|
PRESS Andréa's Comments on Being an Artist Soul:I see myself as 100% artist and this is really important to me. This is the only label that I want to have. Because the way I see it, real artist souls are different from other people. I'm quite sure we have a sixth sense and a deeper emotional awareness... we need more intensity, both mentally and physically, and have a very low threshold for bearing the stuck routines of the ordinary society. I feel like I always need movement in order to function properly. I'm sure adrenaline junkies and travelers feel the same way. It took me a while for me to understand that I was creative and artistic. In the beginning I did not have any self-confidence for it. Nobody encouraged me to follow an artistic dream; quite the contrary: I was always told to get a mainstream job and stop being "so weird" - even though I always had an extremely vivid imagination, very vidid dreams and I was amazing in writing stories. Quite soon I figured that I was "magically aware" or rather "supernaturally aware". Now I know I am merely perceptive and open to whatever is "out there". The creativity definitely comes from such a place. So in the beginning I tried to figure out why I was so, er, "special", and I called myself an occultist, then satanist and then I thought I was pagan, and thus I tried to create music and themes that were out of myself and popular at the time... But I was searching for myself, really, the inner artist. It's not that many years ago, really, that I started to realize that my true potential is to just be myself and connect to my inner creative world and be inspired by my dreams. That's all I need and there is so much there. And I create something all the time and I love doing it... The past years I spent a lot of time on self growth and self development. And I think it is clear to say that many dark artists like me draw their inspiration from childhood traumas, because they never go away. Writing fiction and stories, for me, is like therapy. I tend to feel really drawn and connected to other artists that had similar childhood experiences like me. It's like I instinctively respond to their hidden message, because I know what it's about. I love dark imagery (always did). Forbidden fascinations, the psyche, secrets... I want to express atmospheres and emotions. Emotions are universal and speak to everyone. I do not like the kind of dark art that is vulgar, violent or "evil", just to shock and entertain people. I prefer personal art, where the focus is about emotional aspects of things. When music is used, or even misused for voicing political or religious ideas, the focus is most likely more on propaganda than in music. I know... I did that once with one project and I talked way too much about a theme instead of just letting the music speak, and I kind of regret it because such a thing does attract some ignorant people who just don't let the past go and it is very irritating. But like I said, when you are young and start out to express yourself, you sometimes get into something that you later find out is not for you. Doing Hagalaz' Runedance I felt all along deep down that I was just not in the right place. I come from Wave/Gothic music after all, but through it I found out that I had a talent for creating nice music, and it was something I could build my career further on. And we all have to start somewhere, right? Being a professional artist, basically, means being on the job 24 hours a day. I don't think people with usual jobs can relate to that. On top of that people often have this view that artists and entertainers just have fun. But the fact is that getting somewhere means hard work, long boring hours and a good business attitude. It does not leave much room for private spare time and social events. Thus it can get pretty isolated. My advice for starting artists: always try to remain grounded, with meditation, yoga exercise, etc. Because getting successful and, thus, getting attention from fans and media often can lead to paranoid and destructive thoughts... |
|