Ravenia Q&A with Lady Siren Song of Mayhem Music Network
Hello all and welcome to Mayhem's First Q&A with Armi Päivinen (Vocalist and Songwriter) of Ravenia. Leading at the helm this time is Mayhem's own Lady Siren Song. Not afraid to jump right in and ask the tough questions she reached out to Armi to answer some questions for all of us.
Lady Siren Song-When putting together Beyond the Walls of Death, was there a particular concept that the band was going for? The songs seem upbeat in tempo but the lyrics are dramatic and at times dark or sad. So I guess, can you expand on the how the album came together?
Armi-We didn't have a specific concept for the album. The lyrics and vocal lines are always the last things to the songs, so they were really affected by the emotion of the track. The album title ties in the lyrical themes of the songs but other than that we didn't really focus on making a specific theme that we would have needed to follow in all the tracks.
LSS- I noticed the band consists of several classical musicians playing string instruments (violin, cello, etc)., did you ever find at any point in the recording that there was a need to utilize a bigger orchestra?
Armi-We would have loved to use a full symphonic orchestra but that didn't exactly fit into our budget. There definately would have been a need for that.
LSS-Do you have a favorite song (or two) on the album, and if so, why are they your favorite(s)?
Armi-I really do love all the songs on the album but ”Into Oblivion” is something that I'm quite fond of, that song just has it all.
LSS-You have an incredible voice. It is very soft but powerful. I guess a vocal instructor would say you sing in primarily a head/chest voice. Do you think you would ever record anything where you would break out of that classification and maybe do some "belt" singing?
Armi-Thank you.:) My style of singing kinda goes somewhere in between pop and classical, I do sometimes belt some notes as well but the classical sound tends to still come through.Also my voice isn't all that basic but that isn't really all that obvious unless you have heard me talk. :)
LSS-Can you tell me more about your vocal training? Was it primarily just learned by ear? Did you have classical instruction/education?
Armi-I have taken classical singing lessons since I was 17. I started off quite late. I don't really follow those rules that much though unless I'm singing arias or lieds.
LSS-Do you play an instrument in addition to singing?
Armi-I don't. My piano playing skills are quite bad so can't really call that playing. I would love to learn to play cello but I think I'm a little too old to start now.
LSS-Is the band working on another album? If so, will it be along the same lines/concept as this album or will it change direction a little?
Armi-Not yet but we are working on some trailer music. With our debut we felt it was important to make our concept clear and not go too crazy. With the second album we can explore more and do some things we didn't get a chance to do on our debut. So it will probably be different but our main concept will remain the same nevertheless.
LSS- What inspired you to become a singer/musician? It's such a difficult area to get into. It was my dream as a kid, but I went the "safe" route for a guaranteed paycheck(of course I am over-worked and underpaid despite the two degrees--LOL!)I'm actually considering going back to school to focus on music, since it is always what I wanted to do.
Armi-I have thought about that myself at times. I have been singing since I was something like 3 years old and when I started listening to metal that really made me want to get into that myself. After that it has been quite hard to stop.:)
LSS-What is the writing process like for Ravenia? I know some bands only have one or two people (maybe more if they are lucky) that can actually read/write sheet music.
Armi-Chaotic at times. Samuli and myself compose all the songs together, that's the best way to go.
LSS-I noticed you have a side project, In Silentio Noctis. Can you tell me more about that band and what you hope to achieve with it? :-)
Armi-In Silentio Noctis was my main focus before Ravenia.I would call it blackened symphonic metal, maybe.Currently ISN is on an undefined break, I'd like to do some stuff for ISN in the future but for now there's just not enough time.