Creating A Universe

On this episode I am joined by the wonderful Laura Mazard, frontwoman of the French Progressive Symphonic Metal band Oïkoumen.

Laura is a truly cultured and creative individual with a great deal of fascinating knowledge to share.

This is reflected in the music of Oïkoumen, who released their debut album 'Dystopia' in 2022 - establishing their unique take on Symphonic Metal, one which is quirky, creative & somewhat dabbling in the avant garde.

In the episode Laura speaks of creating a 'broken' sound, which reflects the visceral themes of challenging and unstable emotions in their music. It's a fascinating perspective and I truly admire the bands artistic approach with it.

Laura also works as an art historian and tour guide in and around Paris, creating all kinds of unique experiences for a diverse range of clientele. A particular specialty of hers is ancient music (medieval, etc) where she also incorporates her singing voice.

All of this (and much more!) makes for a fascinating conversation which absolutely flew by for me! I certainly thoroughly enjoyed it myself and hope that you do listening to it too :)

WJR ❤️

Check out Oïkoumen's links here

For all Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog & services - go here

Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

01:04 - The name Oïkoumen

02:45 - Overview of Laura & her projects

04:15 - Everything Oïkoumen (music, creative process, etc)

43:00 - Nightwish segue into Laura's musical journey

01:02:56 - Laura's career as an art historian & tour guide

01:13:39 - Paris, London, travelling & video games

01:29:51 - Closing thoughts & final sentiments

On this episode I am joined by the wonderful & enigmatic Jonesy AKA Shred Rogers, a splendidly diverse and colourful solo artist & guitarist of the Cyber Metal band A Dark Halo.

Jonesy's music spans quite the spectrum - from dark and brooding to stupendously absurd. Now I don't know about you, but I have to admire that a lot!

Perhaps most prominently as a solo artist with Shred Rogers, Jonesy is known for his extreme metal renditions of nursery rhymes. Yes, you heard me right, nursery rhymes!! Including such classics as Baa Baa Black Sheep & Wheels on the Bus 😆

You have to hear these as they are really quite entertaining. However, he has quite a unique approach with it, more weaving the nursery rhymes into otherwise fantastic original metal tracks - fusing elements of death metal, black metal, thrash & prog.

This ties into Jonesy's wonderful cause to bring joy and lightness to the world, in which he approach's music very much as a gift to others. The nursery rhymes themselves reflect his devoted passion for being a foster father, which is testament to the kind and caring person that he is.

As well as these fun renditions, Shred Rogers also releases guitar driven instrumental music, which has a deep emotion to it. Something I really enjoyed hearing him talk about in the episode.

But the primary contrast is with his Cyber Metal band A Dark Halo - who comparatively have a very 'serious' style indeed. A kind of dark and heavy industrial metal style, the band released their first album Catalyst way back in 2006 - which took on a cult like status following the inclusion of 2 singles on the video game 'WWE Day of Reckoning 2'.

This made for a very unique and interesting story in the episode about how Jonesy had been practically oblivious to just how much of an impact this album had. Thus, after a long hiatus, Jonesy and co-founder Dave Lowmiller re-formed the band with a fresh line up.

They have since returned with a huge sound, boasting a line-up which revitalizes the band with a great deal of fresh energy. We've caught them at such an exciting time too, as their new album 'Omnibus One' has just dropped on July 14th '23. I urge you to go and check it out!

We also had a massive nerd-out about our favourite music & discographies! Overall it was a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy our chat as much as I did :)

WJR ❤️

Check out the Shred Rogers Website here & links for A Dark Halo here

For all Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog & services - go here

Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

01:04 - Overview of Jonesy and his projects (focus on Shred Rogers)

22:53 - The story of A Dark Halo

40:49 - Nerding out about our favourite music & talking discographies.

01:03:30 - How Jonesy first got into music & tying his musical journey together.

01:12:38 - Omnibus One, the new album by A Dark Halo.

01:15:55 - Closing thoughts & final sentiments.

On this episode I am joined by the wonderful Judith Ehreke - a lyric mezzo soprano vocalist from Germany and front-woman of the Melodic Symphonic Metal band 'Unsoulicited'.

The band recently released their debut album 'Reflections' on March 31st 2023 - which features Judith's voice alongside other star performers such as Herbie Langhans.

It's a wonderful journey of an album, for the most part very melodic and accessible, often leaning more towards rock than metal. However it does have it's harsh & heavy moments, all in all making for a very nice dynamic on the album.

Judith's very pure and theatrical vocal takes centre stage and she really has such a wonderful tone to her voice! We spoke all about vocals, including the healing powers of singing, as well as her musical journey, the band & the fantastic singing community she is also a part of. All this and so much more!

It was a real pleasure to chat with Judith and I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did :)

WJR ❤️

Follow Judith on Instagram @niamhgoldenhair & check out the Unsoulicited Website here

For all Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog & services - go here

Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

02:05 - Meet Judith

03:04 - About Unsoulicited

19:25 - Finding A Sound

23:09 - Judith's Musical Journey

27:52 - Vocal Therapy

34:52 - Judith's Musical Journey (Cont'd)

48:55 - Songwriting Process

54:29 - Judith's Musical Journey (Cont'd)

1:06:52 - Final Thoughts

On this episode I am joined by the sensational Paraguayan metal star Mr. Adrian Benegas - fresh off the back of his latest release 'Arcanum', a mind blowing concept album featuring such powerhouse performers as Ronnie Romero & Timo Somers.

Adrian is a fascinating individual, a natural creative spirit with a wild imagination and flair for the dramatic. His immense capacity for conjuring musical worlds of grandeur and mythos manifests itself into truly some of the most compelling music throughout the landscape of modern metal.

Discussing Adrian's approach in this episode was a particularly enthralling experience, as he very much approaches creating as a conduit, entering a flow state where he shuts off his rational mind and purely channels the creative impulse that comes through him.

Of course later he can approach it more rationally in the crafting stage, as he refines the piece. But the initial idea comes from a trance like state in which he is completely detached. The moment can strike at any time and he lives in service to it.

We also discussed lots of other great topics, such as intertwining personal narratives in metaphorical storytelling, what it's like for Adrian to work with his hero's (and some of the biggest names in the space), what life and the metal scene is like in Paraguay, and of course Adrian's musical journey from beginning up until now. 

This was a truly enjoyable episode for me and I hope you get as much enjoyment out of listening.

Be sure to let us know what you think!

WJR ❤️

Check out Adrian's website here: https://adrianbenegas.com/

For all Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog & services: https://flow.page/loveanarchy

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

05:07 - Meet Adrian

08:52 - The Songwriting Process

35:08 - The Flow State

41:52 - Origin Stories

48:35 - Music Therapy

57:13 - Adrian's Musical Journey

1:27:44 - Final Thoughts

On this episode I am joined by none other than the Power Metal Ranger - everyone's favourite YouTuber from the realm of Power Metal 🤘😁

Ranger is known for his passionate and honest reviews of everything Power/Symphonic & AOR adjacent - primarily through his first time reaction videos, which have become a beloved staple to the release campaign of bands in the scene, as well as of course the thriving community of fans who come to his channel to discover new music.

What's especially great is that Ranger goes out of his way to feature tonnes of new and upcoming artists, a real service to the scene. I myself have discovered many new bands through those featured on his channel and that's really a wonderful thing for everyone involved!

He also hosts a very similar series to this one on his channel called 'Ranger Talks', where he really does a fantastic job of creating an open space for an artist to express themselves. We share a lot of philosophy in this regard and it was such a pleasure to get to chat with him all about it.

Not only is he such a great champion for the wider community, he's also a deeply interesting character with a lot going on beneath the surface. To get a glimpse of that in this episode was a real treat, and I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did recording it :)

WJR ❤️

Check out Power Metal Ranger's YouTube Channel here

For all Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog & services - go here

Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

01:58 - Meet Power Metal Ranger

05:54 - Getting Nostalgic

16:48 - React Channel 101

50:55 - Other Content

56:41 - Release Schedules

59:20 - Format and Approaches

1:34:41 - The ULTIMATE Pet Peave

1:44:37 - Final Thoughts

This episode I am joined by the sensational French maestro Adrien Djouadou, an incredible composer, producer & all around musical powerhouse.

He is the mastermind behind the music for Phoebus The Knight, a conceptual Symphonic Power Metal band set to the incredible world penned by the bands lead vocalist and lyricist Axel de Montalembert.

Throughout the bands discography and live performances, we follow Phoebus and The Knights of Heliopolis throughout a fantastical take on human history to confront an evil vampire lord known as 'The Beast'.

Such wonderful craft goes into the creation of Phoebus The Knight and it was such a pleasure to get the chance to sit down with Adrien to delve deep on his process.

Adrien is also one half of Power Metal Duo 'Hartlight' - alongside his wonderfully talented wife and Phoebus bass player Noémie Allet. Here he plays a Producer/Instrumentalist role, whilst Noémie takes centre stage as the Singer/Songwriter.

And if all that wasn't enough - Adrien's day job is as a bass opera singer! How amazing is that? I was lucky to get to chat with him about all of these topics and hope you enjoy listening as much as I did recording it :)

WJR ❤️

Check out Phoebus the Knight's links here

And Hartlight on social media @hartlight_music & on Bandcamp here

For all Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog & services - go here

Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

01:31 - Meet Adrien

02:05 - About Phoebus The Knight

06:32 - About Hartlight

24:16 - The Story Behind Phoebus

45:39 - Releasing Music

49:34 - The Recording Process

1:02:05 - Playing With ETWAS

1:09:03 - Touring

1:11:52 - Adrien's Musical Journey

On this episode I am joined by the wonderful Victoria of French Blackened Symphonic Metal Band ETWAS.

The band have a dark and infectious sound which has been described as 'Epica meets Cradle of Filth', with Victoria delivering fantastic dual vocals split between her angelic lyric soprano voice and her harsh blackened growls.

The band explore and present dark, gothic & occult themes, which perfectly merge with the music to create an enchanting experience.

Victoria also discusses what drew her to these themes and how she was also called a witch - although despite her attraction to everything dark, she is a warm and affectionate person, perhaps best portrayed by the adorable crochet baphomet's she produces by hand. You have to see them on the ETWAS socials!

I really enjoyed this one and hope you do too :)

WJR ❤️

You can check out ETWAS' links here

For all Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog & services - go here

Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

01:36 - Meet Victoria

07:00 - Describing Her Sound

20:49 - Victoria's Musical Journey

33:38 - A Conversation About Genre

43:24 - Learning Vocal Techniques

53:58 - Performing Live

59:34 - The EP That Isn't On Streaming Platforms

1:06:10 - Production Process

1:18:15 - Next Steps

On this episode I am joined by theatrical metal vocalist Archie Caine, who joins me from the opposite end of the UK in the south coastal town of Brighton. Archie is a fantastic vocalist who has been making a name for himself in the realm of Symphonic Metal music over the last couple of years. His debut solo album 'Tommy and the Angels' is a wonderful concept record that came out in 2022 and I myself have listened to it many times over. It's wonderfully accessible and melodic music with a compelling story, spearheaded by Archie's sensational voice, alongside jaw dropping performances by guest vocalists Dianne van Giersbergen and Damian Wilson. Archie has also appeared on metal opera's such as Will Khan's Golden World Archive and Gideon Ricardo's Woods of Wonders. Most recently he has been announced as the new frontman of Fairyland. I thoroughly enjoyed getting the chance to have this chat with Archie, I hope you enjoy it too ❤️

00:46 - Meet Archie

03:46 - Behind 'Tommy & The Angels'

15:46 - The Story Of The Album

16:47 - Casting

19:12 - Founding A New Genre

21:34 - Collaborator Backgrounds

27:30 - Writing Parts With Dianne and Damian In Mind

31:00 - Working With Adrian

32:40 - The Live Band

35:29 - Archie's Musical Journey

1:03:05 - Golden World Archive

1:07:22 - Fairyland

In this episode I am joined by the multi-talented German metal musician & producer Mr. Danny Meyer - who joins me from his illustrious Sunway Studios to talk all things music, production & life. Danny is first and foremost a wonderful musician himself, as lead vocalist and guitarist of the 'Rebel Metal' band Oversense. As the principal songwriter and producer for the band since 2012, Danny has learned a great deal from his experiences and since extended his efforts towards producing and mentoring other metal bands from all around the world. What I especially like about Danny is that he puts a great deal of passion and effort into mentoring an artist on an individual basis - no cookie cut service here, he really goes above and beyond. What a guy to have on your team! It was such a pleasure to get to sit down and have this conversation with Danny, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did ❤️

Check out Oversense here

And Sunway Studios here

For all Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog & services - go here

Timestamps:

00:33 Introduction & Synopsis

01:04 - Meet Danny

03:00 - Describing Oversense's sound

09:05 - The Process on and off stage

24:12 - Danny's musical journey

40:43 - Artist that made an impact

54:05 - Sunway Studios

57:41 - Being remote

1:02:37 - Projects as a producer

1:21:47 - Music mentoring

1:26:42 - How to collaborate and connect

On this episode I am joined by my wonderful wife and partner in crime, Mrs. Maria Rogers. Maria is a multi-faceted creator, with a primary focus in music as a singer/songwriter. But chances are that you more likely know her as the alter ego of Yarimā, one of the pioneering artists from the LovAnaverse Music Universe. Since 2018 Maria and I have been working together to bring Love Anarchy & LovAnaverse to life, as well as a number of projects along the way. Maria's diverse talents & creative energy has been vital to the process and her work with Yarimā especially has done wonders to connect with people from all around the world. In more recent times, Maria has taken a step back from the spotlight to focus on her journey as a mother, as well as exploring other interests and projects that she feels drawn to. But finally, we were able to sit down and get real over this conversation for the podcast, so that you can get a deeper insight into our journey and see for yourselves the truly wonderful person that she is ❤️