Stream Of Passion - Interview

Marcela Bovio - Lead Vocals; Violin
Eric Hazebroek - Lead/Rhythm Guitars
Stephan Schultz - Lead/Rhythm Guitars
Johan van Stratum - Bass Guitars
Jeffrey Revet - Keyboards; Piano
Martijn Peters - Drums

Firstly, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to interview you

Marcela: No problem!

You’ve just finished a huge tour, how’s it gone? What are your highlights, and are there any funny behind-the-scenes stories you’d like to share?

Marcela: The tour was amazing! It was really intense, 16 shows in a row without any rest days and sleeping every night in the bus. None of us had had such an extreme schedule so it was a challenge, but all the great experiences and fun surpassed this by far. We made good friends with the rest of the bands, especially with Sirenia; the guys enjoyed lovely long drinking evenings, and me and Ailyn had a great time hanging out together. We didn’t know we both come from Spanish speaking countries, so for both of us it was a great surprise and a lot of fun to chat in our native tongue and share our experiences!

Apart from your musical projects, have you got any outside pursuits? (I ask because one well known musician we interviewed happened to be a brilliant photographer with a secret Flickr account!)

Marcela: Besides being busy with music I’m also a software developer. Not very artistic, but very creative work! And I can use those skills by building stuff for the band, like our website =)

Have you got any plans to tour in the UK soon?

Marcela: No dates planned yet, but I sure hope we can drop by in the near future! We have a group of UK fans that have come to some of our shows in Holland, and we would love to repay the gesture by visiting their home country.

Question for Marcela, did Dorian Grey, the film, live up to your expectations, and was it true to the book?

Marcela: There’s a movie? Never heard of it! Will have to look it up!

The internet has been a godsend for new bands, but do you think that it’s been so overcrowded on sites like Myspace, that bands with amazing potential are being overlooked?

Marcela: I think competition is just getting fiercer, just by the fact that people can discover so many different bands and styles of music by turning on their computers and browsing the Internet. I think it’s wonderful, I love discovering new music and sites like MySpace are endless pits of goodies!

We’re coming to terms with Marcela being a fan of Rush and Mogwai, which bands would you most want to go on tour with, and which have been most inspirational to you?

Marcela: If I’m allowed to dream I would love to tour with Muse. Of course I would not say no if we had the chance to tour with Rush or Mogwai! You know what, as long as the public is feeling it I would love to tour with any band out there!

You’ve joined the Metal Female Voices Fest; do you think it’s harder for female fronted band to get decent breaks?

Marcela: Yes, but I think it’s the same for all kinds of bands and not only the female fronted ones. There’s so much music out there, you really have to find your own thing and work has hard as you can to bring your music to the audiences. For that matter, the Metal Female Voices Fest is a wonderful platform for female fronted bands: you get to perform for lots of enthusiastic fans of the genre eager to discover new music; it doesn’t get much better than that!

Marcela, you’ve mentioned in the past you like to surf the web looking for new bands etc. Who have been your latest discoveries, and which have made a good impression of you?

Marcela: I’ve been searching for tango inspired genres, and besides getting me a bunch of Astor Piazzolla (who I worship) I’ve also discovered Pablo Ziegler. He’s a contemporary tango composer that incorporates jazz influences into his compositions; very inspiring!

You’ve been nominated for Best Atmospheric and Symphonic Metal album for 2009. What was your reaction to being nominated and what would it mean to you to win?

Marcela: It’s a huge honor; we’re really happy “The Flame Within” has made such a big impression! To win such an award is always a reassurance that the message you’re trying to transmit is being well received and understood by the listeners, which is one of the main reasons why we make music!

Thanks very much for your time!

Nickesh