Interview: Clara Held (The Privateer)

The guest of this interview is definitely someone I look up to: a violinist and a harsh vocalist. This is Clara Held, the remarkable artist who is a member of The Privateer. We talked about their upcoming release, social media and fictional characters.

Hello Clara, how are you doing at the moment?

Hi Benedetta, I am very happy to be interviewed by you. I am doing very well, even if it is sometimes very time-consuming and energy-intensive to pursue a music career alongside a main job (in my case, as a forensic psychologist). But it’s a great balance, and I’m even happier to be finally able to present the new record to everyone!

You have just released your newest labour, “Kingdom of Exiles“. What do you feel when your records are about to be heard by the fans?

I’m really looking forward to it, but at the same time, I’m a bit excited and nervous about how the new album will be received. So far, the reviews are very positive, but you can’t always satisfy all your fans at the end of the day.

Your voice is absolutely outstanding: how do you sing so flawlessly in so many different styles?

Thank you very much! To be honest, the role of a singer is still very new to me, as I’ve mainly been heard as a violinist so far. Accordingly, I haven’t mastered the different singing techniques for so long, but I have found a great vocal coach for metal singing in our former singer Daniel. I simply enjoy singing in the most diverse styles.

Can you share with us how does your creative process work?

For our current record, I dared to write lyrics for the first time and had a lot of fun. Nevertheless, I first had to develop my own workflow because my first attempts sounded like those of a primary school pupil. For each song, I chose a topic that seemed appropriate, created a file, and collected everything I could find: old writings about piracy, historical stories, and sentences and phrases. When writing the final lyrics, I also liked to use websites for synonyms and rhymes.

What is your favourite part of being an artist?

What I like most is that as an artist, you can be creative and realise your own ideas. I feel as free as a bird, and since the guys rarely read the texts, no one interferes with me 😀

Do you have any “rituals” before going on stage?

To be honest, I still get excited before gigs, and before I go on stage, I always warm up and have a sip of rum. Then we toast together, and off we go!

In your opinion, are social networks more useful or useless to artists?

In my opinion, social networks are very helpful and important for musicians and artists, but at the same time, I often find them exhausting and overwhelming. You wouldn’t believe how time-consuming it is to post regularly and maintain the pages.

Do you think it’s harder for women to have equality in the music industry?

Mh, that’s a good question. It’s definitely different for women. I have the feeling that for female musicians, looks and age play a much bigger role and then sometimes comments like “the main thing is tits” are made, which I find enormously disrespectful. In the band itself, I have no problem in this respect and feel like an equal pirate member. In my opinion, it shouldn’t matter at all what gender you are, but how you perform and what kind of charisma you have.

Let’s play a little game: what fictional character do you think you are most like?

That’s a really good but also difficult question… I can’t really decide on a single character. Arya Stark and Pippi Lockstocking definitely come to mind because I can identify with them very much. I grew up with my single dad and always preferred a slingshot and bow and arrow to a doll. And I am also often described as cheeky and quick-witted 😀 But on the other hand, I’m also quite whimsical, which makes me think of Luna Lovegood. With my long reddish-blonde hair, you might also think of Rapunzel, but I would probably be a Rapunzel like in the more recent film adaptation “Tangled” and first pull a pan over the prince’s head!

Thank you very much, Clara, for taking the time to do this interview! Would you like to add anything else to FemMetal’s readers?

I was very happy to do that! I’d like to encourage all readers to live their dreams and not let them make them small. I never thought I would ever have a music career, so I was on stage at Wacken in 2018. Everything is possible; dream big!