Interview с Angra : DARKSIDE.ru

How Was the flight? I think you came to Russia straight from Ingolstadt in Germany? Was the venue big and how was the reaction of fans there?

Actually this concert in Ingolstadt was like a party. We didn’t expect to play in Germany this tour but we had one Sunday free before come to Russia and we decided to make it like a party with some german friends and fans as well. It was a small closed concert, not so promoted it was like a private concert. Actually, the whole tour is going really well! We started the tour in October I think, last year and we did many concerts. We played especially in Japan and made some concerts in Europe and now we are in Russia for the first time! And we are very happy!

You just released your first solo-project in Europe, what is your expectations?

Actually I released Almah in Japan and Brazil before and of course Angra is very big in Japan and very big in Brazil as well so since the very beginning I expected something good to Almah there and I was right – Almah is very important now in Japan and in Brazi

l. But in Europe I couldn’t know what could help to promote the album but I found AFM Records and we became friends they helped me a lot with this album and now it have huge success in Europe, to a solo album I mean. I receive many good reviews especially from Germany, even for Angra it isn’t so easy. And I am very surprised with that. For Example in «Rock Hard» magazine in Germany it is very hard to get good points or something like that and Almah is in 23 position in a hundred bands in a best album of the year. 23. And Angra nether had in this list before even between the hundred bands so for me it’s a great honor to have this successful album in Europe and I am very Happy!

Why did you chouse AFM Records for Almah?

It Was the best choice - AFM is a new company. Not so new but quite new compared to the old ones and they are working very well, they know how to work with the metal bands and they are pushing the material very well like Almah and they promoting a lot and I am very happy with a result of the sales because of journalists reviews. So we have a great pa

rtnership now. For me it’s great and I am very happy.

What is the main idea of Almah?

Actually I Have many different elements in this album it’s very rich and very deep album. Everything started with the name – I was searching for a name – easy name to remember and to pronounce in all languages and I find out that Almah with «h» in Hebrew means virginity and purity but at the same time I find out in the bible many religious people say what it means the opposite it means malice and perversion then I fought – ok two opposite meanings it’s very interesting and this two sides I can use this idea to make lyrics – I decided to talk about human feelings in a whole album - and human feelings can be good and bad – like liberty like love ore we can feel like freedom we can feel envy and greed – bad feelings. That’s how I decided to wrote about human feelings. But about the name again – Almah, the sound «Alma» in Portuguese is soul and the soul in Spanish is soul as well and I am always finding different meanings of this word – always good meanings. But about feelings – I d

ivided each song to each different feeling. In the lyrics I didn’t want to talk about my feelings it could be more selfish to talk about myself, listening about my feelings is not so good! I wanted to talk about feelings in general, feelings what people have. Not thinking about ego – I don’t like that. I chouse some facts of the history to represent each feeling and to illustrate it properly, for example like liberty in Golden Empire I am talking about Liberty about Martin Luter King – the guy who was fighting for liberty of black people in USA – I am talking in a very poetical way.
And to talk about treason I used a story of Tutankhamen the Egyptian king, he was murdered when he was 18 years old. The priests were carrying about him since he was very young. His father died when he was 2 years old so he became the king when he was 2 years old – of course it was impossible to control the Egyptian being 2 years old so the priests were controlling Egypt. When he got 18 years old – priests thought – Now he is an adult and he is going to be a real king of Egypt so we needed to kill him, but they were like fathe

rs to him and then they killed him because of the power - this is a big treason. To talk about love I used a history of Eros – the God of Love – it is big and very beautiful story behind this concept and so on, the album is like this. And on the last song, called Almah you can find all feelings together, this song is about lifetime. When you are born and you become a teenager and you get stronger and more energetic and you become more adult and start thinking about your life and you start to go down slowly and you get older and you die. But I am telling about that in a good way, like liberty – when your soul just leaves the body - the material part, and join the part of the universe, and after that idea I decided to make whole album to sound like life of people. You are born and you are strong – you have pure energy – you don’t have extra feelings because you complete pure you didn’t have contact with other people. You start growing up and you become teenager and adult as I said before. So I wanted the album to be like this – very strong in the beginning – very pure in the end. So the album slows down getting to the e

nd because then in the lifetime you rest forever – so the album is like this!

But don’t you think that bonus tracks on limited edition can ruin this conception?

Yes a little bit. The idea to put bonus-tracks came later. After I released album in Japan and Brazil, so AFM said that they want to put bonus-tracks because they were releasing later. I said – “ok, no problem”– the concept is there and of course the lyrics is connected – so the album is one pease.

I didn’t want to make a typical metal album. Because many bands sound the same way – In my point of view, In Europe especially, we have millions of bands and if you’ll hear one it will sound like the other one, everybody sounds the same way. That’s why I invited very famous producer in Brazil - he worked with Lenny Kravitz and many important bands. But he did not work with metal bands so it was his first time. That’s why the album sounds different compearing to european releases. It is more dry, more direct and I did the album more heavier than Angra for example, a little bit more modern but not

to much progressive.
You don’t need to think to much while listening this album “ok I need to understand this music” No – You just listen to the songs and they go very easy to your heart.

Ok, Let’s talk about Angra now! Why the idea of «Aurora Consurgens» album is so evil?

Actually I think it is the heaviest album that we ever did. We wrote some instrumental parts before and realized that the album is going to be really dark and heavier than the others and we needed concept to be dark as well to combine. That’s why we are talking about the «Aurora Consurgens» – It’s a book – and it’s a hidden book, kind of the forbidden, because it’s an alchemist book. There are many strange elements and things which made people think that the book is very (bуzzar??) – many strange drawings. This book is about mental disorders. When people have different thoughts and starting to live in another world, they lose sensibility of the reality. We are talking about schizophrenia, we talked about fear – You know, In Metropolis – big metropolis we have many problems like fear – It

’s like a pathology. People don’t want to go work anymore, they don’t want to go to the street because they starting to have a very big fear but nobody knows why. There are different Mental disorders in this book – it is about this and so the album is about this book and mental disorders.

Have you got any plans for a new dvd?

Actually I am not shure if we gona release a dvd now. We gonna stop this tour and then we going get rest a little bit – becouse I am very tired, maybe for one month and then I think we’ll start composing another album but in differen way - all albums of Angra are different from the others.

So the fans must wait for a new surprise?

Yea, we will make something totally different. We don’t like making albums sounding the same, we think it’s boring we like learning and putting new elements, new instruments and new melodies, percussions… Angra is the band which never repeats the same music, we always develop, take risks some time but for us it’s good and we are happy making all this, it is our way

making deferens - all the time always learning.

Angra – is a very intellectual band, and every album tells about different problems and things that surround us in everyday life, is it easy to all fans in different countries to understand ideas of musicians and the lyrics, music?

I think for Angra fans it is easier but for a new fans it is more difficult to understand Angra for example then Edguy because we are more complex a little bit more satisfacted because we put more different instruments and parts and …

Angra is more ethnic?!

Yea, ethnic, I think it’s the reason why it’s not easy for German fans to understand Angra. Maybe it is the reason why in Germany Almah is much more successful, because it’s simpler more straight to the point and Almah is sutisficated but in different approach. Angra is… we have some latin ideas all the time It is not easy for people in Poland, Germany to understand music they need more time to understand it. But I think it’s kind a key to the success of Angra because we are different from

everybody. You can’t find another band like Angra. Ok! The have Sepultura doing percussion it’s trash metal – complete different but I never heard something like Angra.

Is It Hard to be number one prog-power metal band in Brazil?

Yes It is hard – because people expecting more. Angra in Japan is very big – we grow all the time we are even scared – people expect even more. I am between the ten singers of the world in Burn magazine and every time people expect me sinning better and better and better you know, and then the last year I was (before last year- two years ago) I was in the second position. Only Bruce Dickinson was the first one! But, people shouldn’t allow him to be part of this because he isn’t normal singer he is metal god. So for me it was like being the first. For us it is like victory. It isn’t easy for a Brazilian band to play in another country, because Brazil is pour – It is not like American marketing - they have a lot of money many people who help bands. For us, in the beginning, it was very hard but now … Brazilian people are very honored to Angra.

Sepultura is going a little bit down so they have only Angra playing abroad and making success in other countries. We are more demanding now. It’s a challenge for us It’s good because we are thinking – let’s try different things and see what’s going to happen – it is very nice.

Why did you made an internet-digital-single, but not a typical cd-single like other bands do?

Nowadays everybody download everything. We want to join the technology – that’s why we decided to make digital single – because it was like one song and for us to release the album with two songs only to promote it’s not good so we put a digital one to promote the music and it works a lot! Many people heard this song.

Edu, what is your opinion about internet downloading, piracy?

I don’t like to lose money!! Ha-ha-ha Ok – It is good when you download just to hear a new band – what is this band is about? I would download just to hear but I never download to put in my ipod I always buy cds and then I put the song to hear. But I hate when peop

le download and when they are satisfied with that. I like having the CD the cover the booklet just to read the lyrics. Now people are forget the sensation, for example When I was teenager and I was in the store and saw for a first time Iron Maiden album it was like «Ahhhhhh It’s Amazing!» This sensation! Now young people loose this feeling! They just make one click and have all songs, I think that’s why we have many bands now, everyday a new band they listen it for three times and then going to another one – «ok one more» – «I don’t like that and another one» It’s too fast. And I think it is very dangerous for the music industry because labels don’t get money anymore to promote the artist. With no promotion we have less tours and with less tours we have less people on the concerts, so the future could be very dangerous.

You are the member of Angra for 6 years already ore 7?

Almost 7.

Was it hard to join guys and working hard at the beginning?

Actually no – When I joined Angra, in Brazil I was quite famous, because

of my previous band and actually the fans asked Kiko and Rafael to call me and to put me in the band. In Japan with the first album that we released with Angra I was number 3 in Burn magazine as a singer – it was a big surprise. For me it was easy and the most difficult place to work with - was France, because French people they really liked the other line up and I needed to conquer them and to prove that the band was the same – I Mean the quality. But now everything is okay, I never had any problems like for example Blasé Bayley singer of Iron Maiden after Bruce Dickinson, people don’t like him but many people said bull shit to him on the concerts throwing things to the stage. I had never problems with that. Never. For me it was really cool and we are 7 years together - 7 great years – great chance to continue carrier with Angra so we are very happy!

What bands can you recommend – brazilian bands ?

We have many good bands in Brazil – Scelerata is a great band, Silence is a great band, Krisium – very good band, Burning Hell – another power metal band very nice

some bands like that, we have many good bands.

I've recently heard some news about Soul Spell – Brazilian metal opera, what are yours and your brother's roles in it? What can you say about this project and have you ever caught yourself on the idea to organize your own metal opera? Temple Of Shadows sounds a little bit like a metal opera...

Tito Falaschi, my brother is the producer of this project, and I am gonna sing one track. Actually I don’t think to make something like that now, It’s really nice but I have other plans.

Would you please tell our readers about your previous bands and projects? It's hard to find them even in the internet but they rocks a lot! Are there any plans for releasing them in Europe (I mean the old records with your participation)?

My two previous bands were «Mitrium» (1992-1995), and Symbols (1997-2001). I don’t like to think about the past, I respect it a lot, but I want to release new stuffs, thinking in the present and the future.

Do You follow what is hap

pening in Symbols after you left? They Have released only one CD - 4 years after your depart, and there was bonus track with your vocals. Did you record it specially for this release or maybe they just used the old song recorded during the period you were in the band?

No, When I Left the band I was totally concentrated in Angra. But We are very close friends. And they invited me to sing one song. It was really cool. It was a new song. Made for that record.

I've heard that you will start the first world tour of Almah this summer, is there any chance to see you with Almah in near future in Russia?

For Sure. I’m already preparing the tour. I hope to go to Europe and Russia, soon, maybe in 2008. People can check the future dates in my official web site www.edufalaschi.com.br or in my official myspace www.myspace.com/almahedufalaschi

You've been for the first time in Russia, what were your expectations before this visit and what do you think now about us and Moscow, our country?

People told me that the audience is amazing, and they were right. I loved Russia, I met many especial people. From the audience to the production people everybody so gentle and fantastic.

How is it - working with you brother? Is it more difficult to work with him, or on the contrary it's much easier to work with close relative person?

I love my brother! Working with him is always perfect!!! But first he is my brother!!!! We are very close, a real family!

Maybe One more question – What are your expectations about tonight and what must fans expect from Angra?

I am gonna be very honest with you – This our first time in Russia and the most important concert for us in this tour and we are very exited to play here, many people say that Russian audience is very hot and love metal and they were expecting Angra for a long time and we are very happy to be here and I think it will be great! And I met many fans here in Russia already and they are so kind and we hope to come back soon so we will put all our energy to this concert – the hole tour was cool but this concert is special!
So I would like to thank you all – fans of Angra and Almah now and to say thank you for all the seport during this years – Thank You very much ! Spasibo!

Interview by The Scarecrow and Ksenia “Wolfin” Khorina
Questions also composed by Blindman
8 июл 2007 the End

Angra

Philosophy of feelings