Crimson Moon: How did the band get started?
Elina: I started the band back in 2011 after I was going through some hard times in my life. I wrote a few songs which then made me think it would be actually great to play them live so I decided to form a band
Crimson Moon: What kind of music do you play?
Elina: I’m inspired by loads of things and like to try new things so all my songs sound a bit different to each other. But I guess the best description would be melodic metal/rock
Crimson Moon: How has the band response been?
Julia: It’s been good enough for us to want to keep doing what we do, which is no small thing nowadays. People are incredibly supportive, it’s great.
Crimson Moon: Where did the band name come from?
Elina: The original name EnkeliNation was a combination of Finnish word enkeli=angel and had my name in the middle. This proved quite hard for people to understand, remember or pronounce so recently we made the big decision to use the English version of the name, Angel Nation.
Crimson Moon: Introduce the band members
Julia: Our drummer Lucas is the most recent addition to the band. I joined about a year and a half ago on bass, Elina and guitarist Shadow being the core members despite lineup changes and other calamities.
Crimson Moon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Elina: I write the songs but especially with the latest songs (written for yet unreleased second album) our guitarist Shadow was involved a lot more. Usually I write the song (melody, keys) and then send it to him and he will make some guitars and drum ideas and then we go from there. I also write the lyrics.
Crimson Moon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Elina: Again I draw inspiration from many different sources but almost all of the songs are somehow to do with my own life. i need to be able to relate to the text and it’s just very natural to use your own experiences and life as inspiration. One song was inspired by the movie Terminator 2 though 😀
Crimson Moon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Julia: The first album ‘Tears of Lust’ was out in 2014, we just released a single called ‘Do It Anyway’ that’s doing really well.
Crimson Moon: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Elina: Our latest release is a single consisting of three tracks. ‘Do It Anyway’ and ‘Devil’s Voice inside’ are combination of something modern, retro and of course the sound of my voice which makes them quite unique sounding. ‘Never ending’ is a track from our first album and it’s a live recording so gives a bit of a different side of the band to listen.
Crimson Moon: Do you have any side projects?
Julia: I also play in a Heavy Metal band called Night Screamer.
Crimson Moon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Julia: From Queen to Rush, mainly legendary rock bands, but you would also hear some unexpected names. We come from different music backgrounds and are influenced by different artists, which makes things interesting.
Crimson Moon: Which current bands?
Julia: We respect current bands because, especially at this moment in history, being in a band is very hard work. For me, inspiration mainly comes from older bands. They’re the ones that came first and revolutionized rock music.
Crimson Moon: What is the band like when you play live?
Elina: I love to have fun on stage and bring the energy. I think it’s important to let the music guide your performance, to keep things genuine and enjoy what you do.
Crimson Moon: What was the best band you played with?
Julia: There’s no “best”, as far as I’m concerned, but playing with Battle Beast was great, they put on a very enjoyable show and the singer kinda reminds me of a female Dio.
Crimson Moon: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Elina: We played in Finland at a summer festival. Traveling from UK is always a bit more tricky but we’d love to get to Europe as people keep asking us to play there for ages now!
Crimson Moon: How big of crowd shows up at shows usually?
Elina: It always depends on the gig completely but we’ve always had a decent amount of people attending our gigs. Sometimes it can be the smallest crowd that is the best though 🙂
Crimson Moon: How is the crowd response when you play?
Julia: They throw potatoes and other medium sized vegetables at us. Just kidding, they have as much fun as us of course! Having lots of people come talk to you after the show means you’re doing it right, I hope that never stops.
Crimson Moon: What is the scene like over in your country?
Julia: I’m from an island called Sardinia (Italy). There definitely is a Rock/Metal scene, just not large enough for bands to sustain themselves. I’ve seen local bands that would 100% get a record deal if only they moved abroad, but Sardinia is like a boring woman that is too beautiful to leave.
Crimson Moon: What made you want to be in this band? And if you weren’t in this band what would you being doing now?
Julia: It was mainly the huge potential in Elina’s songs, and also that the band cannot be labeled too easily. We’re trying something else here, and I’m curious to see how far we can take it. If I wasn’t in this band… I guess I would be working on a different project.
Crimson Moon: What does the future hold for the band??
Elina: We’re hoping to complete the recordings for our second album and then plan some live dates, we all miss playing live with Angel Nation so much!
Contact them:
http://facebook.com/AngelNationMusic
http://youtube.com/EnkeliNation
