Alwaid interview with DJ Scott
Alwaid are a female fronted melodic metal band from Lille, France that formed in 2010. Following their recent run of UK shows which included two shows in Birmingham, I managed to get an interview with Alwaid. Check it out below.
You’ve just finished your ‘Neath Draco’s Gaze UK Tour with Orpheum and Suddenlash. How was the tour?
Too short! It felt like living a dream life for a few days, being 100% dedicated to music and sharing. The venues were great and we got to work with very professional people – a pleasure! We got along really well with Orpheum and Suddenlash, and I think we made a great bill, with our styles both close enough to appeal to fans of female-fronted metal and different so that people wouldn’t get bored by the time the third band hit the stage. By the end of the tour we knew we all agreed on one thing: we need to play together again, so there are exciting collaborations to be expected in the future.
I had the pleasure of seeing you perform twice this year so far. Firstly, at the Quinphonic Festival in March and then recently at Scruffy Murphy’s. How did it feel performing in Birmingham, the home of heavy metal?
We’d come back! You can tell that people are carrying this special love for metal music with them, so it’s an honour, and it also makes you feel very humble. Don’t know if you noticed but Max, our guitarist, made sure he wore a Black Sabbath t-shirt on stage at Scruffy’s, to pay his respects. 😉
You are starting to become very familiar with the UK as you have performed over here a few times now. At this point can you notice any differences between the UK and the French metal scene?
Yes, very much so. First, live music itself seems to be more easily accepted in the UK, and there are more venues fit to accommodate a proper gig – in France, not many bars are allowed to host live events, and they struggle to get properly equipped, so the sound is often average at best. I also feel there’s a difference of behavior from the audience; basically, a ten-people crowd in the UK will be louder than a 50-people crowd in France! Not that French people are enjoying less, but they’re less likely to express it out loud without a strong crowd energy. It may sound a bit cliché, but we probably have a tendency to intellectualize as we listen, reflecting over what we hear on a more intimate level.
I understand your band name Alwaid has a very unique meaning behind it. Can you tell us about that and how you came up with it?
It was me (Marie) who came up with it. It’s the other name of Beta Draconis, the star which forms the eye of the Draco constellation. I like the way astronomy blends mythical thinking with scientific progress, how it captures man’s tendency to see the world through the lens of his imagination, and that’s what Alwaid represents for me.
Your last album Lacus Somniorum was released 2 years ago. I understand from my research that the album talks about the limits of being awake and dreaming. What sparked the inspiration for this theme?
There was already something nocturnal in the band’s name, which inspired me to write the lyrics for our first songs. After we had written 6 or 7 of them, we decided to get our debut album done, so I started looking for a common theme linking them together, and it just appeared to me! It had been there all along! And then I realized they formed a kind of narrative, some speaking about lack of sleep, or drifting to the other side, or being trapped in nightmares, or not wanting to wake up… All I had to do was set them in the right order!
And then I started doing some digging and found out about Lacus Somniorum, which is the name of a geographical spot on the moon. So I was back to astronomy with a catchy name that perfectly summed up the general theme: the lake of dreams is the sea of imagination out of which are born all the stories man can think of.
Do you have any plans for writing or recording new material at this time?
We ARE writing new material at this time! Actually, we’re almost done writing our second album, which we plan on recording by the end of the year.
Are there any themes or subjects you would like to explore with your music in the future?
I can already tell you that the theme for the second album is another aspect of our tutelary dragon and what it means for mankind. The dragon embodied the power of imagination in Lacus Somniorum, and now it’s the bestial aspect that I’ve chosen to explore – so the songs are about instinct, wildness, the opposition between nature and culture, the rise and fall of civilization…
So far, what would you say your biggest achievement is as a band?
Not having split up after 5 years and many line-up changes! Also always going further than we’ve gone before. Releasing a full-fledged album was big for us, and then starting to promote it even on an international level. Playing in Belgium was easy since it’s almost on our doorstep, but getting around the UK and the Netherlands was a real big step!
And following on from that, do you have any goals as a band?
Not splitting up for at least another five years, getting the new album on its way and always playing in new places to reach new audiences. Germany and Spain would be great, we’re working on that. Also, a London gig for our next UK trip! And of course, finding a proper label to give us a hand with all this would be nice too.
What does the rest of the year hold for Alwaid?
Writing and recording, mostly. With a couple gigs in-between. Even if there will be less until the album comes out, we feel it’s important to stay active so that people know we’re still out there! And honestly, I start missing the stage quickly, the experience is just too good to go without for months. 😉 The easiest way to get the information is to follow us on Facebook : www.facebook.com/Alwaid.music.
Before we go, do you have any final words?
Thanks a million to everyone we got to meet in the UK throughout this tour and the previous ones, your support and passion is what encourages us to give out the best of ourselves and more! We can’t wait to come back and know what you think of our new stuff. ^^
Also, keep supporting the amateur scene the way you do. Your country holds so much musical treasure! Horns up to those of them we were lucky enough to share the stage with (so far): Orpheum, but also Aonia, Lost Effect, Reign of Sirius, Dakesis, Clockwork Opera, Ward XVI, Synchronix, Lost Gravity… If these guys are playing in your neighbourhood, go check them out!
Thank you for your time.
Always a pleasure!
Follow Alwaid on Facebook , Twitter and support them by buying their merch from their Bandcamp page. Of course be sure to check out those other bands too and support live music.
Also be sure to check out my reviews of the two Birmingham shows Alwaid performed at this year.
Alwaid/Orpheum/Xilla/Suddenlash review – Scruffy Murphy’s 14th April
-DJ Scott-
Host of The Sanctum airing Wednesday nights from 9pm GMT
