FAIRYLAND

for Painkiller Mag #8
June 2003

Interview with Philippe Giordana

by Yang Yu/Dracolich

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Could you tell us the story of "Of Wars in Osyrhia"?

Mainly, the concept of the album talks about a young man, not a knight or a god, just a regular man who gets precognitions in his dreams. Feeling the arrival of a great danger, he will try to unify the people of Osyrhia, with the help of seven stones sent by the elder gods....

How would you describe the music of Fairyland?

Well...that's a hard one :-). I would say some melodic speed metal with plenty of movie-like orchestrations and a powerfull female voice, all of it mixing together to offer a maximum of emotions...

How did the band get together?

In 1998, Willdric was playing in a local band called Helixir. I myself was playing in Absurd and we were often doing concerts together. Willdric had a strong desire to create a Symphonic metal band, and I allready had 3 or 4 songs. So we just got along fine :-). Later on, Anthony Parker, an ex-Heavenly, joined the band. Elisa is the last member that joined us, about halfway from the end of recording "Of wars..." .

I heard that you recorded the cd while composing the songs. Do you feel that it was a good approch and will you do it again for your next record?

At first, we didn't plan to do it that way. But since we had plenty of time and worked a lot in the studio, it came pretty naturally to change some parts that didn't sound so well... For the second album, I think the songs will also get some changes during the recording, but I started the writing a month ago, and we probably won't have to write new songs in studio...

I noticed that you recorded the cd yourselves. Did you do this in your homestudio or in a professional studio?

All was done in 2 studios, under the direction of Willdric. He is the one who takes care of the whole production part. The drums, keyboards and choirs were recorded in a semi-professional studio Willdric built with a friend. The other parts and additional material were recorded in Will's own home studio.

Did you have any studio experience before recording "Of Wars in Osyrhia"? If not it must have been difficult to learn everything the hard way.

Willdric allways took care of the recordings, since the first demo. He is found of everything that touches to sound production. He is a selfmade man and I think he is very skillfull. But we can say he learned everything the hard way, since he found out everything by himself. And he is still going for improvement! I just think the second album will sound so much different....
How has the album been received so far?
Mostly, in a way we never would have excpected! Of course, we sometimes get angry reactions from some people that really don't like what we do, but mainly we have plenty of good reviews from webzines, radios and magazines, and more important than anything else, from FANS!!! If you told me we would have fans someday, I would have laughed at you :-)

Do you listen to classical music? Or film music maybe? I hear some influences from there in your music.

I am a great fan of movie soundtracks, especially Williams, Elfmann, Sylvestry, Zimmer... They are my major influences.

How is the writing process in the band?

I write the songs in their general structure, finding the melodies, vocal lines and arrangements. Then I submit them to Willdric and we try to change what as to be. Willdric takes care of the rythmic parts, then Anthony creates his solos.

What are your influences?

Mainly movie soundtracks, but also speed metal bands such as Rhapsody, Blind Guardian... Willdric and Anthony are found of 80's Glam rock, wich also contributes a little bit to Fairyland's universe...

Why did you decide to use a female singer?

We didn't look especially for a female singer. We wanted a strong voice, that could also be very sweet and bring some emotions to our music. When Willdric had me listening to Dark Moor, we just thought: Whow, that's the voice!!!

How did you get in contact with Elisa C. Martin?

Willdric took care of it. He found her E-mail adress on a fan site and sent her the demo. She was very excited and accepted right away.
I have heard that Dark Moor has broken up as a band. Does this mean that Elisa is a full time member of Fairyland now?

Elisa was a full time member even before Dark Moor's split. She was at first supposed to be here as a guest, but it all went so well that we offered her to be the official singer.
And once again, she accepted!

If you could choose any guest musicians you wanted on your next album, who would it be?

Hem, I will answer for myself: HANSI KÜRSCH!!!! (I am a great fan, you see?)

Was it a natural process that you ended up writing such a symphonic sounding album or was it a decission that you wanted to go in this direction?

We created the band to make some symphonic music. When we recorded the first demo, I don't think we had the technical skills to do it right. We all improved our personnal technic, and the symphonic came out pretty naturally! So we can say it was both a decision and a natural orientation :-)

What musical direction will the band take? More symphonic? Or more straight ahead metal?

I think the band will take a more "Fairyland" direction. We are not working on the songs by saying: "it as to be more symphonic", or: "let's do something more metal". We just do what comes to our mind, and it evolutes all the time. So, for now on, let's just say it will be more "Fairyland".

Are you full time musicians or is this just a hobby? Can you live from playing in Fairyland?

Willdric sometimes works on movies as a technician. Anthony is a former fireman and left his job to work with us. I am a skydiving instructor, but I just left my job too...
We don't know if we will live from playing in Fairyland, but I personnally know I couldn't keep my job and play in Fairyland. It was a hard decision since I love skydiving, but I think it will be worth it!

How did you come up with the name Fairyland? I think it matches your music very well.

Actually, the band's name changed 3 times! It was first called Fantasy. We left that name to our first guitar player, since he helped us find it. Then it was Fantasia, but we had to change again, this time to avoid any future problems with a famous cartoon company (if you see what I mean...).The name Fairyland came in easily. It fits perfectly to our spirit and our music...... actually, it was almost 3 nights without sleeping before we found it! :-)

How is the metal scene in France?

Impressive! It's getting bigger, with some very good bands starting to be distributed all over the world ( like Manigance for Japan...). I think it will litteraly explode within a few years, as did the italian scene...

What is your favorite food?

Pizza and beer, or Caviar and champain...I'm not sure. :-)

Do you have any final words to the fans?

Listen carefully to the album. Try to dive in the worlds of Osyrhia and follow Doryan in his quest. We created a full universe just for you to enjoy, and we hope you will like it. RIDE WITH THE SUN!!!

DISCOGRAPHY