PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Planetmosh caught up with the Symphonic Power Metallers for a bit of history, the present and future plans. Founder member, guitarist , songwriter and all round nice guy Rex Zeco answered our questions.
As a band you were formed in 2004 but it’s taken until now for the full length debut album ‘For Queen And Metal’ to surface, what went on in between?
When I started the project in 2004, it was not serious. I only found some local
musicians and we tried some tunes. It’s after I wrote Queen of the
Night, that I began to believe in the music.
However, there was something with the mentality in the line up. So I shelved
the band and waited a half year and restarted with other musicians but in vain … the mentality was better but not good enough.
It was also that a good female singer was hard to find here. So I kept on searching for the right musicians. We made some low quality demo’s but never got further than a few gigs a year until summer 2010. Alan Rawson and Steven Steel
came into the band and the mentality changed to a more
professional one. Some months later Keely and Daniel arrived and suddenly I
could speak of a real band. Since then, the reaction to Nightqueen has been
extremely positive with the result that we signed for Massacre Records last
summer.
The album has a strong 80’s vibe to it but with very up to date production methods, would you agree?
Yes absolutely, I grew up in the 80’s with (still my idols) bands like
Priest, Maiden and Queensryche and some later Helloween and Accept.
So it’s normal for me as songwriter that I automatically write with the
influences of those bands.
Nightqueen has it’s own recording studio, so we did some experiments to
get modern powermetal on the 80’s twist.
We like it the way it sounds now.
The first song you wrote I believe was ‘Queen Of The Night’, how did that track come about and are there any more early tracks locked away in the closet?
There are a lot of songs in that closet. But we have to
rearrange the songs to the style we play now.
Queen of the Night will be a certainty for the 2nd album. I’m very
attached to that song. We recently rearranged it
and now it’s ready to record. It’s the song about the feelings of a
simple housewife, sick and tired of the daily toil and transformed
into the mistress of metal.
Another point I should make about this album is the stunning cover artwork, how did that idea come about and who did you get to do the work?
Well I was surprised too. I contacted Jan Yrlund (Dark Grove on
facebook) for this job. I only told him what Nightqueen and the album was about and let him do his job. The result is what you see.
The artwork is very Nightqueen. Extremely good work from Jan. I want to
work with him for the 2nd album too.
Keely Larreina’s vocal sound is extremely strong how did you come across her talent, had she been in any other bands?
I saw her live, performing with a cover band and was impressed. After our former singer Carlyn Vigdis left I contacted Keely for an audition. She accepted the offer and became the new Queen of the Night.
Her personality and voice fits the band perfectly and gives Nightqueen a touch
of sexuality and high feminity.
The album has quite a ‘fantasy’ theme running through it, is that something you’ve always been interested in?
Not really but I didn’t want to write about dungeons, dragons, hate and all the other clichés.
What I really want to write about are the main social abuses in the world and found a way through the world of fantasy to interweave that message into songs.
How does the rest of the year go promotion wise, any live dates planned?
Massacre Records does very good promotional work but we have to be patient. There
are some good festivals planned for this year like the P.P.M. fest in Mons (together with Accept, Sonata Arctica and Evergrey). We finally found a good bookings agency! So there will be a good results to come.
Are there any thoughts yet for future songs or projects?
We started on the finishing touches to the new songs which are being recorded at the end of the year.
Meanwhile we’re going to record the Nightqueen version of Diamonds and
Rust. We’ll put the song on our site as a free download for the fans.
Meanwhile I start with song writing for my daughters future project.
She’s a very talented pianist and keyboard player.
You’ll hear from her in a couple of years.
Finally, for anybody who has yet to discover Nightqueen how would you describe the band and it’s sound?
Very Female Fronted Symphonic power metal, with a guitar power that cuts
your soul in pieces. A symphonic sound that blasts your brain apart,
a rhythm that shakes your body totally loose but with a voice that holds
everything in your body together.
Very energetic music. High Voltage !
Many thanks for your time, and we look forward to hearing the new material when it’s ready.
The album ‘For Queen And Metal’ is available now through Massacre Records.
Watch the video for ‘Lady Fantasy’ here.
