by Kenneth Morton

Fans of female fronted metal bands such as Nightwish and Lacuna Coil will find a new collective to be very excited about when they encounter the melodic shores of Lunatica. New Shores is the fourth full-length album from these Swiss musicians – a compelling collection of tunes that are instantly memorable. There is even a special appearance by John Payne of Asia on one of the songs entitled Farewell My Love. We now say hello to vocalist Andrea Dätwyler as she tells us more about the wondrous Lunatica and their exhilarating compositions…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Lunatica, and how long the project has been going.
Hello, I'm Andrea. I do the lead vocals in Lunatica. The band exists since 1998. I joined it in the year 2000. Since this time we released four albums together.

Is there any story or concept behind the CD title New Shores?
We knew relatively soon that we would choose New Shores to be the title of the new album. There are points in history or even in everyone’s life, when you have to go to new shores. Leave the “old world” behind you and explore new things. We had a lot of changes during the last year – new album, new record company, guitar player Andy Leuenberger left the band and the separation with our management. I think, all these things are reflecting on the turnout of the concept of the artwork and lyrics.

Where did you get the ideas for some of your lyrics? Please cite two songs and what they are about…
The lyrics mean a lot to me because usually they are inspired by my personal experiences. I want to tell something to the listener. I also watch out to have a rather positive message in my lyrics because I am a positive person and I try to give that back to our fans. It is a mixture between real stories and fantasy. There are some songs that tell from relationships, love and friendship like Farewell My Love. It is about loving somebody but letting him go, maybe letting him go because you love him so much. The Incredibles is more critical. It tells how somebody who is not from our planet would look on earth or mankind. Maybe it is a higher power who would not understand how careless we treat our beautiful planet. It is meant in a rather satirical way.

What has it been like working with famed producer Sascha Paeth? He is almost like a permanent member of Lunatica…
Sascha knows exactly what we want and how it has to sound like. Over the last years the band became real good friends with the Gate studio crew. It’s an absolutely relaxed atmosphere during the recording sessions. And he is speaking really frankly regarding the sound. With his big experience he can give us a lot of good advice on our songs.

What kind of vocal training have you had, and when not in Lunatica, what kind of music do you enjoy listening to in her spare time?
I personally began to sing when I was a child. I sang in different youth choirs and then I started my career as a lead singer in a gothic rock band named Mescarbonic. For a while I took singing lessons as a professional opera singer. It helped me a lot, technically, but it was not my style of singing. I prefer to sing in a more natural way. I just let it come out. Nowadays I don't take lessons at the moment but I try to sing everyday. We also have a lot of rehearsals, two to three times a week at the moment. This gives me a lot of practice.

When searching for a singer, what made you such a perfect match for Lunatica?
When Lunatica was looking for a singer, it didn't matter if it was a male or female voice. They were just searching for somebody who could sing. They tried several singers and decided that they would like to work with me. I prefer to sing naturally. I think this has become something that makes Lunatica's sound special. I also think that I can do much more variation and give more emotion to the songs the way I'm singing now, not in the opera technique. I always try to get better on each album and to try new things. I think the guys are pretty happy with my voice so far.

How did John Payne of Asia become involved with Lunatica? How exciting that must have been to work with him!
As on the last album we decided to work again with John Payne. We already did a duet with him on The Edge Of Infinity. He is a really good singer and it was a pleasure to do a duet with him again. We kept the contact since the last album because he also liked very much to work with us again. We are really happy to have him on board again for Farewell My Love. He does an extremely good job. We unfortunately weren't able to meet him personally. He recorded his vocal parts at his studio in the USA but we talked a lot on the phone. He is a very friendly and reliable person and I'm still a big fan of him, that's what it made so exciting!

Where is Lunatica based out of and what is the local music scene like there?
We come from the middle of the small country Switzerland, known in foreign countries for its watches and chocolate. ;-) The metal scene in our country is rather big. There are lots of good bands and you can visit live concerts somewhere in Switzerland every weekend. To find an audience is not so difficult as to find a club where you can play. Because of the big amount of bands, it is for many bands hard to be heard. I don't know why there are not more bands who can make it abroad. I guess there is just too much competition and the market is overfilled. Metal also isn't much supported by the Swiss media. We have the same songs in the charts like everywhere in the world. I hope we can do a little bit of promotion for our country as a rock/ metal nation with our music.

How did you wind up being signed to Napalm Records?
The contract with our former record company Frontiers ended with the last album. We did a pre-production of four songs and offered it to different labels. Napalm was very interested in us from the beginning and we thought that they could bring us a step forward. They are doing a very good job so far, supporting us a lot and keeping a close contact. We feel the interest in our music, in us. That's very important for having the feeling that you are taken for serious.

What is a live Lunatica show for those of us who have yet to see you perform?
It depends on the venue we are playing at but we always try to give a 100% on stage. I personally prefer big stages because I'm feeling more comfortable when I have enough space to move myself. Nevertheless I try to keep a close contact to the audience. I want to make people feel happy when they are listening to our music. We move a lot around, interacting together and have fun together. We also use big light shows or pyro effects if available.

Any chance of Lunatica coming over to the States to perform some shows or possibly a tour?
It's difficult to get that managed because we are not enough known. It costs a lot to do such a tour and the chances to get a position as a support act are very limited. We would absolutely love to do it. That's a big dream of us and this has also always been our motto: Never stop dreaming or believing that you can do it! With that in mind and a bit of luck, we are hopefully able to visit you sometimes.

Are you or any other bands members involved with any other projects outside of Lunatica?
Yes, Ronnie (drums) is playing in a progressive rock band, MG (bass) in a death metal band and Marc (lead guitars) in a thrash metal band and a cover band. I did participate on the metal opera GENIUS pt IIII by Daniele Liverani. I did a song together with DC Cooper (Royal Hunt, Silent Force) and Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain Of Salvation, The Flower Kings) and I recently did a duet with an unknown Swiss female singer and producer. She is doing a symphonic metal album with the support of different artists. She asked me to do one song with her and I accepted because it sounded very interesting.

Would you ever want to record an acoustic EP and have you ever played acoustic?
We didn't consider that so far but we always play live an acoustic version of Farewell My Love. We do interpret it only with an acoustic guitar played by Marc and me singing. I think people like it that way because it wouldn't be the same anyway without John.

Any chance of a live Lunatica DVD?
It’s nothing planned, but we already thought about that. This would be a big and expensive project for a band like us. But it would be great if we could do something like that in the future.

Any messages for metal fans here in the Los Angeles area?
Thank you so much for supporting Lunatica! We get a lot of mails from over there. We really hope to visit the USA in the near future. In the meantime keep us in mind and in your hearts!

Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions!!!
Thank YOU for giving us the chance to speak about our music!

LUNATICA links

LUNATICA ONLINE: The Official Home Page for Lunatica!
LUNATICA on Myspace: The Official Myspace Page for Lunatica!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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