SOURCE – What do you feel that Order of the Minus provides for someone who is new to Project Renegade?
Marianna (Vocals) – First and foremost I would say that “Order of the Minus” has a really important message that we are trying to communicate through it: unity through diversity. The album is about loss which is something that everyone has felt at some point in his/her life. Therefore, it is a common ground where people can finally see that we have things in common. So if we have at least that to share as an experience, maybe we have also other staff that unite us, regardless of race, sexual orientation, status, religion etc. And that’s how something negative, a minus, can make us become a team, an order, that strives to win in this life. We are talking about various types of loss, about today’s shitty governments that have stolen the right to think and to live as a decent human being, about war, bullying and labelling, death and suicide. Musically it is a mixture of different elements from dark and heavy to electro and symphonic, to industrial and modern metal. I think that everyone can find a piece of themselves in our music and we are very open as to the way we write. We do not put barriers and labels on our music as we cannot put labels and barriers to ourselves. So if you have an open mind I believe that “Order of the Minus” will be a perfect fit!
SOURCE – Given that the album has been released, how do you feel the feedback has been to it so far?
Marianna (Vocals) – It’s been great so far! We’re pretty amazed by the physical orders that are coming in and of course the digital streaming! Fans and media seem to be very excited and positive so far and the album gets positive reviews and comments. What is actually very surprising is how deep they are diving into the music and lyrics and how much time they spend dissecting the record, trying to find the meaning behind each song, fans are trying to spread the word of our music to other people and we are getting a lot of love and support! We are very grateful!
SOURCE – Order of the Minus is the band’s second album – where do you see the major differences between this record and your debut, as it seems like a few steps forward from Cerebra?
Marianna (Vocals) – We are trying to evolve in a natural way with every record. We wanted to keep the elements of “Cerebra” but we wanted to put it on steroids and move on from there. We felt we needed something with a little bit more bounce and aggression whilst maintaining our electronica/EDM/ambient influences. Also the writing process got bigger with bigger arrangements and instrumentation. Everything got denser and more layered and I believe that all that came of a place of maturity and faith on us because we took some chances with all of that. Finally, the fact that “Order of the Minus” got mixed and mastered by Forrester Savell played a major role on everything because he did a phenomenal job and took the production to a whole other level! All in all I would say that we were more sure about ourselves as artists.
SOURCE – Given that the band has evolved a bit over the years, do you feel that Project Renegade has any distinct characteristics that have persisted from the beginning to now?
Marianna (Vocals) – That we work really, really hard. We have devoted our lives, our personal time, our finances, everything we got to our band and we are constantly working. Personally, I have to say that the last 3 years of my life even on Christmas day I am working on something Project Renegade and I am not saying that in a bitter way. It’s just I really want to give 100% to what we are trying to achieve here and I cannot rest my mind and my love for music otherwise.
SOURCE – What can you tell us about the video shoots for Liber8?
Marianna (Vocals) – It was a really fun and creative experience. Ody, our drummer, had the original idea for the video and we developed it together and we planned every detail, from clothes to the scenes and the script. We have been rehearsing before the shooting day cause you know we are not actors, so we had to do everything like it was happening for real and won a lot of bruises cause of that! But it was really fun playing those characters, especially the guys who had to play the bad guys they really enjoyed themselves. We’ve also made a backstage video so you can watch there a lot of interesting staff, like how we built the cage for the performance, what went on during the scenes and a lot of cool staff!
SOURCE – Where do you see the state of the music industry today – if you had the opportunity to change things from your perspective, what would you change and why?
Marianna (Vocals) – The music industry is in a very critical point today. The way that listeners consume music has changed drastically and musicians suffer because of it. I love the fact that music is so easily accessible today, but that is done at the expense of the artist. That is really frustrating not only financially, but because being just a musician is not enough anymore. You have to set up a whole brand around your music and your personality, or expand to other activities in order to be able to do what you do. And music suffers from that also because a musician should be devoted to music above all in order to do it well. If I could change one thing it would be internet piracy because I believe it is not fair to invest so much money in order to make music and have it stolen from you. That is simply wrong!
SOURCE – You develop a deep understanding and connection with your fans through social media. How do you feel about these platforms and tools to gather insight and develop community? Do you wish these tools existed when you were growing up and learning about your favorite musicians/artists?
Marianna (Vocals) – Social media are a great tool to promote our music because it’s an easy, personal and free way to do so. Fans can interact directly with us and get a deeper and more behind the scenes type of experience. I believe that this is really interesting for the fans in order to develop a stronger relationship with us because that’s the way I feel about the bands that I follow. I mean I remember I would die to see a tour DVD of one of my favorite bands back in the day and now that is possible to do so on a daily basis. I really like it! As to if I wish those tools existed when I was growing up, I have to say that I like that it was rare to see those type of things because it made it special every time I got to have a look on what was going on, but I wouldn’t mind a lot more material to say the truth. It’s weird cause I cannot imagine it being any other way as I cannot imagine today being a band with zero social media presence cause that would be insane!
SOURCE – What plans does Project Renegade have for the rest of the year and beyond?
Marianna (Vocals) – We are about to shoot a new video which will hopefully be out in February and we have some gigs planned for the near future. We want to get out on the road and play as much as we can cause we live for it! Of course we are slowly writing for the next chapter of our musical journey and I think that it will be a very full and energetic year for us!
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