Storyum is a band from Slovakia that makes great Metal music with Symphonic and Electronic components. As Storyum are on the verge of releasing a new album, we had the chance to chat with Veronika and ask her about her music and learn about her experiences with her band.
Hello, Veronika. It’s really wonderful to talk with you. How are you doing today?
Hello, thank you for this opportunity. I feel great, thanks.
You are about to release a new album “Freedom”. How are you feeling about the reactions the album received so far?
I feel overwhelmed with pride and happiness. I really didn´t think of such positive reactions. Moreover, people of all age groups, of any tastes seem to like it. So I am more than satisfied.
Wonderful. How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard Storyum’s music before?
I would say that our music has lots of elements of different genres: industrial, heavy, hard rock, melodic, symphonic and a little bit of disco. If it doesn´t help then I would describe it as a theatre on a train which is elegant, poetic, emotional and constant and also loud, cruel, fast and in motion at the same time.
That’s a brilliant way to describe it. If you were to pick one song from your new album to be played on every radio and station worldwide, which song would you pick and why?
I would definitely pick Generations because it is a wake-up call the world needs not just right now but always. Humans shouldn´t forget about the next and the next generations. The song also has a new music video.
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?
I´m ready. I can´t wait.
In a universe where you are made the queen of a country, what would be the first law you’d make?
Compulsory music education from kindergarten to college.
Love that! 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 would pick the ability to teleport. However, that is not my dream superpower. My dream superpower would be the ability to read books while I sleep. So, while my physical body sleeps, my astral body can read books.
In a universe where you’re the statue of liberty, what object would you be holding instead of a torch?
My first thought was a book, but a pencil or microphone would be more efficient. Imagine the Statue of Liberty with a pencil…hilarious.
Indeed! 😂 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?
I would be extremely rich because I am clumsy and crazy.
😂 In a universe where the senses of taste and hearing are mixed up together, what food would you imagine Storyum’s music would taste like?
That is the coolest question ever! It would be a 3-course dinner: some sweet and sour soup, some pork tenderloin with chocolate sauce and spicy potatoes and salad and a cinnamon roll for dessert. (Oh my god I´m hungry!)
Wow 🤤 In a universe where making magic is real, what would your favourite spell do?
I would like to make animals talk and people shut up.
🤣🤣🤣 That’s the best answer ever! Thank you for playing, Veronika! I hope you enjoyed this!
I must thank you for this game. I really enjoyed it.
Anytime! 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 “Freedom”?
When the music was ready for the Freedom album, we had to arrange a few things. First of all, we wanted to release the physical album, so we needed to design the whole thing. The visuals of the album cover were created by Flóra Nagy, the post-design was made by Klára Zsigrai, our vocalist. So, the physical album is done, it is ready. The next step would be to release the album on other platforms for example Spotify, Youtube etc. At the moment, we are negotiating with the music publishers to make this next step happen. The decision-making process is teamwork in our band, so I don´t think I have any least favourite parts because we support each other and listen to each other´s opinions. My favourite part though was that feeling when we had the physical album in our hands. That was incredible.
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?
Fortunately, I cannot recall facing any violent, harsh or rude sexual behaviour. Although, I do remember an ex-colleague of mine who was always having these sexist jokes around women and interestingly he had no such jokes around our male colleagues. It was not harmful behaviour (he was actually a nice man) but still, these jokes were endlessly tiring and made me feel that he perceived all the female colleagues as one mass, not individuals. Then, the so-called gender roles are always on display and sometimes they really make me nervous or even on edge. They don´t make sense to me. It´s irritating that I have to bump into questions like “when will you have children” almost every day.
I deal with sexual behaviour like I deal with almost everything: I ask why. I try to understand the other side, even the lowest stupidity. For me, that is the most effective way because in the end it keeps my mind in peace and makes me the winner of the conflict (haha).
I also think that the best thing I can do is prevention: surrounding myself with people who are intelligent enough to not dive into the swamp of tastelessness.
The advice I would give is to support, speak up and confront. Confront the opposite side with your own success. Be who you are and be the best at it. Be kind, so you can overtake the aggression and win anytime. That is the ultimate vengeance. To sum it up, I must borrow a line from one of my favourite movies Little Miss Sunshine (it is also my motto): “Just do what you love and f*ck the rest“.
Wow thank you for sharing your experience and advice. And thank you for giving us this interview, Veronika. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Thank you for this interview, it was a pleasure. I would like to summarize that I was Veronika a.k.a. Raw from Storyum from Western Slovakia. We are available on Facebook, Spotify, Instagram and Youtube and surely we are going to be on more online platforms also with our new release Freedom. I am happy that I could share my ideas with you. Take care!
