Arcana Elysium- is a Symphonic Metal Band from Petrópolis – RJ – Brazil
Interview May 24, 2021
By Dan Locke
Arcana Elysium album “Corpus Callosum” is now available to listen or download on all digital platforms!
Vocals: Patricia Scagliusi Bass & Vocals: Igor Valle Guitars: Bruno Riz Keyboards: Claudio Justen Drums: Alex Diniz
You are from Petropolis- a small city in the mountain region in Brazil. What is your upbringing?
Patricia Scagliusi: I’m graduated in classical music. In my city, there isn’t a classical singing university, so I had to go to Rio de Janeiro, which is the capital of the state where I live and graduated from the Music Conservatory of Rio de Janeiro.
How did you discover music?
It was always very present in my life, music always caught my attention since very young, my grandmother used to sing a lot to me when I was a baby, my parents always listened a lot to music and it was very natural for me to starting singing around.
How did you start to write music?
Well, I don’t write Arcana Elysium’s music alone, we create the songs together. All the members of the band know music very well, we share our ideas and the songs end up happening. The willingness to write my own songs came up when I went to the music college, but I only started to actually do that now with the band.
Bruno- Why do you play 8-string guitar. And what is the make, model and year of it?
I like to explore extremes notes with distortion effects. So instead of playing 6 string guitars on low tuning, I’d rather play an instrument that could provide me the high notes for screaming solos and the deep notes for the heavy bases. I believe this is a new way to do Symphonic Metal, adding elements from other styles of metal, like Trash and Progressive. I have two 8 string guitars for the band. The one in the web clip is an Ibanez RG8 Black with a mahogany body, maple neck, fixed bridge, and black hardware. I have had it since 2016. And the other one is a Solar A2.8 BOP with swamp ash body, open-pore finish, maple neck with ebony fretboard, fixed bridge, and Duncan solar pickups. This one I bought recently, for our album recordings.
How did your band form?
We are all old friends from a school of music here in Petropolis. We all used to have our own projects that weren’t going anywhere and, as we realized we had equal musical interests, we decided to join and formed Arcana Elysium.
How did you get your bands name?
At first, we wanted the band to be called Elysium (a Latin word), which is the place where only the virtuous people can go after their death in Greek Mythology. In this haven you’d live in a beautiful place with dignity, having all the best things you wish for yourself, and only the people living there would have the opportunity to be reborn. We wanted a different name, not in Portuguese (our native language) or English (the language we use in our songs and to communicate with the world), we wanted a name in Latin or close to it, and when we found Elysium in our researches, we found it interesting, and kinda match with the thematic we want to talk about in our songs (spirituality, the life beyond the material world, self-knowledge, supernation…). But there’s a movie with this name, and we didn’t want to be associated with it, so we changed the name to something close, and that’s when we decided to “Elyzion” name. We even got to launch our first single and web clip using this name, but then we found a metal band with a very close name and we agreed it would be better to change the name again, to avoid any future issue. So, we started another research, but we didn’t want to give up the name Elysium, so we started to look for a cool word to match with Elysium, the name we originally wanted. That’s when I found Arcana in Latin (can be written as Arcanus and Arcanum as well), which means something enigmatic, a deep secret, a mystery, and we all liked it. So, we stayed with Arcana Elysium.
Describe your music.
We try use symphonic metal elements as the base of our songs but trying to do a heavier atmosphere and unpredictable melodies.
What was your first performance as a band like?
When I was at school, I was around 15 years old, I was invited to join a pop-rock band, and we made lots of shows around my city. We used to sing cover songs, but we also had our own compositions and 3 of them used to play on the radio. I had no experience with bands, it was um first one, I learned a lot from that.
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?
Yes, it’s called SOCIMPRO. It’s a Brazilian association for the protection and administration of intellectual rights.
What makes a good songwriter?
Inspiration, creativity, immersion on internal and external feelings about anything you want to communicate. Of course, that knowing musical composition techniques also helps a lot to create great songs, but the inspiration is the “soul” of a song.
Tell me about the new album “Corpus Callosum” which comes out May 21st.?
Corpus Callosum is a conceptual album. It’s the story of a person from the time he/she was born till the time of his/her death. But this story is focused on the perception of this person about the existence in general and his/her role in it. It’s narrated sometimes in the third person, sometimes by this same person in the story.
At first, I read Corpus Callosum which would have been really cool. Because Part of the corpus callosum connecting the two brain hemispheres was indeed larger in musicians. The team also found that musicians’ brains seemed to fire more symmetrically when they listened to music – the activity in the left and right hemispheres was a much closer match than that of the non-musicians
As the path of our protagonist story is about increasing his/her perception of life, transforming and connecting the human existence to something bigger and spiritual, we wanted to name our album with something in our body that we believe can do this connection when we’re doing music. That’s why we chose Corpus Callosum to name our album.
How much of the album was made in your home studio?
A hundred percent lol! The sound capture was all done in our home studio and the mastering and mixing in a studio specializing in that.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
With Arcana Elysium, our first original song was Hunting in the Shadows, we’re a pretty new band on the music scene, it was launched in August 2019.
What is the process of writing your music?
All members of the band participate, each one adding their own part and style. One of us has the first idea, something that comes up on the mind, and then the others add their own instrument. It happens naturally, and we want all the members to feel free to put their own style into the song.
You released your first single bit over year and half ago and then the virus hit. What were you thinking at that time?
When we released our first single, we had no idea that everything was going to change so much, it was August 2019. We were still finishing some song compositions and intended to go to the studio around January 2020 and launch our album “Corpus Callosum” around June or July, so we could plan Corpus Callosum tour from the second semester onwards. With this pandemic, everything changed, and we had to prepare our home studio to record everything from here and send it to the productor. It took some time to have the studio settled so we could have a quality sound capture, and our entire schedule was delayed. But we revised all the schedules to have the album released in the first half of this year and there it is!
Tell me about Game Changer?
It’s the 5th track of the album. This song is about finding and finally encountering the turning point of a lifetime, getting in touch with the moment that will burn that fire, and bring some realization to a person’s life.
What is your favorite track on your album?
It’s really really hard to say… lol! I love Game Changer, it’s definitely one of my favorites, but the last song called “Farewell Sacrament”, from our album that’s going to be launched this month 21st is also amazing.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
I think that all the ways that make the access of the songs easier for the fans to listen to are valid. As an artist, I want people to know what I’m doing, I want them to be able to listen to my songs as much as they want and learn to sing them, so they can sing together at the shows. Nowadays most of people listen to music on a streaming platform, so that’s where I want my songs to be.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Digital
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Right now, I don’t have any in my mind, because Corpus Callosum songs took place of any other song lol. But I love songs from the 70s and 80s, and it’s very common for me to hum some music of bands from these decades from time to time. Bands like Whitesnake, Scorpions, Skid Row, Heart awakens goof feelings in me, not only because they’re one of my favorites, but because when I was a teenager, I used to sing covers from those bands in my first metal band, they remind me a nice time of my life.
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?
No, I don’t think it killed the live music, I still believe they’ll come back the same way it has always been, we just have to take time to time. The feeling of being at a live show is irreplaceable, and as soon as it’s possible to happen, I believe people will be excited to go. But I also believe Covid-19 made some changes in the music business that will become part of the scene from now on. In sum, I believe it may affect positively, adding more ways to make the artists and their fans more in touch.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I’ve been doing craft. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but I never had enough time to do, and with the quarantine I finally got it.
But I still work from the computer, I give singing classes in 2 music schools, and the students classes didn’t stop, they have their classes through Google Meet, so I kept a little busy with work and also had to reinvent my way to give singing classes.
How did you get the idea to do Dance Monkey?
It’s wasn’t my idea, but I liked very much to do that! A friend of mine was recording songs with his friends and inviting different singers join them, that’s when they called me to put my voice in this song. I found it a nice way to have fun during the quarantine and accepted.
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
I don’t! Lol!!!!!!
Well, I tried to exercise at home, it worked for some time, but then I stopped… I have to admit it’s hard, I prefer going to the gym. But at least I eat healthy.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
Yes, this craft thing. I don’t think I really discovered it because I always had a knack for handcraft since a child. My grandmother was a seamstress and she teaches me a few things I did well, I always like to paint as well, I even had a class of it when I was about 10 and I loved it. So, I kinda knew I’d do well when I decided to invest more time in crafts.
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?
I’ve heard about it earlier and didn’t like it. But I believe what’s going to happen is that artists will stop using Facebook and migrate to another social network that allows us to keep doing our concerts and playing our songs for commercial purposes. For example, I have a friend that just launched a new social network app called musicScope, I made my account and found it very interesting, I totally believe it’ll become popular very soon. He’s a musician and knows our needs, and this app is a place where we can share our music, do our concerts, announce anything music-related and all the people interested in the kind of music we do or product we sell will receive the announcement even without following us. You can look for more information on music Scope on Instagram or Google it if you find it interesting. So, I believe social network apps like this one will gain from these Facebook changes.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
We have to interact with them on social networks and do everything we’d do live, through the internet. The feeling is different, because lacks the physical contact, we can’t feel that energy that comes from a fan when you’re really in front of them, but it’s still an interaction, and it’s just for some time. The fans know that, and when they’re already loyal to the band, they keep supporting us, even now when we can’t play live.
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.
Well, when that means buying songs on the internet, I don’t think so. Me and my band members are already agreed to put all our songs for fans to free download on our site. Nowadays it’s so easy to find a way for people to download songs for free somewhere on the internet, that we don’t expect our profits can come from there. But when it’s about shows, yes, I believe it’s still worth it.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
It would be something so cool! I would like to do it in the future.
Governments around the world are hearing the call of thousands of music creators and included protections for the music community in the omnibus bill. In addition to extended and improved unemployment benefits and small business loans for freelance creators, the package includes several bills which the Recording Academy, its members, and the larger music community advocated for. From the Save Our Stages Act, provided a lifeline to performance venues and promoters, to the CASE Act, which creates an avenue for smaller creators to defend their copyrighted works, Congress has ensured that both music creators and those who act behind the scenes to bring music to life are given the support they need during this difficult time.” Do you think this will save music venues?
I can’t talk about the other countries’ governments, but here in Brazil, we’re abandoned to our own fate. The actual government doesn’t care about culture and education, and they’re no fund to help artists. Neither artists nor a big part of the population in general. And the very little helps they give are a misery. As you can see, I’m not a big fan of Brazil’s actual president lol.
Did you know that the Grammys MusicCares can help artist? The MusiCares COVID-19 Relief has helped thousands of music industry artists and professionals during these difficult days. This is the most recipients helped, for any single event, in MusiCares’ history. The need remains great, and these unique times remain critical for music people. It has taken a community uplifting one another to get through this pandemic, and MusiCares has pulled together a list of additional organizations and resources to further support you. RELIEF RESOURCES. Have you applied for it yet?
No, I didn’t know about it, but now I’ll check it up, it’s very interesting and can help a lot us artists.
In the past if a musician stop doing music, they find a new career. For example, David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants. If you can’t do music, what would you like to be doing?
I’d work doing crafts. I, actually, already do it as a hobby, and it’s something that would be actually happy to work with if I couldn’t do music.
Another thing I could also do is working with the truism, it’s something I’ve already worked on before I went to Music College. I used to guide foreign tourists through the tourists’ spots translating things to English and also used to work in events like international congresses related to tourism translating conversations and any other work that needed to speak English on an event at the city.
What is your happy place?
I like being in contact with nature, I love heat and Love the sea, so a tropical beach is the perfect place for me. There’s a city close to mine called “Cabo Frio” that has a beach called “Praia do Peró” that’s connected to another one called “Praia das Conchas”, and when I go there, I feel I’m in my happy place.
A lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks, Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative than 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.
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? Another factor is mortality.
I never thought about selling all the rights of my songs to another person, I think my songs are a part of myself that will become immortal, and it’s hard to think about just giving it to belong to another person. But I couldn’t say I’d never do it, I just don’t know how those things work, and if it would or not be interesting to do one day. What I know is that I’d like that anyone could have access to my songs and that they will be remembered for many years to come.
Spotify’s ‘Stream On’ event on Monday (February 22), the company confirmed that more than 60,000 new tracks are now being ingested by its platform every single day. This means people are added new tracks uploaded to its platform every 1.4 seconds.
The figure, announced by Spotify’s co-Head of Music, Jeremy Erlich, means that across the course of this year, approximately 22 million tracks will be added to Spotify’s catalog. Spotify confirmed in November last year that its platform now played host to around 70 million tracks.
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.
But still back at the beginning of the year Spotify deleted 750,00 songs, mostly from independent artists. What do you think what that could mean to independent artist?
Well, it’s not easy to be an independent artist nowadays, there are a lot of artists with excellent material, trying to do their own marketing and spending a lot of money to get their spot in the music scene. Spotify is very popular with music lovers, and it’s a big help having our songs there as well. It’s a pity to have your music deleted from there, but anyway, there are still Deezer, Youtube Music (I listen to music a lot there), iTunes that are great platforms to stream songs.
Sony Music in November and Warner Music Group in December, The ByteDance-owned video app revealed on (February 8) 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?
Personally, I won’t, because I’m not a fan of using lots of social networks, I like more to experience things live instead of getting stuck on the phone screen all the time. But my band should totally use it, it’s becoming a powerful tool of social networking, and we intend to create and account there.
The British government, buoyed by early good news on a brisk roll-out of vaccinations in the UK, set out a roadmap that, as things stand, would see the re-opening of large music events in the UK, with no audience limit, on June 21. Live Nation and its subsidiary, Festival Republic, didn’t hang about after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made this announcement on Monday (February 22).
The companies quickly announced that their Reading & Leeds festival – an annual fest taking place across two locations in the UK with a combined capacity of around 180,000 – would be going ahead between August 27 and 29 this year, and that tickets were on sale.
With this announcement Live Nation; USA wants to following the lead of Live Nation: UK. If this happen and live concert start happening this summer, would you be up to playing live shows again and under want precautions, would you like to have in place?
Yes, I’d be up to playing live shows. I trust the decisions taken by these actual governments (UK and USA), as I see they’re taking the virus seriously (different from Brazil’s government) and respecting the rules of safety defined by the scientific community that studies de virus.
The precautions I’d like to have in place would be everything we’ve been already doing and I also would use my own MIC if it’s a show where more bands would play consecutively.
Danny Wimmer Presents just announced their 2021 Festival Calendar: Which includes the following live shows:
DWP Partners With Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival For July 23-25 Event In Mansfield, OH
Louder Than Life Set For September 23-26 With Newly Added Thursday Night Celebration In Louisville, KY
Welcome To Rockville Expands To 4 Days And Shifts From Spring To November 11-14 In Daytona Beach, FL
Aftershock Set For October 7-10 In Sacramento, CA, Almost Sold Out
Would you be willing to play these shows and what precautions would you like to have in place?
Of course, I’d love to play these shows, I’ve been missing the stages already. The precautions would be the same I say before. But I really trust these shows will happen under all the precautions the musicians need to be safe.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
I just want to thank you for this interview. It’s was a pleasure for me and my band to have a space talking about us in your magazine.
Thank you very much!
