Gothic soprano singer ELLE NOIR has revealed her new video for the song, “The Day I Died.”
Interview conducted on October 20, 2020
By Dan Locke
“The Day I Died” is the metaphor of emotional death. It tells of a world where nothing has value anymore, which is also an inner world given by mental states like depression.
What is your upbringing?
My education is mainly about music, although I love to read and study a lot and I’m passionate about many topics. I graduated with honors in Musicology at the University of Bologna, I took my Diploma in Opera Singing at the Conservatory of Brescia, my city, where I also studied composition. I have done many masterclasses with many teachers and voice experts because I really am passionate about vocal technique. I studied Music Marketing in London, where I lived for a period of time. Another very important course for me was in Berlin where I spent some months: How to create a Solo Cabaret Performance.
But, I must say that my philosophy of life makes me see a possible teaching and a possible teacher in everything and in every situation. Now, in these months, I’m doing a course of sound therapy with the use of gongs. I will let you know!
How did you discover music?
I started singing when I was very young, when I was three years old I won my first contest. But I started to really listen to music and feel it as part of my life when I was 13, shortly after my dad died. In those years I locked myself in my room listening to Adore by Smashing Pumpinks and Marilyn Manson’s Mechanical Animals. In those moments it was the only way to stay afloat somehow. A few years later I discovered Symphonic Metal, with Tarja Turunen’s operatic voice, and I realized that music could really be my whole world. And so it was and I started studying Opera singing and to follow my dream to become a Symphonic Metal singer.
How was it to get a Diploma in Opera Singing from the Conservatory of Music L Marenzio?
I have both loved and hated the years at the Conservatory.
On the one hand I was immersed every day in what I loved, but on the other I was very different from my classmates. Also doing Opera in a professional way requires you to choose, but I’m a lover of many musical genres and I love to sing different styles. So at the end of the day of my Diploma, after I was sure I had passed, I said to the committee “Thanks but I want to be a metal singer”.
Do you feel that Opera is a good study for someone who sings Symphonic Metal music?
Opera is always a good study ahahha
It depends on what vocal technique and style you want to use. Many singers of this music genre use light and clean voices so they don’t really need them. I have always preferred to listen to female voices using operatic techniques and I prefer to sing metal with opera voice. But you have to be careful, because the real operatic technique is one, and many imitate it roughly. I can say that the study of vocal technique has been fundamental for me to deal with different music genres without any problems.
If you were not into Symphonic metal, what music would you be doing?
Singing is my job, as well as my passion. I often do Vintage and Cabaret Shows in London, where I work for an agency and create shows in the style of the 20s, 30s, 40s… So I love French Chanson, German Cabaret, Golden Era Jazz. Seven years ago I created a music project for Media, in collaboration with my producer and we write original soundtracks . I deal with contemporary musical theater where I can experiment a lot with the voice. I write goth songs.
Let’s say that I’m always looking for something that can enrich my experience.
How did you start to write music?
During my years at the Conservatory, while I was studying composition, I started writing music. But, I needed to write something more related to my life, more true. So at the same time I wrote my first songs for my metal band.
Do you still play guitar?
Honestly, if there is one instrument I have to choose is the piano. But I don’t like playing in public, I’m not as comfortable as when I sing. Having an instrument to manage is a hindrance for me and when I sing I need to feel free. I love to move on stage, use my hands and my body.
What was your first performance at like?
When I was three years old with my mother who directed me from the audience ahahhah
Why did you decide to do a solo project?
Unfortunately for various reasons I have seen many of my bands break up ..in which I was very committed. Not only metal bands but many musical projects in which I had put my soul. One year after the breakup of my last band, my favorite one, “After Apocalypse”, I missed writing songs and making my own music, so I started on my own. But honestly, I really love band life and I loved my band. So, since we remained very close (and so as soon as there will be a chance to play live again) they will play with me in my solo project…and I’m really happy about this. We miss playing together!
What makes a good songwriter?
I believe that there must be substance in a song. For me music is first of all truth. I write because I need to process some things in my life, without fiction and especially without the thought of pleasing others. But I believe that everyone lives it in a different way, and I can only speak for myself. Writing songs is a need for me almost as much as singing.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
Ohhh Yes!! “World of Marzipan” for the After Apocalypse.
Tell me about your newest LP “Like A Black Doll”?
It’s an EP consisting of 5 songs, and I can say I’m very satisfied and happy. In this second EP I added more human elements than the first one, which was more of an experiment. The songs speak in metaphorical ways about my life experiences. Sebastiano, the producer I’ve been working with for years knows me very well, and he has been great in understanding how to make the best of my songs. I think with this second EP I found my own style, combining everything I love.
How did you come up with the title?
I chose the song that seemed most suitable to me to give logical meaning to the whole EP message. Which is my second single, out on October 30, with a video very appropriate for Halloween days.
How did you find Anita Mirtogram to do the artwork for your new EP?
I met Anita because I was looking for someone with a similar vision to mine and a lot of openness to shoot my videos. Anita and Michele shot all four of my videos and we became good friends. But Anita is mainly an artist and, as she knows my artistic personality very well, I asked her to create the artwork of the EP for me. I’m really happy with the result, I love it.
What is your favorite track on the album?
I love them all, because all my songs tell something very important and profound about me.
What is your favorite video to date?
My first, Blue Shadow, was shot in my magical place in Emilia Romagna, the place that brings me luck and to which I am deeply attached. It’s my wild side. In Sin, on the other hand, I wanted to bring out my strong and feminine side. In The Day I died, my poetic and sweet, dreamy side. In the next one, my crazy side! I love them all, as I love and accept every side of me.
How do you stay healthy while touring?
I am always very focused. I meditate, eat healthily, and spend a lot of time alone to have all my energies gathered to sing.
What are you are feeling about streaming music?
I think at first it was difficult for the music industry to adapt to this, but little by little it understood the great possibilities it offers. For an independent artist like me it is very important to be able to get my music to everywhere by myself and streaming allows me to.
Digital vs. vinyl?
For me it depends on the music. If it’s contemporary music, it’s digital. If it’s music from a few decades ago, vinyl.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Honestly right now I’m hearing a mantra. But the first song I think of is Disintegration. I love The Cure; they tell every nuance of me and my life through their songs. This song is related to sad aspects and dark moments in my life…. I just created my own version of Disintegration, for the Out of This World Festival.
Are you really for “Out of This World Festival”?
As a huge fan of The Cure, it was an honor for me to be invited to this festival dedicated to them. I am really happy to have taken part in it. It was an amazing night!
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Music is a very delicate sector, especially in Italy. The situation is certainly getting worse due to Covid. But I am always a very positive person and I try to look to the future with hope.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
In the morning I worked out with my sister. I kept myself very busy, I made a lot of music, I sang, I wrote songs and I did covers. I read a lot, meditated and worked in my little wood.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I had a lot more time to play the piano, which is usually the thing I have to sacrifice because of the lack of time. But I have to say that I really missed being able to go walking, which I do every morning.
How was it to have a birthday during the pandemic?
Every year I do a party with my friends but this year I spent my birthday with my family and It was a beautiful birthday.
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?
I haven’t watched television for at least 10 years. I have a television that I only use to connect the PC. I’m an Amazon Prime subscriber and this day I’m rewatching Nashville, which I really like because it is related to music and The Nanny, It’s so funny!
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 includes [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?
It always saddens me a lot to see these kinds of restrictions. I hope there will be an opportunity to continue offering live music via social media. Both we musicians need to share it, and the audience needs art and happy moments.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell Merch to them at the show?
I’m lucky to have a such a good relationship with my fans through social media. I am very active on socials; I often try to find time to chat with them. It’s very different from a live concert, but the fans also understand our difficulties as a musician and they support us.
If you cannot do music, what would you like to be doing?
Definitely a job in contact with nature and animals. As a child I dreamed of being a veterinarian…In fact I adopted five dogs and I live in the middle of a forest.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
A big thank you for this interview., I appreciate it very much. The support to us independent musicians, especially in this moment is essential. However, let’s all try to be positive, to work for a better future, and for a healthier planet. See you soon!
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