Interview by Matteo Bussotti
Their first album has just been released, but they didn’t stop working; in fact, they’re already working about their second release! I’m talking about Nightqueen, and, wanting to hear more from them, we interviewed their singer, Keely. We must say she was very nice, and she shared with us some very important, interesting facts and news about her band and her personal life. Interested? Keep on reading!
So, Keely, welcome to our site: Femmemetal!
Thanks for inviting me!
Are you satisfied with your album? Is there anything you’d like to change about it?
I love our first album !!!!! It’s like a new born baby. We worked really hard to create this magical story and if I may say so myself I think we did a great job. Of course we learned a lot during the process and there are little mistakes we won’t make again the next time. But for now I’m really proud!!!
Your band has had a very difficult story, with various changes of line-up. How did you feel when you finally had the perfect members for this album, when you said: “Ok, we are ready to do this, so…let’s do it!” ?
I joined the band in November 2010, at that time the guys were already talking about making this album. A few songs were already finished and others were written especially for my voice but we knew we had to make them special. One by one my knights are perfect musicians so during the creative sessions the songs became better and better and that was that moment when we said : “Yeah Hell, let’s do this !!!”.
What’s the creative process behind Nightqueen‘s songs? Who usually writes the lyrics, in what way one’s work affects the final product?
Most songs are created in Rex Zeco’s magical brain. He starts with an idea of a fantasy but then he relates everything with our daily society. He let us all listen to the song he came up with, and then the other musicians give their idea’s. If the idea is good, it gets used into the song and so you will hear in every song 5 or 6 different influences.
Is there a song which brings to mind any special memories, or with a particular creative process?
I try to sing each song with my heart, I put in every song all my feelings. To be able to do that I search for the special memories in each and every song. But if I have to pick one song of our album… mmmmm let’s say that I can relate very well to the lyrics of “Nocturnal” thoughts. But that’s me and my dirty mind hahahaha
How’s the “group alchemy” in Nightqueen? Do you tend to be very serious when you rehearse, or you tend to put up a comic show?
Hahahaha LOL (sometimes “we try to be” very serious when we rehearse, certainly when there is a gig coming up) but most of the time the guys are always joking so we have a lot of fun and laughter’s while we rehearse.
In your biography is stated that your style was created in order to have something new. Is there some other factor that influenced your sound?
We try to put some really good old-school 80’s metal with some 2012 rock sounds together with magical symphony and a heavy story to tell about society. All this and more made Nightqueen what we are today.
Moreover, are there any bands in particular that influenced your style?
Let’s say that we make a fusion of all the great things we ever heard in metal but still we try to keep it original by mixing it with new ideas. Also Rex is our main songwriter. He grew up with the music of Maiden, Priest, Accept, Helloween, Queensryche and Saxon. So it’s logic that he is a bit influenced by those bands. His riffs are played with an 80’s twist and has a lot of melody in it.
Personally, Keely, what are your favorite bands or singers? And did your style derive from them?
I love music in general but my all-time favorites are: Kamelot, Autumn, Delain, Epica, We Are the Fallen and many more… but I can’t say they really influenced me in my performance. We Have a totally different style and we’re just trying to tell our story in the best way we can.
When and why did you start singing? With “why”, I obviously mean the reason you began to sing!
I started singing really early, when I was about 9 years old. At that time my grandfather was a tenor singer and together with his children they started a cabaret group. Everybody in my family was singing and I really wanted to join them, so I started rehearsing in my bedroom. And then I kind of auditioned. So I could join them. Now many many years after, my mam still plays the keyboard and every time I visited her in Spain we perform together and sing the songs we sang back then.
What do you think about your fans? How do you interact with them, not only on Facebook or on Myspace, but also during your gigs, or your ordinary life?
I really love my fans. There are a few fans who knew me already from when I was still performing with my family. I switched my style but they stayed die-hard fans, some of them even became my closest friends in real life. But to all my fans I like to say that I really love to go on photo with them, so I have a souvenir and so I can remember every lovely moment we spend together.
Do you have any plans for the future? Are you looking for some gigs abroad?
We are already working, writing and creating a second album witch is going to be even better than our first album, because the story we want to tell is not finished yet. We are also looking forward to all the gigs we have on our program and all the gigs that are yet to come so we can meet all our amazing fans.
How do you feel about touring, especially about long tours?
Maybe in the future we will be going on tour, but first I think we need to finish our second album so we have something to show abroad, something to make our fans really proud of.
Finally, do you, Keely, have any special plans or projects (maybe as a solo artist) for the future?
My future is and will be with Nightqueen I don’t think I want to go off on my own without my knights… lol I would miss them tooooooooo much
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