Siddharta
Siddharta is an original,
clever and intrguing moniker for a band, so is the music that these guys
deliver. So, after all Slovenia has a really good underground scene. Just
open your ears and listen to the beauty of music. Isn't it true after all
that music is a universal language? Let's listen to Siddharta's dialect
then...
1. First of all a typical question. Give
me briefly the band bio of Siddharta.
Siddharta began its journey back in 1995 as
a four-piece band, playing covers and learning instrument as time went
by. Initially there were only drums, bass and two guitars. Eventually we
felt the need to evolve our sound and as the creative process grew bigger
we invited a saxophone and a keyboard player to join the band. By now we
have released three albums and an album of re-mixes.Through the years we
played everywhere in Slovenia, from small clubs in front of 30 people to
a stadium gig with a symphony orchestra in front of 30.000 people.
2. Actually what is the meaning of the band
name and why did you choose it?
Siddharta got its name from a book by Herman
Hesse. It's a story of a boy and reaching your goal your own way, not obeying
the rules of society. We enjoyed the story, however the name was chosen
mostly because of its sound.
3. Tell me some details about the recordings
of your latest album "Rh-"?
We approached this album with much higher
ambitions as far as the production and sound are concerned. Therefore we
dedicated a lot of time seaching for the right guitar sound, the right
drums sound, etc. In addition we invited a string orchestra to play some
string arrangements for the record in order to achieve a more massive recording.
So the result is an album with really fat sound, lots of little programming
and noises, lots of details and arranagements.
4. Is it true that you released it back in
2003 with lyrics in your mother tongue?
Every album we make, we also release it in
our own language. That's our obligation to the loyal fans we have here
and it is not a burden at all. Our plan is to do the same for all our future
recordings as well.
5. Why have you decided to re-record it with
English lyrics?
It was a startegic decision. We really wanted
to release an album outside our country and we figured that the English
language would be the most appropriate since almost everybody speaks it
these days. It was quite difficult becase as non-native speakers we have
some accent to it. Therefore we hired some vocal coaches to guide us through
the pronunciation.
6. Can you describe your music?
That has always been a difficult question
for us. We've never liked to categorize ourselves and our music. It's basically
rock, with elements significant of other genres as well. It's melodic and
lyrics play an important part in it as well.
7. How did you feel when you saw your debut
album in the music stores?
Oh, incredible. It's like your baby is born
and now you have to raise it. It's always nice to hear or see your music
on TV or radio or in an article in a magazine...hopefully this feeling
will never go away.
8. Inform us on the future plans concerning
Siddharta.
Short-term plans are to promote the release
in Germany and do a smaller tour there. Release another single on the German
market and have a longer tour in the Autumn. As far as our long-term plans
are concerned, we would like to present our music globally and play in
front of as many people as we can. We strongly believe that music is a
universal language and there are no borders for it.
9. How is the rock / metal scene in Slovenia?
Lots of young bands are emerging and more
and more people listen to rock in general. Of course we have also some
older bands that made an impact on the Slovene music scene (Laibach for
instance). We think that it's going up-hill.
10. Are you satisfied by the help from your
record label?
Of course. We know that we are newcomers and
that breaking a newcomer on the market takes time and a lot of work. We
believe that they are doing a great job for now, however not everything
is up to them. Siddharta has to present itself as a strong live act, therefore
we have to play a lot of live shows. But in the end, that's what we want
to do.
11. Thanks for your time and close the interview
as you want.
Thank you as well for presenting us in your
webzine. We would like to salute everybody who enjoys good music...there
is no better way to feed your soul. Take care!
Antonis Maglaras
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