EMQ’s With Avaland
EMQ’s With Avaland
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with French Power/ Prog/ Symphonic Metal band, Avaland. Huge thanks to them for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hi to all of you, readers of Ever Metal, and thank you for this interview. AVALAND is a French band from Grenoble, formed in 2018 by its mastermind Adrien G. Gzagg (vocals, keyboards, orchestration, lyrics and songwriting) and consisting since 2021 of Lucas Martinez on guitar, Léo Mouchonay on drums, Camille Souffron on bass and Jeff Kanji (myself) on vocals. We play a blend of different melodic genres of Metal, name it Power, Progressive or Symphonic, with an emphasis on the theatrics, fleshed out by the involvement of different singers.
How did you come up with your band name?
It’s actually a mix of two ideas from Adrien, Avalon and land, so the land of Avalon is where all the stories of the albums take place.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
France, at the gates of the Alps in Grenoble. We have a pretty active Metal scene there patronized by Metallian Productions, founded by NIGHTMARE. The scene is pretty vivid in all genres, be it Hard Rock, Progressive Metal, Power Metal or Black Metal.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
The latest release is our video clip for “Kingslayer”, the third single of our second album “The Legend Of The Storyteller” expected on March 31st.
Who have been your greatest influences?
A wide gallery of portraits to put it in a nutshell. We are five different individuals with tastes that cross each other’s fields but not always. Camille, for example, is a big Jazz and Djent fan not followed by many but he also loves DREAM THEATER, just like Lucas. And Lucas’s taste for everything Death Metal related can be found in Léo’s taste, especially the technical stuff. And I’m an old Melodic Death Metal fan but most of all a Heavy/Power Metal fan. Apart from the QUEEN, the greatest band that ever wrote, BLIND GUARDIAN is a big thing for me, and we share that as well with Léo, who likes RHAPSODY and DIMMU BORGIR even more than me I think, in the middle of his deep interest for Black Metal and everything blast-beat related. Adrien is a big fan of Rock Operas in the likes of AYREON and more generally all of Arjen Lucassen’s related projects, AINA, AVANTASIA, but also Melodic Rock stuff like TOTO, ASIA and HAREM SCAREM. And more specifically, Adrien is the one into Progressive Rock with YES, ALAN PARSONS PROJECT and GENESIS. MARILLION is the lucky one, I’m a Fish fan, and Adrien adores Steve Hogarth.
What first got you into music?
I can only speak for myself. I started trying to put the right fingers on my late mother’s keyboard. But it really started in 1996 when I began to sing in my high school choir, four registers mingling and becoming a single instrument. It remains a deeply spiritual thing for me today in 2023. I started playing keyboards soon after finding it very handy to sing and having the music under my fingers, and at 15 I wanted to be a rockstar like every teenager I guess (^^), and by the same time, in April 1999, I heard “The Show Must Go On” by QUEEN, and it changed my life forever. I would live my life as a musician.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Too many to mention. Tobias Sammet, Tobias Forge, Brian May, Hansi Kürsch, Arjen Lucassen, Ida Haukland, Marcela Bovio…
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Actually, the festival experience is so great. You get to meet artists you have been listening to for years, and you build friendships for a career. It’s a rare opportunity to meet your friends in the business, that you can basically never see, because we all have the same job! As a French band, playing Hellfest is a dream and some kind of goal in a way. If we can make our way to one of the best Metal festivals in the world, it will mean quite a lot to us.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
People in the audience can be pretty… Innovative I would say. Signing different kinds of items or… Body parts. Never too awkward but often funny and in a very good willing way.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
We are humbled if you liked anything you have heard from AVALAND. We dedicated ourselves to “The Legend Of The Storyteller”, and the feelings we put into it, the crushing extreme-inspired drumming of Leo, the technical chops of Lucas, the sense of melody Adrien poured into his orchestration and his vocals, the groove and larger than life ideas of Camille and the screams and soaring lines I could pull off. Every song has its mood, its own life, and has resulted in a pretty catchy result I guess, and you will hopefully not have this too common feeling of “oh I’ve heard it before… and done better!” We’re looking forward to seeing you on Tour with RHAPSODY OF FIRE in April. Spread the word, stay Metal, and thank you for your support, we always have a blast talking with you, exchanging messages, and sharing our music with you.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Freddie Mercury for sure!
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The most: heading the call when I was 15 and jumping in when I had the opportunity to become a full-time musician. Making a living with what I love and respect the most is a treasure I’ll never regard lightly. If you are the kind of person who likes home and having a certain financial comfort and predictable weeks, it’s clearly not the best option to be a musician, especially a touring one. What I hate, in France particularly, is the inability some people still have to get that we are not just entertainers, and that earning your money with passion is a full-time job that requires sacrifices they’ll never even concede to. Respecting and serving art is my mantra and a way of life in its own. It takes a lot of diplomacy and awareness-raising to get respect from some people, even if they like what we do sometimes! But we’ve been blessed so far with AVALAND; we’ve only had very warm and cheerful chat and support.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
The music industry is very much working the way other businesses are. You work to earn money, to make a living. And the music industry has changed so much in the past twenty years, and it now makes it harder. In a sense it ain’t that bad, because you really have to earn your right to put your music out, and let’s be honest, to invest. The course of action of a label is not what it used to be, so you have to be very smart and lucky (it may not suffice though) to get your music aired and liked.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
I will speak for myself again, but there are too many to mention. “Innuendo” – QUEEN, “A Night At The Opera” – BLIND GUARDIAN, “01011001” – AYREON, “A Beautiful Lie” – 30 SECONDS TO MARS. As I said, too many to mention.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs or Downloads?
Everything! I have some love for the CD format, its liability, its size (I can’t imagine my 2k+ CDs to be vinyls, I would need a proper living room). And more recently, I got into the Earbooks, but only for BLIND GUARDIAN and AYREON, selected favorite artists who make this format really interesting for this aficionado.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
AVALAND was born just before the pandemic, so the opportunities to play live have not been so many. Our first gig at the Rising Fest 2022 was somewhat special for many reasons (kudos to Nath Eklipse for ten years of festivals and Heavy Metal), our first sold-out show in our home city in Grenoble with three guest singers on stage, and most recently the amazing encounter with the Flemish crowd, especially in Belgium where I’ve personally loved playing for years.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I heeded the call when I was just 15. I did work in luxury hotels and I liked welcoming and exchanging with so many different kinds of people. But I’ve been a professional musician for half my life and I can’t fathom any other way of living as far as I’m concerned.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
We are five individuals with various tastes, but let’s guess: Johann Sebastian Bach, Hellhammer, Tobias Sammet, Gaël Giraud, and Freddie Mercury. Should be creepy… and interesting!
What’s next for the band?
Our sophomore album “The Legend Of The Storyteller” was released at the end of March with a new single entitled “To Be The King”, courtesy of Rockshots Records. It’s available on our website, Rockshots online shop, Amazon… you name it, and you can find AVALAND on every streaming platform (Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal…). We’re looking forward to getting the reactions of the fans and the press. We did our best to increase the level of our first album “Theater Of Sorcery”, to bring some new spices and develop our personality and to pour parts of ourselves in it, and really hope you will feel it.
We already started (earlier than planned) our European tour with RHAPSODY OF FIRE and SYMPHONITY. We all get along so well, we have great expectations, and are so eager to meet new fans in Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and Italy. More dates should be announced, stay connected on our socials (Instagram, Facebook, and if you like our stories, join us on the Avaland Musical Universe on Facebook, where the community is building itself, and extra content is posted).
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Rockshots – http://www.rockshots.eu/
Official Website – https://avaland-themetalopera.com/
Facebook – Facebook.com/avaland.metal.opera
Instragram – Instagram.com/avaland_metal_opera
Twitter – Twitter.com/AvalandMetal
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
I would take my chance on the Bun? The truth is, France is very much a land of food, and we take it very seriously. Conflicts can arise based on arguments about cheese! We are lucky to have a diverse cooking culture, and it gets enriched by other cultures’ food. I’m very keen on Indian, Lebanese and Vietnamese food but I really love French food, and I’m a bread addict in some ways.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
AVALAND would like to thank Ever Metal for conducting this interview and hope you, readers, found it entertaining and that it gives you more insight into what this Metal Opera is about. We shall be honoured if you listen to and enjoy our music. On behalf of everybody at the AVALAND camp: thank you, and see you on the road!
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
