Interview with Hedera

Interview with Hedera

 Hedera is Folk Death Metal Band from Switzerland. They're Lorenz Nejedly - Bass, Florian Stricker - Drums, Simon Furrer - Guitars, Mike Brügger - Vocals, and Iris Keller - Vocals, Violin. Hedera gave us some information. Check it out.

Tell us about Hedera?

We are a metal band from the cantons Bern/Fribourg in Switzerland. Our style is a mixture of different influences. We play Death and Black Metal riffs, mixed with lighter parts, topped off with violin and clean vocals, as well as growls. All in all we like to say we play metal with a unique approach.

What are lyrical themes of Hedera?

The first album Itinera was a concept album about the time of the industrial revolution and the hardships that came with it for the common people. The story followed a couple through their life and to their death in times when leading a normal life was very hard. We are generally influenced by history, without having the goal to be absolutely historically accurate. It is more about the kind of life people in different times have lived and what was most important to them. We like to tell stories about some of the big themes in life that recurred through the ages: survival, the search for purpose, love, hate, war etc.

What are your influences?

Hard to tell. Every member of the band has quite different influences. They range from classical and extreme Death and Black Metal to experimental progressive Metal to Jazz to Folk music and so on. This mixture is also what makes Hedera interesting.

Who are Your Favorite Switzerland Metal Bands?

There are a lot of great bands in Switzerland whom we had the honor to play with. As we like the diversity, it’s hard to name our favorites, or, at least, our band members wouldn’t agree if we as Hedera would have to choose one ;-)

How did you choose the cover artwork for "Itinera"?

We held a competition. We posted a description of what we had in mind, as we had quite a clear idea of what we wanted for a concept album. Several designers sent us their drafts and we decided for the current one. It was made by the artist Goran Vitanovic from Belgrade, Serbia. We then continued to work on the fine tuning of the Artwork with him and he also designed the booklet and Merch. We were very happy to work with him, we think he did an excellent job.

How were the songs written?

Generally we start with the music, usually a guitar riff which we build upon. Sometimes the first building block is a violin melody. Then we branch out from there until we have a song structure. Once the rough structure is set, the singers decide what they want to do “on top”. The lyrics are then written to fit what the singers want to do as good as possible. As Itinera is a concept album, sometimes we knew which song we still needed for the story, so we would start from a thematic idea or a lyric fragment.

How did the recording process go?

We recorded live (with the whole band at once) while having visual contact. For that we had the opportunity to record at Lizi Studios in Ostermundigen, Bern. There they have multiple recording rooms with window panes inbetween, so you can see each other while playing. We recorded without a metronome to keep the live feeling and energy. The biggest part of drums, guitar and bass was recorded in one take, with a few corrections here and there. For vocals and violin, some overdubs were then recorded additionally. All in all we were in the studio for 5 days.

What are your future plans?

We plan on continuing what we do, as we enjoy it a lot. We would like to play live at different locations and we are already working on our second album.

Are there any countries you’re interested in touring or performing in? Why?

Basically every country, as long as we can make it there.


What bands would you like to play alongside?

Not any particular bands, but bands that enjoy playing their music and are a pleasure to hang with.

Any last words?
Thanks for your support!

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