What do you get when you put three talented female artists in a band? You get Jenner, a heavy metal band from Belgrade. And I was so lucky to chat with these three wonderful performers about life, music and Disney.
Alexandra
Anja
Selena
Hello Alexandra, Selena and Anja! How are you doing?
Hi! We’re doing fine, thanks for asking. Very excited to be doing this interview!
Congratulations for signing with Fighter Records! How does it feel now that you’re in the big leagues?
Thank you very much! We are really pleased to have the opportunity to work with a professional like Dave Sanchez of Fighter Records. Since the beginning of the band, we have only collaborated with one record label, Inferno Records from France, which unfortunately closed down. After that, I was sceptical about working with other record labels, but now I’m sure that working with Fighter Records was the right move, and I hope for a long cooperation with them. Together we will do a reissue/repress of our first album, “To Live is to Suffer”, but also release a second album, which we will start recording very soon.
We can see that there is some new music in the making… can you share with us any details?
We’re definitely cooking something special. I would say that there is a lot of influence from different metal subgenres and that there will be something for everyone to like.
Honestly, I can’t wait to hear the recorded songs! At the moment, we are rehearsing a lot, preparing everything for the recording. The album will consist of 9 songs, which will definitely differ from our first album. Mostly it will be a mixture of thrash metal with classic heavy metal, although, at some points, there is a black/death metal vibe. It will be interesting.
I still like to listen to “To Live is to Suffer”: If you had to introduce Jenner to someone who has never heard of you before, which song from it would you choose?
Maybe “Night Without Dawn” because it’s more heavy metal which we currently gravitate to more than just classic thrash. But that song is from our EP “The Test of Time”. A good option would be “Hear the Thunder Roar“, which is my favourite from the “To Live is to Suffer” album.
“On the Judgment Day“. I believe this was the first song I heard from Jenner, and I think it is powerful and catchy.
It’s hard to choose only one song, haha. But let’s say “Factory of Death” from the album and “Night Without Dawn” in general.
Given the choice of any band in the world (past or present, living or dead, dissolved or still together), which one would you choose to play as an opening act?
Tough question. Maybe W.A.S.P. or Death.
King Diamond!
Have you ever taught anyone how to sing or how to play an instrument?
Not successfully. Many of my friends tried playing bass or guitar, but it usually ended in them never picking it up again after learning “Smoke on the water”.
Haha, yes! A lot of girls! Alexandra and I are involved in a project called Girls Rock Camp, where we teach young girls how to play instruments. And as a fun fact, Anja participated in that camp too!
Yes, I’ve been teaching with Selena on Girls Rock Camp, and I sometimes help people when they struggle with guitar or bass guitar, but I’ve never officially given guitar lessons.
What is your favourite holiday of the year?
Halloween. Though it’s not celebrated in Serbia, I find the concept very interesting.
My birthday, haha!
Women still face discrimination and sexism even nowadays. Will there ever be a solution to this problem?
Well, taking into consideration that less than 100 years ago, which is only two generations away to put it in perspective, women in most western countries didn’t have the right to vote, to own property, to go to school or work and that we made a lot of progress since then I personally believe that this matter will be solved in the future by supporting good affirmative practices and supporting the generation to come in their musical journeys.
I really don’t know if there is a real solution to that problem. But we can certainly encourage and motivate girls to do what they love, no matter what society says.
Let’s play a little game: which Disney princess would make the best spy?
Definitely Mulan. She’s already got the moves, hahah.
I agree with Anja on Mulan since she already showed us that she has the necessary skill set, but Merida from the movie Brave could also make an excellent spy!
I must agree with the girls on this one, haha.
Thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview with me! Is there anything else you’d like to add to our readers?
Thank you for taking your time to read this interview. Keep rockin’!
Hi! My name is Benedetta, I’m 29 and I live in Northern Italy. My passion has always been music: I started taking guitar lessons when I was 6. Now I work as a sales representative, but in my free time I interview talented people, I spread the word about my favorite band (MoonSun), and I go to concerts or travel around Europe.
I am a huge collector of anything Tolkien-related, autographs, merchandise, and CDs. I am quite an original person and don’t mind being the voice outside of the choir (even though I play in the church’s choir!).
