ARKONA - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR PAGAN RECORDS MAILORDER CATALOGUE

1. I think it’s a very first interview with ARKONA for Polish press, so to many people you are quiet unknown band. So let me ask you about beginnings of the band. When came an idea to found ARKONA? Do you have any musical background before ARKONA came into existence? I heard about band SLAVERY... is it true? (it’s a question to Masha)

- Arkona exist from 2002. Butch first it had absolutely different name and played in different style. Only lter it got its original name. I’m playing in different musical groups since my 13th y.o. First it was musician collective in one school. I played there for 5 years, I think. Many musicians had changed but I was a constsnt member of that group. Those years I wrote my own lyrics but it was pop style and rock=pop after that. My music director made phonograms on my songs and I perfomanced with the group or alone myself. After 2000 when I was singing on our towns holidays guys from Slavery came up to me and asked to enter their group. But I couldn’t stay with them for long because those days I had been star-sick and had much pathos J. We had to say good-bye to each other 3 monthes later. I resentmented and decided to make my own rock-band to climb the Olympus of rock-stage. So the first team of Arkona was created. After some time I separate from them also and gather new musicians from band «Rossomahaar» which are playing with me since those times: Lazar, Kniaz, Vlad.

2. Most of the musicians of the band played or still play in such bands as BUTTERFLY TEMPLE, ROSSOMAHAAR , NARGATHROND and STONEHENGE. Does it influence ARKONA in any musical way?

- Musicians from Nutterfly Temple never played in Arkona! One time their ex-vocalist Les’yar took part as the cessionary musician in our two albums.
Nargathrond is the separate project of Lazar and it has 3 alums. I wrote quite al lyrics to the last album (only 2 songs are not mine) and I also took part in recording of that album. We gave 2 concerts but nowdays thó destiny of this project is unknown because we do not give concerts as Nargathrond any more.
Stonehenge was the band before it transformed to ROSSOMAHAAR. I know not much about them, because it doesnt exist long ago.
So, today only one group keeps playing on – the group ROSSOMAHAAR. Their influense on Arkona is very little because groups play in different styles, our concert programs doesn’t cross much. The only thing is that we have to interchange our repititions, but it is not important to us.

3. As far as I know, ARKONA is a very popular band in Russia and a proof for that is your albums are released by one of the leading labels in Russia - Sound Age Productions, your concerts are sold out and fan basis is very strong. Do you think that you have reached a big success in your native country, compared to only a few other rock and metal bands from Russia and you can feel yourself as a kind of idols ;)?

- Of course we feel that we’ve reached the big success! Today our group feels tremendeous rising not only in Russia but also abroad. We’ve written the contract with Holland label «VIC-RECORDS» for world distribution of our albums, and now we are awaiting of releases.

4. With a music you play you have a chance to be very popular also abroad, because the music of that kind is like an international language which everybody can understand. I mean that mixture of heavy and black metal with folk and pagan influences can be played in really different parts of our planet. Why you decided to play such kind of music when you started in 2002?

- Long time ago our first drummer (from the first collective of Arkona) was interested in paganism. After that I also interested in beliefs of our anchestors. My pagan religion reflected in the style of the group.

5. (a question to Masha) I heard that you also participated (or still do it) in other bands and single albums of other bands. Can you tell me what bands and projects you collaborated with?

- I try to help all groups that ask me to participate in their records. Among them are Pagan Reign („Reflection of glory and ressurectinf of ancient power”), Svarga (rus ) „Fires at the tumlus”)m Alkonost „Unpassed path”, Rossomahaar («Moscow – The Sanguine Reign of Terror»).

6. OK, let’s talk about your releases. At first you recorded a very first demo “Rus” which we can find on a live-album “Zizn Wo Slawu” (released in 2006). To me, it’s an interesting start for a young band, because one can hear all that what had to come on future albums: mixture of strong black metal with folkish elements, specific melodies mixed with fast metal parts, characteristic vocals of Masha and so on. How you like that recording after a couple of years?

- We had not such album as “Rus” at all! Those 3 songs which are presented on our live-album are the firs demo-records with the first collective of Arkona. It didn’t release at all but is kept with every member of our group. We placed these songs on the “Zizn Wo Slawu” (Life for glory) as bonus-tracks to vary live-album. Today all these songs are rewrited by our present members of the group. And these songs were included in our first albu „Vozrozhdenie” (ressurection). Of course i still like our first album because i remember as we began to make our first steps on the metal-stage.

7. (a question to Masha) “Wozrozdzienie” was your debut album and - to me personally - one of the best albums from newcomers in last few years. I’m impressed that you could write all music and lyrics on this album, and all sounds very fresh and quite unique. Which songs you are mostly proud of? Are all musical ideas written by you, or you also used any original/national Russian folk songs?

- I cannot say what song I like most of all. Because all lyrics that I write come from my soul and I like them as if they were my children. So this is a difficult question. Lyrics from our first album is all mine but on later albums we took several songs from Russian folk, for example “Oi to ne vecher” (O, it’s not evening) from the “Lepta” album.

8. “Lepta” is a kind of logical continuation of the debut album, while a third recording, “Wo Slawu Welikim”, includes even more catchy and melodic songs which perfectly fit to concerts. Do you think that from now on you have your individual, characteristic musical style which you will develop and progress on the future releases?

- Maybe it is so! Anyway I always try to reach it.

9. If I mentioned about concerts while ago... You also released a live-album “Zizn Wo Slawu” and a self-titled DVD. I only heard the CD and saw some photos from that gig that you filmed and recorded, so tell me, was it a special night for all of you at ARKONA? Where that event took place?

- To record a DVD was an idea of our label. First we wanted to reject it because we thought it was not necessery for our group. Film was going to be recordered in club Relax which is absolutely doesn’t match for recording a film, but our label „Sound Age” insisted and we agreed. Operators of our concert were trully professional men and did all what could be ossible to make a film inside dark and small walls of the club. Also Lazar try hard to make a sound montage, thats why i’m satisfacted with our DVD. But we could make it better if we had greater apartment, i’m sorry that we didn’t have such opportunity than. I cannot say that those concert differented from anothers. All took plays as usual, i mean with merriment, vorwd of fans, slam, singing and round dancing.

10. When I heard the live-album, I paid attention to something like “vodka drinking contest”. What was that? Do you make such special things on your all gigs?

- You are wrong! Our first goup’s rule is not to drink alcohol before the concert. On our concert it was a joke game, when we took 2 men which were challenged in speed and accuracy to drink or traditional Slavonic ritual drink “medovuha” (honey-hop).

11. You played live with Moonsorrow and Korpiklaani among others. How are your memories? Do the guys from both bands like your music?

- I liked both group very much. Unfortunatelly I couldn’t speak with moonsorrow but Jonne from «Korpiklaani» is the big fan of Arkona. And I’m fond of «Korpiklaani».

12. (a question to Masha) I noticed that you care a lot about image-things, like clothes you wear on photo sessions and during concerts for instance. Do you use any dress-makers for that, or you just lend it out from stores or other places?

- Most all of my dresses are sewed up by my mother, and friends presented me the fox collar J. Other attributes I have to take from different clubs of historical reconstruction.

13. As I said, there are strong folk influences in your music. It concern all those specific melodies and a sound of your music. As far as I know the folk instruments were played on two first albums mainly on keyboards and synthetizers, and only on “Wo Slawu Welikim” you used real folk instruments. Did you ever think about using of such traditional instruments on your concerts?

- It is very difficult to use tradition musician instruments because thy need to be sounded good. Anyway if it is possible to make them sound good they will be too quiet. It is also a problem tofind good musiciants who can play them well. Today we give concerts with the recordered keyboards, traditional instruments and back-vocal.

14. Are lyrics an important part of your activities? I think so, because people who come on your concerts sing together with you and react on it very emotionally. I read them (especially that Russian language is not so far from Polish language and I learned Russian in school...) and I noticed they are mainly about Slavonic culture and heritage, your ancestors and things like that.

- So it is. My lyrics have deep meaning for all those people who are listening to it. Fans feel its moral with their hearts and I make all possible to make it.

15. I think it’s a good time to visit Poland finally. We have here a lot of people who love that kind of music which you play and we have a pretty strong pagan metal scene. Is any chance that you will play some concerts in our country?

- Of course it is possible, but it mostly depends on your organization team. If they want to welcome us in Poland write to pagan_arkona@mail.ru and we’ll discuss terms of our arrival. We’ll visit you with great pleasure.

16. Do you know that there is a band in Poland with the same name and they play raw black metal with pagan lyrics?

- Yes, we’ve heard about this group but we didn’t interest in their music.

17. At the end of the interview let me ask how you like an internet tool called MySpace? I noticed that you have there lots of friends from all around Earth...

- Yes, of course! Our internet-addres is http://www.myspace.com/arkonarussia. Welcome!

18. Thank you for the interview! It was a pleasure to ask you a few question. Hope to hear your new album very soon and see you in Poland.

- Thank you, I hope to visit you country soon! Hail to Rod and our Slavonic brothers!

Interview questions by Wojciech “Diovis” Szymanski