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 🙂

Magdalena; as the band founder and music composer, while writing your lines; is there a particular lyric theme that goes in your mind. Or do you just write what you feel?
Magdalena: I certainly compose what I feel because I started to make music when I was a child and I didn’t have any musical education then. For me it is the purpose of creating the music – one melody appears among endless possibilities, close to the author’s emotions. And yes, sometimes a word or a sentence comes to my mind with a melody, that our singer and guitar player Igor fits into the whole story. I feel honored to have an opportunity to communicate with that universal language and share ideas with the broad masses.

The songs from your album “Lift Your Flames” are about love, loneliness struggles, and other topics. Are these your main themes or was it just the vision for this album?
AOF: We practically began from nothing. A small group of people with a wish to play music gathered, without having any particular plans. We immediately skipped the job of covering the songs of other bands and Magdalena wrote some chords for our first song Stoneflower. Igor wrote the lyrics and we met for rehearsal. Each made an arrangement for the song in his or her own instrument, and we began to rock. After several weeks of practice we played Stoneflower at the Zagreb Rock Academy (most band members are its students), and the people liked it. We decided to keep on writing new material. The sound and inspiration for these songs came spontaneously from hanging out together and meeting the band members, as well as from personal interests. In our next album we plan to show people some stories from Croatian mythology and bring them to life through powerful music.

It is written on your website that you are “looking for a Music Publisher”. What does this mean?
AOF: Our first album “Lift Your Flames“ was released in Croatia a month ago. We chose English as we hope that in this way more people will be able to understand us and we will have an open way to the world music market. Some contacts with foreign publishing companies have already been established, so we hope that we will soon be able to publish a CD outside Croatia.

The layout of the website; has some very ancient flavours. Does that have a concept with the band’s vision?
AOF: Our songs are like short stories about different topics in life, human emotions and wishes which have not changed through history. For instance, the first song in the album is named after the band, and speaks of an angel of fire as a symbol of conversion to a better life, Mirrors of Fate questions human destiny, The Dawn is a fictional story of the end of time which lasts about ten minutes, Stoneflower speaks of inner strength which helps us to view the world with an open heart. Igor, as he is a student of history; gets some inspiration from historical texts, which is connected to the old paper on the web page wallpaper.

On your FB like page, the band genre is Metal/Gothic/Rock. Do you think it is the new mainstream among recent rock bands, to add many styles as the band’s music?
AOF: We find it difficult to put ourselves into a certain style, as we have not heard a similar style in Croatia, or even anywhere else. Five different persons are in the band; it is a style which comes from different views of music, the personality of each member crafted into one style.

Magdalena; as for mainstream music nowadays, some people think that Metal is no longer invading, how do you comment on that?
MAGDALENA: I don’t see that the popularity of metal is fading. On the contrary, there are more and more rock and metal concerts in Croatia, and I think there is more of an interest for this kind of music. We are often visited by foreign bands that have concerts in Croatia, and I find this to be very good. It would be great if metal had a better status here or in general, and I hope that the scene will become stronger.

As for your 9 year-old drummer, do you sometimes face troubles with delivering your thoughts to him?
AOF: Vlad has been in the music world for a long time. He goes to a music school, and he is very musical at the same time. So although he is very young, he has enough experience and confidence to make his own drum solos. He accepts all our ideas that are good, as we accept his. We work very well together, and we have knocked down the age barriers.
Magdalena says: He gives us a good time.

Vlad, what vision do you try to deliver to your audience through Angel of Fire, and how do you see the worldwide metal scene 10 years from now?
VLAD: I want to show that young people can be successful musicians , without regard for age. All it takes is a lot of work and practice. I love what I do and I am very happy to be working in Angel of Fire with such talented colleagues. I couldn’t answer the second part of the question, time will tell. But what I can say, is that music lives forever, as will metal.

Igor, as an old school fan and your favorite styles are hard rock and blues, how is it helpful for you to write songs with a Gothic Metal imagination?
IGOR: Music is the most important inspiration when writing lyrics, so my words are based on a gothic sound which permeates most of our songs. Magdalena’s music creates an atmosphere suitable for gothic lyrics, and as my imagination has always been opulent it allows me to put myself into various situations. I often succeed in creating such an atmosphere due to my knowledge of ancient legends. Of course, parts of my hard rock and blues affinities always show themselves, as they are parts of my personality.

Angel of Fire, tell us more about your experience at the studio while you were working on “Lift Your Flames”.
VLAD: I felt great in the studio. My first recording gig was when I was five, so there was no nervousness or such problems. I was happy that we would make a CD, I think that any studio experience is important for a musician.
IGOR: The studio experience has been unforgettable. I have always thought about how it looked when music we heard on a CD or on the radio was shaped and how the process worked. I have to admit that I have learned a lot recording our first CD, and I’m sure that this experience will help us in our next creative works.
EMIL: I found it both interesting and fun. It wasn’t as I supposed it was going to be, so I was a little surprised. There is much more work to be done than you would think. All in all, a fun and positive experience.
VANJA: It all went smoothly, due to the band’s experience and the quality of the equipment. The recording took a long time as we dealt with details and tried to make everything really good. I like the fact that there was room for improvisation.
MAGDALENA: I think it was great. There was much work and concentration in the studio, but it was nice at the same time. It was great working with producers Enio Vu?eta and Adam ?viga?. We played around with various guitar sounds and I learned a lot. Vlad always came in with his toys, so it wasn’t boring during the breaks.

Did you have a specific plan of events for your album release?
AOF: We had a concert promotion of our album in a Zagreb club, and we will continue with the concerts during the summer with some festivals. We are often on radio shows because of our new album, and we have been on some TV shows as well, because of our new video for the song My Call.

Tell us about your upcoming events and music thoughts…
AOF: We would love it if the readers would visit our web-page, where they can monitor all the news and activities regarding the band.

Thank you Angel of Fire for this fruitful interview, and we wish to see you in Egypt through your GLOBAL tour someday…
AOF: Thanks, we would be delighted to visit your country and give some concerts. We have heard many things about the beauty of Egypt, and your history if astounding. We hope we won’t have to wait long for our visit. Lots of greetings to the readers and everyone who is a part of Rock Era!
Keep it rock!