IGNEA is a Ukrainian melodic metal band
Interview conducted April 11, 2022
by Dan Locke
IGNEA is a Ukrainian melodic metal band with a modern sound, mixing heavy riffs with symphonic, electronic, and folk elements that create a powerful OST-like experience. Staying true to the melodic essence of their music, IGNEA also adds touches of brutality by occasionally incorporating extreme vocals, breakdowns, and blast beats.
IGNEA was started under the name Parallax in 2013, with the debut EP titled Sputnik dedicated to the themes of space, life on Mars, and the first artificial satellite. In 2014, the band prepared a follow-up single titled Petrichor, featuring an ex-Orphaned Land guitarist Yossi Sassi who recorded his unique instrument bouzoukitara and a guitar solo.
In 2017, the band released its first full-length album called The Sign of Faith, having a heavier sound, both clean and extreme vocals, and authentic middle-eastern melodies. Its first song, Şeytanu Akbar, was accompanied by an animated anti-terrorism video in a surrealistic style. Despite the provocative title of the song, the band’s intention is to carry the idea of peace.
In April 2018, the band released an animated video for its OST-like song How I Hate the Night, the lyrics to which belong to the paranoid android Marvin from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The video contains lots of references to the original movie.
For IGNEA, the years 2018 and 2019 were dedicated to touring and writing the new material.
In May 2018, IGNEA toured in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, together with the Nordic death metal legends Illdisposed, as well as performed selected shows in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and festivals in France, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
September 2018, IGNEA released a new single “Queen Dies” with an art video and hopped on a 3-week tour across 9 countries within the Female Metal Voices Tour 2018 headlined by Butcher Babies and Kobra and the Lotus.
IGNEA’s second full-length album The Realms of Fire and Death was released on April 17, 2020. It was fully funded by the band’s patrons. It is a concept album with strong story-telling, metaphors, symbols, and is accompanied by a book of short tales incorporating the lyrics of each song. It is divided into three major parts, each consisting of 3 songs, plus a bonus track — an English version of the Ukrainian Чорне Полум’я (Chorne Polumia). Songs of each part are outlining a certain separate story, bringing the themes of fire and death from various perspectives. The band also released two official music videos for the songs Disenchantment and Jinnslammer.
According to the national awards The Best Ukrainian Metal Act, The Realms of Fire and Death has been selected as the metal album of the year and IGNEA has been named the best Ukrainian metal band of 2020.
In June 2021, IGNEA signed a deal with Napalm Records and started working on the third album that is planned for 2022.
GNEA are:
Helle Bohdanova — vocals;
Yevhenii Zhytniuk — keyboards;
Oleksandr Kamyshin — bass;
Ivan Kholmohorov — drums;
Dmytro Vinnichenko — guitars.
It has been 4 years (March 2018) since I have talked to you. How is your band doing?
Yehvenii: Still trying to be a band. Honestly, 2018 was the first and the last year of being a proper touring band for us. In 2019, we’ve started our work on The Realms of Fire and Death, then Covid happened, now this war. We’re doing music, filming videos, but we don’t have this real contact with the listener that keeps the band together essentially.
Can you compare the first time you played as a band to the last time you played as a band?
Yevhenii: Both were festivals, both weren’t perfect for a few reasons, but now we can handle more things going wrong on stage, and having a bigger crowd totally helps it. The best highlight of playing live now is people who come for you specifically, who know your songs, and who give you this pure happiness back.
How has the war affected your band?
Yevhenii: We were right in the middle of recording our new album. We had planned shows and tours that had a great chance to happen, but then the war came. We’re holding up good although we certainly won’t be releasing new music when we planned to, and that leads us to the further lack of live shows, yet again.
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 ?
Yevhenii: Ukraine is probably the last country in the world where there’s a conflict between two organizations with the same rights. All they do is sue each other instead of doing some actual work, so there’s no certainty where to register with.
On other hand, royalties have something more to do with much bigger acts, and in reality, the funds we would get with either of these organizations for 5 years of working with them would be less than we would pay for gas to drive 10 miles to sign a contract with them.
What makes a good songwriter?
Yevhenii: Imagine if there was a recipe for a successful hit. It does exist, but it is yet to be written in comprehensible words. So, a good songwriter either doesn’t follow it at all and his musical imagination is just this great, or they do follow this recipe so well that every song they compose turns out to be a programmed hit.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
Yevhenii: It was either ‘Under the Star of Mirfak’ or ‘Poisoned Wine.’ Neither of these was recorded, but the keyboards solo from the first one, which is also the first-ever keyboard solo overwritten for the band, was re-used in the released song Jahi.
What is the process of writing your music?
Yevhenii: Mainly I am writing everything, with gradually more and more help coming from Helle. On Sputnik, almost everything was composed, written, and arranged by Yevhenii, but on the upcoming album, there are quite a few musical ideas beyond just vocal lines, composed and even arranged by Helle.
Tell me about your last EP “Bestia”?
Yehvenii: BESTIA is a concept EP about the human nature of Ukrainian mythological creatures and the world’s duality. In Ukrainian, BESTIA means both a savage beast and a mischievous person. It’s a split EP consisting of 2 tracks by IGNEA, 2 tracks by ERSEDU, and one common song. The physical formats and Bandcamp digital album also contain The symphony of BESTIA — a mix of orchestral arrangements used in the five songs from the EP.
Why Red Blood Vinyl, Ice Blood Splitter Vinyl and Blue Ice Vinyl?
Yevhenii: We picked up the colors first and then came up with catchy titles for them.
Out of the 6 songs, which is your favorite track on your album?
Yevhenii: Bosorkun.
How was it to work with Ersedu?
Yevhenii: We’ve known each other for over 10 years and they’re close friends of ours. And it’s common for us to write some similar melodies or arrangements. In the middle of the pandemic, we decided to make something together, and here’s how BESTIA came out. Of course, we had some arguments, just like it happens in any family or any project. But we’re glad we made it and we feel it’s a complete release.
Can you tell me the backstory of Mermaids?
Yevhenii: We were staying at the place of ERSEDU in Odesa and they showed us the instrumental part, and Helle wrote the lyrics within one evening. Here’s how it’s been born. Basically, from that song a concept has been developed.
How is the new LP coming along?
Yevhenii: It’s 100% finished in terms of music and lyrics and concept. As I said, we were in the middle of recording it when the war started. And, as the things are a little better in Kyiv now, we’ll try to finish it soon, but again, because of the war, we still cannot film videos or make promo photos. And nothing is certain.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
Yehvenii: To be honest, we love it! Not only do we all stream all the music we listen to, but the fact that lots of people also do it and provide their stats to the streaming service, which helps it to give out more and more music they would love. For us, as a band, it means that if someone got our music in a random playlist, there’s a much better chance they’ll follow us right away.
As for the popular money question, artists who cry about small income from Spotify either overestimate themselves or are simply unable to use a calculator. We have a complete understanding of how streaming works and we’re more than happy about the situation.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Yevhenii: Both! Vinyl gives you the possibility to enjoy music in a somewhat tangible form, collect it properly, not in the form of bytes, look for different pressings, touch the typographic, delve into all sorts of designs, and much, much more. Digital music allows you access to it anytime, anywhere.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Yevhenii: Anthem of Kyiv. Not only it is just beautiful, but now, after watching Kyiv being shelled by Russians it simply became more meaningful.
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?
Yevhenii: No, that was just a pause thing. We can see now that the industry is getting back on rails slowly and things are starting to happen as before the pandemic.
Do you think that Covid-19 has been a plus to an artist career?
Yevhenii: Surprisingly enough, there are quite a few artists who have managed to use Covid pandemic for their growth in some way, but for us, it is a strict no. Due to the pandemic, our progress simply stalled for two years.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
Yevhenii: Honestly, all the things as usual. Our bass player Oleksandr, who is an IT specialist, was working remotely even before the pandemic, Ivan and Dmytro had a bit of quarantine at their respective workplaces but got back to work with distancing measures fairly quickly. Helle and I continued working 100% for IGNEA, managing our Patreon, socials, writing the new album, shipping merch, doing PR, etc.
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
Yevhenii: I don’t, haha.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
Yevhenii: Not really due to the pandemic, but I came back to exploring applied urban studies after seeing Ukrainian cities and towns destroyed by the Russian army. We will rebuild them better than they were before, and now my mind has a small space to imagine it all.
Recently the virus has come back with the Delta outbreak, then you Omicron, which as cause many people in the industry to worry about the future of live music.
How would you like live shows to be held and still keep you and fans safe.
Yevhenii: I think, with more and more time spent with the virus, especially Omicron, we finally come to the understanding that most of the measures don’t work in the global scope of things. We’ve already visited unrestricted shows in Denmark, we’ve seen them in Ukraine, and we’ll see them everywhere in the future. Covid is an endemic now.
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.
Yevhenii: Yes, and it always will be. Also, in 99% of the cases, you shouldn’t consider paying to play as something that just increases the headliner’s wallet. You should consider it like pay for the nightliner to make this tour even happen and have a possibility to play there; pay for the backline on the stage so this festival happens and there are headliners who will bring in people that might be interested in seeing you play.
Now that your world is tear in a war. How is it to ship merch out, since the postal service is not that great during these times?
Yevhenii: It is surprisingly the same and we thank our government that is trying to keep the economy running. The only difference is that shipping takes more time as instead of flying out directly from Ukraine it travels to Poland by land and then takes a plane where it’s needed.
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?
Yevhenii: Never. A live show is essentially an honest exchange of emotions between an artist and the crowd. Live shows on YouTube or DVDs are just hotfixes for the people who will have to wait for you a bit longer. Holograms are the same, but with the same absence of connection for much more money being stolen from you.
In the past if a musician stops 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?
Yevhenii: I would love to be an urban space designer, but I don’t think it’s a thing in Ukraine so far.
What is your happy place?
Yevhenii: Home.
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, John Legend, ZZ Top 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 offering by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
On January 19, 2021 Hipgnosis Song Management acquired 80% of Kenny Chesney’s recorded music royalties, covering the country superstar’s discography from his 1994 debut In My Wildest Dreams through 2017’s Live in No Shoes Nation.
Someone who was totally against selling his rights was David Crosby. He did not want to sell his publishing rights. In addition, it was not an easy thing for him to do. However, by making a deal with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, it took a big weight off his shoulders. He could pay off his house and cover other bills. Now he does not 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?
Yevhenii: That depends on too much things. If we feel like our music career is concluded and the amount offered with cover the remainder of our lives better than continuing with direct earnings would do then there’s no actual difference. Although going this big to make a company interested in buying you out is very much impossible these days.
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?
Yevhenii: Doesn’t matter at all. More tracks, more artists, more listeners, it all doesn’t matter if you have decent music people will want to listen to.
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 became 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?
Breaking news: TikTok is launching TikTok Radio, a full-time SiriusXM music channel going live this summer.The station will be available in vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices.
Some of the on TikTok include Cassyette, YukoEXE, Ashinikko, Palaye Royale, Josh Dun (Twenty One Pilots), Yungblud, Morrissey, Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Gene Simmons, and Mick Jagger.
The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary, Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent. Do you think this platform could became a force in the future of streaming music?
Yevhenii: It already became it. The only difference is that, as I said, to make a hit, you have either to be a genius or a musical mind programmer, and to make a Tik-Tok hit, you have only a chance of being a said programmer. This platform has a strict set of rules and following them for success is programmable.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Yevhenii: I’d love to say something like: see you on the road or stay tuned for our new album, but I’d say the following. The Russian-Ukrainian war is closer than you think. It’s happening right in the middle of Europe and it’s a full-scale war with all the deaths and horrors possible. Don’t stay ignorant about this. Search for and spread the truthful information, help as you can to stop it. Even if you just refuse to consume Russian goods and services that finance the aggressor.
And thank you, everyone, who has been helping us and Ukraine since the first day of the war!
We hope that next time we talk to you, it’ll be 100% music-focused.
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