Radio Metal just had to converse with the very strong personality that is Ayin Aleph , often introduced as the new dive of modern operatic metal. You can listen to the interview here.

Phone Interview conducted by Doc’ .September 2007

Radio Metal :Can you introduce to us your musical career?

Ayin Aleph :Sure! I took up music very young, when I was 4. Then I studied the piano and at the same time I did a lot of things in keeping with classical music. At the academy of music, we were learning different instruments so my musical education is very diversified though it is of course still very directed towards classical music.


You are Russian and in Europe, we regard Russia as a country with a great culture. Have you grown in a family atmosphere favourable to the development of any form of art and culture?

Oh yes! I come from a family circle in which literature was holding an important place despite the numerous bans due to the government at the time. Lots of books were forbidden in Russia whereas they were known abroad. At that time, my mother was working on the Russian television and therefore had some privileged relationships with the world of culture. This family atmosphere was favourable to encounter people from various horizons.


What have you done before this first album?

At the age of 40, we can say that this is a second life in Metal. Before I did some solo concerts and I tried to be a movie actress but I didn’t really like it. I also read a lot. You see I’ve been interested in various forms of art and that helped me finding and defining my style.


You travelled a lot in your life. Do you think that your personal and artistic evolution have been influenced by this mixture of different cultures?

Obviously! I never had a tourist attitude in the country I’ve been to. I have absorbed each and every culture that means that all those different cultural influences can be felt in my music.


Theatricality is something very present in your videos, your lyrics are quite literary and your website is full of beautiful pictures. Can we say that your approach is more artistic than purely musical?

Yeah sure! You must have an artistic background first. The style and your identity only come in a second place, but you must have solid artistic roots if you want to go on. I regard this style as a kind of dressing, an ornament. The most important thing lies in artistic approach.


Ayin Aleph is first and foremost a personal project. You are the main member because you compose everything. How would you define your music?

I would say that I play Baroque Metal because I’m using the Baroque music that I studied a lot in the past and that I love. I’m also insisting on the dramatic aspect of the German music. In fact, every aspect of my personality is present in my music. I’ve been influenced by lots of different personalities such as Boy George, Peter Gabriel, Kate Brush but also bands like Cream, Pantera or even Immortal. You see, artists that do not really have things in common. But these are all the bands that have influenced me and have been inspiration to me.


Your voice has always been special because you can whisper, sing like a Prima Donna or even like a man. Is it natural for you to vary those different ways of singing or do you need to practice?

No this is completely natural. But anyway, I don’t see myself as a soloist only because I use my voice as an instrument. I do the chorus; I use different voices in my songs because singing only like an opera singer, that wouldn’t have been interesting. So I’m trying to make my voice fit to the music.


Indeed your voice is very peculiar and especially different from traditional female metal band. But what do you think about the development of this kind of metal, with bands like Epica or Within temptation?

I don’t really like this kind of music. I like Thrash Metal, bands like Pantera or Slayer. Female Metal is Metal indeed but it does not match my tastes. This metal, that we can call Symphonic Metal, is fine but it fits more to a kind of Pop dressed up with guitars. It is a bit too structured and I prefer groovy metal with heavy riffs. It’s true that these are great melodies but to my mind, Metal is much more magnificent. Symphonic Metal is fine but it is not expressive. My music is situated on the opposite of that in the way it is constructed or in its emotion.


Isn’t that difficult to retranscribe on stage the complexity of your music?

No because I want my shows to look like movies. All the elements that could be seen in my videos would be found on stage. It was hard to find musicians to play live. In fact, that’s the reason why I will have to go to the USA. You know, we cannot see Ayin Aleph as a real band because it is truly my project. The two musicians – Misanthrope and Mike Mynett (guitarist and composer of Kill II This) – have only been hired to play in the studio. And I’ve been very happy to work with them.


We feel like Ayin Aleph is a well-oiled machine concerning the communication and the promotion. You bring out your first album; a 4 tracks promotional DVD is also out; your website is beautiful; etc. What can you say to those who think that Ayin Aleph is above all a marketing product?

No it’s not true. You can notice that the music is absolutely not marketing. But in order to share it with the great majority of people, you have to promote it correctly. If that was up to me, I would give you even more videos or pictures… and in fact I have a movie project that would put Metal and Opera forward. But anyway, people would decide if they like my music or not. Media are not the main deciders. We are doing everything by ourselves. Ayin Aleph is above all the work of my producer and myself.


Site Internet Ayin Aleph: www.ayinaleph.com