Интервю с Lena Cataraga (Scissorhands) за INFECTED RAIN, турнето и всичко около групата

INFECTED RAIN is a female fronted metal band from Moldova formed in 2008 with a debut tribute concert to Slayer on the 3^rd of August same year. After it’s debut the band plays at the Red alert festival in Krim on the 8^th of august. In the end of the same month, INFECTED RAIN record their first demo cd, containing 3 songs: “With me”, “Parasite” and “No idols”.

In the summer of 2009 the band releases their single which includes 6 songs: ”Judgemental Trap”, “Panika”, “No more”, “Escape”, “Go away” and “Homeless”. In the winter of  2010 they shoot their first video for “Judgemental Trap” and after that they play a couple of concerts in Moldova and Romania. On the 25^th of November 2011 their first album “Asylum” is released.

In January 2012 the band releases theirs second video to the song “At the bottom of the Bottle”, and shortly after that they headline the Metal Special Fest. After that their video to the song “Me against you” is released followed by the single “Stop waiting” which also is released with a video on the 8^th of March.

Their first gig in Bulgaria is in 2013 and to learn more about the band and their hardship through the years you can read the interview I took below:

Hello, how are you feeling? Right now you are touring in Europe, where was your best show for now?

Lena: I feel great, very good actually, our tour is almost over. We have less than a week until the end of our concerts and I’m very happy to be back here in Bulgaria, because I’ve always felt it very close to myself and I’m always filled with a lot of positive emotions.

For us is always very good to be back here and I can’t choose which concert was the best until now, because they are always very different. We’ve played from small club concerts to big festivals. On this tour we had the opportunity to play with female fronted bands, male fronted bands and so on. The concerts alone were very different and individual so I can’t just pick one place.

This is not your first visit here, how was your first time in Bulgaria and what emotions are you left with after all those concerts?

Lena: When we last toured, we had 4 concerts in Bulgaria, now it turned out that we have only 2, but none the less we are very happy to be here. We are always returning with positive thoughts, because the bulgarian crowd is always welcoming us warmly. Last year our gig in Sofia was just incredible and unforgetable, the show was indeed really strong! We’ve managed to get to know each other with the other bands that warmed up for us, we got to know the people that came although the bad weather. The atmoshpere was warm and friendly. A really unforgetable concert.

I really like the fact that people here actually really support the scene, because there are a lot of people that stay home, don`t go often on concerts or local gigs. They prefer to watch concerts on Youtube for example. It is a real honor when people choose to come to our concert instead of watching it online.

What follows for you now, after your european tour is over and you go back home?

Lena: Right now we are in the middle of recording our new album. We started it right before our european tour. Right now we are preparing the album, which will be released in the end of the year or in the beggining of 2017. We’ve recorded a lot of new material, we shot 3 videoclips, and they are being edited as we speak.

I’ll tell you a secret. Our new album will be called “86”. 

When we get back home from touring we’ll finalize it.

This year you released your single and a video to the song “Serendipity”. Will it be part of your upcoming album?

Lena: Yes, this is a single from our upcoming album.

And the song “Freaky carnival”?

Lena: Yes, I decided to publish a video of our live performance during our tour in Instagram. This song will be also in the upcoming album along with “Intoxicating” and “Fool the Gravity”.

Can you tell us how many songs will your album include and that is the main concept?

Lena: It’s impossible to define one concept, because each song is individual. I write the lyrics on my own, and they are reflection of my life, my feelings, the things that are happening to me at some point, positive or negative. I write what I feel inside. Thats why the lyrics are always individual and personal, deeply connected to what I go through in the given moment.

The lyrics that I write are always a mirror of my soul and are highly emotional.

What is your biggest success and what do you want to achieve in the future?

Lena: To us every concert that we do is equal to success. It’s not important if we are on a big stage or in a small club, if there are 100 people in front of us or 1000. Every concert that we present our music is our success.. The opportunity to present in front of people, the thing that you do and their reaction, their perception, the fact that they are here to share the moment with us is of a great importance and we really feel it as a big success.

Of course in the future we are planning a lot more things with which we want to upgrade that what we are now. We have really ambitious plans and dreams, which we well work hard to achieve and continue to share with all our friends all over the world. The most important thing is that we are always looking forward, we fight for the things we feel and do and we never refuse to continue.

What is the role of every member in the band? Who is doing what?

Lena: You know, everyone is trying to contribute with everything. Some of us are engaged in the more technical moments, others with the music, I’m writing the lyrics. Every small detail is distributed among us in the way that builds the whole band as one, so we can do everything together.

Vidick for example, our guitarist, is editing almost every video or tour videos that you’ve watched, and he spends a lot of time on them too. For myself I already said about the lyrics. Everyone of us has a job in the band in general and contributes a lot to the band. Together we always look forward.

What were you like in the beggining? What changed until now in you, your music and the band in general?

Lena: Honestly said, there has been a remarkable progress in us. In the last 3 years we’ve grown to be more serious and much more mature. In the last years you can notice growth in the band itself. We’ve visited over 27 countries including Russia and most of Europe. We always learn from our mistakes, which helped us develop as people and musicians altogether. Wherever we went, we returned and learned from our experience.

We were always alone as a band. We never had a label or something like that. We were always all alone, and we learned from and faced with everything together. We learned from the things that weren`t okey and that helped us in the process through the years.The mistakes that are happening could be from small and insignificant mistake to big and tragic mistakes, but as musicians for us it`s very important to work on ourselves and to be able to work well as a team.

When we are doing something, a video or a photo session we never think of it as “What can we do at the moment” but how we want it to be, so we can actually achieve it. We put all our energy and soul in everything that we do.

What is the main rule, that you have to follow so you can be successful and to manage to spread qualitatively your art?

Lena: The first rule is to always be serious, because this is a serious job that requires all your devotion and energy. If you want to be successful you have to be able to give everything you’ve got, to work above your qualities, to evolve your skills and to give your maximum.

Something that is really important to me is to be humane. To be fresh on the stage, energetic, after that to stay and talk with the people. To give them a little bit of your time.. In my opinion this is very important in the communication with the crowd.

Also, for every individual there are different small rules that are important. For me for example is the food, especially on tour, because I’m training and I need energy, which I use on stage. Before every show with the band, we warm up properly before walking out on stage later. This is strictly individual but in the process everyone is building his little rules which to follow and be satisfied because of them later. The most important thing is that when you walk out on stage, you have to be able to be complete and give your maximum.

What advise would you like to give to the musicians in the start of their carreer?

Lena: Never give up. And I’m serious, because unfortunately a lot of people are leaving their dreams behind and they just forget them. They make families, start a different job and life passes by. Never let your routine of the every day life take over, never give up and continue walking your path because giving up is the biggest mistake a person can do. To just go with the flow.

To reach the top you don`t have to give up. You don`t have to stop learning, stop searching new information and exploring yourself. That’s the only way to continue and reach your own top. There are so many talented people all over the world, that don`t reach the stage, because they didn`t follow their dreams and gave up to the routine in their life.

What do you think about the metal scene now in the world?

Lena: It doesn’t matter if we are talking about metal bands or pop or whatever the genres, the most important thing I notice and I like is that we have audience and fans that are attending our concerts. For me this will always be most important, no matter what style. The most important thing is to have support from the people so the music as any other art can have a place to evolve.

If the music is the best way to send a message to the world, what is your message?

Lena: Love the music, support your local bands, enjoy their concerts, we exist thanks to all of you!