable and protective side. Something like that! And they are
both for me a way to express myself. Imperia are a bit harder in a way.
12. WHICH WERE THE REASONS THAT LED YOU TO LEAVE
TRAIL OF TEARS?
Difference of opinions about things and we
kind of grew apart! I didn’t feel fullfilled, I couln’t have my own songs
and things like this and they wanted to decide for me what I should wear,
how I should be on stage and I totally lost freedom. So, I decided to go
and form my own band and have the freedom I wanted! That’s basically why
I left.
13. HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS BAND NAME? ANGEL
IS A VERY COMMON WORD IN METAL MUSIC…
Yes! It’s because a fan told me this name
in 1999 and then i decided that when I’d release this album, that’s the
band name that I’d choose. That’s how the name was chosen.
14. CONTRARY TO YOUR BAND NAME, YOU ARE PICTURED
IN THE COVER ARTWORK WEARING LITTLE RED HORNS. WHY?
Hahahaha! Just a little bit of sarcasm! Just
a little bit for fun!
15. IF YOUR MUSIC WAS AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE?
Oh! It is so many different emotions you know!
Romance, aggression, love, hate, passion, desire...
-WELL MORE OR LESS ALL THE FEELINGS OF A HUMAN
BEING...
-IF IT WAS A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
Oh my God! I think it would be just a whole
bunch of colors! I think however the most important color used would be
red!
16. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE, YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION? LEAVE A MESSAGE TO THE READERS…
Just thank you very much for supporting Angel
and I’d also like to thank all the people that will get the CD and read
the interview and I also wish you good luck!
Christine Parastatidou
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