INTERVIEW: Lucille Nightshade and Richard (Aevum)

QUICKIE OF THE WEEK: A short interview with Lucille Nightshade and Richard (Aevum)

Pix666: Hello Lucille, hey Richard. Thanks for your time. How are you doing these days, are you alive and well? How are the other guys of Aevum?

Lucille: Hello Pix! Thanks to you for having us. We are doing fine. We are lucky, we keep sticking together despite the difficulties due to Covid. We are still here, eager to play and make music!

Pix666: Your band Aevum was formed in 2009.? Please introduce your band to the readers in a few short sentences.

Richard: Actually we started in 2007 but it took a while to find the right set up, so we could say that we really started in 2011. At the beginning we wanted to play classic gothic metal (Tristania, Therion, Haggard were our inspirations). Then, we evolved through the time and right now we are playing a new modern gothic metal.

Pix666: Who are your musical idols?

Lucille: As a vocalist, my idols have always been singers. Especially female singers…when I was young they weren’t so common as they are now. So, they kind of were my role models. I would definitely say Tarja.

Richard: Sooooo many, just talking about metal and when I was a teenager I was a huge fan of Moonspell, Tristania, Rammstein.

Pix666: From your point of view, what are the milestones in the band‘s history so far – but also the experiences that you will never forget?

Lucille: I would definitely say that our milestone has been the European tour supporting Orphaned Land in 2017. We had the chance to live the “tour life”: travel every day, play every night. It’s been a wonderful experience: fun but also challenging.

I could never forget every single live show played with my band mates. I realized it even more since we were forced to stop playing live. It’s something we really miss: the true essence of metal!

Pix666: Some days ago your new single ‚Black Swan Theory‘ was released. How were the fans‘ reactions so far?

Lucille: We were really excited by our fans’ reaction! We were a bit worried because the new material is a bit different from our previous work, but our fans didn’t disappoint us! I’d like to use this space to thank every single one of you that listened to our new song: your support is essential.

Pix666: You also shot a really cool clip, which is set in one or more old houses. Where exactly did you shoot it and how long did it take? Did some totally funny things happen during this time that the fans should definitely know about?

Richard: ahah, actually the video was made on green screen. We were reproducing some industrial place. Something similar to the “Peaky Blinders” environment. The lyrics are inspired by this series and we wanted to recreate this ambient and at the same time remain original and in our way.

We are a bunch of Italian metalheads and, you know, we always tend to joke together. A fun fact is that every time we do something we organise first the catering, the food is always our main priority, and then and only then the rest.

Pix666: Some of your older videos have hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. That’s a remarkable number. How do you still manage to spread your music so well?

Richard: Thanks to our Label good job, since 2020 we belong to the DarkTunes roster and we are really proud of that. These guys are doing a remarkable job and for us it’s so much easier. Then, we are very active on social media too, and that can help us to spread the music all around the globe.

Pix666: I’m a fan of statistics of all kinds. What about you? Do you look at the numbers of streams, the views on YouTube, or do you know, for example, in which countries the people who listen to your music live?

Richard: Today numbers matter. It would be impossible to say that we don’t pay attention to that. Sometimes it’s sad, because something that got viral it isn’t necessarily artistical worthy. But this is how the market works.

Views on YouTube, listeners and plays on Spotify are the kpi for the musical business. Thank to analytic insights provided by these services we know everything. Where our songs are most played, the age, the gender, etc. of our listeners. It help the market to understand your audience and what they want from you. Then as artist you always have to compromise between the will of the market and what d would you like to do.. And it’s not so easy.

Pix666: Next year your new album ‘Glitch’ will be released. What will fans expect, are there some significant differences from previous releases? When will the album be available for pre-order, do you know it already?

Richard: ‘Glitch’ will be released on April 15th by our Darktunes Label and the preorder will be available several weeks before that date. Glitch represents another step in our sound evolution.

It will sound more powerful, aggressive and electro industrial like never before. But as usual every song will depict a different tale, grabbing a rainbow of different colours. It is one of our most effective releases for sure and we are really proud of it.

Pix666: Do you already have planned a tour for the time of the release?

Lucille : we are working on going back live! Planning at the moment isn’t easy, as there are still tours booked for 2020 that need to be played, and there’s still uncertainty due to COVID. But this is one of our main priorities. We can’t wait to feel the adrenaline of a live show and to connect with our fans in person.

Pix666: Your band consists of quite a few musicians. Have there been concerts where it got really crowded on stage – or was it necessary for one of the band members to play his instrument besides the stage ??

Richard: Of course! Actually is one of our main problems. I remember three funny moments on stage.

The first : the stage was so tiny that I was obliged to play behind the guitars Amp.

The second: our guitarist Emanuel obliged to play in a tiny part of the stage and the smoke machine was just pointing at him. So an entire concert with the smoke thrown at his face.

The last: one of the funniest and most embarrassing moment I had…when I fell down of the stage during the performance. With my mask I couldn’t see very well and suddenly I fell. I was lucky to not hurt my self very bad..everybody was making jokes of me…but actually I deserved it!

Pix666: What are your plans for the future? Are you already working on songs for a new, next album?

Lucille: we never stop working, creating, experimenting…it’s what makes us feel alive. I can’t say we are working on new songs yet, but there are some ideas in the making!

Pix666: As a musician, you surely spend most of your time creating music – but what else do you do in your free time when you want to distract yourself – are there any interesting hobbies you pursue? ?

Lucille: I play a lot of classical concerts and I’m also a teacher. Other than that, I’m a huge nerd and love spending my spare time playing games, rpgs and so on…

Richard: Actually we spend looooots of time managing many aspects of the band. For instance, social medias today take a huge part of our time.. and it is not so easy to create new material everyday for the followers. But we are really committed!

Pix666: Do you have any other news about that you would like to share with the fans?

Richard: Yeah, our brand new album “Glitch” will be released in April, but every month since then we will publish a new single / video. On December 17h the single “Austerlitz” will be published. So.. many surprises are waiting for you.

Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – Good luck and stay healthy!

Lucille: thanks to you and to all our readers! A giant virtual hug to you all, until the next live show ☺️

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