Harpyie will release a new album in June, time for us to have a nice chat with Aello, singer of the German Folk/Medieval metal outfit.

The last release was a new version of the album ‘Blindflug’, Harpyie made quite a change in sound with this album. Can you explain why and how the band managed to do this?
“That’s correct: we have really quite a journey behind us. On one hand we work with our producer Simon Michel from Subway to Sally nowadays, on the other hand we have our own studio now as well.
The reason to do this was the fact our album was very raw and basic originally. So, we decided to record it all over. We still think the songs are all very good, but we couldn’t give it the quality they deserved at that time. So it was quite a logical step for us.

Biggest Simmilarities

In our previous interview in 2015 you said you liked to be compared with the big ones like In Extremo, Subway to Sally, Schandmaul and Saltatio Mortis. In Extremo has gone in a slightly different direction, Subway to Sally shifted their sound big time. Which of these bands would you be compared with nowadays.
“Of course it is an honor to be compared with these huge bands, but you’re right when you say they have developed in very different directions. We have done this as well and have found our own sound in the meantime. Despite that we think we’re in a long chain with all the big colleagues. We feel quite bonded with Subway to Sally and when you ask us, we would say we have the biggest similarities with them. “

Touring

There are quite a few shows planned for this year, how do you feel about that. And would you like this to be even more, or is this the limit?
“Our year is quite filled. Many big festivals like Wacken Open Air, Summerbreeze and Alpenflair Festival can be found on our schedule. On top of that we’re doing a tour in Tanzwut in autumn this year and in the spring of 2020 we will do our own headlining tour. So, we have a lot to do and we’re looking forward to it.”

There is a tour planned with Tanzwut, how do you feel about that. What do you prefer, headlining in somewhat smaller venues or being a support act in big venues.
Yeah, we’re looking forward to that. Both have their own charm. As a support you get the chance to reach a bigger audience and as a headliner you can reach out to your fans with more of your own songs. We don’t like one over the other but fundamentally we love to play live. That’s what makes it interesting.

No More

Now there are no flutes and bagpipes anymore in Harpyie, does this influence the music a lot? And is it easier or not to write new songs without all these different instruments.
“That’s right, we don’t have bandmembers who play these instruments anymore. In the studio we have musicians who play these instruments for us. In the meanwhile we write our songs for hurdy-gurdy and acoustic guitars. The sound has changed a bit due to this. But we believe this all lead us to the better.”

Was it a choice of Harpyie to on without bagpipes and flutes, or did this just ‘happen’.
“Who knows what the future brings. We aren’t looking for new band-members at the moment, but we’re open-minded, when we accidentally stumble upon someone who plays an interesting instrument, we might expand the band.
What kind of instrument this would be, bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, keyboard, record-player or singing say, we will see. We’re in for everything.”

Theme

The albums ‘Freakshow’ and ‘Anima’ had a specific theme, can we expect such a theme in the new album as well?
“We sat down together for a long time and discussed a concept and have finally put down a very simple variable for this. For 5 albums we have concentrated on the music. Yet the music has to concentrate on us. Meaning this time we only want to do what feels right for us, what we would like to do all the time and we would like to block all the impulses from outside and all the rules. We just did this and it felt good. In this way we might not have a thematic concept through the whole album, but instead of that we have an exciting mixture of music styles. This goes form modern metal or metalcore to 80-ties rock and to actual German Hip Hop. So really an extract from what we ourselves like a lot. “

What more can we expect from the new album, what has changed and what did not?
“Our new album carries the colorful name ‘Aurora’ and will be released 28th June worldwide. The collaboration and above all the songwriting for ‘Aurora’ was very special. We have never ever wrote an album in which all bandmembers participated. Of course all members played their own parts in the studio, but never had they all composed songs together. This asks for a really complex workflow and I’m still impressed how well this worked out with us all involved. We experimented with lots of instruments like harp and trumpets. We experimented even with traditional Chinese instruments. That was a very special experience.

Is there anything more you like to share with our readers?
“We would be very happy when the press and the fans would welcome ‘Aurorra’ with open arms. This album is the most unusual album Harpyie has even produced. Despite that we can honestly say it’s has the usual Harpyie sound. Help us to make it great and support us with a pre-order! This album deserves it!

By: Michel