I had a rare opportunity to interview one of our HMTV Romanian Bands on Skype. Our HMTV Band NOI has come out with a Album called Be Alone that causes goosebumps the classical orchestra adds lots of proffessional sound with a twist of metal and a mix of symphonies sure to please any listening year. Be Alone takes the listener on an emotional journey of stories about Angels, history of Vlad, Redemption to the Apocalypse tune in and listen for more!
NOI: Hello Tina, I'm glad to hear you, I'm home, I'm feeling good...
HMTV Canada: Thank you for the Demo CD Be Alone we really dig the lyrics and different mix of sounds.
HMTV Canada: Can you tell us the highlights of Be Alone how it takes the listener on an emotional journey of stories about Angels, history of Vlad, Redemption to the Apocalypse?
NOI: The main idea or theme of this album is the effort of motivating people to live in a better world. We are presenting the reality that we encountered around us. We hope that we passed the message for the wish of a better world, of leaders that have to be more interested in humans, we have to help the people who surrounds us and not at last we owe to our children and it is normal to provide them with a healthy family and educational environment, without violence, wars… we need to put step by step aside all the bad things.
The Angel song was written by me…together with G. after my daughter died after a few weeks from her birth. Now she is my angel, it is a song written in her memory.. in this song I expose the feelings that gathered me in those horrible moments. I do not wish to anybody to live the same experience. The pain will never go away. But we/I have to move on as Fredie said ‘the show must go on’..
In Vlad Dracul is a song in which we present a small fragment of the battle leaded by Vlad Tepes(……) For defending Transilvania against the Ottomans. The action takes place in 1458. Vlad Dracula was a very fair man, with wisdom, brave, and only preoccupied by the destiny of his people.. he is known as Dracula Due to his thirst for blood. Which is totally not true. The businessmen of that age made this negative image which remained. The reality is that who ever tried to steal, to lie, to kill or tried to do something bad against his people was killed. During the reign of Dracula people where drinking with golden cups water from the fountains and nobody was stealing them. There is a lot to talk about Vlad Dracula, his story is vast.
The Redemption song is written in order to stress to the people the bad things that happen in society… it is a little bit political as the lyrics say at the end we do not have to feel sad we just have to contribute each of us with a little brick in order to build a better world. We have to help those that have dark thoughts to change them and thus stand up for our ideals or view of the society ………Combat the evel without becoming evel. Otherwise we have our soul which makes us human. Thus is our duty to make a better world as all of us we live under the sky. I deeply believe that we can all live in piece. We all have to respect the people that surrounds you in order to be able to respect yourself. Thus the biggest wealth of a person is its soul. When we die we don t take anything with us, we have to evolve our inner side and thus live behind us something good to remember as we do not have to forget that we are all in dept with a death when the time is up. The Apocalyptical is a song with a clear message: we have to turn our face towards God. With we try to think about all that happens today in the world and what happened we realize that somehow tha aplocalypse has all most complete... we have to make a change all together into good, and all of us have this power in our soul. You have to do some action in order to change something. It is too easy to be evel however is hard to be good. other words it is easy to be weak!)
HMTV Canada: This Album is really different than your previous material Florins vocals are more solid and powerful and there is a twist of metal with classical symphonies in this new Album has the band experimented with different ideas to come up with this new unique sound?
NOI: Yes indeed it is different. I decided that I do not have to make any compromise, that I have to write exactly what I feel and how I feel. I have not experimented anything. I have only written with Gustavo and the band what I felt and this what we are always going to do. We are going to write what we feel, the music is felt first of all, it is a state of the soul. The sound is ours in totality we do not want to get inspired from whatever kind of music, the originality, the professionalism and everyday practice are all that matter.
HMTV Canada: Has the entire band members contributed to the writing of the lyrics in Be Alone?
NOI: The Be Alone is composed by Adrian Mihai for me….it is a song written in the worse moments of the NOI band. The rest of the lyrics are written by me apart the Vlad Dracul where Bunda Alexandru contributed 80%. I just had to make some minor changes.
HMTV Canada: What inspires or motivates the band to come up with these great lyrics?
NOI: We do not have a muse or anything similar to it. We write as we feel the lyrics should be. Everything comes from the soul. When we compose a song, to make it clear, before we orchestrate it we already feel it and we hear it in our inner side. The motivation is simple, we have to be original and to not make any compromise, to participate actively as much as we can to a change in good of society, the quality of the song is also very important.
HMTV Canada: Has there been any challenge in the recording of this new Album?
NOI: It was quite difficult until we recorded this album, we encountered all sorts of people, that imposed how to do it. However once Gustavo appeared in the band everything changed. We work very well together all the studio kit is of Gustavo and I have to mention that Gustavo is the writer in totality of soft Changes thus music and lyrics. It was another start, a good start we think.
HMTV Canada: Was this Demo recorded live or through digital using computers?
NOI: The background orchestration is done with the keyboards. Gustavo and I we work on the ideas of compositions and we are extremely careful at the musical techniques. After that we expose our ideas to the band and we work as a team in order to improve them and to materialize them. If anybody of us has an idea he expose it and absolutely everything we do we do it together. We are one and thus each of the band makes up NOI. We understand each other brilliantly. We are like brothers / we feel we know each other forever. We use the computer only for mixing the sound, all the instruments are recorded live. However the symphonic bit is produced with the two keyboards. The voice is not processed I put a lot of weight on the originality and the (naturalitate) of the voice. If y pay attention y can notice that I brief in certain songs. I left it as such. This is the natural way.
HMTV Canada: Do you have anyone helping Noi with the final mixing and mastering for your Album Be Alone?
NOI: The mastering is mainly done by Gustavo, after we all come to a common agreement on the sound.
HMTV Canada: Who did the fantastic Artwork on Be Alone Album?
NOI: The idea for the graphics of this musical material its mine. I work on the graphics
HMTV Canada: I really dig how the Artwork represents the haunting lyrics to Be Alone and it’s the lyrics that are strong in imagery will you be producing any videos from your song tracks?
NOI: The cover of the CD is meant to transmit a state of mind. It tries to express the musical material by pictures. We live to the listeners to interpret them feelings after viewing the cover. In the inner picture I have exposed Vlad Draculm, and the seal, that y can observe in the bottom left corner it is the original seal of Vlad Dracul. We envisage to make a clip, but we prefer to make it with the producer.
HMTV Canada: Has Noi been successful in playing live shows? NOI: Yes, we had success on every stage we ve been but we do not pride ourselves with this. Each one of us feels the music differently and finds himself in it at a different degree. HMTV Canada: Who is the current lineup of Noi Band and how did everyone meet each other?
NOI: I' ve met Florin through an advert I made on the internet in order to complete the band. He brought Adrian Ianovici-drums as well. Gustavo and Oscar know me from two years and last year we decided to be part of the same band. Leaonas I know him since I was a child, he is my cousin.
HMTV Canada: What are the most popular types of music everyone likes to listen to in Romania? NOI: In Romania it's a total chaos regarding music and not only. We can't say that there is a favorite type of music...the music market is almost inexistent...unfortunately the true artists aren't promoted, encouraged and it's going on favoritism...talent and originality doesn't count...it's sad what is happening but unfortunately it's the true...
HMTV Canada: Will you have Be Alone available for digital download on iTunes soon?
NOI: I hope that we are going to make it available also on itunes, but this has to be talked with the producer.. we prefer to live the producer to do his job..
HMTV Canada: Will the band be setting up a online store through Zazzle www. zazzle. com to sell Noi merchandise like Hoodies, T-Shirts, Noi Sticker Novelties and Band Posters through the internet?
NOI: Yes this materials are necessary because this is manner in which we become known and in this way we can enter in every persons house but as I said we live the producer to do his job.
HMTV Canada: What is Noi looking for in a record deal or a distribution deal?
NOI: In this business we wish to make our music known. To participate as we can to the change of society into good and with the help of music to offer something else that has been produced up to date and of course to live from what we do. Music is our job . The most important are the originality, professionalism, quality, and practice...
HMTV Canada: Has the internet been a good marketing tool for Noi to spread the word out about the band?
NOI: In what concerns the marketing, yes, the internet is good, but the TV and Radio should start soon. And not at last the live concerts, all of this are important and form the marketing campain and the managerial strategy.
HMTV Canada: Before we wrap up our interview do you have anything to say to Noi fans?
NOI: We love you, for you we compose the music & lyrics, for you this album took birth! We thank you for being close to us from our first stap on the stage, we thank you for your motivating applause, which have had as final outcome this album. In the final of this interview we ask you: HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE IDEE OF LIFE WITHOUT MUSIC AND ARTISTS?
HMTV Canada: Thank you NOI for Allowing our eZine to complete a follow up interview on NOI.
YOU Rock
HMTV Canada -Tina
