I recently spoke with Chilean singer Caterina Nix about the latest Chaos Magic studio release, ‘Emerge’. The band’s third album mixes modern and symphonic metal, and their most intense release to date. Caterina talks about the emotional writing process, the videos, and what we can expect from the band in terms of touring.
Thanks for speaking with me, and congratulations on the album release. How have you felt about the response so far?
It’s been great. I didn’t expect like such good reviews. I mean, you always expect them and it’s something that you work for, but it’s been great and the fans are really happy about it.
And they have told us that there is this maturity in about the way that we are making music and all the things that we were aiming for, like people are receiving them. So, and we are very happy about.
And going back a bit Furyborn was released in 2019. Did you have a chance to do a proper tour of that album?
Yeah, we actually toured Europe once and we also traveled to support Evanescence with that album. So, we have made four European tours so far and it was a great experience. We are expecting to plan for something, the future. But things are pretty uncertain, and we are not sure about, you know, start planning for something yet.
I’m sure you’ve been missing the stage that you’ve been recently getting back to.
Yeah, we’ve been missing it so much and we have a couple of great gigs coming in here in Chile. But as I was saying we haven’t planned anything yet for going abroad. We’re going to be supporting Nightwish and Beast in Black and one of the shows.
Was the Emerge a project from the pandemic? How was that writing process for you?
Yeah, it was really hard for us. We had just arrived back from the tour, and then we were secluded for two weeks. We had a schedule with the label and we had to deliver the songs at some point.
We had to connect through zoom and start writing that way, we couldn’t be there in person and throwing ideas around. And also, I was going through some really rough times with a family situation, so it was really hard at first.
Just even getting into the mood for writing. I had to turn all these things into something that I could express. I tried to turn the process of something that was hard and difficult to Something that could heal me in a way, and creating something that people could relate to.
How long did you have the new material from the time that you created the first song, until you went into the studio?
I’m always having ideas and creating! Sometimes I’ll just start humming in the shower and I’ll be like, oh I’m going to record this. But it’s all pretty fresh material, there wasn’t anything left over from the previous album, such as songs that didn’t make the cut. That’s something I don’t do. But it did take us a couple of months to finish the writing process, and then we went right into recording.
And like with so many other bands doing projects in 2020, was this something that was done via videoconferencing, and did you find it challenging?
It was very challenging. Most of it was done via zoom meetings, and WhatsApp. For several months I didn’t even have the chance to get together with my coworker, who is like my right hand when it comes to writing. And he does all of the arrangements. We had to be very coordinated with him in order to make this process successful. It was challenging for something that you would expect to be done face-to-face.
What generally comes first for you when writing music? Is it lyrics the melody, something that you harm as you said, and is that something you will then take to keys or a guitar?
Most of the time I come up with the melody and I start working from there. I’ll have a melody that I like, and then I’ll start with a few lyrics here and there, and then I do start looking for the cords on either a keyboard or maybe even the guitar. I don’t really play; I don’t play at all. But I can find some cords here and there. I just imagine how the finish process is going to be and I start working with Nasson. So, he’s the one that takes all these ideas and materializes them.
Earlier you had mentioned that point for ideas and inspiration for the album, you are talking about pandemic, the family situation. Were there any other sources of inspiration for you?
I mostly wanted to be uplifting. Because when I’m in bed situation I like to take a look at myself and be like okay, what can I do to get better. Nobody wants to be in a hole forever. I think this whole album is dark in a sense because I was connected to some really dark emotions. But it’s also uplifting with songs like what your fuel, which are giving myself reminders to get out of the dark, and to emerge obviously. So that’s the main inspiration for the album and I would say that’s pretty cohesive in that sense.
While were talking about inspiration, I wanted to ask are there any other vocalist that have inspired you throughout your career?
Yeah, there’s many of these icons that I’ve looked up to all of my life. And I would start with Bruce Dickinson. I learned so much just from playing his music, listening to his vocals and trying to imitate him. Tarja of course, Floor Jansen is so amazing. Her techniques are perfect. Sharon Den Adel, and also nowadays I think Tatania of Jinjer is one of the queens. She’s so so good.
Absolutely. And she’s amazing and concert. The new album sounds way more intense than fury born, but it still has that Chaos Magic style. When you started making the album, was that something you were aiming for?
Absolutely. We wanted to keep our identity, but develop something new into our sound and make it ours. We worked on that, and we worked on the symphonic sounds, we wanted everything to be bigger and stronger. So that’s one of the main changes we can see in comparison to Furyborn. It’s bigger, stronger, and it’s more intense.
The artwork for the album is really awesome as well. From the Snakepit to the Lotus, and also from the stage set up to the wardrobe, how important are the visuals to you for your music?
It’s very important I think it’s showing what the content is really about. It’s very important for me to have symbolic videos as you can see, because even if you’re not listening to the songs, you know what it’s about.
The lead single which was also the title track was like it’s about suffering through the hardships and coming out on top, it also seems like it personal song. How would you describe it, and is there a reason that you chose it as the lead single?
That’s exactly what it’s about. Honestly, I was going through a divorce and I was trying to write about what I was feeling. And in the middle of this process, you see the golden cage/prison and that sometimes you miss it, but if you want your freedom and you want to regain who you are it’s going to be hard and it’s going to hurt. That’s basically what it is about.
Visually the video for Emerge is a great representation of the lyrics and wonderfully shot. And the Depth of Night features a more throwback, eighties, traditional type heavy metal vibe. When doing videos, do you come up with a storyboard of ideas? Do you do your own filming or do you use a production crew?
For the three videos that we shot we used a production crew. But the whole idea, the visuals, and the concepts came from my mind. Had a lot of clarity about what I wanted. So, for example with Emerge I wanted the video to really connect with the lyrics, and it’s very literal. And for in The Depth of Night I wanted to come up with a single that was the complete opposite of Emerge.
I wanted to show the range that we were having in this album, and with these two singles which are so so different. If you listen to them both, and if you listen to the album, you understand that that’s the range that we have. So yeah, for In The Depth of Night I wanted to come up with something fine, and this 80s vibes. I’m also a child of the 80s and I love that nostalgia and I always wanted to do something at some point with that aesthetic. This was the chance to do it. I think the result was that it’s fun, it’s entertaining, and it portrays what I wanted to do with it.
Beneath Your Skin is one of the darker and heavier songs that the band has done you tell us a little bit more about that?
With the song we wanted to return to the true identity of the album, which is overall pretty dark and pretty heavy. I mean there’s moments of joy, moments of fun, but if you read the lyrics, it’s not really that joyful. So, we wanted to return to bed and there is also a duet and we wanted to show the range that the album has regarding our style. Seems like a good idea to have a song as the last single.
There are also a few collaborations on the record as well, such as Elina from Leaves’ Eyes. Can you tell us more about that?
She’s great. She’s very professional and has a great voice. I’m a familiar with her work. We were working on a project together and I knew she was great to work with and she has a great voice, and combined with mine, it just created the atmosphere that I wanted to have for Garden of Winter.
You started out in a Nightwish cover band, and I know in 2015 you got to open for them, and as you mentioned earlier, you’re soon going to be having a show with them as well. Can you tell us more about that and what your plans are for touring throughout 2022?
The first time that we open for them in 2015 my voice was completely gone. I don’t know if it was nerves, I don’t know if I was really sick, I don’t know what happened, I was just completely mute. So, I went to the hospital, and I had to get a shot and I was just like please fix this and thankfully I got a little bit of my voice back that night. So, I was able to perform, but I was in my best shape.
I was little bit frustrated about it, but we went there and I give it my best. I really hope this time that my voice is healthy! We have a lot more experience now, we’ve been rehearsing, and we have been playing with the same lineup for very long time now. I think it’s good be a great show and I can’t wait for it. But other than that, I think the other show was amazing and it was one of our best experiences ever as a band. We are just hoping to make it even better this time.
How amazing is it to go from being a tribute band for them, to opening the show for them.
It’s incredibly amazing I can even describe it. But when I was back in high school my first year at University I had this tribute band, we then went to a couple of contest and even one playing Nightwish. So, I have a lot of great memories with that band and it’s been one of my biggest inspirations as a musician.
That’s really awesome? Thanks again for speaking with me today is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?
I want to thank everyone that has approached me to tell me that this album is great and we’re very humbled about it. I really hope now we can reach more people that like the genre, but don’t really know the band. And thanks for having me, and for anyone that wants to follow us on social media at Facebook and Instagrm
