Dani Nolden of Shadowside!!!
By Darkzen
Dani Nolden, one of the most unique and strong female voices ever heard, they combine influences of Hard Rock, Thrash and Heavy Metal and are known for their strong hooks, heavy guitars and high energy live show!!
Thank you very much for this opportunity! Dani! Here a little of this great singer!
Darkzen ask;
Dani Nolden tell us who is? as formed within the metal scene? what are
your origins?
Dani: I was born and raised in Santos, Brazil, it's an island about
one hour away from São Paulo, where you will immediately stand out in
the crowd if you go out wearing your black band t-shirt since everyone
else is so tropical and colorful (laughs). This is the land of surfing
and soccer but people are very friendly. However society can be very
harsh to a young aspiring musician here, especially if said musician
intends to be in a heavy metal band. I remember back when I was in
school and my teachers and classmates would ask me what I would do
after finishing school, what college I would go to... and everytime
I'd say "I'm not going to college, I'm going to be a professional
musician". It was always awkward. Some people looked at me with pity
in their eyes as they though "poor girl, she's a dreamer", some others
laughed straight up in my face, my teachers would try to make me
explore my "potential" better. I have to say all that kinda made me
want this even more because at that point I just wanted to prove
everybody wrong and I did. Now a few years after that, concerts in 21
countries and 3 albums later, I'm living the dream and they're looking
like idiots (laughs). I started listening to heavy metal thanks to my
cousin who introduced me to bands like Guns n' Roses and Skid Row.
After that I started searching for heavier stuff on my own like Judas
Priest, Iron Maiden and Helloween which later escalated to Anthrax,
and more recently bands like In Flames. As my passion for that type of
music grew, so did my drive to be a metal singer and it all came to a
point that I just couldn't see myself doing anything else other than
living and breathing heavy metal 24/7.
tell us what you like and dislike Dani Nolden?
Dani: I love music, as you can see (laughs)! But I also like animals,
computer games, martial arts and books. I'm fascinated by books. All
of them. Give me a book, any book and I won't drop it until I finish
it. I may hate it after I'm done but I will read it (laughs). There
are probably lots of things that I dislike but when we're talking
about music and musicians, if there's one thing that really gets on my
nerves is when musicians treats their fans badly and justify it by
saying they're having problems or a bad day or whatever. That's kinda
like going to work and taking your problems out on your clients...
however your fans are even more important than just "clients", people
have a very intimate relationship to their music and there's nothing
more disappointing than being treated poorly by those who you admire.
you have a favorite band? as was formed Shadowside?
Dani: I have many favorite bands, they change oftenly (laughs). My
favorite band today was Killswitch Engage as I spent the whole day
listening to them, it's a "new" band that I like very much. However my
favorite tomorrow might be an old favorite like Deep Purple or Pink
Floyd. Shadowside started as a way for my friends and myself to bring
some ideas to life... we never really expected this band would become
what it is today, and we're still growing! I never expected it, that's
for sure. I knew I wanted to be a musician but I didn't know it would
be on this band. We started mostly as a studio project recording a
demo EP. Then we sent to a few magazines and concert promoters and
turns out they liked it a lot so we realized it would be worth to
start playing a few gigs and see where it would take us.
which is the inspiration for the songs? you write them?
Dani: I've been writing all the lyrics lately but that's not because I
want it that way, it's just that the guys have been lazy as hell when
it comes to writing lyrics (laughs). That's fine as long as I have
enough ideas for me but if they ever feel like writing, I'll enjoy
reading and singing their ideas as well. When it comes to the music,
we all do it together as we nowadays like to make sure the whole band
has a say in every song we create. Our guitarist Raphael and I came up
with half the initial ideas each for Inner Monster Out, however none
of our demos that we presented to the rest of the band sound like what
you hear on the album. We all changed everything. And we didn't stop
working on the songs until we were all happy with the results,
especially because none of us like the same things and have very
different influences. Our goal was to mix all our tastes into one
thing that would sound unique, that we all would be pleased and proud
of, and would have fun performing it on stage. So Shadowside happened,
a crazy mix of thrash, power metal and hard rock that in the end
sounds heavy, modern, melodic yet doesn't step away from our roots and
from what traditional heavy metal is all about. We don't think about
whether people will like it or not, because we feel it wouldn't be
authentic. If we're happy with what we're doing, we'll always find
people who share our tastes and enthusiasm for our work. In the end,
we are our own inspiration... when we give each other ideas on each
other's songs, we end up forcing ourselves to think differently,
outside the box instead of just redoing our own personal formulas.
The lyrics are all about personalities, day to day situations, dreams,
fears, perversions, they are kinda like my own personal diary... on
Inner Monster Out, the whole idea behind the record was to bring to
light a journey through people's minds... all aspects of it, good and
bad. It's my way of saying that we are all disturbed and crazy in one
way or another when you look closely. No one is normal and that's
exactly what "normal" is.
we want to convey with his songs? Shadowside that offers to the world?
Dani: I guess we don't think of ourselves that highly (laughs). I
don't think we ever stopped to think about that... at least I haven't,
to be honest. What I personally want to offer with Shadowside is the
best music that myself and my band buddies can create and the best
live show we can ever perform. We are explosive on stage and we want
to give our fans intensity and the feeling of a great party, of
escaping all their issues with a lot of screaming, singing and
headbanging. Maybe some of my lyrics can be of help to someone, make
them think and realize they're not alone. I remember people telling me
that songs such as Believe in Yourself or Hideaway changed their
lives... more recently someone told me they didn't know someone else
felt like them and that listening to Gag Order made them feel better
because they noticed there were others in the same situation. I'm
always writing about real life situations. Sometimes not about my own
life, but about people close to me for example. So my lyrics are
always real and people can relate to them.
what type of voice you have??? your vocal range?
Dani: I'm contralto with a four octave range. My lowest note is
actually what a typical lowest baritone note would be but I never used
it in a song because I don't like how it sounds, maybe I should work
on it to see what happens but right now, it's too weak. Being able to
reach it is just for entertainment purposes (laughs). However I can
sing songs that were originally written for a tenor voice, which is
the highest main male vocal type, as well as most mezzo soprano songs,
which is the female voice in between contralto and soprano. My voice
is dark and deep, meaning I'm not fit for cute stuff. I was made for
heavy metal (laughs).
you would like to sing with someone special? favorite singer??
Dani: It would be really cool to do a duet with someone like Sebastian
Bach or Lana Lane, my favorite male and female singers respectively. I
already had the honor to share the microphone with singers like Ripper
Owens and more recently on Shadowside's album Inner Monster Out, with
the swedish trio Björn from Soilwork, Niklas from Dream Evil and
Mikael from Dark Tranquillity so I consider myself pretty lucky
already to have been able to be in such good company!
video clip? some Latin American tour??
Dani: I hope so! We already have the Angel with Horns videoclip
available on YouTube, I'm not sure if we'll do another one but a Latin
American tour is definitely something we want to do very soon! We are
playing a lot around Brazil around the moment and it's a sure thing
we'll hit Europe and USA again, but I would really like to play some
Latin American countries, it's our home continent and it would be a
dream come true for me!
Rock or Metal you prefer?
Dani: Both! There's a moment for each for me. I like nearly everything
in the rock and metal scope, from Pink Floyd, which is one of my
favorite bands to modern stuff like Disturbed and Rammstein. I can
find the perfect soundtrack in Rock and Metal for every moment in my
life.
the last words are all yours! for readers of Rock & Metal World Magazine!!
Dani: Thank you very much for the support, I hope everyone is enjoying
Inner Monster Out! Play it very loud, bang your head like crazy and I
hope to see you when we come to your country. Stay Metal and have fun!
--
Shadowside Management
www.shadowside.ws
www.myspace.com/shadowsideband
www.twitter.com/shadowsideband
