Milana Solovitskaya – Tantal

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Interview by Vard Aman

Tantal formed in 2004 in Moscow and have been growing ever since. In 2007, the released their highly acclaimed debut album “The Beginning of the End”, but in 2011 their vocalist, Sofia Raykova, left the band. Meanwhile, they had begun the long process (they’re perfectionists – and it shows) of recording their second album, “Expectancy”. Milana Solovitskaya was brought in to do the clean vocals for the album, and she is now their permanent vocalist. We caught up with her for a chat.
 
Hi Milana, welcome to Femme Metal webzine.

Hello!

How did you end up becoming the vocalist of Tantal?

I found their advertisement in a music forum and sent them my live video and audios. I didn’t hear them before.

What is your musical background? Did you sing for any bands before Tantal?

At the moment I’m studying for an academic singer in the university. I’ve taken classes of different vocal styles and techniques for about 5 past years, mostly of academic style, though. As for participating in other bands, there was one under the arm band, it’s not worth mentioning).

When did you first hear Tantal’s music?

Well, if not count the casual listening before joining the band, I listened to the 1st album only after joining and even having already recorded 2 songs. I heard similar stories from the vocalists of my favorite bands and got indignant, but the same happened to me)

How would you describe the sound?

It’s heavy, rageful, sometimes epic, atmospheric and meaningful.

How would you say the sound has changed since “The Beginning of the End”?

It has become more mature. We got the structures faceted and the tracks more compact. And the instrumentals are even more masterly.

Who does the growls on the new album “Expectancy”?

It is the frontman of Moscow deathcore band Vector of Underground Vlad Lobanov. He’s a friend of the band and did the recording before I joined.

What are the lyrical themes on “Expectancy”?

All the lyrics are based on the feelings, thoughts and emotions of our guitarist and songwriter Dmitry. It’s very personal. The leitmotif of the whole album is about the state when you’ve grown up and got a little bit wiser, but it’s already late to change some things in your life and you deeply regret some mistakes you made. The state when you’re so devastated that you have no reason to live for and you’re searching for it desperately.

What has been the response to the new album so far?

It’s surprisingly warm. The professional responses are merely high, but the most precious for us is that our fans proved themselves open-minded and accepted the changes of style.

Are you planning to do more songs in Russian in future?

Maybe, in bonus tracks and kind of.

What does the name Tantal mean?

It has 2 basic meanings: the name of ancient Greek myth hero and the name of a metal, chemical element. We prefer the first interpretation.

Are there any plans to record another video in future?

We’re in the process of making our first professional video at the moment. Also we’re going to shoot lives as far as possible.

What are the best and worst things about being in a band?

I wouldn’t say there are bad things about being in a band – there are just difficult things, like dealing with other members’ views and opinions. Though people in the band usually have the same aim, they still have different opinions on how to achieve it and different tempers. And taking to account that these activities are voluntary and absolutely free, it’s sometimes hard to be kept together, no matter how close you are. But still deal able. As for the good things –there is plenty of them) The main one is expressing myself. It’s always been my dream – to sing in the band. Also it’s an opportunity to visit other cities and meet interesting creative people.

What other bands/musicians do you like?

Igor Stravinsky, Edvard Grieg, Tuomas Holopainen, Liza Gerrard, Amy Lee.

What do you do/like doing when you’re not singing?

I work at a full-time job – that’s what I have to do. What I like doing is studying vocals, writing songs, painting and other ways of self-expression. Also I like psychology and scrutinizing people.

That’s all for now. Thanks for chatting with us – I’m sure we’ll be talking again in the future.

You’re welcome! Thanks for the interview, stay metal everybody!

 

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