Onyria is a band from France who recently released a new album entitled “Feed the Monster”. We had the chance to chat with Helena, the vocalist of the band, to ask her about the new album among other things. Here’s our interview with Helena from Onyria!
Hello, Helena. It’s really wonderful to talk with you. How are you doing today?
Hi, my pleasure! I’m doing great, thank you.
You released a new album “Feed the Monster” last month. How are you feeling about the way the album was received by your fans?
I’m actually really satisfied about the way the album was perceived by our fans. They noticed our evolution of course, but they still showed us support and affection, even more than before I will say! I mean, we were out of the scenes for a long time, and we’re so honoured to see how our return was well received.
If you were to pick one song from “Feed the Monster” to be played on every radio and every station all over the world, which song would you pick and why?
Oh! That’s a good question. It is known that the taste of the musician in their own music almost never matches the taste of the fans. Before the album was released, I had my 3 favorite songs, which are still my favourites by the way, on which I was betting a lot. I can’t say that I completely changed my mind, but now that the album is out, I am amazed at how there are some songs on the album which ended up becoming the most popular ones like “No Obedience”, which I even wanted to discard from the album. Considering all this then, I would say that “Price of Souls” would be the song I would pick. Even among our newer fans, people who didn’t follow our musical journey, they really like this song and in a certain way I understand that it is perhaps the most representative song of who we are right now.
In order to get to know you better and from a different point of view, how about playing some imagination game? I will set a scenario in an alternate universe with new rules and see how you’d react to the different situations. Ready?
Yeah! Let’s go!
In a universe where you are made the queen of a country, what would be the first law you’d make?
I think the first thing I would do would be to abolish the huge wage difference between executives, CEOs, and workers/employers. A fair state, as well as a fair world, cannot have such differences as to allow one person to buy one house a day and the other to barely be able to buy one in a lifetime.
In a universe where humans can choose either to be able to teleport from one place to another or travel back and forth in time, which superpower would you pick?
I think I would pick the second one. And not because I’d like to change anything, even if know that I would be tempted: I would just like to live some more moments with my grandparents that are no longer here.
In a universe where you’re the statue of liberty, what object would you be holding instead of a torch?
A microphone?🤣
Obviously 🤣 In a universe where money does not exist, but instead, people pay for things by making other people laugh, how rich would you be considered?
Since I was young, friends and relatives have always told me that I would have had a career as a comedian. I like to imitate people and their accents… I think I started doing it at school with my professors. 😅 and I swear I was able to imitate them identically! 😂 So I guess I’ll be very well off.
In a universe where the senses of taste and hearing are mixed up together, what food would you imagine Onyria’s music would taste like?
I would say a… pizza with chilli peppers!
In a universe where making magic is real, what would your favourite spell do?
1,2,3 be rebel and always free😃
Thank you for playing, Helena! I hope you enjoyed this!
There are many things you need to do when you release an album other than the music itself, especially when you’re an independent artist. What were your favourite and least favourite parts of the process of releasing “Feed the Monster”?
Thanks to you! I always love to play ✌🏼 concerning the releasing process, the best part for me is when I record for the very first time a song which has already finished in terms of lyrics and composition because even if I can imagine how it would be one time is recorded, the final result it is always a surprise. The worst part I guess it’s the sit-and-wait when the record is out – meaning that you wait for responses, for feedback, and you are anxious to hear and read what people think about what you did.
Have you ever faced any kind of sexism in your professional or personal life? How would you deal with sexist behaviour and what advice would you give young people around the world who face any kind of discrimination?
Honestly no, I mean, thanks to my “strong” character I think I’ve managed to discourage quite a lot of people who even had the slightest intention to do it.😂 To the younger women out there (but not only) I can only say to always try to assert your ideas and move forward. Often, those who practice sexism or discrimination in general towards women, minorities or any category are really just coward people who fear confrontation and are afraid of being overwhelmed. Never let yourself be discouraged and never allow someone to put you down: the best weapon is always self-confidence. While it doesn’t really relate to sexism, in particular, the track “Little Man” on ‘Feed The Monster’ could be a good memorandum about how some “men” we see big and intimidating are, in the end, little and insignificant men.
Brilliant! Thank you for giving us this interview, Helena. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Thank you for having me! I would like to invite all the fans of alternative rock and metal to check out ‘Feed The Monster’. Enjoy! ✌🏼
