If someone thinks that heavy metal is a long dead musical genre and that it belongs to the 80s and 90s, they will probably be surprised that even today there are bands that are still actively creating, selling out stadiums and finding popularity even among young people by people. Such groups mainly include world representatives of the symphonic metal genre such as Therion, Nightwish, Avantasia or Epica. They probably found the strongest background in Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands, but even in our region sometimes a rare representative of this popular music genre appears. And in this context, we approached Erika Strečková, a promising young singer of the Slovak band Symfobia.
When and how was the band Symfobia formed?
Symphobia was founded by our keyboard player Feri Molnár sometime in 2007. Over time, the members changed and so did the musical style they played. In 2013, I joined the band and work began on the first CD. That took about 3 years of our lives. I remember how all my acquaintances and friends asked me when the CD will be ready, why it is taking so long and when there will be at least one concert. They waited. Officially, our first concert was the launch of the CD. Then many people told me that they understood why it took so long. Our compositions are not simple, they contain several instruments, orchestra, choirs.
How did you get into the band?
I have a longer and a shorter version for this. Since I don't want to bore anyone, I'll use the shorter one. In college, I started a band with a bunch of guys from school. We were called The Vedúca and we played something like folk rock. We presented ourselves in Nitra with the first concert, followed by the second one, and the guys from Symfobia came to that one. At that time, they were looking for a singer, and an acquaintance suggested me. We met after the concert, they invited me to the first rehearsal, word got around and Symfobia found a singer.
Can you tell us a bit more about the symphonic metal genre you play? How does it differ from classic heavy metal?
It is distinguished mainly by the significant representation of orchestral elements and choirs. This genre focuses on melodic elements in vocal lines, elaborate orchestral backings and guitar parts. It is interesting that in symphonic metal, the main vocals are mostly aimed at the "fairer sex" with strong vocal support. However, we are the only band in Slovakia that plays this genre to such an extent. It really requires a lot of energy, time and patience.
The voice, as the most beautiful musical instrument, usually competes with the solo guitar in metal bands. How does it work in Symphobia? Is there a predominance between the individual members of the symphony?
We try to make compositions in such a way that each instrument has its place and stands out. Whether singing, guitar, keyboards, choirs, etc. Of course, with such a quantity it is sometimes difficult, but what is more difficult is the mixing of so many instruments on a CD and then the actual sounding of the band at concerts. No matter how well thought out the structure of a song may be, it can easily fall apart if the sound is bad. A song can turn into one big goulash if the sound engineer is sloppy. It is also difficult at a concert if the singer does not have his own in-ears. I remember the times when we didn't have them yet and it happened that I almost didn't hear any singing during the whole concert. In that case, you are literally singing from memory.
You even have two female singers, which is not usual. What is Petra Hasarová's role in the group?
As you say, it's not usual and maybe we want to stand out with this. Petra first worked with our band as a chorister on the first CD and later we approached her as a vocalist for concerts. Since Petra and I matched our voices perfectly from the beginning and we had good energy together at concerts, we decided to have two female singers in the band. I think it was appreciated mainly by male listeners.
Your texts are mostly in English. Who is your lyricist and are you thinking about Slovak texts in the future?
The English lyrics on our first and second album were written by the young but very talented lyricist Rastislav Getta. We started with Slovak lyrics 5 years ago, when I joined the band. At that time, I wrote Slovak lyrics for almost every song. After some time, however, we came to the opinion that Slovak does not suit us there. Another thing is that symphonic metal fans are all over the world and so far we have around 80 percent of all our fans from around the world. Slovakia is not that much of a rock nation, and we would conclude in Slovak only for that small percentage of listeners. Of course, we also appreciate Slovak fans, and that's also why we presented our first Slovak song, Human, about half a year ago. Guitarist Jimmi Cimbala was a guest on this song and a music video was also released. We have already thought about another Slovak song and we will definitely not stop at one.
You were the support band for world heavy metal giants such as Finnish Nightwish and Swedish Sabaton. Didn't your knees shake from them before the concert?
Specifically, not from them, but from those people who came to this concert, yes. As I already mentioned, the launch of our CD was our first concert. The second concert was Nightwish in Banská Bystrica. At that time, I had almost no experience of performing in front of a larger audience, so standing in front of 10,000 people was really no fun. I remember jumping around like a doe and not knowing how to communicate with the audience at all. After a year of concerts, we jumped ahead of them again, in Košice. We all thoroughly enjoyed the concert there. As for the band members, we met all of them after the concert except the singer. They were very nice and friendly.
And what about the Czechoslovak legends Citrón and Tublatanka? How do you perform with them?
Specifically, we played a tour with Tublatanka and Citrón 2 years ago. They were really great concerts and our first tour with other bands. I have to admit that I saw the band Citrón live for the first time only on tour and I remember being enchanted by their concerts. It was great, the guitarists were amazing and even sexy, Láďa sang like God, the fans chanted, but it was just great. We already knew Tublatanka and it was a great pleasure to tour with them. We have very good relations until now.
Your first album Way of the Queen was released in 2015. When can we expect something new?
You can start now. In August we finished recording our second album. In September, the choristers recorded the last songs and now we are just waiting for the mastering, the booklet and the second CD can be pressed. It sounds simple, but I don't know how long it will take. I would love to tell you a specific release date, but we have already announced and moved it so many times that I prefer not to say any more. We are in no rush and we care about offering our fans quality CDs. You should follow our website or social networks and you will always learn everything there. I can only tell you that you definitely have something to look forward to.
What about concerts and festivals? Where can the audience see you in the near future?
We've finished the festival summer and next we have an autumn tour in Slovakia with the band No Control. It is the new project of guitarist Jimmi Cimbala. It was in his studio in Seredi that we recorded our second CD, Smog of Tomorrow, which we will launch in Nitra in the autumn. In November, we have a concert in Ostrava with the bands Witch Hammer and Eufory. This year we are planning two more new clips for songs from the new album, so we are already working on their realization.
You come from Nitra, why is this place a breeding ground for such well-known rock bands as Horkýže Slíže, Desmod or Gladiator? Do you have a musical explanation for that?
And he didn't mention several other well-known Slovak bands. Surely, this remarkable fact bothers many people. However, I never came up with an answer. I'm not from Nitra, I just lived there for the last 6 years. However, I noticed that this city lives a colorful cultural life. It has quality primary art schools and theater ensembles. Surely this also has an effect on starting bands. It is said that Nitra is the birthplace of kings and princes. So it will perhaps be said that it is the birthplace of kings, princes and good bands.
And finally, what does singing mean to you personally?
Wow. I guess no one has ever asked me this question. Singing is a big mystery to me. How far a person can go with his voice, how he can improve, where are his limits. But it continues from the vocal cords to overcoming oneself, to finding one's own personality, to learning how to communicate, to the endless search for answers when writing texts. But all this does not end with the singer himself. He pushes it to other people and watches what the music and lyrics do to them. And that's where other stories begin. That's why singing is a mystery to me. A mystery that has enormous power.
The interview was prepared by: Vladimír Dubeň