Getting to Know… Arctic Dreams | Interview 🎤

In the 333^rd Q&A in our Getting to Know… series, we get the inside scoop from Serbian-German symphonic/industrial/dark-electro metal band, Arctic Dreams.

How does 🎙 Arctic Dreams describe their sound collectively? “[It’s] a mixture of heavy metal of different genres with classical music and dark electro,” vocalist/guitarist/composer 🎙 Alex_Y informs. 🎙 Sydius (backing vocals/guitarist) also provides a compelling response to our first burning question on this 333^rd Q&A: “The eclecticism of the band forms a holistic individual style, which we hope to deepen and improve.” Effin’ A! Like our many other Getting to Know Q&As, we get the inside scoop on the band: the genesis, goals, musical influences, and of course, current, and future musical endeavors. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into 🎤 Getting to Know… Arctic Dreams: Interview No. 333!

For those who may not be familiar with Arctic Dreams, what would you say makes you distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

🎤 Alex_Y: Good afternoon! The concept of our sound matured for eight years. And it was quite funny, we recorded all the drums and bass parts, but we had no idea then how our material would sound in the finale. Then we experimented for a long time. I think the listener will be interested in what we came up with in the end: a mixture of heavy metal of different genres with classical music and dark electro. By the latter, we mean a wide range of styles of what we call ‘electronic gothic’ – dark wave, synth pop, industrial and all that is around.

🎤 Sydius: The eclecticism of the band forms a holistic individual style, which we hope to deepen and improve”

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Arctic Dreams form and what were some of the goals or visions you had early on?

🎤 Alex_Y: Ok. We started in 2009, after I moved to St. Petersburg. We were quite young and were into that kind of music where Deathstars, Dope Stars Inc and others like them play.  It’s far from what we play now of course, but some of that remains. Then, I went to Helsinki in 2010, and that’s where our modern concept was born. I think it was influenced by my communication with Finnish musicians. A year later, I went back to St. Petersburg. The process of creating the material took a few years and we started recording the album in 2014 and finished it in 2022.

🎤 Sydius: I always wanted to play guitar and build a legacy with a lot of different recordings. This album took a while, and I hope to fasten our production process along with gaining more experience.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

🎤 Alex_Y: In principle, our goals have not changed.  Over the years, we have gained more experience and understanding of how and what to do. Now we want to release more material and travel to as many countries as possible with concerts.

🎤 Sydius: Of course, every step changes your view from a bright metal-fan-eyes perspective to the inside of the techniques, theory and business. And professionalism brings a cover of сynicism. It’s necessary to remember your first goals as the routine might replace it vastly.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Whom would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

🎤 Alex_Y: Oh. It could take many hours to list everything. Well, the first thing I would point out is Metallica is where I started to explore the metal scene and it’s my worldview. Next, I would like to mention Rammstein, I can’t even remember how many tapes of them I had. Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth were also a big influence on me. And, of course, NWOBHM: Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

🎤 Sydius: Frank Zappa – by his craziness as a musical style and humor as a musical technique, post-modernist combination of popular obscenity with high art and deep thoughts, over-the-top virtuosos doing something idiotically genius. I’ve spend decades listening to 8-10 hours of new music every day. This multiplicity itself has founded my eclecticism.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

🎤 Alex_Y: I guess it was the lack of monitoring on stage. It was one of our first shows (2009 or 2010), I was inexperienced at the time so I gave up on monitoring and went on with the show. Then watching the video was horrified. Thank God it was some kind of competition or something like that, there were a lot of bands and almost no audience.”

🎤 Sydius: Is diarrhea during the show a crazy enough story? Hope you don’t want  details.

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

🎤 Alex_Y: I think it will be 🎵 “The Arctic Dreams”. First of all, it was the only one recorded in the standard tuning. Its mixing is quite messy and different from the other tracks. But in spite of that, this song completely describes the concept of our project. Vocally it was quite good too, probably because I had a fever of 42º C (107.6º F) when I recorded the vocals. I often listen to it myself to raise my spirits.

🎤 Sydius: For me, songs that require performing variety are. Sufficient freedom in choosing level of expressiveness and intensity of the sound makes the same song differently special every time. To tell the truth metal is usually more straightforward.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

🎤 Alex_Y: I don’t like to praise myself too much but I can say that in 2021 I started to explore video production. Our first video clip was directed by me and after production, post-production was done by me too. I am very passionate about editing, color correction, compositing and VFX etc.

🎤 Sydius: So many interesting thing in this world. Now I’m learning a course on immunology for example. For fun. …Ah, it corresponds with the topic that was kind of popular some time ago.”

Closing out, what is Arctic Dreams currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.   

🎤 Alex_Y: “There’s no secret: we’re working on future releases and concerts.”

🎤 Sydius: While we are not concerned with the new material, I have additional time to practice, study some new things in take my musicality to the next level.

Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

Alex_Y: Thank you for your questions.

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Getting to Know… Arctic Dreams: Interview No. 333 [📷: Brent Faulkner/ The Musical Hype; Arctic Dreams; Darkmoon_Art, luis2500gx, OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay]