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Interview with Arctic Dreams
What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
[ALEX_Y]: “I was 9 years old when I first heard heavy metal. It was a Russian band, analogous to Iron Maiden. I was so inspired by this music that I picked up a guitar at the age of 11. I don't know what I would have been if I hadn't gotten into music”
[SYDIUS]: “ I took a guitar to pick up girls but when I finally learned to play it girls weren’t into guitars anymore. So now I’m doomed to pick up only sweaty brutal metalheads and pretend it’s art”
[NENAD]: “After I got tired of building blocks as a kid I picked up piano from age 5. I got into guitar and heavier music when I was 14, the rest is history. If it weren’t for music I’d probably be an airline pilot.”
[ROMAN]: “I got into music in 2008 and metal bands were everywhere there, so there was no change I didn't try it. If there was no music in my life I would just remain to be a programmer”
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
[ALEX_Y]: “ A lot of things. Like making things with my hands. Some repairs. Some machinery, construction repairs, etc. It gives me a chance to relax a little bit and come back to music with a new approach.”
[SYDIUS]: “ I have an opposite: my creativity affects daily life even when required to be normal. Like here: you hardly get a simple ordinary answer ”
[NENAD]: “I am always creative, always thinking of something. If it isn’t music then it is animations, drawing, cracking a joke here and there.”
[ROMAN]: “Work, Family, Board games. In regards of creativity, I’ve never experienced a lack of creativity”
How long has your band been around?
[ALEX_Y]: “A long time ago. We started in 2009. But unfortunately, due to completely different circumstances, we took a break for many years. And in fact, we started normal activity in the 20s”
[SYDIUS]: “ Depends on when to date our birth. In some way still a prenatal period ”
[NENAD]: “Still new in the band, I think Arctic Dreams has been around since 2008.”
[ROMAN]: “-”
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
[ALEX_Y]: “All but Nenad are from Russia, from completely different regions. This made our music quite dark and depressing.”
[SYDIUS]: “ That’s a difficult sociological question and I still struggle dealing with psycho-cultural identification. Soviet past common for eastern bloc countries brings a lot to deny, escape, accept, discuss. Maybe that constant uncertainty, ambiguity and self-reflection is the main mental influence. Though on the level of music and pop-culture everything is pretty globalized”
[NENAD]: “Serbian national but I was born and grew out of childhood in Dubai UAE. A lot from my childhood has influenced my playing, always exploring and finding new ways to avoid playing the blues minor pentatonic scale. ”
[ROMAN]: “I’m in Belgrade, Serbia. If not Serbia, I would play some metal in Siberia”
How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?
[ALEX_Y]: “Well the idea for the name came to me in a dream)) At that moment we were living near the club “Arctica” in St. Petersburg. At that time it was the most famous club where the stars of world heavy metal performed. The name means for us Arctic North, polar night and Scandinavian culture.”
[SYDIUS]: “ We saw it in our arctic dreams ”
[NENAD]: “Alex knows this best.”
[ROMAN]: “-”
Tell me about your most memorable shows.
[ALEX_Y]: “Well at the moment it was Behemoth's performance at Wacken Open Air 2024. Clearly satanic black/death metal on the main stage for an audience of 60 thousand people.... It was powerful!”
[SYDIUS]: “ I’m stuck. Does it mean they’re not memorable? ”
[NENAD]: “2022 with gothic band Asphalt Chant. They asked me to fill in for their guitarist since he couldn’t make it and the crowd there was great. That entire night felt like we were all in a stadium.”
[ROMAN]: “I remember the concert in Nizhniy Tagil. There were 20 people or something like that but they gave us the energy of the stadium! I thought that they would destroy the building! I have never experienced such energy from the audience so I strongly recommend everybody to visit Nizhniy Tagil”
What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?
[ALEX_Y]: “Wacken Open Air and Hellfest. I think these are the two biggest events in the world”
[SYDIUS]: “ Any place with guitars ”
[NENAD]: “Dom Omladine in Belgrade.”
[ROMAN]: “Any place where are drums”
If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?
[ALEX_Y]: “Metallica, Rammstein, Megadeth, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth”
[SYDIUS]: “ The planet would run out of paper cause of this ticket length ”
[NENAD]: “Doesn’t matter who is on the bill, anyone working together to make a great night is in my books.”
[ROMAN]: “Blind Guardian, Nightwish, Twilight Force, Epidemia”
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?
[ALEX_Y]: “Don't use alcohol and drugs or you will lose everything”
[SYDIUS]: I’ll save your time, you can practice now
[NENAD]: “Play along to your favorite songs, tunes, try to learn melodies from other instruments and work around it to boost the creative side. Slowly you’ll lean into something that identifies with you over time.”
[ROMAN]: “To someone else - don’t do it or do it just for fun. To me - The mental health of the team is more important than the success of the project. If your project is more important to you than the team, you will constantly face a choice between the team and the project. If your team is more important than the project, you will never face this choice”
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
[ALEX_Y]: “Alex, get out of Russia or you'll lose your best years”
[SYDIUS]: “ Well, I see my own birth... Ok, that’s your first day, take a look, take you time, but tomorrow grab a guitar and start practicing!”
[NENAD]: “Party less, practice more.”
[ROMAN]: “Isn’t it the same question as the previous one?”
Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
[ALEX_Y]: ““The Arctic Dreams” - it basically describes who we are.”
[SYDIUS]: “ I’m sick of them - that slow I am”
[NENAD]: “Still figuring that one out. I like all of the new stuff, it’s like asking who is your favorite child.”
[ROMAN]: “-”
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
[ALEX_Y]: “The Arctic Dreams, Let Me introduce My Cosmic Hell, The Way To Infinity, Storm”
[SYDIUS]: “ Every day new mood for a new song ”
[NENAD]: “Depends on the mood. Yesterday I was playing some flamenco.”
[ROMAN]: “-”
What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
[ALEX_Y]: “Well now we have that process changed. Since we have new members... I bring the general idea, then the guys take it and propose their own version of the arrangement, which we then approve or reject. And inspiration can come from all sorts of things: books, disasters, video games, etc.”
[SYDIUS]: “ Sit down and set to work ”
[NENAD]: “Once I get an idea on the guitar or keyboards I work around it until it sits well. I always try to churn out a full song until I get stuck.”
[ROMAN]: “-”
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
[ALEX_Y]: “In our compositions, we reveal our meta-universe to listeners”
[SYDIUS]: “ Emergency alert only ”
[NENAD]: “Text”
[ROMAN]: “-”
Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
[ALEX_Y]: “I don't recall any such cases at the moment”
[SYDIUS]: “ just married, everything’s fine ”
[NENAD]: “Not that much. If there is a hiccup we try to find the root of the problem and voila - more problems haha.”
[ROMAN]: “-”
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?
[ALEX_Y]: “On August 14th of this year, we released the first single from the second album. You should pay attention to it, I think it will surprise the listener very much. And so recently we took our drummer Roman into the band and we are slowly preparing for the concerts.”
[SYDIUS]: “ Feel free to follow our media ”
[NENAD]: “Time will tell.”
[ROMAN]: “-”
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