Michal Roháč
ONYDIA
Progressive metal. Style for a smaller circle of fans? The Italian band Onydia has shown that this musical style can grow by larger masses. The debut album Reflections was released last year, and guitarist Daniele Amador will talk about his birth and other things in this interview.
The band had its predecessor from which Onydia was formed. What was the reason for the change and a new beginning?
We found out that our ideas were a bit in conflict to what the previous project was. We decided to get away from that situation because we had the need of doing something different that could reflect our personalities and somehow express ourselves better than before.
The debut album was released last year. What reactions have you encountered from fans and journalists?
It was our first record, and we are aware of the fact that it is just a step towards our growth as musicians, but actually we received a number of good reviews, and just a few other ones were a little bit critical about our album, we believe that constructive critiques can be helpful to see something from another point of view, so we always accept them. We also receive messages of greetings from our fans, and that’s what we appreciate the most about playing in a band, because if someone loves your music, it means that you’re doing a good job.
Musically, the album is at a high level. Do you also have a music education?
Yes, all of us received a music education that somehow helped the compositions and the arrangements as well. But we must say that most of the job is not about music theory’s rules and trying to apply them to create a song, it’s actually a matter of personal taste, we just do a few or more attempts until we reach a good result for our ears.
What things inspire you when composing?
We took inspiration from our life experiences, our dreams, nature and any kind of art such as painting, writing, architecture etc., basically anything that can make us feel emotions, of course we include a lot of music in the list.
Describe the album in your own words.
It’s the reflection of our lives, thoughts and dreams, a path of consciousness of what we are and what we can do as human beings to reach a sort of spiritual enlightenment and inner growth.
In the current situation, concerts are on hold. How are you dealing with current situation and lockdown for live shows?
A few members of the band live in different cities, so we decided to temporarily suspend any full-band live activities until September, anyway most of the album has been rearranged for an acoustic duo, we’ve already done a concert and we’re planning to do more live shows like this in the future. We will also consider full-band live streaming concerts as an option, but for now we’re using the lockdown to write a new record.
Are you planning any tours for after lockdown already?
Yes, these days our agency is at work for booking some gigs in our country that will be confirmed soon. Maybe it’s still premature to talk about an European tour because of the COVID-19, the situation about live music is still not that clear, but we’re absolutely looking forward to it.
What do you like to do besides music? Reveal some interests.
We love to be in contact with nature, a walk in the park is always welcome. Moreover, we have Yoga, fitness, cycling, body building, anything that can expel negative energy.
Which bands and musicians are your role models and have influenced you?
We are influenced by so many artists and we listen to any kind of music, the list would be endless. Of course anything around progressive metal, ambient, but also electronic music, pop, and soundtracks from RPG video games, and so on. If we have to name a few of them: Animals as leaders, Haken, Disperse.
If you had the opportunity to go as a support band. Which bands would you like to play with?
Too many! But we probably would put Pain of Salvation at the top of the list, they are awesome.
Thank you for your time for the interview. Do you have anything else at the end that you would like to pass on to readers?
Thank you for having us in this interview. These bad days will be just a memory soon, but they will not be forgotten so we will appreciate the most what life reserves to us, let’s just carry on and we’ll make it through.
