“We will have a release at the time of the tour with Sirenia” – interview with Xandria

Bands change their looks, members, performances and styles. But luckily, what they don’t change is that they keep creating music. This is especially true for Xandria, who we had the pleasure of interviewing not long after their performance at Wacken Open Air. It looks like something is brewing — check out our interview to learn more!

Welcome on Chaoszine. How are you doing today? 

Ambre Vourvahis: Good, really good.

You had just an amazing performance on the Holy Ground. How does it feel to be stepping into such a historical place like Wacken? 

Marco Heubaum: Yeah, that’s a good question. It’s the first metal festival I’ve been to in my life, so it’s really nice to play here for the first time.

Definitely. And the bill here is huge, and there are so many amazing bands like yourselves. Are there any other artists that you want to see or that you’ve checked out, maybe for today? 

Ambre Vourvahis: Yeah, we are definitely planning on going to see Blind Guardian and Unleash the Archers. They are one of my favourite bands now, so I’m really happy I finally get to catch them.

Those are very great names that I’m also attending, so that’s amazing. You have recently announced a tour, a co-headliner tour with Sirenia and I was wondering what are your goals with this tour? Do you have any achievements that you want to have with it? 

Marco Heubaum: Oh, that’s an interesting question. We want to play shows, right? Meet the fans. [chuckle]

Ambre Vourvahis: No, but she means it in a way like we want to promote new songs that we will have, for example.

Marco Heubaum: Yeah, usually, of course, you release something in a tour for that. And we will have a release at that time, yeah, that’s true. But I cannot really tell more at this moment. But there will be new music coming for this tour.

That’s really amazing to know. I will be looking forward to it and to catching your tour as well.

Ambre Vourvahis: Thank you.

Do you have any fun rituals or traditions while you’re on the road? 

Marco Heubaum: We love to go sightseeing in countries and cities we like. We often do it together as a band.

Ambre Vourvahis: Eating.

Marco Heubaum: Yeah. [laughter] Oh yeah, right.

Ambre Vourvahis: Going to the best places, the best restaurants we can find. I’m usually the food tour guide. So, yeah, there is always something we do, especially on days off. And after the show, staying together on the bus, talking.

Benedetta Baldin: That’s awesome.

Marco Heubaum: We love doing stuff together on tour.

I think that it’s visible that you’re all a very cohesive group, even on stage. So, that’s very good to see, even as a fan. It’s always a pleasure when a band is enjoying themselves and being like a team. I was wondering, obviously you might have heard that now artificial intelligence is a bit catching up on technology. What are your thoughts when it comes to applying AI to music? Are you against it? Are you for it? Are you neutral? 

Marco Heubaum: I don’t really know enough about it to really judge it, I think no one of us does, what really will happen when maybe you just press a button and then a song is created without anyone performing it or even writing it. It’s hard to imagine that actually, this can happen because art feels, for us, something that we always have an advantage in creating in all human creativity over machines. The science fiction fan in me is excited to see what can happen, but as a musician, I’m, of course… I like to write songs myself. I don’t wanna let a machine do that. I wanna express what’s on my mind, what’s in my heart. And it’s nice if it’s helping in doing that. If you have some idea, you can try out a few things with it like simulating an orchestra or something like that.

I agree, the music created by human people, nothing can beat it. Would you like to share with us an unpopular opinion that you have? If you are shy or scared, I will tell you mine first.

Ambre Vourvahis: Go ahead.

Okay. I don’t like Game of Thrones.

Marco Heubaum: Why?  

I’ve tried reading the books; I’ve tried watching the TV show, but it’s just something that doesn’t appeal to me. And that’s weird ’cause I love all the other fantasy stuff like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, you name it, but… And what makes me a bit surprised is that I know a lot of stuff, that even if I’m not part of the fandom, I know the dragons and Daenerys and Arya and all of that stuff. And so it’s like, even I’m not a fan, but I got absorbed into it unwillingly.

Marco Heubaum: It is definitely different from most other fantasy that has been before, which is the new thing about it. That’s why it was so successful, I think. Because it’s not just about the fight between good and evil, which is… Usually, fantasy is very simple in that. Even Star Wars is actually fantasy, just set in space. It’s also just a fight between good and evil. But Game of Thrones, it’s much more… What’s the right word for it? It’s not just black and white. There are people that develop the characters. At some point, you think they become a good person, and then in that very last moment, they fall back into their old trap that made them be bad in the beginning. I’m talking about… What was his name? The Kingslayer in the very end. That, I find interesting about it, but it also makes it different from Lord of the Rings in which you don’t have much character development.

Ambre Vourvahis: What’s yours? 

Marco Heubaum: Yeah, right, okay. Well, I usually feel that I’m not very mainstream in a lot of things. Like when I see what people, like in music or when they judge certain songs from a band, I often find myself having a completely different opinion.

Ambre Vourvahis: Nothing comes to my mind right now. For sure, there’s a lot. Yeah, I just thought about something, and this is not so good to say it out loud, but hey, here we are. I don’t think Nirvana deserve the recognition and that they are such an amazing band. I don’t think so, even though I keep seeing it everywhere, watching random things, and they pop up. Like, yeah, I get it because they were the creator of the grunge. Each time you’re the creator of a genre, you become that huge band. It doesn’t always mean that you are the best in the genre. So, yeah, that’s my opinion. [laughter]

I’m Italian, so this question is, I think, mandatory. What are your favourite pizza toppings? And please, do not say pineapple.

Ambre Vourvahis: Nope, no pineapple. Me, it’s always mozzarella bufala with mushrooms. Yeah, that’s… And Parmigiano. I need… And tomatoes maybe. Yeah, pomodoro, and that’s my base. I don’t need anything else. [laughter] You like weird stuff.

Marco Heubaum: Yeah, I’m very much into frutti di mare.

Ambre Vourvahis: But he combines them all.

Marco Heubaum: Yeah, yeah. I like surf and turf with a steak, so I also do it on pizza. There can be anchovies and salami on a pizza together. It’s totally fine; it’s amazing.

Marco Heubaum: We have kind of a home base where we often meet. It’s the city of Einbeck where our drummer lives, and we have our favourite Italian restaurant. We always go there together and eat pizza.

Ambre Vourvahis: It’s the best. It’s the best pizza in Europe, non-Italian pizza, it’s the best that I’ve ever had. Yeah.

I wanted to play a little game with you, if that’s alright. So it’s summer, obviously, and let’s pretend that we are in Florida right now. There is obviously high temperature, and you are assigned to sell hot chocolate at a stand. How would you do it? 

Marco Heubaum: Well, you can freeze it and have chocolate ice cream. Or, you could also say, just go to inside the building, because they have air conditioning there. It’s always chill…

Ambre Vourvahis: That’s the thing. This is it. This is how you sell it because it’s cold everywhere in the US, even in the summer. Meaning that I’m much better outside than in the buildings because it’s freezing cold in grocery shopping everywhere. So, you would sell it in a way like, aren’t you sick of being cold in buildings in the summer? Get your hot chocolate to take wherever you go. Even appointments, it’s just AC everywhere, to the extreme. And even when it’s not that warm outside. So, yeah, I think that’s the point.

That’s the trick. Absolutely. Yeah, I think you’ve won the game. That’s the best answer I’ve ever gotten. So guys, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. Is there anything else you want to add to our readers? 

Ambre Vourvahis: Thank you so much for your support, always being there, and Chaoszine for also supporting us. Because I see what they post — everything. So, it means a lot. Thank you.

Marco Heubaum: Yeah, thank you very, very much, everyone.

Did you already check out Xandria‘s latest single? If not, take a listen right here: