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Interview // 2021-02-22

Virocracy

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Virocracy is a band from Germany who put out their first album just short of a year ago, and immediately started working on a second album. Their music doesn't fall under one specific genre, but more closely resembles what you would get if you mixed thrash, death, and prog and watched it mutate with the story line. I am looking forward to what will come with their next album!

I am thankful that the vocalist, Anika, and one of the guitarists, Alex, were willing to chat with me! They are a recent discovery for me, personally, and I wanted to share and send some love their way! Check them out!


This whole COVID thing is unfortunate, obviously, but it is crazy timing for you guys, just starting out. So, almost a year ago is when you put out your first full album, and I saw on your Facebook that Sebastian did your drums for the new album. So, is he actually your drummer going forward, or was he helping you with that?

ANIKA: Yeah, we kind of hired him as a session drummer.

The story behind the album, Irradiation, involves a girl named Rane.

ALEX: Yeah, it is a girl or a boy, but most people think it is a girl. Yeah, so let's go for girl.

So, she lives an isolated existence and, ultimately, she is poisoned by her fellow humans and succumbs to her death. I find it interesting that this story unfolds in the music. Did one of you come up with the concept, or was it more of a group effort?

ANIKA: The idea behind the story was originally Alex's idea and when I joined the band, the story was almost completely written, and I was only involved thinking of some details. Yeah, and most of the lyrics.

How does the character Rane relate to your own life experiences?

ALEX: Anika has a very close connection to the character. Myself, I don't have that much of it. I came up with the idea because I am so interested in the topic of radiation, and the "walking ghost" period, which is the five days that you have left when you are exposed to too much radiation. I find that highly fascinating, that you go through different stages. I thought that would be perfect for a concept album. And then Rane, I like the word - it suggests water, it suggests reign over something. But Anika, I think you were able to identify with that character at one point in the story because you brought your lyrics and it was from her point of view

ANIKA: Yeah, that is true. Actually, I could identify pretty well with her after I read Alex's description, so I just made up some more details. I also brought up the lyrics. I don't know. I could identify with her personality and how she is among other people and that she loves nature, for example.

ALEX: Damaging nature, or harming it.

So, the girl that was used in the video "Walking Ghost", she was Rane - that was how I was looking at her anyways. How did you find her? Was it hard to find her?

ALEX: I don't know how we found her. Anika, you were in touch with her. You met her.

ANIKA: I met her in a hospital. We aren't that close, but we kind of connected on that level of being an artist because she is also a model, and she is kind of also into that music. So, she was interested when I asked her to help us out for the video. And it was also actually really funny because Alex's description of Rane, or I imagined her being a tall and lean person, with dark hair and rather androgynous body. Jana, who played Rane, is rather short and has bright blonde hair - white hair, actually. So, it wasn't really what I thought of, but it fits so well.

ALEX: Exactly. We shot that video exactly a year ago, by the way. Exactly one year ago, we were here with her, with the snakes in my house. You saw the snakes in the video. There were some snakes starring. They were her pets. Jana, the actress, had two pet snakes and she brought them for the shooting. Yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah, how do you feel about snakes, you are good with that?

ALEX: Me personally, yeah, I like snakes. I had never touched any snakes before, that was the very first time to hold them. It is so insane. Have you ever held any snakes in your hand? They move around, they have these muscles.

Yes, I have held a python. Yeah, they are very different. Not like what we are used to holding.

The name Virocracy has a death metal feel which drew me in and made me want to check out more from you guys. I want to know how you came up with the name. There is that clip in the song, Rane, that I noticed is from the Matrix and it is talking about humans as a virus. So is that kinda what "Virocracy" is speaking to? Or is more than that, or different that? What does Virocracy mean to you, I guess is what I am asking?

ANIKA: Yeah, I think it is pretty much that idea of humans being a virus to the world and destroying the planet.

ALEX: Dominating, cause it is the crisis dominion spreading. The name is catchy and you find it instantly. I think there is some Russian guy on Instagram that uses it, but other than that you Google it and you instantly find anything that relates to us.

That is true. When I heard the name, I tried to see if it was an actual word, and all I could find was stuff about you guys, so, yeah.

ALEX: Perfect, people have some hard time, especially Germans. Sometimes they spell it with a Z so instead, "Virocrazy." It is stupid.

So, Anika, I heard that you were involved in choir when you were younger, so what piqued your interest in harsher vocals?

ANIKA: Listening to harsher music, I would say. When I first started listening to metal it was more with melodic vocals and clean singing, but I got into all of the guttural singing pretty soon, I would say, with melodic death metal bands. I think one of the first ones I can think of is Kataklysm. I decided I want to be able to do these sounds too.

The transition from being a part of a group like a choir, to solo - was that a natural transition for you, or was it stepping out pretty heavily to go solo?

ANIKA: Well. I mean it wasn't a transition so to say. I was in choir when I was in school, and I kept singing all these years, but not professionally. When I started practicing guttural vocals, I mean, I taught myself how to do that. But I think after two years or so, I felt kind of stuck, and I felt cannot move forward from that point. I needed support, so I found a vocal teacher and she taught me more about guttural vocals, despite her not even being a rock singer, because she actually does jazz and pop music. I also had clean vocal training, so I developed both at the same time, which is great, because I still use both.

When did you pick up your instrument, Alex, the guitar?

ALEX: When I was 16 years old. I am 28 now. I got my first guitar for Christmas, actually. I am also self taught. I have never taken a single lesson in music. I don't even know what I am doing in terms of musical theory. I just play from my gut.

Was there a point when you just realized it was something you could do, like, did it click right away?

ALEX: Yeah, it has always been so easy. When I started to play guitar, I also started to write music instantly. I covered a lot. I played the whole Nevermind by Nirvana, the whole album completely. I knew every single song. Then I moved on to Metallica, Master of Puppets. That was the second album I played completely in its entirety. Then I moved on to And Justice For All. I had a thrash metal band band in Stuttgart ten years ago. I was a little into death metal, but not that much. When I met the first drummer of Virocracy, he was a completely death metal focused person, and hip hop, apart from that. He wanted to play more brutal metal. Before that, I was more into thrash and cleaner metal, so to say, and now it is the progressive death brutal stuff which I haven't played before Virocracy. I was more in the melodic area, as well as Jan, the second guitarist. He is coming from the more melodic past.

Sometimes artwork isn't so important to a band, or doesn't come off how they were hoping. The artwork you have is quite nice on the album. How was the process of finding the right artwork for your vision?

ALEX: The process was hard among the band because there was many different views on how it should be. But Anika was in touch with the artist. We found the artist, Justin Abraham, via Instagram, I think. Anika did a lot of research on Instagram, right?

ANIKA: I brought up some suggestions to the band and asked the others what they think, and I was more into something maybe like a painting, more classical style. But I mean, okay, five people means five opinions, so would we choose digital artwork or something hand drawn? I think it was a really great compromise, if you want to say so, because everyone is happy with it now.

I believe music experience is very subjective. In other words, when I listen to a song I might think differently about it than someone else. How did you establish the style of the band with all those varied experiences and thoughts you all brought to it?

ANIKA: I would say when we first started we only had what, three songs?

ALEX: Very good question. Yeah, the very first song was Walking Ghost. Walking Ghost was the very, very first song we ever made and I think it is a thrash metal song. You know, the intro is very fast; it is more the direction I came from, actually. The last song is, I think, Incarnation, which is more this Gojira type, like, complicated progressive stuff which I think shows the spectrum of development we made during the process.

ANIKA: I'd say you start with just a few songs, like two or three songs, and build up on that. Also, we didn't take all the songs we ever had onto the album, and we made some major changes at a later stage.

ALEX: It is actually funny because when I started Walking Ghost, the first part was actually written on a 6-string guitar. And then, our drummer Alex would say, "We have to expand. We are death metal. We are progressive so we need 7 string guitars." And then I bought my very first 7-string guitar. Then I was able to write new riffs, for example, the one on Void, which is the last song, which was on a very low string. I wasn't able to before so that was a new style, a new range for me. A new area to experiment. And many reviewers wrote that is is a very good album for a first release, but we are still finding our style. I could agree because I couldn't write another song like Walking Ghost again, now that so many songs are done. And the new album sounds completely different, I would say, in my opinion. We have parts that we haven't done before.

ANIKA: Yeah, that is true, and we are still in that process, which is a good thing I would say.

I often go to music for varied moods - for example, when I am excited or saddened. Can you give me an example of a song you might go to for a specific mood? Like for me, if I am having a really rough day, I tend to want to put on Agalloch.

ANIKA: Yeah I know that. I have been feeling the same. Maybe it is 'cause of the winter months, or maybe because it is dark most of the day, and when I leave my home it is dark, and when I get home it is dark. I have very quiet moments in the evening and I will listen to post rock, or also some atmospheric black metal. And if you like Agalloch, I am pretty sure you know about Harakiri For the Sky? I love them, too, and I have been listening to them so much. That is what I am really listening to these days, but also if I am feeling very energetic and I am going out for a run, I will listen to more death metal. It will be Suffocation or Dyscarnate or something like that.

ALEX: When I started in university in 2012, I remember it was really cold. It was October, November. It was harshly cold. And every time I would walk to the tram station I was listening to the Sylosis album which is called Monolith. I don't know if you know that Sylosis is a thrash metal band from England? Every time I am freezing I have to think of that album now because I have this connection. When I am cold, I listen to this album. Or this album fits into winter time in general, and when it is summer I can't listen to it. I think it is highly interesting. As far as other situations, I have to think. I like death metal, but I also like some Foo Fighters, I like Pink Floyd, and I also like hip hop sometimes. But when do I like hip hop, that is the question. I think when I have played guitar all day and listened to metal all day, then I want to listen to something else in the evening. That is a really good question.

When can we expect the new album you have been working on?

ALEX: Autumn, Fall? At this moment we are recording the guitars. I went to the other guitarist's place. We were recording the guitars at home. The drums are done, they are ready. And vocals, Anika? We have to make an appointment actually.

ANIKA: I will be going to the studio I think sometime in spring. But I need some more work. I am not ready yet.

ALEX: The story is done. The album cover is not done.

ANIKA: We have our song titles already. And the album title - most important.

Is this album a concept album too then?

ANIKA: It is a concept album too.

So on this new album, how did it come together? Was it a group effort, or did it rely heavily on anybody, specifically?

ALEX: It was completely different from the first one. The first one was actually made during rehearsal with the drummer, basically. I would play with Alex and we would just fiddle around and find something and say, that's cool let's try that, let's try that. The others joined the band at a later time. It was first Alex and me, we brought three or four songs, then Anika and Jan joined. We finished another three or four songs, and then Flo came in - our bass player - as very last, and most of the creative work was already done. Now, without a drummer - we don't have Alex, he left weeks before the album in March. So when the album came out, we started to write new music right away, but at home due to Corona. We lost our rehearsal room, so we couldn't even play together. It was all made remotely. It is a completely Corona album. I would write riffs, write them down, and send them to the others, and they would contribute to that.

ANIKA: We haven't had any rehearsals since, I think, February last year, so everyone was working on their own parts at home, and we put it together, and occasionally met via Zoom.

ALEX: Also for a beer sometimes, not to play music, but to talk about it, and to rearrange stuff. But it is completely different. I think you can hear it. We haven't played these songs together. We don't even know if they are possible to play live. We don't know! So, we will see.

Is it all new, original material, or did you bring in stuff that you thought of years ago, or anything like that?

ALEX: I thought of some riffs quite some time before that, before the first album. Some riffs were actually meant for the first album, didn't make it, so I recycled them or rearranged them. I was quite glad when that works.

If there was a concept album written about each of you, your life, what would the title be for the concept album?

ANIKA: Such a hard question!

ALEX: Anika, I think your album would be called "The Anika Effect" because people would underestimate her at first sight, before the gig. You would see Anika as, oh she is such a cute little, why should she impress anybody? And then, after the gig, everybody just talks about her. Whoa, your singer! No one mentions guitars. At one point they talked about a beautiful guitarist of the band, and Jan and I would wonder who was the beautiful guitarist... Turned out it was the bass player, Flo, they were loving. I always call this "the Anika Effect" because everybody would just be blown away by Anika, especially live. And for me, I don't know... "Wolf In Sheep's Clothing." I don't have the long hair, I don't have tattoos, I don't have any friends that listen to metal. I am actually a conference interpreter for German and English. I don't have friends that listen to metal, apart from the band members. My wife doesn't listen to metal, my friends. My father does. But other than that, I am not a hardcore metal guy, but I like to play the music and do it.

ANIKA: The way he talks about it always makes me feel sorry for him, for some reason. I don't know.

ALEX: Talk about what?

ANIKA: Like, you say you have no friends listening to metal and -

ALEX: I wasn't brought up in the culture of metal, you know. I deeply love the music, it is an essential part of my heart and soul and everything, but I don't have the long beard, and if you look at the band members, I don't fit in.

ANIKA: Never too late to grow one.

ALEX: Yeah, no.

During this stressful time with the pandemic thing, what would you tell fans they can do to help out bands that they enjoy at this time?

ALEX: Buy our CD, share our stuff. That is always helpful.

ANIKA: Yeah, share our stuff. Talk about it, show it to friends, post our videos. We still have merch here, tonnes of merch and CDs. It's at my home. Also, during the crisis, Bandcamp made a new special offer - Bandcamp Friday.

ALEX: Where you get the full revenue. Normally, they would get their share. Bandcamp is free, and when someone buys an album they get a percentage of it, which is okay, but not on this Bandcamp Friday.

ANIKA: It is once a month, and it also helps if you decide to buy our album, you do it on that day. It helps.

Thank you so much. Take care of yourself and stay safe!

ALEX: You too, thanks. Thanks Sarah!

ANIKA: Thanks a lot!


Playlist Pick

After interviewing Virocracy, I decided to add the song Incarnation to my playlist.

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