Interview with Barbara (vocals, guitar) from wazzara
Nov 22, 2021
Uniting Post Metal, Doom and Psychedelic Rock, WAZZARA is the culmination of a themed solo project from the former lead singer of Folk Metal band, Caladmor.
Taking initial inspiration from the natural poetry of water in motion, enrapt listeners have found themselves moved by the otherworldly, ethereal and magical offerings of Swiss-based songwriter Barbara Brawand since 2015.
Barbara Brawand • Vocals, Guitar
Mäsi Stettler • Guitar
George Necola • Bass
Julia Kapp • Drums
What is your upbringing? How did you discover music? How did you start to write music?
My parents are both musicians and they gave me the gift of taking music lessons when I was a child. So, I picked the piano which I still play until today. It was also on the piano where I wrote my first songs.
How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it? What is your guitar of choice now? Year, make and model? And does it have a name?
Not yet 😉 – but my guitar is definitely inhabited by a good spirit. It’s a Duesenberg Starplayer Special and this is also my first electric guitar since I only started playing the guitar one and a half year ago. It was love at first sight and we get along very well.
How did your band form? How did you get your bands name?
The band was formed out of my solo project, as I always wanted to bring wazzara live on stage. The band name derives from Old High German and means “the waterborn”. Water and old languages are very dear to me, and since the project was my personal solo project in the earlier days, the name had to be relating closely to me as a person.
How did you go about to united a Post Metal, Doom and Psychedelic Rock into one media?
This didn’t happen on purpose, as it probably never does when you create music. These styles are just the one that intrigue me the most or that are best to express how I feel.
What was your first performance at like?
I barely remember. I think I was 11 years old and I felt very insecure. 😉
What makes a good songwriter?
Authenticity.
What is the process of writing your music?
Basically, it’s all about gathering ideas and then form one piece out of it. Very seldom I write one song in one piece. It’s also about leaving behind what does not work, meaning letting go of some of my creations.
Tell me about Cycles which came out on Oct. 31, 2021?
It’s our first full-length album and 100% based on crowdfunding, that is the most special part about it and we are very grateful that we received so much love and support from all our backers before the album was recorded. And we had a very special guest on the drums: Andrei Jumugă (dordeduh, Ordinul Negru and more) who contributed a major part to the album’s groove and feel.
Barbara- During the recording of the album you used the Portable Vocal Booth from Imperative Audio. How was it? Did you feel comfortable working in a small space?
Surprisingly I did! If you stand in there, it is not as small as it may look from outside. I just had to get used to the sound at the beginning since I haven’t been recording in a vocal booth for a long time (last time in 2014). It really devours any noise and it’s absolutely supposed to do so; but that’s something I had to get familiar with first.
Why did you decide to create Wolf Moon which is a tribute to Type O Negative?
I’ve been carrying the song with me since many years. To me, it is a hymn to femininity and its cycles, to lust and nature from which we are all born, and so the song holds a very important message in my opinion. I honour Peter Steele and his poetry as well as Type O Negative.
Tell me about the creation of the video Obsidian Skies? How was it to work with Rob Miola and Nicolas De Nisco on the video?
We had two awesome days with them! They are a lovely team which made it really great for us to be around them and work together.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
I am very ambivalent about it. Basically, it would all be a great idea if the pay-outs to the artists were fair, right?
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
I think people who know how to read sheet music won’t forget about it. But this is interesting – we can nowadays use the same signs for different purposes and still all agree on what they mean depending on the environment it is used in.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Vinyl!
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Given that there will be a “back to normal” and we can play and visit live shows under normal conditions like before Covid-19, I don’t think that people will stop attending concerts. At least from what I hear, no one really prefers streamed concerts to real concerts. But already before Covid-19, at least in Switzerland, there was the development that large, completely overpriced concerts were always sold out quickly, while smaller concerts were increasingly poorly attended. I think this also has to do something with an oversupply of activities.
Do you think that Covid-19 has been a plus to an artist career?
I wouldn’t say at all. The restrictions are not only affecting the artists, they’re affecting labels, booking agencies, tech & light engineers and venues in the same way; and that falls back on the artists at the end. No clubs, no concerts. Therefore: no, I cannot see anything positive in this.
Recently the virus has come back with the Delta outbreak, which as cause many people in the industry to worry about the future of live music.
You just played your first gig at Borom Pom Pom/Boeroem.ch. Tell me about that night?
It felt great to be back on stage and to be welcomed by this lovely, cheering crowd! It was also very special because this was the first time that we played together in our new composition with Deniz Lebovci on drums who learned all the songs within a very short time – and he absolutely nailed it!
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
I think it always depends on the amount and what you get for it. Of course, it’s not ok to make a business out of small bands. On the other hand: The sick excesses of capitalism are everywhere, so it’s not that surprising that the music business works the same way.
The show Star Trek introduced people to the holodeck: an immersive, realistic 3D holographic projection of a complete environment that you could interact with.
Today holograms are already being used in a variety of way, such as medical systems, education, art, security and defense
Performers like Tupac, Michael Jackson, Roy Orbison, Frank Zappa, Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Buddy Holly, Ronnie James Dio, Marylin Monroe, and Whitney Houston have done it already. The band ABBA just announced that they will be doing a comeback together after nearly 40 years as holograms on their next tour. With ABBA it was with the help of George Lucas .
If the cost was down to the point you could do it also, would you be willing to do Holographic concerts in our living room?
Funny idea. I never thought of it before. When you watch such a concert – I remember Gorillaz doing it as well – it’s quite impressive how you quickly get into a dialogue with your brain always trying to remember that what you see is not real. A great way to bring back dead artists – and to make even more money with them at the same time.
What is your happy place?
Sitting out in the garden. And my bed. 😊
Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million. In the past year a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million) , Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Neil Young song 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180 song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited . Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative then the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
Someone who was totally against selling his rights was David Crosby. He did not want to sell his publishing rights. And it was not a easy thing for him to do. But by making a deal with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, it took a big weight off of his shoulders. He could pay off his house and cover other bills. And now he doesn’t have to work for a living. It should be noted that David is battling tendinitis in his hands which hurts his ability to play guitar.
Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is will to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
This is very interesting. In David Crosby’s case I’d say he didn’t have a real choice and looking from the outside, he probably made a better deal this way than just insisting on keeping the publishing rights. But I totally understand that he was struggling with this decision. His music is his creation, and it may feel strange to give it completely away into other hands.
There are many platforms out there that allow artists to get their music heard. Artist Republik, DistroKid, Tunecore & plenty others offer distribution services. These services enable independent artists to put their music on some of the most popular streaming services globally, from Spotify to Apple Music & everything in between. If you’ve been in any part of the music industry in recent years, you probably know someone that has distributed a song.
Spotify reports that in 2021 there are about 8 million artists on the platform. Of those 8 million artists, about 57,000 are raking in a whopping 90% of the total revenue from streams. That means that .71% of the artists on Spotify are making good money. In 2020, there was a total of around $5 billion paid out to artists on the Spotify platform alone.
Therefore it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
What do you think what that could mean to independent artist?
For independent artists it will all stay the same or get even worse. As small artist as we are, you should not have any illusions about it. It’s good to offer your music there to serve the people who really want to listen to your music, but one should have no illusions that fair pay-outs will ever occur.
Over half a billion active users around the world share their favorite music on TikTok either with something like a dance challenges and lip-sync videos or creating a funny skit or candid camera moment.
TikTok has become a great platform for music promotion, sharing songs, and finding new listeners. In which it has become a place for music artist to earn revenue when people use their music. Which in many cases the daily promotion on TikTok has led to hug boosts on other platforms like Spotify, Facebook and YouTube.
TikTok does this with the the algorithmically generates a feed of content for each user, which you see as the displaying of #. The more a user engages with content, the smarter TikTok gets at guessing what kind of videos the viewer wants to watch.
Because a song can go viral because of this.
Sony Music and Warner Music Group- , The ByteDance-owned video app revealed that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
This would rather make me want to use TikTok less if I used it at all. 😉
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Thank you very much for taking the time for this interview!
To all the readers: Thank you for reading through this. If you like, we’d appreciate if you check out our latest release CYCLES. Thank you very much.
