FIRES OF FREYA INTERVIEW

Answered by Cheryl Reynolds, Lead Vocals and Keyboards for Fires of Freya, unless otherwise stated.

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM

We are currently working on our debut album and hope to release this by the end of 2020 or beginning of 2021, we are 3 tracks in currently. Our next single “Complicated” will be released on the 21st of February 2020. I’m rubbish at placing songs into the correct genres but I’ll try! This new release has a blues rock sort of vibe to it, it’s full of ace riffs, bouncy keys, a strong vocal line and speaks of a situation where you’d like to have a relationship with someone, you like that person a lot but they suffer from mental health issues that stops a relationship forming, it’s got real truth to it, as does most of our songs and lyrics.

HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT THE SONGWRITING PROCESS?

We tend to have 2 ways of writing songs, 1) We have a jam and see what we come up with and I’ll either utilize the bank of song lyrics I have written or write something new for the music. 2) one of the band members writes the bones of a song, the initial idea and normally would record their idea on their mobile and send onto the band. We’ll then work on this idea and build it into a song as a band. Both ways are great songwriting processes as all opur songs then become the bands, none of this your song, my song nonsense which really doesn’t belong in a band.

WHAT INSPIRED THE ALBUM?

The album will be a mix of inspirations and sounds. We are quite eclectic with our song writing and so it’s hard to place us into any one genre or sub-genre, we are defiantly rock but after that the lines become blurred, we like it that way, keeps things interesting. There will be a lot of emotions driving this album, love, loss, betrayal. Its songs written on the back of emotions to life events so it’s all true to the heart. In terms of artist/bands that inspire our sound you can hear elements of Halestorm, Evanescence and HIM and even a slight funk vibe in some songs along the lines of The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and some grange vibes such as Bush, Nirvana and Hole but having said that, we have our own sound so these bands in combination inspire us somewhat, among others. There is a huge variety of influences in this band.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TRACK?

My favorites are “Bullet” and “Give a Reason”, these are both powerful songs with emotion and punch and keys heavy so fun for me to play. I also love a new one we are developing named “To the Bone”, it’s gritty and grungy and have stops and starts that add heaps of impact. “Take a Bow” tends to be the fan favorite, full of attitude and defiance, powerhouse vocals and blinding solos.

WHO ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES?

I may have answered this above! Halestorm are a big influence, Lzzy Hales voice is just out of this world! Evanescence, HIM, Hole, Bush, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and so many more!

WHAT RECORD CHANGED YOUR LIFE?

This is quite a dramatic question! I used to love Roxette when I was little, I still do! The video of “Listen to your heart”, where she performs so purely and with such emotion and the crowd are in front of her with their lighters raised, that is very inspiring for me. I loved Marie Fredriksson (so sad about her passing away!) and when I was younger, I wanted to be like her, confident and quirky and able to perform with raw emotion as is shown in the music video. That video made me want to be a performer in a band, so I guess that’s the one that changed my life as I wouldn’t probably be bothered doing any of this without that inspiration.

WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU DIDN'T MAKE MUSIC?

I’d be bored! I’ve always leaned on music to entertain myself wither be listening to it or trying to learn it. I love all things creative and I’d probably spend more time being arty if I didn’t spend time writing music. But I get to be arty too as we need album and single covers and graphics which I generally design, so this is a passion where I get to indulge in both music and art.

Dan (Drummer): – Probably be working with cars mechanically, my other passion is motorsport so I probably would be working in that industry somehow.

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECORD ONE OF YOUR SONGS, AND WHICH ONE?

Lzzy Hale can have any of our songs haha, she’d be ace at “Take a Bow” and “Bullet” she could go even higher than me and knock peoples socks off with them!

HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND?

None of us knew each other before we became band mates. We all found each other through a website called Join my Band. I responded to an ad of someone looking to create an all-girls grunge band back in 2017. We managed to get to 3 members but couldn’t find a female bass player so ended up bringing in a male. Over the 1st few months, we had a few member changes until Dan (current drummer) joined along with another of our past guitarists. So technically Dan and I are the original members of this particular band. Shaun (current guitarist) joined in May 2018 and then James (current bassist) a year later.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE STARTING OUT?

Patience, you must have patience and not get disheartened by setbacks. Your following will be small to begin with, it will increase! You’ll probably not write your best to begin with but you’ll figure out what the band plays the best eventually, and you’ll probably see band members change in the beginning until you get the right group of people who work well together and have the same goals so patience and optimism are essential. And have fun no matter what! If you make it big, great, that’s amazing! And if you don’t, you’ll have a ball of a time trying!

Dan (Drummer): I would say when starting out, play as much as possible when the chance comes up to help gain more experience playing in front of people. Over time you will meet people you fit with. The most important thing is to make sure you’re enjoying it.

WHAT IS NEXT?

We will finish off our album, release a few singles throughout the year and we aim to play more gigs outside the North East of England to increase our profiles. We’d love to play more festivals so that’s another big aim for us too!