Annicke Shireen, known as the frontwoman of SHIREEN and through her work with Heilung and Pure Reason Revolution, is about to release her debut solo album “Delirium”. We chatted with her about life as an artist, women in metal and time travel!

Benedetta

I’m here with the wonderful Annicke Shireen. How are you doing today?

Annicke Shireen

I’m good, thank you so much. Having a good day. How are you?

Benedetta

Good, good. You’re releasing an album this month. “DELIRIUM” centers around the moment inherited societal frameworks stop making sense. What was the specific turning point or realization that made you choose this concept as the foundation for your debut solo album?

Annicke Shireen

When I started writing it, I just had this weirded out feeling. I just came out of quite intensive touring time with Heilung and I was very much overwhelmed during that time because touring takes up all your focus. You’re completely in a different world. Of course, I was home a lot as well, but then you have to kind of recuperate from that. So now we had a one and a half year break, which meant that I had more space and more rest. I hadn’t realized how much I needed it, actually.

So I was just at home sitting and I felt like, what did happen with the world? Like all these things were going on and it all of a sudden started to become really dark. I come from a time when I remember in my youth, everything was in progress. Everything only got better. I was born in the late 80s and I just got this whole progression of things that got better. Then all of a sudden, we are here now, things got pretty out of hand. So I had this weird feeling, thinking like, “I kind of missed it. I thought the world was getting better, but things are not getting better.” And it’s actually getting worse for a lot of people.

Because before that, I was working through a lot of issues that I had. Very personal things that came out of trauma that happened in the past. I’ve had some really difficult years, now I feel like I’ve been through that. I’ve written the songs about it and I just sat down and was like, “Now I can write about lighter themes“. All of a sudden, these themes weren’t light at all, because the world is like it is right now. So yeah, I wrote with that, a strange feeling. I recognized that feeling of being a person standing on the sideline, looking at the world and not feeling really connected, and not understanding why other people feel that or that is important.

There’s so many people around. And I’m mainly talking about media and social media, politics, but also people struggling with their interpersonal stuff. Because they’re not really mentally growing as much as others, so it creates a big division. They talk about men being lonely, and about women wanting to be single, and less children, all these things. It just kind of came crashing in. I realized that I could really relate to looking at the world in a state of disillusionment. Because I always did that a little bit.

Because of my neurodiversity. I always felt like I never really connected to the world. I always felt a little bit like an outsider and I never could pinpoint why. I didn’t understand why people found certain things important, and I just couldn’t care about it. Right now we’re looking at the world and things are weird. We should all be thinking, “What the fuck are we doing?” On the other hand, I can relate to this, because I felt like this as a child. I don’t think anyone is a standard. But there is sort of a certain standard, and if you are very different from that, you will always feel like an outsider. So, yeah, I think that’s the combination of what my mindset started when I started writing these songs.

Benedetta

Do you think that your songwriting has put emotions into a source of wisdom and power?

Annicke Shireen

Yes. Yeah, I feel like writing songs is also a moment of reflection. Sometimes you write without thinking, and then I look back on it and I’m like, “Oh, this is what it’s about“. And sometimes I go into a writing session really knowingly, “I want to write about this“. And then I’m going to look for the words and I’m going to look for the vibe and the sounds. So I think in both ways it’s very much a reflection moment. I feel like I have more to write about the older I get. That has more meaning to me because I went through things that I want to talk about. I remember being a lot younger and I had quite a naive view on the world, my songs weren’t as good. I personally think my songs got better when I had a little bit of hurt and tough lessons in my life. Because you can connect through that, music is emotion. So if you feel intense emotion, you’ll be able to also connect to the music deeper, and I think that’s a valuable thing when you’re writing.

Benedetta

All masterpieces are born from sadness and very deep emotion. Something I read about you that was so fascinating and so incredible. That you have a degree in fashion design and you craft your own stage wear? And you also direct music videos and you create this visual thing for your music as well. So when you write a song, do you hear the music first? Or do you visualize the aesthetic and the image simultaneously?

Annicke Shireen

I usually start with a feeling, a song usually starts with a feeling inside, like a frustration or something that should be big. I feel like I want to talk about something that needs to be spoken out big with a lot of voices, or I feel like it needs to be small and intimate. And it needs to be very dry in the mix. I know I’ve learned some tools on how to write that. I learned mixing and mastering this year. I got my degree as an audio engineer and that really helped me think about how I write songs. Because if you are mixing and mastering songs, you work very differently with music than when you’re writing it. So knowing a little bit about everything helped me also make other decisions in the writing process.

When I’m writing the music, when I’m in the song and I’m kind of building it up. I see it layering and layering. Every time you layer it, you blend it a bit more. And every layer is sort of like a new voice in this landscape. I can experience the music like a 3D landscape. It kind of feels like there’s a sky and it has a specific color, there are clouds and there is a ground or a base. So usually the base is the ground part. And it’s usually dark or it’s soft or it’s sharp. I traveled to Iceland a couple of years ago, sometimes I just remember some songs sound like Iceland, but they’re not Icelandic. But it’s like these lava fields with black rock and then the moss on top. Then you have the sky with the beautiful clouds, and then there is weather coming up, but it’s clear right now.

Also on the back of my mind, it sparks ideas of a style. But also I just make choices in the moment, like what inspires me. So going for a medieval aesthetic wasn’t necessarily what “Delirium” started, the only way to promote that. But I wanted to do it because I’m really into the medieval Lady Gaga idea that could be bright, but also authentic. I wanted to create something that was colorful and bold, but also not too modern. It also needed to inspire people to think about something that is outside of time. So that was the reason why I went into the aesthetics for “Delirium” this way.

There’s a psychology behind it, right? When we think something is groovy or when we think something is boring, or it’s too difficult. What does it do with our feelings? It’s about the capacity of the person musically. Some people are very mathematically developed in their brain, and they could go very well with polyrhythms and everything like that, like with difficult prog stuff. Some people can handle it very well. Some people make it a job to learn that and to be part of that. I do play in a prog band, but I’m not a big progger. Like the old-fashioned progger, like the King Crimson stuff, I can appreciate it, but my brain gets tired after listening too long about it.

If you slowly build something up, you feed a new layer of music every time. For example, I have a little vocal line, and I layer the music up, then this vocal line will return. But then it’s going to be completely inside the mix; we still pick it up, because we’ve learned it already in the beginning of the song. Our brains are learning while we’re listening to the music, so this is super interesting things. If we’re talking about the psychology behind that, that’s how I try to write. For example, “Mother“, where it’s like layering and layering and layering more vocals, then there’s like counter vocals that are kind of in. But because it’s kind of building up slowly and every time a little layer comes… you don’t get everything served at the right time. At the beginning, you kind of build it up, and then the brain has the space to learn a song.

Benedetta

You’re talking to someone who’s getting their PhD in psychology.

Annicke Shireen

Oh, you are? Amazing. So you get this. I can not remember her name right now. But she’s a Japanese woman who studies in the Netherlands music psychology. She made a masterclass about the psychology behind a groove, and it’s partly about this. [Dr. Makiko Sadakata, ed]

Benedetta

But also on a side note. Can you leave some talents for the rest of us, please? You can do everything and anything. Can you leave something for us too, please?

Annicke Shireen

We can do it at the same time.

Benedetta

Yeah. I know. But you’re a pro.

Annicke Shireen

Thank you. I’m also very bad at things. So I decided not to do that in my life. I’m just going for the things I’m good at. Only.

Benedetta

Since you are such a multifaceted artist, sometimes there’s a bit of a conundrum between writing something that you want to write. But also sometimes there’s pressure from writing something that has to just please either the label, or the agency, or the audience. How can you protect your artistic integrity with this? I don’t know if you have this pressure. And I hope that you don’t.

Annicke Shireen

I don’t. I don’t have a label anymore. There’s nobody telling me what to do. The risk is… Sometimes I write metal songs, sometimes I write folk songs, so the people who are not able to keep up with that, they will not be my fans. That means that I have a smaller fan base, but it’s people who are more appreciative of change and who like to be challenged. That’s the type of people I like to reach, because I think that also says something about their intelligence, their excitement, and about the capacity they have to understand something. I’d rather be authentic than be put in a box. So that’s why I decided to do it by myself, and it is the best choice I ever made. If that means that I’ll never be as big as other artists who do that, that’s okay. Because I just want to do what I want. My life is too short to do something else that makes me unhappy. So I’m out here doing whatever I like. And it feels pretty good, it makes me feel very empowered as well.

Benedetta

Say it louder for the people in the back.

Annicke Shireen

Yeah. I think we all should have this realization that life is too short to conform too much. Sometimes we need to, like I can’t go everywhere and just do whatever I like. I want to be considerate, and I want people not to be offended, or to feel left out or whatever. But I think we live for ourselves primarily. This is the first responsibility we have is to live for us. I think a lot of women definitely, but maybe also men, are being told that we sometimes need to please a lot of people around us. And it’s tiring, it’s giving burnout. I’m allergic to it by now. It’s real hard to do that the rest of your life.

Benedetta

That’s very true. Yeah. So you’re playing some shows, you’ve also played some shows this year. But maybe you have something else planned for next year maybe?

Annicke Shireen

Yes. Well, we are writing to festivals right now. We’re a little bit late in the year, so we’ll see. I couldn’t start with bookings before I knew how “Delirium” would be live. The first show was on the 23rd of October. Before that I had no clue if it would work live, or if I would have to write more. But it worked, and it’s really fun. So we’re writing to festivals, and maybe I can do a couple of openers. It will probably be whatever we get our hands on for the summer. With spring I’ll be away with Heilung, but then almost the full summer I’m available. I’m looking forward to see where we get booked, because the set is very different. So I can change it to a more harder progressive rock set, or I can do a more pop-folky indie style set. I think that gives me a lot of freedom. Then I can also invite the live members that I like to work with. I like to see whatever we can get our hands on with shows, definitely.

Benedetta

Fingers crossed that I can see you next year then.

Annicke Shireen

That would be lovely. Let me know whenever you want to come.

Benedetta

I will. Absolutely. Do you think that we will ever reach some sort of equality between men and women in the metal world?

Annicke Shireen

I hope so. It’s difficult because right now, I think we’re going in a good direction, I have a positive view on it. The metal world, I think, it kind of puts women also on a pedestal. Women in metal are something unique. It’s also like a place where you get quite a lot of attention. But on the other hand, women in general and also in music need to prove themselves way harder. I realize a lot of women don’t even start.

I’ve seen posts from influences where girls are playing a bass riff, and then there’s some dude online who’s going to double check if she’s actually playing what you hear. And I think, would you do that with a man? This is so annoying, these men are outing themselves on their misogyny that they don’t even realize they have. I think we first need to really look at and point out maybe, or look at the built-in structures, and let them be seen and explained. I think then everybody can follow. Most people want equality, also the men want equality. Everybody wants equality, but nobody knows how to do it, unless you really, you know, you start to self-reflect. You start to look at things and read up on things, and look at the world view from someone else’s perspective instead of only your own. That also asks for some emotionally intelligent baseline. So, I’m positive about it, but I think we have a lot of work to do.

Benedetta

Yeah. When it comes to live shows or festivals, sometimes there are barely any fronted bands or female artists in the lineup. Which is very disappointing. Because, I mean, when you go to a festival you want to hear men, obviously, and women too. That’s something the promoters need to work on.

Annicke Shireen

Metal is like 80% a man’s world, and it shouldn’t be like that, because women will enjoy metal just as much. But I think that we are all looking for role models, and if it’s 80% men on stage, I’m sorry, but I’m not so interested in looking at boring dressed bands, usually men with just band shirts on. I want some glamour, I want the stage performance, I want the vibe and the styling, I want women. I want to look at women because I want to find a role model that I can look up to and that I can connect with. So I think if there’s more women, there will also be more women in the crowd, and that will make it more fun for everybody. I think the men would also love that. To have more women on the metal festivals. I mean, there is already a lot of women. But I think there could be more.

Benedetta

Exactly. As you said, sometimes 90% of the bands are just middle-aged men with leather pants and band t-shirts. That’s every band.

Annicke Shireen

It’s a little bit the same in progressive rock. It’s similar. It’s very much a men’s world. It’s usually men who want to show other men how good they can play. I do appreciate that, because you worked hard for that, so you deserve a stage to show how good you can play. But I think there’s more to life than impressing other men. I think there’s a deeper connection to what music can do. Because music is actually an extremely powerful language, a healing tool for people. People who are going through the hardest times have music that is so dear to them that gets them through that. That is something I want to be part of, I want to make that type of music. I want my work to actually penetrate the heart, I want you to listen to it and feel seen. I think that’s the greater purpose of music. Of course the music industry is a big money thing, and it’s a big ego thing as well. But I think the core, like music itself, is healing. In my opinion.

Benedetta

Absolutely. So I wanted to ask you a funny different question. Since you have so many different styles in your music, let’s say that now I’m gifting you a time machine. You can go in the past, you can go in the future. You can stay in the present. But you only get one trip. So where do you choose to go? You can come back obviously.

Annicke Shireen

I would just go back to the 90s or the early 2000s: I would buy a couple of bitcoins and put it on an account for myself. Now I could have made four albums already at least, because then I don’t have to worry about paying my rent. If I could send three words back in time, I would send it to myself or my mom and say “Buy the bitcoin”. Recently I’m very focused on how much wealth people have accumulated in the last couple of years. Going back to music again, it kind of shows that we need to think differently on how we’re going to be productive.

I think my purpose right now in life is writing music. Maybe in ten years it will feel different about it, maybe I will keep this purpose. That’s something I’ve never felt stronger. So going back in time to get more money, would result in me having endless money to just write more music. Someone asked me. “What if you were rich? What would you have done with that?” And I would say. “Definitely, I would do exactly the same as I’m doing now, but then just have less stress about paying my rent.” Unfortunately, we do not have time machines, would be nice though. I would also like to see things like how it was in the time when there were only dinosaurs, when the world was wild. That’s another thing. I mean, maybe we’d go back to the time when everything was before the big bang, just that wild, untamed nature. But maybe I wouldn’t survive it because I would be eaten.

Benedetta

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview with me. It was lovely chatting with you. Is there anything that you want to add to our viewers and readers?

Annicke Shireen

I am doing something really exciting today. I decided it’s something I haven’t communicated yet, but I will soon. I’m going to write a song of the month on my Patreon, and that means that people on my Patreon will get a secret song every month because I want to write a new album. I proved to myself that I can write a song in a week, so let’s just do it. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be the best songs every month, but I’m going to write something that people can download. I’m going to make that part of my Patreon tiers because I realized that this album was very expensive and, but I love doing it so much.

I need to find a way to be able to do that in a healthy way without drying up my funds, because if I would do the next album, the same thing I would as “Delirium”, I wouldn’t have the money for the studio and the mixing and the mastering anymore. So that is just the reality of it, not having a label also means having to get your own money or your own funding. I felt what the people actually like on my Patreon as well. I have a small, humble group, but they’re super fun. So this is sort of my new project that I’m going to do, “Song of the Month”. Then hopefully we’re going to pick, together with everybody from the Music Fold tier, the songs that I’m going to make an album with. So I’m going to kind of take my Patreons a little bit along with the music writing, which I’m super excited about. Then I’m also gonna write a new album. I don’t know yet when, but it’s the next big thing I’ll need to do. So yeah, “Delirium” will come out, I will do some extra after promotion with that, and then I’ll start into a new chapter, new songs.