Devil's Gate Music
Related Articles
Arctic Dreams is a Serbian-German sympho-industrial-black-death-metal band originally founded in 2009 in St.Petersburg, Russia by Alex_Y (vocal/guitars/music/lyric) and Syd (bv’s/guitar) and based in Belgrade, Serbia. The band was a studio project for more than 10 years, but in 2020 they decided to return to full-fledged activities.
What are the origins of Arctic Dreams, how long have you been playing together?
Alex_Y: “Hello there! Our band gathered in 2009 in St. Petersburg, Russia. That year I moved to this city and met Igor Sydius on one of the music forums. It can be considered as the starting point of the history of Arctic Dreams. In fact, it was just me and Igor from the beginning. Glam_Dickens joined us in 2014 on bass, as soon as we started recording the debut album.”
Syd: “Since we’ve started playing together we participated in different acts, coming back to Arctic Dreams from time to time. So we are an old and a young band at the same time.”
What should people expect when they check the band out? How would you describe Arctic Dreams?
Alex_Y: “We call our style “arctic-dreams-metal”. It’s such a fierce mix of classical metal styles with classical music and electronic gothic. We are still working on the concept of our shows, but we can tell it will be exciting.”
Syd: “Audience’s expectations is a greatest mystery for me. Such as music perception in general. Attributing these things to different people is so useless! In the end we can judge the behavior: we would be glad to see people coming back to our music – then their expectations were right ) “
Glam_Dickens: “Don’t judge by what you see, rumours are great but the truth sometimes seems a way more improbable! “
How did you feel performing your first gig as a band, and how was it?!
Alex_Y: “God, how long ago it was. As far as I remember it was some kind of contest in 2011, you know, the kind of concert where a lot of bands perform a few songs each. I remember that it was Igor, we were only two of us in the line-up at that moment, so we asked our acquaintance Dmitry Bazin to perform with us as a drummer. All the other members were replaced by a minus player. Twelve years later, fate happened so that Bazin starred in our first music video”
Syd: “A mess. Like every first gig”
The new music scene is bursting at the seams at the minute with fresh talent, in what ways do you feel that a band has to stand out to build a name for themselves?
Alex_Y: “It should definitely stand out! Now, in the 21st century, sound recording, and production in general, have become very accessible. Because of this, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of tracks are released in the world every day. We know from our own experience that it is not enough to put the content on the platforms, you need to make potential audience to see it. A music project should definitely have something that will catch on, otherwise, the chances of success are close to zero.”
Syd: “I’m not so sure about bursting with talents. What’s going to stay in history – that’s our hope at least.”
Glam_Dickens: “Absolutely right! The show must go on! Let’s just remember what the scene and music were in the past century… so diverse. Now, every band looks and sounds like another one, nothing new. A musician on stage looks like a usual guy from the neighborhood. It’s so boring. “
What are you working on at the minute that people can check out?
Alex_Y: “For now, we can say that we are working on a new album and preparing a show program”
Syd: “Well, sometimes my instagram reels can be a glimpse to parts, riffs and licks I practice”
In terms of a similar audience, which band out there at the minute do you feel you would be best suited to open for?
Alex_Y: “Again, it’s a complicated question. There are too many influences in our music. I think we would be equally compatible on stage with both classic heavy metal and extreme styles, such as black metal, death metal, and some gothic”
Syd: “As I mentioned – I’m the worst taste evaluator and success predictor… Sometimes I can’t figure out why people like this and ignore that… The same with references. For ex. you feel like taking Metallica riff vibes but different vocals and arrangements make no similarity for them. But the greater the difference between what comes in an author and what comes out estimates his originallity”
Excluding yourself, which new band would you like to see break out and become a success?
Alex_Y: “For some reason Tardigrade Inferno from St. Petersburg comes to my mind at the moment. It’s a kind of English-speaking dark cabaret metal. The band has a unique style and they’ve done a lot, but unfortunately, the war has cut them off from many opportunities.”
Syd: “Skyhaven, Strawberry Girls, Shrezzers. All on S )))”
Glam_Dickens: “How can I know about a band which is unknown? Anyway, to every band I wish success, but I’m sure it’s not enough to be wished success to become successful… it takes a lot. “
What are your own first musical memories? And what was the lightbulb moment that made you go “I want to do that”?
Alex_Y: “Yes, I remember that moment very well. I was 9 years old and I was still in the tape days. My classmate told me about Metallica and I asked my grandfather to buy some of their cassettes. I remember we went to the local market, but there was no Metallica there. Eventually, we bought an album by a Russian band, I heard the drums and guitar riffs and I knew it would be my life’s work.”
Syd: “I came to a tourist camp and found a guitar in sb’s room. Sb showed me chords to some song and I got in love with just sitting with the guitar trying to put my fingers right”
Glam_Dickens: “The first KISS shows I watched on VHS. “
What was the last gig that you attended as a fan?
Alex_Y: “That was this week. I went to a concert by a Serbian cover band. That night they played Guns’n’Roses’ repertoire”
Syd: “Berlin Academy of American Music. It was a premiere of Jonathan Dawe’s Violin Concerto. Also Ursula Mamlok and Caroline Shaw. Tremendous performance!”
Glam_Dickens: “Metallica in Moscow, 2019. It was…massive. Then the hard times started.”
What current social issue are you particularly passionate about?
Alex_Y: “Good question. In a nutshell, we don’t understand how some members of society can support war, hate the inhabitants of another state, and want to destroy them. I think you know what I mean. This is out of the question in the 21st century.”
Syd: “Well, what is on the news? No matter what happens, one of the biggest important things is focusing on your personal significance, I mean your qualification, education, what you do, what you produce, what you create, how you can help, doing your job the best you can. “
Glam_Dickens: “Excessive reliance on smartphones. I am not passionate about it… such people just get me pissed off! “
The album that you have in your album collection/Spotify playlist that would surprise most people?
Alex_Y: “I think this will be our album!!! Ha-ha!”
Syd: “Depends on what surprises you, smth definitely might be found out of my 3000 CDs. There are some occasional CDs that surprise even myself. You’ll be surprised by the actual wideness. All people listen to the exact same kind of music. They all say they like DIFFERENT music. But most don’t realize how really different it can be”
Glam_Dickens: “There could be a lot of because I’m listening to various music. But I am amazed that so few people know Diamanda Galas. “
What does 2023 hold for Arctic Dreams?
Alex_Y: “Development of our music project & moving forward. New album & gigs”
Syd: “Whether ‘to the moon’ or ordinary steps forward, every visible slowing down should be accumulating and preparing for future breakthroughs! Do or die trying”
Glam_Dickens: “We’ll see… aliens? Haha. “
How active are you on social media and where can people connect with you?
Alex_Y: We have a number of resources on which we regularly update:
https://arcticdreamsofficial.com
https://www.instagram.com/arcticdreamsofficial
https://www.facebook.com/arcticdreamsband
https://arcticdreams.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzc764iZUHco-04wEQzPuXA
https://vk.com/arcticdreams
@arcticdreamsofficial
