An Interview With Arenna
Hailing from the North of Spain, Arenna, is one of the best and most promising newcomers in the heavy/stoner universe. They recently released their debut album, Beats Of Olarizu, an album, that received very positive responce, both from the fans and music press. Being one of those that consider themselves huge fan of heavy music, I couldn't resist to contact the band and find out a bit more about them. Let's see what the band's bassist, Javi, told us.
Hello! First of all, congratulations on your debut album! It's really awesome!
Hello! Thank you very much . We truly are very happy with the album and the response it´s getting.
Since you're quite a new band, would you be kind enough to provide us with a mini-biography of the band?
Arenna started off in early 2005. Kike (guitar), Rober (guitar) and Javi (bass) had been playing together with no greater reason than to have a good time. But the time came when we were happy with what we were doing, and so decided to take a more serious approach: regular rehearsals, the possibility of playing a gig… so on one hand we looked for a drummer and on the other a singer who we would all really like (up until that time Rober had filled in the vocals, not much to his desire). This way Txus came into the band as the singer and after a few people, Guille on drums.
How did all start? I mean, what was the incentive that lead you to play and finally, record music?
The reason is no other than love for music. This is what makes you pick up an instrument, learn and create your own stuff. When you have it you want people to listen to it, and that drives you onto the stage. When people give you good feedback you think about recording.
Which are your favourite bands and what are your main influences?
We all have our own favourite bands but I guess we would all agree on Kyuss, Colour Haze, Black Sabbath, Clutch, Earthless… they would be our biggest influences, I suppose.
Why you chose the name Arenna for the band? And What's Olarizu?
´Arena´ in spanish means sand. We always used to say we wanted a sandy sound, referring to a desert sound, so much that we just ended up calling the band arena, adding an ´n´ to make it different. Olarizu is a hill on the outskirts of our town and nearby we have our rehearsal space. We wanted to pay homage to this place that had seen us evolve musically. Olarizu is also a girl´s name in this part of the Basque Country, so we also thought she could be the girl in cover.
About the lyrics now. Is there any concept or each song is about a different theme?
It´s not a conceptual album, each song has a different theme but there is a certain connection between them.
How do you create music? You're just jaming in the studio or you work individually on your parts?
Overall our songs come from improvisation. Then we work on it until we´ve got what we want. Sometimes there is individual work but normally we all work together at rehearsals.
The production of the album is really good. Can you please give us some more detailed information on this? In which studio did it happen, who participated on the proccedings, how happy you're with the final result?
Jose Lopez Gil was our producer and sound engineer, a friend of ours who had previously recorded with other bands we know. We really liked the results. We recorded it in two weekends: the first one at K studios in Pamplona, where we recorded drums, bass and rhythm guitars. The second, we recorded in Madrid, at the studio where Jose works, and there we recorded the vocals, solos and other arrangements. It was later mastered by Billy Anderson. We had sent him the recording; he liked it and accepted to do it, and that was the real cherry on the top.
I have to admit that the cover was the reason that lead me to listen to your music. It is really cool and i'm wondering who's the guy that inspired it and the pretty creature on the cover represents something or is just a creation of the artist's imagination?
It´s Khoa Le´s, a Vietnamese artist who we discovered on the internet. We liked her work a lot, so we asked her to think of something for the cover. We sent her the tracks and the concepts we had of our music, and gave her complete freedom to create anything she wanted.
The album's out on Nasoni Records. Are you pleased with their work regarding the promotion, distribution etc of the album and are you under a contract with them, or it was a one-off collaboration?
Nasoni offered us to publish a CD and vinyl. We suggested the possibility of having a triptych digipack CD and a double vinyl and they accepted, so we were very happy. So we don´t have a contract, it´s a one-off collaboration but we´re very happy with their work and their support.
In the internet-sphere, about 99% of the feedback on Beats Of Olarizu, is trully positive. Did you expect such a success and how you feel about all those posivite words said and written about your debut album?
When we finished the album we were satisfied with the results, and that´s the most important thing. Getting good reviews is reassuring and makes you feel good, but what really matters is how you feel with what you´ve done.
As far as i know, you played live in the Spanish region this year but was there a tour to support the album outside the Spanish borders or are you planning such a tour for the forseeable future?
Since the album was released we´ve played about twenty shows in Spain and we´ll continue doing so until the end of the year. We would really like to play in other European countries but it´s difficult to arrange gigs on our personal working schedules. We might be doing some shows in Germany in December but nothing´s sure yet.
What are your general plans for the future of the band? Is there something specific you're dreaming to achieve?
Our plans are to keep on having fun while we play the music we like. Our dream would be to be able to play all over the place, specially some festivals like Roadburn, Yellowstock, Stoned from the Underground or Duna Jam…
That's all guys! Thank you for the interview! It's closure belongs to you.
Thank you very much for your support! Hopefully one day we shall play in Greece. Thanks to you and all your readers!
Myspace / Facebook / Bandcamp / Nasoni Records
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