Lahannya is one of my fave rock acts with two full cds under her belt, including the recently released gem 'Defiance'. I was recently given the opportunity to interview her, and I just couldn't say no. So here goes!
Dave: Can you tell me a little about Lahannya's history from the early days to present, and can you introduce me to members of your band?
"No problem Dave... After several band break-ups I decided to become a solo artist and recorded my first EP “Drowning” in the year 2000. After that I worked for several years as a guest vocalist for other artists, amongst them German industrial techno producer Soman and UK electronica outfit Greenhaus, until I resumed work on my own music after meeting Lutz Demmler at the M’Era Luna festival. Together we wrote and recorded the first full-length Lahannya album “Shotgun Reality”, which was released in 2007. Around the same time I put the live band together. Apart from being my co-songwriter and producer, Lutz took over live duties on bass, with Belle on drums and Chris Milden joined as guitarist. In 2008 we released the “Welcome To The Underground” EP with 4 new tracks and several remixes and in October 2009 we've just released “Defiance”, our second album and most aggressive release to date."
Dave: And I love that new cd too. What made you get into music in the first place?
"Music has always been at the centre of my life, whether it was teaching myself to play keyboards on an old Bontempi organ intended for the scrap heap or singing in my first school band. However, I started getting serious about it only when I realised that I had a talent for writing my own songs.... performing cover versions had never held a great deal of satisfaction for me."
Dave: Back to your latest recording. 'Defiance', like your others, I consider to be excellent. I assume that the album follows on from the EP, 'Welcome To The Underground'. Can you tell me more about the songs on 'Defiance'?
"OK. With “Welcome To The Underground” we first introduced a futuristic world set in a distopian Britain, a surveillance society where only the adherence to strict rules allows you access. “Defiance” delves further into this world and into the story of a group of resistance fighters who have withdrawn into the London Underground tunnels, creating a parallel society where the law of “Survival Of The Fittest” once again applies. The songs on "Defiance" trace the path of one of the Underground rebels who has to live with the terrible knowledge of having created the technology that made such extensive surveillance possible."
Dave: How would you describe your music, and are there any particular meanings to the songs on 'Defiance'?
"Describing your own music is next to impossible Dave, so I am not even going to try. The music press have compared us to Lacuna Coil and Evanescence, although I think that’s quite misleading. The best and most innovative description I have read to date was that we sound like a cross between Pain and Madonna. The lyrics on “Defiance” tell of disappointment, despair, guilt, betrayal, hatred and revenge, which is one of the reasons why this album ended up sounding darker and more aggressive than previous releases."
Dave: Do you have any favourite tracks?
"I love all the new songs, but especially enjoy playing “Burn” and “Sick and Tired” live!"
Dave: Was the recording of this current album simple, or did it give any major headaches?
"As both Lutz and myself are perfectionists recording an album is never simple. No matter how good something is there are always ways of making it better or at least different! But apart from my perfectionist flaw the whole recording process went very smoothly and we had a lot of fun in the process."
Dave: What has the reaction to Lahannya been like in Europe?, and bearing in mind you are a regular on the UK circuit, what is the reaction like over here?
"Actually, so far, the reaction at live shows has been fantastic everywhere we’ve been! The biggest challenge for us, and probably any new band, is to get in front of audiences in the first place, but this year has been amazing with six festival performances and tours in both the UK and Germany."
Dave: I am still noticing a prejudice against females in rock from certain quarters. So as a female in a still male-dominated genre, is there ever a problem with being taken seriously?
"I have not really noticed that we’ve been treated differently from male-fronted bands. Our biggest challenge is that we don’t fit neatly into a single genre and therefore a lot of the press don’t quite know what to make of us. However, now that we’ve released a second album many magazines are realising that we are here to stay and we are getting a lot more attention this time round, especially on the continent."
Dave: A question I tend to ask artists is if they have been involved with any other projects over the years. Well I know full well the projects that you have been involved with :), but would you like to fill the visitors of this site in as to what you have been getting up to musically outside of the band Lahannya?
"There were lots of solo projects in the early years - I've mentioned some of those above and "Welcome To The Underground" had remixes on that were done with some of those people, but recently it's all been about Lahannya, nothing else."
Dave: Within Temptation has been making waves here in the past (thanks to Roadrunner getting behind this band), but I feel that the female fronted rock/metal scene here in the UK could and should be better. What are your expectations of the rock scene as a whole in mainland Europe and indeed the UK?
"There are some amazing bands around at the moment – female-fronted and otherwise - but for a band to make it, to reach the level of popularity that Within Temptation have, you need more than just talent and drive. You need a major marketing budget in the tens of thousands of pounds and a solid network of contacts. I don’t believe that the demand for female-fronted rock as a genre unto itself will ever be as high in the UK as it is in Belgium and the Netherlands for example, but there is a great appreciation for good rock and metal irrespective of gender in the UK, which makes the UK one of the greatest countries to live in as a musician!"
Dave: You gig a lot, but is there any particular band you would like to tour with/hang out with?
"There isn’t anybody in particular..., you can never tell whether a band is going to be fun to be with until you actually spend time with them. But, if I was given the opportunity I would love to tour with Rammstein or The Prodigy because that surely could never be dull! Just in case that doesn’t work out, I’d happily share a tour bus with The Love Crave from Italy as they’re one of the coolest and most fun rock bands I’ve met so far!"
Dave: Actually, I am a fan of The LoveCrave, Really cool! Musically and spiritually who/what are your inspirations?
"Musically, I’ve been inspired by a variety of artists from the Kidneythieves to The Prodigy, Dimmu Borgir to Bush and Tori Amos to Celldweller..... In terms of lyrics and subject matter, I take my inspiration from what is happening around me and from my own emotions. For the story that underpins “Welcome To The Underground” and “Defiance”, I didn't really need a lot of imagination, after all, the UK is well on its way to becoming a surveillance society par excellence with ASBOs being handed out left, right and centre and government databases being joined up…"
Dave: I agree! What have you learned about the music industry so far and what tips can you give to others?
"The best piece of advice I can give is, don’t waste your time waiting for a manager, booking agent or record label to make things happen for you. If you are prepared to work hard, not just on the music but also on the business side, and you don’t give up, you can achieve an awful lot. No one will work as hard for you as you do yourself and no one will invest more money into your band than you are prepared to do yourself. If you don’t put the work in, why should anyone else?"
Dave: When you are chilling out who do you listen to?, and do you have any hobbies when not making music?
"My favourite bands at this very moment are probably Mankind Is Obsolete, Disturbed and Dimmu Borgir. For chilling out, I quite like Tori Amos, The Cranes and Loreena McKennitt. I don’t really have any time for hobbies, but when I did I used to go scuba diving and climbing. Nowadays I often relax with a good DVD and glass of red wine after a long day’s work."
Dave: Finally is there anything that you would like to say to the fans in Europe and in particular the UK via this site.
"Thanks for the support over the years and I hope to see you on tour this November!"
A really lovely down to earth lass, I can assure you. Well, Lahannya and band will be in Birmingham on 7th November at the Femme Metal Fest at The Asylum, if you wanna check them out.
Dave Smith (Oct 28, 2009)