ElisaDay
Interview conducted on January 20, 2021
By Dan Locke
The band was formed in summer 2013 by the participants of sympho-metal band “Lanewin”, after the moment when Anna Beliva, the leader of this group, disappointed in metal and started her new solo project. After several vocal casting sessions, the musicians chose Lubov Antropova, who had charmed them with her voice and fascination.
Denis Geit – Bass
Dmitry Popov- Guitar
Ivan Kaiser – Keyboards
Lyubov Dunaeva- Vocals
Igor Borodin _ Drums
What is your upbringing?
Ivan Kaiser: I grew up in a doctor’s family and had a childhood dream of becoming a pediatrician. It was all good until I’ve failed my biology and chemistry exams at the end of school. That meant I couldn’t go to medical university, so I’ve focused on music and studying English. My first band was called The Onlydream, we were a bunch of students learning how to play their instruments, write our first songs and play them together. So, after some years I’ve been called by the band called Infinity to play a couple of concerts, while their keyboard player was ill, and after some time I joined the band. Then Infinity has transformed to Lanewin and after some years and line-up changes, we’ve come to ElisaDay.
How did you discover music?
When I was 11 years, I was searching for a band to be a fan of. At those times I couldn’t imagine being a simple listener, I could either be a devoted fan of a band or just ignore it. I tried listening to some Russian bands, some of them were decent at that time, but still, I missed something. It was so until my elder brother has brought Rammstein’s album “Mutter”, which has actually changed my life. Then there were 4 years of listening to Rammstein only, trying to repeat something they play on an old out of tune piano in my living room. My father has noticed it and, on my 15th, birthday has bought me a Yamaha synthesizer, so I was able to play without ruining my musical ear.
How did you start to write music?
It came itself. I was in a band and our setlist has consisted of only covers. Most of young musicians start with it. We just needed something of our own to play.
Describe your music
Symphonic metal with some elements of old-school and progressive rock.
How did your band get it name?
Lu has come up with this name. After we decided to close Lanewin, we needed a new name. We just offered some names (one of them was Gipsy’s Kiss :), and Lu’s one was the best. I was asking her about the reason she offered that, still got no answer, as it is personal to her. But the story in general is beautiful.
Do you sometime get mixed up with Elisa Day (Isabelle Ritter)?
Hmm, no, I haven’t heard of her.
How did you find Lyubov Dunaeva?
After Lanewin was closed, we needed a new vocalist. There were 6 girls on the audition, all were prepared and sang beautifully, so we had some hard times with our choice. The final girl was Lu, which hasn’t been prepared at all as somehow, we forgot to send her the material to sing. She just improvised and nailed it; I still remember my silly pleased smile when I’ve heard her version of chorus in “Find The Answer” song. By the way we’ve decided to keep it, so everyone can hear the result of that audition. 🙂
Lyubov what was your past band Pesante like?
Lyubov: It was in Tver city back in those days I lived there. The city is not that big, so the band has become quite famous, we’ve played in top rock clubs. After some years of improving as a singer, I had to move to St. Petersburg and it has become impossible to sing in Pesante. I’ve decided to leave the band and find myself a new one. After a couple of months, I’ve seen a post on musical forum about a band searching for a singer. So, I’ve become a part of ElisaDay.
What was your first performance as a band together?
It was gorgeous. We’ve announced having a new vocalist, but kept everything in secret. I remember the moment when we played the intro and then Lu came on the stage in a formal suit and just killed it. Then the formal suit became a part of her image.
What makes a good songwriter?
Finding a good balance between expressing what you want to say and knowing what people want to hear.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?
No, I find myself not yet prepared to be a part of composers’ communities.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
It was called “Arabian Nights”. I recorded it on my old Nokia phone back in the day. 🙂 I’ve lost the recording, but I still remember the song.
Have you thought about releasing “Там Нет Меня” as an English version?
Hehe, that’s a good idea, I’ve never thought about that. I don’t think it’s actually for now, but we’ll think about it after the release of Auftakt.
Tell me about your latest single “Dark Queen”?
The song was written in 2013, it was almost ready, but we’ve been constantly fixing and improving its arrangement for 6 years. Then, when we’ve finally got satisfied with everything, Lu has written the lyrics and in 2019 we’ve recorded everything. This single is the result of our transformation as arrangers.
How is your EP “Auftakt” coming along?
Auftakt is a next step of that transformation. Some songs of it were written approximately at the same time with Dark Queen, but we have still spent years of improving them. I can’t call myself a perfectionist, but still there is a certain level I need the track to be at. I mean not the general quality of the sound, but mostly the deeply orchestrated cinematic sound conception. Some tracks just need time to grow, not only the work on it.
Can you tell me who is your guest vocalist yet?
No, we keep it secret for now. 🙂 We’ll announce everyone when all the work on Auftakt is finished.
What is your favorite track on the album?
If you had 4 children, who would you love more? 🙂 Though I can say there is my Opus Magnum, can’t argue that.
How do you stay healthy while touring?
You just need to kindly ask organizers to provide you healthy food. No matter how hard you work on tours, healthy food is the key to stay well.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
If people want to listen to your music for free, they will find a way to do it in any case, so it’s better to let anyone listen to what they want, and those who want to buy music and support the artist will find many options to do it, so as a result, people get what they want. Maybe if I had millions of everyday listeners and my lost profit could reach some 6-digits numbers, that could bother me a lot, but for now I don’t mind.
How can people forget about the origin hashtag # Sharp in a musical score?
It’s because you don’t see musical scores every day and you constantly see hashtags on social media. Though you can always find a musician amongst people when you see someone says Sharp instead of hashtag. And if someone calls it “diese”, you will also know, this musician is either Russian or French 🙂
Digital vs. vinyl?
Depends on the atmosphere you listen to music. Digital is more convenient and mobile, you can listen to music in your air pods while running or in your car while driving, there are no limits. But if you create the atmosphere, light the fireplace, have a glass of good wine, that could be stereotypical, but still, I would prefer vinyl music in that case. Nowadays vinyl has become a ritual more than just a part of general lifestyle.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
If it’s my song, I would think about Eclectic Tour by Lanewin. At that time this was my Opus Magnum and when I listen to it, I want to rearrange it, as at 2012 I couldn’t say everything I wanted through the music. I bet in 2030 I would want to rearrange everything, which is up to date today. I don’t like it, but still, it’s a part of my improvement. I divide songs by hits and by pieces of art. For example, Despacito is a pure hit. People listen to it for a year, enjoy it, then they get sick of it and quickly forget it. Pieces of art work differently, like, for example, Bohemian Rhapsody. You enjoy every second of this song, but you just can’t get sick of it. I try to apply this approach to my music, so you don’t have to make hits all the time, music is art in the first place. 🙂
Both Pfizer and BioNTech have conclude Phase 3 Study of the Coronavirus vaccine. With the vaccine, it takes two shots. How many people do you think will take it and how many will forget to take the second shot?
Well, first of all you have to remind people about all the things vaccination is for. People seem to start forgetting everything as some of them try to prevent global vaccination, thinking it harms one’s health. It was even before the Coronavirus pandemic, but now it has gone sometimes too far. Forgetting to take the second shot is mostly a matter of responsibility of a single person. I don’t think there are too many people to forget it 🙂
How long before the whole world will be vaccined against the virus. You have to remember there only has to be a 70% for Herd immunity (Herd immunity occurs when a large portion of a community (the herd) becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected — not just those who are immune.)
I think we’ll reach social immunity at the beginning of 2022. As a member of a band, I realize that organizing 5 people to do something is sometimes harder that it sounds, now imagine if we speak about several billions of people. It will surely take more than just a couple of months.
Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Yeah, and I think it will affect it in a positive way. First of all, people miss those huge music festivals, so all the future concerts will be sold out immediately. And if we speak about administrative work in labels, promotions, etc, it will speed up all the process, as all the people who worked in offices have now compared it with working from home and we’ll face inevitable optimization of overall administrative processes including even necessary bureaucracy.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I’ve learned guitar. Always wanted to play it at least at a basic level. Studying instruments and languages can take all the time you want to spend on it. 🙂
Lyubov- How did you became a part of the metal version “We Are The World”?
Lyubov: Ivan takes part in a Russian metal community, the guys wanted to make a big cooperation between vocalists to make a video. So, he has instantly called me to know if I want to take part in it. Of course, I agreed, this was a good experience.
How did you go about to create “inner War” (Quarantine acoustic coronaversion)?
We’ve failed to make everything in time due to the overall lockdown, so we have decided to release an acoustic version of the upcoming song from Auftakt. It would also work as a good teaser, so people could know what to expect from us in the future.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
Yeah, I found a good hobby to study crafting alcoholic drinks. Making my own cider, mead and some other stuff appeared to be very exciting for me. I don’t drink that much, but the process of creating good craft drinks is very entertaining. Moreover, it’s fully legal in Russia, so it appeared to be a decent hobby for a musician. 🙂
95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. This includes people who don’t have television and using their computers to do streaming of programs and movies. Which is your favorite streaming channel?
Television slowly becomes obsolete, because why would people wait for a certain movie or show if they could watch it anytime online? There are some remarkable shows in Russia, but still TV is one of the ways government speaks with you without asking your opinion. Someday all the decent shows will disappear and TV will become the voice of your government, who would want that.
As for online streams, I’m not fond of them, as they waste too much time, I’d rather waste it in videogames with my friends, at least I’ll have fun. 🙂 But YouTube has become a big part of my life, as it’s perfect for both education and entertainment.
With the streaming services (Disney (50+ new shows/movies Izzie McGuire, The Sandlot, Beauty and the Beast prequel, Moana, Cars, Soul, Raya and the Last Dragon, Sister Act 3, Pinocchio, Peter Pan and Wendy, all future Star Wars and Marvel movies and shows) and HOB Max ( including Wonder Woman 2, Godzilla vs Kong, Top Gun: Maverick, Mortal Kombat, Tom and Jerry, The Many Saints of Newark, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, In the Heights, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, Dune, The Matrix 4) planning to pull all the upcoming movies from next year and put them on their streaming service. How will that affect the entertainment industry? One thing you have to remember also most these movies are already in the can ready to be release. And the original agreement was for the movies to come out at the theater first. The actors and crew make most of their money from the residuals (financial compensations that are paid to the actors, film directors and other involved (including music) in the making of the movie in cases of reruns, syndication, DVD release, and online streaming release).
Definitely not much more than the pandemic has affected it. It will just allow people to watch what they want as well as they already listen to what they want in Spotify, Apple Music, etc. Information is becoming easier to get and you cannot avoid it, you can only adapt to it. Movies are a huge business, so I think they will find a way to adapt. Anyway, the producers know that people would someday prefer watching a movie in their living room instead of going to cinemas. And someday cinemas can turn into the same ritual as I’ve talked about vinyl, who knows. But what I definitely know, is that the produces will still have their earned money for making movies. Anyway, I’m not talking about 2020s, but definitely the industry will change in my opinion.
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. In October that is going to change at least on Facebook. Facebook is cracking down on livestreamed shows that include recorded music with new terms of service, preventing artists from using the platform for “commercial or non-personal” purposes, unless they have obtained the relevant licenses.
The updated music guidelines state that users “may not use videos on our products [which include Instagram] to create a music listening experience […] This will include [Facebook] Live,” and stipulates that such content should be posted for the enjoyment of friends and family only.
How do you think this will change the landscape of Facebook?
This is all about gaining or losing the audience. If Facebook is interested in losing its audience (which I doubt), then they will be strict enough to allow people to move to other, more tolerant platforms. I appreciate copyright holding, but when it comes to negative experiences, I would be a little bit more tolerant. Though I’m not one of the Facebook managers, so I definitely don’t know what they do, including their reasons to create those rules.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merch to them at the show?
If you aren’t able to make anything at home, you only have to keep promising something to people. 🙂 Nowadays you can create tons of content not even relevant to your main content (albums, music videos, etc). Floor Jansen has started making amazing covers of famous songs, for example. That allows her not only to keep her audience but to attract new people. This might be not that helpful in monetization of all your efforts, but it will pay off someday.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
As I’ve spoken about the cinema business, this industry will also be rearranged someday. Though people at live concerts also speak about exchanging energy with musicians on stage, and that thing is not easily replaced with a hologram. As a musician, I definitely prefer playing in front of a huge audience than in front of a camera and a viewer’s counter. Watching my favorite bands live allows me to immerse to their music much deeper than watching them on YouTube, and I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks so. I would say, holographic concerts will become a part of the music business, but still will never replace concerts and tours.
If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
Uff, that’s a question which every composer asks himself sometimes, as when you’re not in good mood for creating music, you think that can last forever, so subconsciously you try to find an alternative during those long periods of lack of inspiration. Maybe my booze craft would allow me to make a small business of it, so that could be a way. Still a hard question.
What is your happy place?
Lake Ladoga. It’s not far from my city, I drive there every summer and just enjoy the nature and peaceful atmosphere. A single day could charge me up for the next year.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Thank you for such a deep and interesting interview, all the questions were fun to answer. I think I know myself a little bit better now through this interview. 🙂
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