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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
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ANGEL
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Helena Michaelsen & John Stam
July 2005
http://www.helena-michaelsen.com
You may know the sensual Helena Iren Michaelsen from Trail Of Tears some years back, or now from Imperia, but recently she scored a record deal with Black Lotus for her own work she released under the name Angel. Assisted by her Imperia buddies she recorded a very versatile album, "A Woman's Diary - Chapter I", that contains music ranging from ballads to pop to metal - but most of all it's all very emotional. I had the opportunity to interview Helena one day last July in Landgraaf (another Rock Inc pressday) and we had a blast! She's so spontaneous and funny and she was accompanied by guitarist John Stam, which resulted in a lot of funny moments between the two of them. Despite all the destractions I managed to ask them some questions ;)
When I listen to Angel's work, the biggest difference with your other work seems to be that here you can do whatever you want and are capable of, without limits. Am I seeing that right?
Helena: A bit, yes. I like to do my own thing and not copy somebody else and the lyrics are about my own life.
In the other projects you are maybe more forced to a certain style of playing or singing?
Helena: No, I'm not forced to, but that's my feeling with these bands.
I don't know Imperia well, but from what I've heard it's all with operatic vocals (something that I don't like with metal).
Helena: Hehe that's ok. I think you'd like "Angelchild", if you like "Mother" on the Angel album, or "Secret Garden" and "In My Mind", it's also a ballad.
Aren't you afraid Angel and Imperia will end up sounding too alike after a while, since you have the same band to back you up?
Helena: No. (laughter) It's two very different things, different music and everything.
John: We discussed this yesterday with a beer, how to sound with Imperia and with Angel, it will have to be totally different, on September 16th we have to play with Imperia AND Angel, but they have to be two totally different bands. We're the same people but we'll have different guitar sounds etc.
When you write new songs, do you already have in mind for which band they are?
Helena: The Angel songs are mostly based on ideas from myself that I had on demo and then Oliver Philips and John did the musical arrangements, so on the next album it will probably stay the same. It will also be diverse, I still have (and still get) a lot of these ideas that I must get out.
John: We first recorded "Fallen Angel" 1½ years ago in my studio...
Helena: .. and then we got it from the other demo, the acoustic guitar and the arrangement..
John: yeah, and made a whole new arrangement for this album, but the ideas were very old.
I read you have some older songs on "A Woman's Diary", even some that you wrote in your teenage years. Can you tell me a bit more about which songs are old and which are new etc.
Helena: "Little girl" is a song I wrote when I was very young, the text is also written in a childish way, but I don't want to change it. It's also a quite simple song, but I want to keep it honest, so I also choose to play the guitar myself on that track. I'm not a good guitar player, but I wanted to play with that feeling myself, that way I can get the feeling out better, also with my voice in the combination of the guitar and the vocals.
Can you tell me a bit more about your lyrics, the title implies that they are about women and their emotional world. Are they also autobiographical?
Helena: Are there any special songs you would like to know about?
For "Mother" I was curious if you lost your mother at a young age?
Helena: No, two years ago. That must be the most emotional song on the album and "Don't Wanna Run" on the single is very personal to me as well. "Glow In The Dark" is about a romantic feeling I wanted to express, when you are in bed with your partner and just cosy, chatting about nice things or playing with the pillows or whatever, you get this feeling in your belly back, and I think that's one of the best emotions to have. "Darkness" is about violence, in this case to me, but to women in general and it's dedicated to the Dutch "Blijf van mijn lijf" organisation (shelters for abused women), it's a song where I express my feelings of helplessness towards somebody I couldn't fight back to in a fysically violent way. And then all these emotions are coming out in "Darkness". I was in the studio, closed my eyes, saw it all happen again, did the vocals and just let it out. "Flames Of Desire" is like a sexual fantasy I have. So it's all about feelings and events you can tell about in a diary. "Love Of My Life" is about a feeling that there's still something missing. Like a love of my life, I can feel very lonely sometimes. You're searching for something, but you don't really know what for, that's what I wanted to express with that song. I can go on and on... (laughter) "Fallen Angel" is in general about if you know somebody who's on drugs or alcohol or some force that is stronger than themselves. When you really care about that person, you want to help, but the other force is stronger than what you can do. You really give everything, but there is nothing you can do and you feel like a fallen angel.
You want to be the angel in someone's life, but you can't.
Helena: Yes. Ehm.. "Butterfly"? Haha...
Go on! I don't mind :) I'm sure people will love to hear (read) about it!
Helena: "Butterfly" is about flying. If I don't feel comfortable or someone tries to cage me I will go escape.
You run... but you just said you "Don't Wanna Run"!
Helena: Hahaha, yes but I don't want to run, with that song I mean that sometimes I wish I have a safe basic ground and from there I can go and travel and do my things and always have something safe to come home to that is stable.
I think we have most of the songs by now, hehe. Ehm, "Little Princess"?
Helena: Oh yeah, "Little Princess" was about a game I would play when I was little, with curtains haha! And in front of the mirror pretending I was on a stage, acting, closed in in my own little fantasy world.
From when I was little I wanted long hair, but my mom wouldn't let me. I would take the fabric canopy from a cradle for dolls I had and put that on my head, pretending that was my long hair ;)
Helena: I think it's more a girl's thing to have fantasies like that, dress up, think you're a princess hehehe
John: I did that too!
Helena: You wanted to be a princess too? (laughter)
John: No my sister had some skirts and I wanted to try them on...
Ah, cross-dressing we call that nowadays
Helena: He's a shemale...
Do tell! The secrets of the band...
John: That's why we always have fun :) (laughter)
What made you choose Oliver Philipps and Christian Moos from Space Lab Studios as your producers?
Helena: Christian was not the producer, but engineer, a very nice person. I thought of them because John had worked with them for years and he said "I think these are the right people you should work with". They are nice people, the studio is nice, I love the space and you have your own apartment and a lot of freedom. You also have small studios with no space where you sit like this (squeezes herself into an imaginary tight spot). "Did you fart?" (laughter).
Did they have a lot of influence on the songmaterial? Oliver co-wrote a couple of songs, right?
Helena: Not really wrote, he only produced and made musical arrangements. If they wrote the songs, there would not have been enough songs and it would've been a totally different album. Less diversity. I want to express so many different emotions, for somebody else to have the ideas and make the songs without any influence like what I want to say with the lyrics, I think it would be more flat. Songs like "Little Girl" and stuff would not be there.
The album is so diverse that it should appeal to a lot of different audiences, did you already get good reactions from outside the metal world?
Helena: Yes, esp. "Mother", "Butterfly" and "Little Girl", because they have the most emotions. So whether you like metal or classical or whatever, you'll feel the emotion no matter what.
They are also songs that are suitable for the radio.
Helena: Yes, I also like to listen to more easy music with a feeling, I can go listen to blues, jazz, all kind of operettes - as long as it has its own message and you can feel it and it's real. I don't like music that's not real, like the typical computer music, ding ding plong plong..!
Are they any specific artists you like?
Helena: I'm into Black Sabbath and the Doors, more the 70s, 80s. It was more spontaneous. I rather hear a guitar solo that's not 100% in tune but with a lot of emotion and you go "wow he really meant what he played", than when it's recorded 10.000 times just to get it technically right.
People would maybe write more without thinking too much.
Helena: Yes, it's more straight out and rock 'n' roll.
(John and Helena are goofing around again, Helena goes to the bathroom, John takes over)
John: It's always like this, we always have a lot of fun. We have 5 nationalities in the band, that's quite special.
How did you find each other?
John: I was introduced to Helena a few years ago on a festival and she was looking for musicians to start Imperia. We went to my house and I let her hear some things I've done before, also some sensitive things. When it comes to emotion we're totally on the same wavelength. When she was there I let her hear some music and she already started to hum a melody to it, I got tears in my eyes, you know! And I already made some music, a sensitive piano part, for a possible next Angel album, that puts tears in her eyes when she hears it, we're both like that. Anyways, we got introduced and I've been with the band from the beginning. We've done a lot of auditions for musicians. Two members of God Dethroned have been in the band, the bassist she found in Belgium - I don't know where she finds them all! Suddenly I find myself on stage with some guys I've never seen before, they just had two weeks to rehearse, stuff like that ;)
(Helena returnes)
I keep seeing the reference to gothic rock in descriptions and reviews, but I don't hear that in Angel's music (or at least I don't perceive it as such), what do you think?
Helena: No, you're right. But the label has to put a category on it.
I would call it dark emotional rock.
Helena: Not always dark, it's just emotional rock. Some songs are happy like "Butterfly" and "Flames Of Desire" is like dance and there are romantic things...
You're right, it's not all about pain and heartache...
Helena: No, man! (laughter)
It's a woman's album, do you think it will also appeal to women more than to men?
Helena: Nah, I think it's equal for both. Maybe.. hmm there is a difference between men and women.. (laughter)
Besides than men are from Mars and women from Venus? ;)
Helena: I love that book! A woman says more what she feels and the men think more. There's nothing wrong with that, but it makes it sometimes difficult to understand each other. (to John) What are you thinking now? (laughter)
John: You don't wanna know!
I hear influences of Kate Bush, Nina Hagen and even some Heart in your songs, who would you say are your influences?
Helena: I don't think I'm influenced by anything. I heard the Nina Hagen comparison before, but didn't hear some songs until a few years after I wrote mine. She's a woman who didn't have an easy past either, you have more extreme things to express with your instrument. I just use my voice as an instrument for what I want to say.
What do you do for your voice?
Helena: Smoke, haha!
I cannot understand how a singer can smoke!
John: smoke is not the problem... (laughter)
Helena: You will go now! (laughter) I'm smoking and I drink.
So that's good for you voice? ;)
Helena: Yes, it makes you more relaxed. (laughter) Nah, but I'm not doing anything, besides laughing. That's the best exersize for your voice!
In September Angel plays it's debut show in Utrecht, and Imperia is supporting. Isn't the double duty too much a strain on your voice?
Helena: No, I don't think it's going to be a problem. I hope! (John sings some lines about drinking and no sleep in a raspy voice) You wanna do some slide guitar to it?
John: we'll go back in the 80s with a lot of drum solos (laughter)
How are you gonna pull it off live, the whole classical arrangements and stuff?
John: We'll use a keyboard player and some extra choirs and vocals on disc. Or maybe use a cello player as well. We'll have to brainstorm about what to do on stage, it has to be totally different from Imperia. It's a challenge.
Well she's schizophrenic (pointing at Helena's t-shirt saying that), so that helps.
John: Yeah that's easy - sometimes!
Are there more live plans in the works?
Helena: Yes, we plan to go to Greece, next year Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and France. We're also going to Mexico with Imperia.
How did you end up living in Holland?
Helena: When I played here with Trail Of Tears, I had a very good feeling with the audience. When I wanted to go do my own thing, I thought Holland would be a good place to start.
Any last words to our readers?
Helena: I want to thank everybody for their support!
Thanks for all your time and the fun!
submitted by Marlies 25.10.2005
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