Interview with Megaira

Interview with Megaira

This’s Our interview with Megaira. Check it out.

Tell us about Megaira?

Megaira is a Brazilian metal band formed in 2009 in the city of São Bernardo do Campo / SP by the guitarrists Paulo Melo and Cristian Araujo. Initially the band did not have a definitive name and it underwent several changes of formation and concept. However, the entrance of the vocalist Paulo Schmidt, that brought the idea of  Greek mythology related themes, inspired a new way for the band’s songs, mixing styles.

The band is formed by Paulo Schimit (Guttural Vocals), Annia Bertoni (Metal Vocals), Paulo Melo (Guitar), Tiago Souza (Bass) and Murillo Vuldroph (Drums).

Megaira mixes Black Metal influences with Trash / Metal / Melodic bands from the 80s and 90s with guttural / death vocals, contrasting with female heavy metal vocals, bringing a new modern way of telling the stories of Greek Mythology on their debut album "Power, Lies and Death" with strong and electrifying songs.

What are Lyrical themes of Megaira?

 
All lyrics are written based on Greek mythology studies. The band opted for this theme because ancient Greece represents the entire foundation and cultural structure of western world, having influenced the world’s culture in countless fields such as music, literature, theater, architecture and philosophy. Analyzing the vast material available in the tales of Greek mythology and the innumerable characters inserted in stories that narrate the tragedy of heroes, reigns, wars, betrayal, revenge, love and hate, the vocalist Paulo Schimdt felt motivated to write about This theme in the lyrics.

The concept of Megaira's debut album "Power, Lies and Death" is based on several popular stories from Greek mythology such as the Minotaur, the labyrinth and the death of Icarus, but also features not so well-known characters and their trajectories, such as Constellation Corona Borealis and Minos’ journey to judge in Tartarus.

"Power, Lies and Death" begins with the story of  Minos (King of Crete), his longings for power, and Ariadne, his daughter, who helped Theseus, the hero of Athens, enter the labyrinth and kill the Minotaur.

At this point the song presents Daedalus: inventor and architect, who was punished by the king along with his son Icarus, to be trapped inside his own creation, the labyrinth, and  his spectacular escape that resulted in the death of Icarus. Furious, Minos goes to Sicily  searching for Daedalus, but ends up dying, thus going to Tartarus and becoming, along with his other 2 brothers,  one of  Hades’ judges.

In addition to these and other tales, the album also features the song Erinyes, which tells the story of the three deities that punish mortals for their sins.  One of them is Megaira, who names the band.

What are your influences?

The band’s songs have characteristics that mix influence of the 3 main strands of metal: the traditional Heavy Metal, coming from bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, the Thrash Metal of bands like Metallica, Slayer and Sepultura and the Death Metal of bands such as Death , Cannibal Corpse and Arch Enemy.

All members of the band have their individual influences but within the compositions of Megaira, the influences mentioned above are predominant.

How did you choose the cover artwork?

Power, Lies and Death, is a conceptual record that tells the story of the king of Crete, Minos, who in order to become king murdered his brothers in a ruthless way. From this point, the artist Leandro Furlanetto analyzed the lyrics of the songs - which tell a story in form of chapters and, realizing the importance of this character in the context, chose to paint the moment of the taking of the throne, when Minos is seated on the throne of Crete with his brothers’ heads in his spear, because this was the determining factor for the development of the whole story.

How were the Songs Writen?

The process of composition always starts with the guitarrist Paulo Melo who presents the riffs and instrumental parts for the rest of the band that analyzes the content to develop and define the duration of each part, arrangements, movements, solos and etc. After this process the vocalist Paulo Schmidt writes the lyrics, which added to the melody and riffs, complete the songs.

How did the recording process go?

Like many bands that are launching the debut álbum, inexperience was a factor that caused us difficulties in some aspects, however we have to recognize that everyone learned a lot during this experience, which certainly helped us in our development as musicians.

The recording process was delayed due to some changes we considered necessary as the songs were being recorded and suggestions from the producers to enrich the work. With the album practically closed we still felt we lacked something that would complete and give an extra differential in our work, so we searched for a feminine voice, breaking the standards we are used to listen in this style of sound.  Through the indication of Luiz Portinari, one of our producers, Annia Bertoni joined in to complete the team and give the perfect tone we were searching for.

What are your future plans?

Now, our goal is to launch de LP in Brazil, through Shinigami Records in August of this year,  as well as look for a partnership with an international label to launch the album in other countries. Our intention is to launch this album in important markets, such as Europe. We are also planning a tour, throughout Latin America.

During this year we intend to design the international career of Megaira,  and next year already start the songwriting process for our second album.

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

We are interested in playing in every country we have the opportunity to introduce ourselves, so that we can take our music to new audiences and consequently, accumulate experience to develop new and better works.

It is a fact that initially South American countries like Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, due to distance and logistics involved, are the most probable destinations in this early career, but we intend to grow as artists so that we can present ourselves in all continents.

What bands would you like to play alongside?

Hard question! Of course it would be amazing to have the opportunity to share the stage with bands that influenced us both individually and for the birth of Megaira, such as Iron Maiden, Sepultura, Slayer, Kreator, Megadeath, Testament and Arch Enemy, but it would also be very cool to play with Bands based on mythical stories like Blind Guardian, Rhapsody, Nightwish, Ensiferum, and so many others.

Any last words?

We would first like to thank the BDP Metal team for the opportunity for this interview, for helping us to spread our work internationally and specially for the first review of our debut album! We would like to invite all the public to meet us through social networks @MegairaOfficial, soon we will release the official videos of the songs of Power, Lies and Death on our Youtube channel and launch the official website, so stay tuned! Thanks for the support and affection!

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