BY HAMMERBLAZE.COM
Hanny, would you call yourself a rebel?
Haha!! I wouldn’t no... But I guess no matter what you do in life theirs someone out their that doesn’t agree with what you are doing and would call you a rebel.
When did you realize the creative possibilities that music could offer you?
When I was 13 my friend explained and showed me that if you had two separate tape recorders you can record a riff and a solo... it blew my mind!
You have been a life force of Black Majesty throughout the years.
Yes. I actually joined in 2002 at the time the band was named Khymera. Pavel Konvalinka who had been working with me in a previous band invited me to a audition and from then on we did I think 2 shows under the name Khymera then we changed our name to Black Majesty.
Do you regret any of the albums you did because of your desire to push your own limits?
I don’t regret making any of the albums. Because we have made more than handful of full lengths there are some albums that I think are a little better than others mainly due to time of recording, shortened sessions, the way we were feeling at the time.
Nature and music appear to be deeply connected for you as a composer. You prefer to let the music do the talking?
Yeah I actually get involved with all aspects of creating the music but not generally get involved with the lyric side of things as I prefer to leave it for the singer or author. With the band is a split effort with the guys but the lyrics are pretty much written by our singer Gio (Black majesty singer) which works out great as also when it comes with projects that I may be involved in, I get to experiment more and take on more instruments.
You recently had your music debut on book music. I would think composing an entire concept based on a book is a little different than composing an album with your own ideas.
Oh yes. The Dark Horde project is a completely different form of recording and release to anything I ever been involved with. It was also a way to compose some more basic Traditional Metal and re explore Thrash so was a lot of hard work and long process producing , composing the majority of the music score. But of course with the ideas of the story already written by Brewin , and a lot of work composed by Logan Jacobs, Danny Cecati , who has been a long time brother to me and Black Majesty and is the singer of Wicked Smile, brought a fantastic effort to the project. He was given the music and the lyrics and Danny went on to do it the way he felt most comfortable and recorded some of the craziest vocals I have heard anyone do. Also Shaun from In Malices Wake does a few tracks as he is the Demon of the story and Chis Kane from Eye Of The Enemy composed his own full track as did James Lowe. There’s also a bigger cast of actors, narrators and artwork for the whole single and album process is done by Brother Aldo (Requena). So really totally different in a massive way to anything I’ve ever been involved with.
When you compose music or write parts for a song, what do you look for in each phase?
Honestly, in most cases I don’t know until we get to the next phase or movement. A lot of times we keep the same vibe and energy if it feels like it’s flowing or at the next movement, we take a different instrumental or vocal avenue which can lead to something with a different feeling.
Where does magic of music come from then?
I’m a big believer of the magic comes when you are doing the music you love to play and all members involved have the same feeling.
What about anger, do you use it to write music?
Probably more energy than anger. For me personally if I am angry I can’t concentrate properly. Any other mood there’s a better chance of productivity.
Did you study music formally?
I did some Audio Engineering subjects in University and at the same time I was writing, recording and playing live so I was completely fine learning from both aspects and not taken a full on formal music study road. What do you wish you had known when you first started playing guitar?
That guitar strings rust easy hehe.
If you had to compare your instrument, in your case the guitar, with a weapon, what would it be?
Catapults hehe.
Which album changed your life the most?
I would have to say Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz. I wanted to learn Crazy Train and Mr Crowley on guitar which lead into my love of playing music forever.
Now name two or three albums that are not of the metal genre but have an importance for you, and give us a reason.
Joh Farnham - Full House . It’s a live album and also was also released on video in 1991. John was still on fire with energy and the song selections were great. I remember the release been a big event here and brings back memories of the time. Blackmore’s Night - Under Violet Moon. I just love what Blackmore does. Even when it’s not Metal. It reminds me of a Folk version of Rainbow.
It’s ridiculous what the media will choose to hype up when it comes to music. There is definitely a limit to how imperfect something can sound. Would do you say? Is there an art to making wrong sound right?
For me personally there is no wrong or right especially in Heavy Metal. It was always about breaking the rules and combing previous music methods and playing it loud. Sure sometimes bands want to break away a little and try different things which I can understand.
Do you feel like you’ve finally got the music industry figured out?
Although I been in the music industry since my late teens, No... Not really haha... I have to be honest even over the last two decades I have seen it change so drastically in many ways I seriously would not know what to expect next.
What do you say to the people who criticize your music and call it overacting?
I guess I would say thanks for your opinion.
What kind of films do you like?
Horror, Fantasy, Comedy, Adventure, History, Sci-Fi, Documentary.
What color is your music?
Hmm... I’m gonna say Green. For some reason I was told green was used for melodic or melody terms or along those lines.
Are you reading any special book?
I read Sebastian Bach “18 and Life” recently.Well actually I bought the audio book of Sebastian himself reading the autobioraphy. Was recommended to check out by a good friend of mine and she said I wouldn’t be disappointed.. and she was right !! As a big fan of the first Skid Row albums it was a great. With Sebastian narrating it was just even better hehe
Has the rise of digital music technology changed the way that you personally think about composing albums?
It does help in a lot of ways. For me personally I like the way technology is going with audio programs. Better sounding products makes better productivity during the demo and writing sessions especially comes in handy to me.
In the end was it difficult to make that dream a reality?
Every day I’m always learning something new or I finally learn something I have been trying to nail for like 20 years haha. So for me there’s no point for dreaming if the reality is there is so much more to do and learn before thinking of dreaming.
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This is the online magazine of Hammerblaze. In it, our readers will find original content and interviews of different collaborators in subjects like Art, Literature, Music, Philosophy, and Science. We hope that this new initiative has the support and success of the other tasks that we execute. We are open to any suggestion, to all criticism, within the framework of respect and seriousness that drives us to carry out each of our activities.
