Leaves fronted by the lovely Raquel, is a band from Barcelona, and I am quite taken by their debut full length album, 'While The Light Continues Spinning'. Here is an email interview I have just conducted with the band...Let's rock n roll!
So can we firstly be introduced to all the band members, and can you tell us how Leaves all came together?
Well, we are Raquel singing, Manjón and Franck playing the guitars, Francis playing the bass guitar, Mireia playing the keys and Jordy playing the drums. The band began some years ago with the guitarists and Jordy playing together under the name of The Stygian Lake, with a male singer and without keyboardist. Francis and Mireia arrived at the band a couple of years before recording of our first mini-CD in 2002, Rachel joined us in 2008. We have suffered some changes along these years but now it seems like this is the final line-up.
And have any band members been involved or are still involved in other musical projects?
In this moment just Raquel is doing something out of Leaves. She is singing in a Fusion Jazz band, mixing with Soul, Blues and Funky… this is something that let her to earn some money. In the past, Francis and Jordy were playing in an alternative rock band called Mother’s Joke at the same time than Leaves.
Regards the 2002 mini cd. Can you tell us more about this record?
Yes, we recorded a mini-CD called XTC, we still were under the name of The Stygian Lake and our Singer was not Raquel. It was our first experience in the studio. We recorded 5 songs which just one of them survives now, 'Lost' (although we have done some changes in the lyrics). It was a really nice experience and was well received by the people. Unfortunately the problems with the line-up didn’t allow us to promote it us we wanted to.
And can you tell us about your new album? As to my ears it is a very good effort.
We have been waiting a long time for this album. Due to the changes in the line-up we have delayed the recording until this year. But we are really happy about the result. We wanted to do a good job and we took it easy and spent two months doing sessions in the studio to get the best sound possible. We could do it because we recorded in the home studio of Jesus Luna, who helped us in the production.
And what was the studio experience like?
As I said before we recorded in the home studio of Jesus Luna, our producer, except the drums which Jordy recorded them in High Gain Studios with Diego Güiz as engineer. We had time enough to dedicate and to get the results we wanted to. We think that is very important to take time enough and not to rush into decisions, especially in mastering.
To those yet to hear your music, how would you describe the music on your latest record?
Well, for us is very difficult to define our music. We are 6 people in the band and every one of us provides their influences. We have a female vocalist, strong guitars and a good rhythmic base. We try to have our own sound and to sound different from the rest.
And the title of the album, 'When The Light Continues Spinning' interests me. Can you tell us more about the title?
The concept of the title has a double meaning. The first one is the same than the first song of the album which speaks about that person we all have that keeps us on track and not let us take the wrong path. The second one is that this album has been our lighthouse during these last years and the idea of recording it has helped us to beat all the troubles we have found in the way.
Do you have any favourite songs on the album?
No, we don’t have any favorite song. Maybe we have some special songs because they have been with us for a long time like 'Lost' or 'Words', but all of them have something special for us and for this reason have been included in the album.
And have you had any media reaction to the album? and if you have, has that reaction been good?
Yes, the album has been well received by the media and generally by the people in the webs as well. We are on myspace and facebook where we have received positive comments from all around the world and it’s amazing for us, we are really happy with the reaction of everybody. We have also received interest from several promoters what has allowed us to support the Spanish tour of Orphaned Land.
Seeing that you have self released 'While The Light Continues Spinning', have you actually had any label interest?
No, the recording of this album was something we want to do independently if we had a label supporting us or not. We have not done any movement looking for a label but we could be opened to speak with them. We are more interested in the distribution of the album. For this issue we are using internet, that’s a tool that allows us to reach everywhere.
While listening to the music myself, I can certainly hear influences from the Anneke van Giers-bergen era The Gathering. Has anybody else suggested this at all?
Is a compliment for us to be compared with The Gathering because it’s a band which likes us but we don’t think we are a clone of them or we are “the Spanish’s The Gathering” as some media has suggested. We try to have our own personality but we accept that this is the only way to label a new band.
A question for Raquel - being a female fronting a rock/metal band in what is still regarded by some as a male dominated genre, is there ever a problem with being taken seriously?
No, we never have had any problem in this sense. The only problem we sometimes find is that here in Spain there is not tradition of bands like us and it’s difficult for us to build a way. We have not a reference band of this style here so we have to work hard to open up the path to Europe.
What is the metal scene like in Spain, more especially the female fronted scene?
The scene in Spain is basically amateur, as we said in the previous question we don’t have a big Spanish band triumphing in Europe so we have to build the professional scene from zero. There are some interesting bands here but we have a serious lack of promotion. Is very difficult for the bands to do gigs in good venues with good sound, we have to pay to rent the concert halls and these concerts are often not profitable, but we will not surrender and we are still trying to move and play as much as we can.
I assume that you are not fully professional. So what kinda day jobs do you guys have to help pay your bills :) ?
Yes, you’re right we are not fully professional. Raquel is the only one who tries to live of the music singing with her Jazz band. The rest of us are working full time in warehouses or offices. That’s another of the difficulties we have to beat because we don’t have all the time we’d like to dedicate to the band.
What are your musical inspirations at the moment, and what currently are your favourite bands/artists?
Well, we are not closed to a style. We like a lot of bands in and out of Metal. Among our favorite bands you can find Opeth, Tool, Gojira, Anathema, Katatonia, Queen, Björk, Pearl Jam, Muse… This is good for us to be 6 people with different influences and musical tastes it gives us the possibility of doing something different.
And do any of you have any hobbies when not making music?
We try to dedicate the most of our free time to the music and the band. Raquel paints, Franck plays football, but our jobs and the band take up the most of our time.
What band/artist would you just love to tour with and hang out with?
Obviously with any of the classic bands that fill stadiums, hahaha. Maybe Metallica, Iron Maiden, why not? And if we go down a ribbon… Tool. By the moment we will be supporting Orphaned Land at the end of April in their Spanish tour and we have coincided in some festivals with bands like Korpiklaani, Destruction, Amon Amarth… It helps us to be known.
And what are your band's plans regards future recordings or indeed touring?
Our plans for the future are to play as much as possible. We want to do something out of Spain and promote our album . By the moment we have not planned to record the second album, it will come later.
Well I must thank you for your time. Is there anything you would like to say to anybody via this website, who may be showing an interest in your music?
Thank you for your attention and this opportunity to let us know in UK. Maybe in the future we could visit you and do some concerts there.
Check Leaves out at www.myspace.com/leavesbcn and then buy their cd. This band deserves your support
Dave Smith (Apr 19, 2010)