DATE OF INTERVIEW:

STREAM OF PASSION

21st October 2011

MARCELA BOVIO

METAL DISCOVERY: What’s the biggest compliment you’ve read in a review about ‘Darker Days’?

MARCELA: The biggest compliment I heard is when someone said the music touches them in a way they wouldn’t have imagined. For me, that’s just basically the biggest compliment that anyone can give me. The emotion that we’re trying to portray in the songs that they can relate to that, that they can feel it and, for me, that’s the best thing ever.

(Marcela Bovio on Stream of Passion's sporadic acoustic shows)

"...I do enjoy the freedom that we have when we’re playing acoustically because we’re not bound to the structure that is already there. I really like to improvise a little bit more and just let the emotion take me and do, maybe, some ad libs."

Marcela Bovio backstage at the Underworld in London, UK, 21st October 2011

Photograph copyright © 2011 Mark Holmes - www.metal-discovery.com

Interview & Photography by Mark Holmes

RELATED LINKS

Stream of Passion Official Website:

Stream of Passion Official MySpace:

STREAM OF PASSION DISCOGRAPHY

Embrace the Storm (2005)

The Flame Within (2009)

Albums & Singles

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Andy Turner for arranging the interview.

Out in the Real World (2006)

Live in the Real World (2006)

Darker Days (2011)

MD: And music, in essence, is all about emotions so if people click with that then I guess it’s job done.

MARCELA: Yeah, exactly.

MD: The converse of that – what’s the biggest insult you’ve read about ‘Darker Days’ or anyone drastically missing the point?

MARCELA: I read something once where someone said it was exactly the same as the second album, ‘The Flame Within’.

MD: Really?!

MARCELA: Yeah, I felt like they really didn’t hear it!

MD: With this album and the last, I’ve read more reviews comparing Stream of Passion to female fronted symphonic metal bands like Epica, After Forever, Nightwish etc. whereas for the first album you had more comparisons to bands from the prog scene. Does that frustrate you at all as you still have more in common with progressive music than female fronted sympho-metal bands?

MARCELA: It’s like a two-way street because, I think, we don’t really mind because we know that can get us a little bit more attention from people that we know might like our music even though it’s very different from Epica and Nightwish. But, also, fans that enjoy their music also enjoy what we’re doing. It does annoy me a little bit in the sense that I know there are a lot of people that just avoid it because it gets put in the same box.

MD: What can you do?!

MARCELA: Exactly!

[laughs]

MD: We came up with the analogy last time that Arjen and yourself gave birth to Stream of Passion and then he abandoned his child and left you a single mum – now you have the second album out, do you feel more established as a band in your own right away from Stream of Passion’s roots, now with good adoptive parents alongside you?!

MARCELA: [laughs] Yeah, definitely! We’ve taken everything in our own hands and it does really feel like it’s our own thing. It doesn’t feel like we’re borrowing anything from Arjen.

MD: What kind of feedback have you had from Arjen? Is he into what you’re doing now?

MARCELA: He likes it. We stopped by his place and showed him the new songs. He was very enthusiastic about the fact that we broadened our influences a little bit with more exciting stuff in there.

MD: I read that you did an acoustic show in Paris a few days ago and I read that you also did an acoustic set at the P60 after the album launch party.

MARCELA: Yeah.

MD: Would you ever consider doing a more acoustic based album in the future?

MARCELA: I don’t know. We haven’t thought about actually making an acoustic album but I do know that is something that I really love and it’s something that we might do a bit more anyway, even if it’s just for live shows. It’s a lot of fun and it lets us play music in a very different way.

MD: Has reinventing the songs in a more minimalist, acoustic style and approaching them differently made you think on any occasion what you could have done differently on the actual recorded versions?

MARCELA: No, not really, I don’t think we think about it all that much but I do enjoy the freedom that we have when we’re playing acoustically because we’re not bound to the structure that is already there. I really like to improvise a little bit more and just let the emotion take me and do, maybe, some ad libs. That’s a lot of fun.

MD: So the songs in a much rawer form.

MARCELA: Yeah, and a little bit more about the moment.

MD: I’ve read that you get lots of nice presents from fans, like lots of cookies and cakes, and stuff like that?

MARCELA: Yeah, we do.

MD: Rather than getting anything too weird?

MARCELA: Luckily, no! [laughs] Not so far, it’s just a lot of chocolate, cookies and beer.

MD: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve been asked to sign by a fan?

MARCELA: Errm…

MD: Or is that all quite normal too?

MARCELA: Well, no, not so long ago I signed my first butt cheek! He was sixteen or something. That was weird!

MD: The final thing I wanted to ask – what lies ahead for the band? I gather you’re booked over here again, next year, for the Fused festival?

MARCELA: Yeah, and I think that’s what we’re looking into right now, to be able to tour a little bit more, and keep bringing these new songs to as many people as possible. We’re really enjoying the live shows.

MD: And some headline shows over here in the UK would be good!

MARCELA: Absolutely!

MD: Right, thank you very much for your time.

MARCELA: No, thank you, and thanks for coping with me and my makeup!