Interview By Erwin Van Dijk

 

According to the bio:"The Norwegian symphonic metal band Adyta was founded in 2008, by Joakim Severinsen who had left to pursue his own goals. Adyta can be described as symphonic metal with female vocals and the music contains elements from film and folklike music to extreme metal. The name Adyta is a latin word which refers to something that is not to be entered. In some cases the innermost sanctuary or shrine in an ancient temple, whence oracles were given. The derives from one of Epica's prologues. Joakim chose this as soon as he figured out it wasn't already in use for serious band purposes. After rehearsing with various musicians Joakim had not found the right ones and Adyta still remained a bandproject. Luckily he got in contact with Melissa Ferlaak, former Visions of Atlantis and Aesma Daeva singer, which agreed to be the Rose Of Melancholy EP's main vocalist."

This year Adyta released their first EP called “The Rose of Melacholy”. Check out the review here.

Did you always wanted to become a guitarist?

I’m not sure. I don’t think I knew what I wanted before I actually started playing guitar, but it didn’t take long before I felt really comfortable with the instrument. I played Bariton in a marching band for six years as a kid, so I’ve always had a very melodic approach to music.

To what kind of music do you listen yourself?

Oh that can be so much! I love filmmusic, classical, folk, flamenco, Balkan and so on. There is so much I enjoy, but most of it isn’t really of the popular kind. I really love bands like Wintersun, Ensiferum, Eluveitie, Equilibrium, Epica and composers like Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman and Vangelis. There’s absolutely to much to mention!

And are there any guitar players that you admire?

Yes of course. I don’t consider myself to be a very technical guitarist even though some of the songs might have a some progressive content. Jari Mäenpää has been a god to me ever since I started playing guitar, and Ensiferum was actually what got me going! I usually prefer those who write really great music as well.

What kind of guitars and amplifiers do you use?

I’m using a 7 string Ibanez Universe and Peavey 6505 head. Cause of the price It’s the only electric guitar I have at the moment. I really love it and I don’t think I’ll ever sell it. This is also what I used on the EP throughout a speakersimulator, which I sort of regret. Next time I’ll probably use microphones instead.

Why did you leave Mortiferia?

I guess there has been a lot of speculation about this, so I’ll just make it clear once and for all. Over time I became very dissatisfied with a lot of things in the band. I felt that the current singer and drummer wasn’t really enough for the band. It had to do with stage presence and technical approach. This didn’t seem to be a problem to anyone else than myself, so due to my dissatisfaction my conclusion was that I had to quit.

Adyta and Mortiferia are not exactly in the same genre. What are the differences between playing the guitar in Mortiferia and Adyta?

Not to much actually. There will of course be a big difference between the bands when Adyta has gotten a full lineup with completely different characters. Guitarwize it’s not that big difference. I still write songs in the melodic and folky style I’ve always loved to do and the only big difference I can think of is that I now incorporate more parts with growls. Mortiferia appears to be more on the darker and occult side musicwize.

Did you have any other bands before Mortiferia?

There was Sectum. This was a sort of folk black metal band. A lot of the songs from that band was brought into Mortiferia and rearranged, since the 3 remaining members of Sectum suggested to entwine Sectum and Mortiferia together.

 How did you got in touch with Melissa Ferlaak?

I just sent her a message on MySpace and asked if she would be interested in doing the vocals for my EP as a session singer. So, she wanted to hear some full length stuff, which I sent over, and she found very interesting! From there everything was done in our home studios and files were transferred through a FTP server.

 

Adyta started as a project but with Pranav Taneja on drums it is becoming more and more a "real" band. Who is Pranav Taneja?

Yes. It is become of a band over time. It is a hard process to find musicians which suits this band, but Pranav is a very skilled and nice drummer. He’s actually from India, but moved to Norway last summer. I’m not sure what more to say, but there will probably be some more information about him on the website in the future. We are about to hold auditions for a frontsinger at the moment, so hopefully Adyta will soon be a full band.

You are still looking for a singer. What kind of singer do you need for Adyta?

That is hard to say. We don’t really have any specific vision of what we are looking for, but a singer with a good voice, character and personality is what I can think of. I have gotten something like four or five singer submissions, but only one of them has been really outstanding. Hopefully it won’t be to long until we have setteled on this as well!

Since Adyta is your solo project, is it easier to write songs without having to consult other band members of do you miss the ideas that other band members might have?

It’s a lot easier if you have a lot of good ideas. But, if you’re having a difficult time and you’re not able to come up with anything it is of course hard. It does feel good not having to consult anyone. This is only because I’ve never experienced anything else than musicians with a huge leap in taste of music earlier. I hope there will not be such a big leap between myself and the future members in our ways of writing, so the style of music can maintain a certain sounds and idea.

Can you tell us something about the songs on the EP?

Yes. There are five tracks and they all have differences. Some lyrics has to do with how afraid we are to be ourselves and how we sometimes do not dare to act as we naturally feel we should. There’s some sad parts about life and death, as it is without a meaning, and a tiny slice of anti-religion. Hehe!

And what is the idea behind the name of the EP?

It was the track that appealed most to me. For me it’s about the beauty in losing hope and feeling totally miserable. I enjoy to turn something really negative into something quite nicer, and I think this was a really good result.

And the last question, what are Adyta’s plans for the future?

To complete the line-up, start doing concerts and then record some new material. In what order this will happen I can’t be sure of, but I’ll do my best and make sure it happens!

 

Links

Adyta Official Site

Adyta Official MySpace

Joakim Severinsen Personal MySpace

Melissa Ferlaak Koch Personal MySpace

 

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