Technology has changed its role from being a tool for recording and mixing to a tool for creating music and composing. Magdalena Loborec a.k.a The blonde Guitar Heroine is gonna tell us more about it, and how she sees the future of these kind of projects could be. Not only that, Angel of Fire‘s – which was previously interviewed – current status. Let’s discover…
You moving to Germany means the band Angel of Fire will be on hold till you go back to Croatia, or do you have other plans for it while you are in Germany?
Wow, it’s been a while since our last chat! It is great to hear from you again, and that you’ve been following what’s going on. Angel of Fire has been such an adventure, but since I moved to Berlin, it looks like this: new city, new life, new worldview, new music.
Where did the idea of The Blonde Guitar Heroine come from?
In an Egyptian Restaurant, haha! It was a casual Friday evening with my girlfriends… and we wanted to check out this new place. The girls became very creative and started pushing me to do something new with guitar, maybe a guitar show. One thing led to another, and finally we picked up the name The Blonde Guitar Heroine and the whole concept in the same night.
The idea is to cover most exciting guitar solos and songs of all time, in different aspects, using only one guitar. To show people the possibilities of such a beautiful instrument. I would play in different locations around the city, on the streets, parks, anywhere and share it on my YouTube channel. A week later we were already recording a first episode at Brandenburg Gate covering Poison by Alice Cooper, played on iPad.
What’s the point of using an iPad in your new show instead of a guitar?
Actually, I am using both. The reason I’m playing on iPad, is that I really like playing guitars on iPad. I find it very futuristic, exciting and above all, R’N’R.
So far, in the show I’ve been playing on a few beautiful electric guitars: Fender Jag Stang, custom designed by Kurt Cobain (the red one) and Paul Reed Smith CE24 (the black one). Sometimes I use acoustic, for example in the beach episode. It really depends on the situation, but at least I always have an iPad in my bag, you never know…
Can you tell me something about the process of the recording of the episode? How long does it take? How does it look on the set?
Almost every episode has been recorded with different people, so it’s a completely different story. I would prepare a song at home, and then I would meet with the producer, we bring out some ideas and go to a location. Sometimes we would record live on the set, so it would take only one shot, but sometimes it would require many actions and take almost a whole day, like did the Blond Ambition episode. The locations and atmosphere are always totally different as well: Berlin squares, my house in Croatia, the Mediterranean coast…
Are you seeking to let your show be aired somewhere or do you just prefer it online?
Oh, yeah that would be really cool, but it is too early to say. In Croatia we did many TV performances and it has always been a lot of fun. Internet is also an amazing media to share ideas. Let’s see what happens!
Based on your trips; which country did you its music scene and why are that?
In Los Angeles I visited the Gibson Amphitheatre in Hollywood. It’s a place that hosts MTV Movie Awards, so it looks very pretty, but there’s also something special about acoustics, such a clearness of a sound. It was a concert of American band A Perfect Circle, you should definitely check them, if you haven’t yet.
In London I heard the finest rock. I went to a concert of Queen, who were also performing in an amphitheatre, but a smaller one, called Hammersmith Apollo. They were playing with Adam Lambert, and it was so great, because they kept the original Queen sound, but with some special energy and freshness which Adam brings with his voice.
Berlin is here special in so many ways. Although it is characteristic for electronic music, it is also a big multicultural center, so you can hear everything here. The most important is that the best bands come to visit us, so I already had an opportunity to hear: Kiss, HIM, Hurts, Scorpions, Kim Wilde, Lord of The Lost, Reckless Love…
Are you teaching at Rock Akademija? And is teaching/working at Rock Akademija effects your time as a musician?
I was actually a student at Rock Akademija. I studied guitar and songwriting from one of the best Croatian songwriters all of time, Rajko Dujmic. In that period, I got in touch with songwriting in an absolutely new, emotional way, that changed my thinking about songwriting in a fundamental way. At the same time I was also studying Computer Science at Zagreb University, and sometimes it would be pretty tough, but hey, I survived.
Many artists do a side acoustic project away from their rock/metal bands; are you considering that someday?
I don’t think so. I looove electricity!
Anyway, it was so amazing to talk to you again. And now one special only for Egyptians: Agmal Salam w ta7eya meny lel masraweya 🙂
