Interview with Aline Happ

Check it out the interview with Aline Happ, the singer of Lyria.

"I have been rather impressed recently with a young lass on Facebook who goes by the name Lyria Aline. Her band is Lyria and she has just completed one of these fundraising campaigns, and by all accounts she has reached her goal. She seems such a happy lass, her pictures show her with a happy smile and she is obviously very committed to her musical cause. So I dropped her an email and she agreed to this interview. So hi Aline and it is a real pleasure to be chatting with you. Your band is Lyria so can you introduce us to those involved in the band and where are you from? Hello, Dave! Thanks, it is my pleasure! I always tried to have a band, but it was not for professional purposes. In 2012, I made up my mind that the time for focusing in what I really loved had arrived and then I founded Lyria. Eliezer Andre (drums) and Thiago Zig (bass) came in 2013 and became part of the project. At the moment we have a guitar player for concerts. We are from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Does the name Lyria have a meaning? Not exactly. I’ve created this name because of my Greek mythology classes. The lyre was an important musical instrument for the Greeks. It also reminds me of the flower lily, which I really appreciate and it is also related to lyrics. You seem so young if I may say so - how did you yourself become interested in music in general? I’ve always liked music. When I was a kid I used to watch all Disney princesses singing. The movie “Willie the Operatic Whale” was really amazing and touched me, hahaha. When I was 11 I started to listen to metal and at 13 I started singing classes. I have seen from your very happy Facebook posts that you have reached your financial goal regards your recent fund raising campaign - how does it feel and did you have any reservations or nervousness that the financial target would not be met? It is hard to express myself about it. It is really awesome that we have reached the goal. At the beginning, I couldn’t imagine that we could reach it. Actually, I was just wondering if anyone would invest in us. We’ve felt that we were doing a very good work, but we were just starting and there were not a lot of people that knew us already. It was very impressive the way things were going. I’ve met a lot of very nice people and I just have to thank them all for believing in us and making it happen. Now we are even more motivated for concluding our first album. And if it had not been met, did you have a back up? It was a flexible funding project, so we could use whatever we got. We kept in mind that we would have to launch the album anyway, so we had some ideas in mind. In the worst case, it would take more time to finish it or maybe we would not deliver it with the quality that we wanted to. Our first back up was trying to get a loan and see what we could get. Now the target has been met, what happens now regards the album and its preparation? At the moment we have already finished the records and all the tracks are mastered. The artwork is almost finished and soon we will make the physical copies. And have you a title for the new record? Yes, we have a title, but I cannot tell you at the moment. =) It will be revealed soon in our fanpage on facebook (facebook.com/lyriaband). You are a new band, so can you tell us the type of music we can expect on the new album? I would say that it’s a mix of symphonic, alternative, gothic and thrash metal. We’ve really put our hearts and souls in this album, so I hope it will be something that will touch anyone that listens to it. To get a taste of the album, we have two songs (“Reflection” and “What Do You Want From Me”) and a teaser already available on our Youtube channel (Youtube.com/lyriaband). Is there any label or distribution interest or will you/the band self release the album? Not yet. We will distribute it by ourselves. It has been suggested to me that the female fronted rock and metal scene is becoming too crowded. I myself disagree, but how do you feel about the female fronted rock and metal scene across Europe? I think there are very good bands at the moment, and if you do something with your heart, something unique, people will like you. Sometimes it is not easy to call attention of the media and the mass at the beginning, but when you do a good job and people start to know you, it’s just a matter of time to become part of the scene. If people get united and opened to new things, there’s no chance to anyone to lose. And what artists or bands have influenced you? The band has a lot of different influences. I have been influenced by Nightwish, Evanescence, Metallica, Epica, Sarah Brightman, etc. Outside of music, do you have a day job? At the moment, I am really focused on this so I just give some English and Singing classes. And apart from music, do you have any hobbies? I like shopping, walking, cooking, going out with my friends, spending time with my family, watching fashion TV programs. One would presume you would want to tour, is there the likelihood that this may happen? I hope so! But unfortunately, touring is very expensive. As soon as the album is launched we will try to see what is possible through partnerships or maybe any sponsorship. And if you do gig, what band would you just love to hang out with? Since Epica, Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Stream of Passion, Delain, Xandria released new albums this year, it would be awesome hang out with them. But, I also would really love to share the stage with Tarja Turunen, Evanescence, Kamelot, and a lot of other bands. Many thanks for this interview. I am really looking forward to the new album. Is there anything you would like to add before we sign off? As I said before, it is my pleasure chatting with you and telling a little bit of myself to the fans. I would like to say that I am really enjoying finishing the album and I hope everybody feels the same when listen to it. I can’t get myself to stop thanking for all the support that I have gotten and I really hope to meet the fans as soon as possible! It’s kind of cliché, but when I get all this feedback it feels like a dream coming true. So, see you soon, guys, oh and by the way, this is our Facebook - www.facebook.com/lyriaband!