Arctic Dreams interview 30/5/24
MM: Can you tell us about your Band and whos your biggest influences
[ALEX_Y]: “Hi! Our band is called ‘Arctic Dreams’. We are very much influenced
by three things: heavy metal classics (Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Judas
Priest) and so many other bands, the electronic gothic scene and monumental
classical music”
[GENA]: “This is going to be a very large list. But I still believe that new sources of
inspiration will be found”
[NENAD]: “My influences range far and wide from different backgrounds. Some
examples from the top of my head are Gustav Holtz, Ritchie Blackmore, Morbid
Angel, Slayer, Peter Tagtgren’s Hypocrisy & Pain, Dream Theater, Tears For
Fears, Vangelis”
[ROMAN]: “My biggest influencer is Blind Guardian and a lot of things”
MM: Where do you draw your inspirations and ideas from
[ALEX_Y]: “ Personally, I find inspiration in the things around me. It can be
incidents, books, movies, computer games. I just take them and put them in our
meta-universe. ”
[GENA]: “It could be anything. Watching a movie, chatting with people, rain,
sunset, exetera. The main thing is to catch the mood and pick up an instrument. ”
[NENAD]: “Usually I just play around with the guitar or instrument until something
clicks. That is when the inspiration starts rolling, and depending on the mood that
day or time period the music follows suit.”
[ROMAN]: “The biggest source of inspiration is boredom=)”
MM: What would you say is your Bands favourite song ?
[ALEX_Y]: “ I am the author of all the material on the album. And for me, all the
songs are like children. You love your children equally, don't you? ”
[GENA]: “It's a complicated issue. When you put effort and energy into music, it's
very difficult to evaluate it with an open mind. I'd rather the listener pick the best
songs. ”
[NENAD]: “Damn, I love all these songs. I guess my top three would be Lethargin,
Storm and Balkan Wolves. I love all the songs since they all have a different story
to tell in the best way it can be written for Arctic Dreams”
[ROMAN]: “The one with the blast beat”
MM: Plans tour and festival wise for 2024
[ALEX_Y]: “ I can tell you that we are definitely planning some shows in 2024.
When exactly - we can't say yet, it depends on a lot of factors. ”
[GENA]: “I prefer not to make plans a few steps ahead. At the moment the main
goal is to record and release a single with the new lineup”
[NENAD]: “Now we are more focused on recording the new album. Once we get
deep into the mixing stage we might play a few shows regionally.”
MM: What can we expect from Arctic Dreams live
[ALEX_Y]: “ Fury, strength and metal”
[GENA]: “Good show, good sound, technical performance.”
[NENAD]: “A killer show, very energetic and heavy as fuck.”
[ROMAN]: “Em... Metal?”
MM: What do you like best and worst abt touring
[ALEX_Y]: “An exhausting road is an exhausting road. But it's all made up for by
meeting fans at concerts and you forget about all the difficulties. ”
[GENA]: “I love touring. The only bad thing is that tours inevitably come to an end.
”
[NENAD]: “The best part are the shows of course and meeting new people, new
fans. The worst would be the commute between cities and towns, anything can
happen!”
[ROMAN]: “Usually it is annual leave, so I like not to work=) The worst thing is
that have to work”
MM: Which three Bands would be your ultimate touring buddies
[ALEX_Y]: “Metallica, Rammstein and Slipknot. ”
[GENA]: “Those who would be fun to spend time on the road. ”
[NENAD]: “As long as we click well together, like to drink and party, and look out
for each other, it could be any three bands. So yeah, these three things basically.”
[ROMAN]: “Metalica, Michael Jackson and Egor Letov”
MM: What's the most memorable concert you've been to (other than your
own) and why
[ALEX_Y]: “ It was Rammstein and Slipknot. Those bands put on bombastic
shows”
[GENA]: “Any Dream Theater live show. Every time they came in town I was there
and it was fantastic.”
[NENAD]: “Simple Minds, Beer Fest 2011. The sound production and live
musicianship by the band left my jaw to the floor.”
[ROMAN]: “I remember the concert in Nizhniy Tagil. There were 20 people or
something like that but they gave us the energy of the stadium! I thought that they
would destroy the building! I have never experienced such energy from the
audience so I strongly recommend everybody to visit Nizhniy Tagil”
MM: What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment so far with
[ALEX_Y]: “My move to Europe from Russia. The more I live here, the more I
realize what opportunities there are here, how metal is really loved and supported
here. ”
[GENA]: “I'm still making music”
[NENAD]: “Stayin’ alive, haha.”
[ROMAN]: “Many things not related to music=)”
MM: Which are your Two favourite Albums of all time
[ALEX_Y]: “Metallica - Black Album, Rammstein - Mutter”
[GENA]: “Images and Words and Rising force probably. But why two and not
three... or ten?”
[NENAD]: “Too many to choose, depends on the mood.”
[ROMAN]: “Blind Guardian - NIghtfall in a Middle Earth and Nightwish - Once”
MM: Can you remember the first time you ever played live and how it felt to
have people watching you?
[ALEX_Y]: “I will remember this for the rest of my life)))) I even have a video of
it))) I was 17 years old and we performed with my first sympho-black metal band
“Impure Temenos” in which I played guitar and sang. All this was happening in the
club “Podzemka” in Rostov-on-Don, which is not far from the city where I was
born. I distinctly remember that there was a very low ceiling in the dressing room,
and I had a B.C.Rich JRV guitar. You know, it's a Flying-V guitar and the head of
the fingerboard is in the shape of the devil's horns. Before I went on stage, I hit the
head of the guitar against the ceiling and a piece of the horn broke off. I still have
that guitar. When I look at it, I remember it. All in all, the performance was great.
The club was packed to the brim with sound and no one could hear how wrong we
were, ha-ha-ha))).”
[GENA]: “2009 year. I was 19 years old, and I was drunk as f**k. So i don't
remember anything, but my friends told me it was cool.”
[NENAD]: “I was 16 and was unfortunately drunk, so I can’t remember.”
[ROMAN]: “Sweaty”
MM: Growing up which Bands posters did you have on your bedroom wall.
[ALEX_Y]: “ In Russia there was such a paper magazine called “Dark City”.In
each edition there was a poster with some band in the middle. I had these posters
hanging on my walls.”
[GENA]: “ I had posters of the films Alien and Total Recall in my bedroom.”
[NENAD]: “Didn’t have any growing up.”
[ROMAN]: “Dmitry Mendeleev - The Table”
MM - Who do you think influenced the world of Metal / Rock more than any
other person
[ALEX_Y]: “The band “Kings of Rhythm” with their composition “Rocket 88”. Their
amplifier went bad and their producer noticed an interesting effect it was
producing. This effect was later called “Distortion”. That's how the history of metal
began.”
[GENA]: “So many people and everyone's contribution is priceless ”
[NENAD]: “Lemmy Kilmister, Tony Iommi and Eddie Van Halen.”
[ROMAN]: “It’s hard to compete with Tony Iommi”
MM - What's the most important thing to the band right now?
[ALEX_Y]: “For our group? Finish the second album))”
[GENA]: “Being together, supporting each other and making good music”
[NENAD]: “Getting the album out and playing the songs to our fans.”
[ROMAN]: “Do what you can and hope for the best”
MM:If you could do a cover of any song which one would it be and why?
[ALEX_Y]: “It would be “Show must go on” by the famous band Queen.”
[GENA]: “I've always loved it when a metal band covers famous pop songs. But at
the moment, the idea of making a cover doesn't resonate with me.”
[NENAD]: “Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears. The subject
matter still holds up to this day”
[ROMAN]: “Diablo Swing Orchestra - Voodoo Mon Amour. I think Jazz-Metall is a
criminally underdeveloped genre”
MM: Tell us why we should buy and listen to your Band
[ALEX_Y]: “Because we want to immerse you in our world, our meta-universe.
We hope you will find a lot of interesting things in our creation)))”
[GENA]: “We need the money, the bills won't pay themselves you know. Buy our
album, listen, you'll love it.))”
[NENAD]: “With me on the new album, we have a very wide range of sounds and
styles, pretty progressive but to the point going from goth and dance all the way to
shredding and speed.”
[ROMAN]: “For you to decide”
MM: Four words to describe Arctic Dreams
[ALEX_Y]: “Frost, north, darkness and rage.”
[GENA]: “Heavy, atmospheric, deep and beautiful”
[NENAD]: “Eclectic, moody, fun and brutal. ”
[ROMAN]: “Band I just joined”
Final Words for your fans and our readers
[ALEX_Y]: “Looking for something new and interesting? Welcome to the world of
Arctic Dreams”
[GENA]: “I want to see you at our live shows and read your feedback on our new
songs”
[NENAD]: “Can’t wait for you to hear the new album and hear what you like about
it!”
[ROMAN]: “Have a good day!”
We have a number of resources on which we regularly update:
https://arcticdreamsofficial.com
https://www.instagram.com/arcticdreamsofficial
https://www.facebook.com/arcticdreamsband
https://arcticdreams.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/@arcticdreams231
https://soundcloud.com/arctic-dreams
https://vk.com/arcticdreams
https://www.tiktok.com/@arcticdreamsofficial
https://twitter.com/ArCTiC_D_Metal
