Ethereal Metal Webzine

Interviewed by Jessica Clingempeel & Joshua Becker
7/9/2018
Elane’s Official Facebook

Jess: Just discovering the band and becoming a fan, where does Elane begin?

Nico: It begins on 9/11/2001, that day that became a dramatic one in history. We like the idea of being a positive counterpart to all the bad things that happened and may happen. In a way like turn off your TV and enter a quieter place.

Josh: I notice your music has a nice Celtic feel to it. Is anyone in the band of Celtic ethnicity?

Joran: Not directly, but who knows what our ancestors’ roots are? Also, there is the possibility that we were Celts in previous lives, who can tell?

Jess: What made the band want to go the route it did regarding the genre?

Skaldir: Having three songwriters in the band, all coming from different musical backgrounds the result is the music Elane plays. There was never a real discussion about the musical direction we want to aim at as far as I remember. 

Josh: Has anyone ever told you, your music is perfect for a nice meditation session?

Skaldir: Not yet, but we got a lot of feedback in the past about our music being perfect to fall asleep to. 😉 Not in a boring way, but that it makes people calm and feel good. So we take it as a compliment. I guess some of our songs are better suited for meditation than others.

Josh: Who are your musical, or even lyrical influences?

Joran: Years ago I startet with Loreena Mckennitt in a musical way. Today one of my favourite bands is Porcupine Tree, I think. We have so many influences for our music. I always loved fantasy films, especially the lord of the rings movie in so many ways. That’s also a big input, too.

Nico: Oh, yes, the music of Steven Wilson is heavily pressing my creativity, too. I like to listen to many genres, from Metal to World Music, from Pop to Electronica and Trip Hop. Sometimes, you can catch a glimpse of all those influences in our songs, but we carefully watch over each other not to push it in a too strong direction. I think we’ll never really radically change our style like e.g. Coldplay did some years ago. Why would we do that, there’s no need to invent ourselves new. So, the influences may vary over the years, but the outcome will always pass Elane’s quality controls. 😉

Talking about lyrical influences, I can only speak for myself, as I like to create atmospheres, moods, pictures, feelings – way more than I like to tell stories. I find lots of inspiration in the lyrics of e. g. Brendan Perry and Johan Edlund.

Jess: There have been a couple of guest musicians in the recordings. Are they going to be doing any more work on future albums? Are they good friends with any of the members or were they chosen for other reasons? Any other musicians you would love to record with or maybe even tour with?

Nico: We mostly work with friends of ours, who – in their special fields – are masters. On our last album we worked together with Kai Meyer, a famous German author, whose stories we transformed into songs. Anna Stuart is not only a loving friend, but also a very successful cello player, as she recently became member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Marco Göllner is best known for his blockbuster radio plays in Germany, and he made some great voice art for us. So, there is always something to discover, and sometimes there are friends who help us out. We love that family and networking feeling and appreciate it very much.

Josh: As a Pagan myself, is anyone in the band Pagan, Wiccan, or part of an earth-bound religion?

Joran: I have always been fascinated by such religions, but I go my own open way.

Josh: Your music is perfect for use in cinema- have you had any offers for your music to be part of a soundtrack?

Nico: Indeed, we have already written soundtracks and scores. E. g. there are Audio Books using parts of our music.

Jess: Speaking of soundtracks, you composed a soundtrack to the board game “The Legends of Andor”, how did that come about? Would the band love to compose more soundtracks for games? Maybe something for say “World of Warcraft” or even “Elder Scrolls”?

Joran: We created two soundtracks for the fantasy roleplay board game “The Legends of Andor”, it was an awesome experience. We’d love to do more soundtracks for games. 🙂 World of Warcraft’s music is fantastic! I see I have to check out the Elder Scrolls. 😀

Josh: Your album covers say “music inspired by the works of Kai Meyer” why does the band have such inspiration from him?

Skaldir: Kai Meyer is a German fantasy author. Some years ago we met at a concert we played. He was in the crowd and Nico recognized him. Being still on stage, Nico asked him if he is Kai Meyer and he nodded. After the concert was over we all talked and decided we want to collaborate in the future. The plan was to write one album where the lyrics were based on his novels. In the end we had so many ideas reading his stories that we actually made another CD where the lyrics were based on his novels.

Jess: Speaking of the album covers, they are all very beautiful. Who came up with the artwork concepts?

Joran: Thank you! I created all designs for Elane, except “Arcane 2” that was made by the great artist Natalia LeFay.

Josh: I noticed Nico and Simon visited Hollywood California last year; any chance on touring the states?

Nico: California is so great! To be honest, we do not even tour our neighborhood. We see our strength in the production of the perfect sound. Live gigs live from the mood of the moment, the rawness of the moment. But this is not a good base for us to present our work, as we think. So this is why we keep our live appearances rare.

Jess: Regarding touring, what has been the best place of performance thus far? Where would you like to go next?

Nico: The best place is always – home. This is where we’ll probably stay and compose our future music. 🙂 But of course, there were pretty good live moments we love to remember, and we appreciate every single one of them, e. g. the great festival gigs we played, or touring Europe together with our friends from Unto Ashes, Qntal, Dornenreich and Neun Welten.

Joran: Our last concert was on an “Legends-of-andor”event. It was very different, but we loved to perform there. 🙂 Talking about future gigs: Everything comes at the right time…

Jess: On your Facebook, members have links to other sites/pages. What are some of the other projects the members take part in?

Skaldir: https://www.facebook.com/AshOfAshes/
Joran: https://www.facebook.com/joran.elane/
Nico: https://www.facebook.com/DerHoerspiegel

Jess: Most of the lyrics are in English, however there are some that are not, which as a lover of foreign languages I adore that aspect.  Any plans to write any more in lyrics in your own, or other languages? Maybe an entire album?

Nico: The decision of the language is never a comprehensible process. As a lyricist you simply feel what’s the best language for that particular song. I hardly can imagine that we are going to have an entire non-English album. We all love to sing and write in English too much.

Jess: Arcane 2 was the most recent release from Elane, what is the band up to now?

Skaldir: We already started writing new material and even recorded some of it. But it’s too early to tell when the next album will be completed at this point. 

Nico: For the first time in about 10 years we are working freely from any restrictions – whether regarding the story content or the assumed sound of the new album. Having no restrictions is highly inspiring after a period of 2 albums with such a distinct Leitfaden like the Arcane albums had.

Any final words for the readers?

ELANE: Thanks for reading this interview. Feel free to check out our music. Many things cannot be described in words 😊 Thank you so much to our fans.