I interviewed Pablo from TRIDDANA

This is my interview with Pablo from TRIDDANA. Lately, they released their second full length entitled "The Power & The Will". The interview was planned earlier.

01. Hi Pablo! TRIDDANA founded in 2011 with the idea to combine Celtic music together with metal. How this idea came to you? And what mean Celtic music, Metal music, and folk metal for you ? 

As a Scottish descendant (of whom there are many in Argentina) I have a very personal connection with Celtic music in general. And personally, I like all kinds of European folk music, be it Celtic, Scandinavian or from the Balkans. On the other hand, heavy metal is what inspired me to become a musician altogether. When I was a kid I started learning guitar and bagpipes simultaneously. Later on I dropped the guitar and learnt a little bit of piano, and later on concentrated fully on the bagpipes. So I grew up as a musician in a folk environment really, and took on heavy metal later on. It’s interesting that even though we are without a doubt a metal band, all our members have had or presently have other projects or activities which are far away from heavy metal.

So as you see, from my part, heavy metal is the reason I started learning music, but then I devoted myself to the bagpipes and the Scottish stuff. It was a matter of time, I guess, before I started doing both things together! 

02. Your debut album « Ripe for Rebellion » has been a success since it was sold-out. Now is another print within one bonus track… Where did you sell better this record ?

Yeah, « Ripe for Rebellion » was quite a successful one and last year when we ran out of stock for some time we decided to re edit it with a bonus track, which was a ballad version for « Spoke the Firefly », from Ripe for Rebellion as well.  Ripe for Rebellion was sold in our own country and in Germany, France, USA, Australia, Japan, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico … physical copies as well as the digital downloads we got through iTunes and other stores of the sort. Our re-release is being sold mostly in Argentina but people from abroad can order it through our webpage as well.   

03. Back in 2011, how has your first EP « The beginning » been welcome by the listeners and medias ?

2011 was a very exciting year for us. We were just forming the band and there were lots of expectations from both us and the audience, since there were people who knew us from previous projects. We announced the band and simultaneously released The Beginning (the song, not the EP) on the internet. We had loads of positive comments, despite having only one song out there!! Through the rest of the year, we released other songs, one at a time: Men of Clay, The Dead End Verse, Spoke the Firefly… we started getting a very positive feedback, new listeners, some of them even outside the Metal audience. By the time we started playing live shows and introducing

the rest of the songs, during 2012, we had a very solid group of followers. 

04. Now, you released your second full length entitled « The Power and the Will ». Can you explain us this title, and lyrical content ?

There is a long story to the title. We always start off with some brainstorming session in which we decide what we want to talk about. And we had a few ideas around, Juan Jose was reading some stuff from Nietzsche and liked this concept that in German is known as « Wille zur Macht », which is translated to English as « Will to Power ». But we ended up drawing quite loosely from this concept finally, and wrote our lyrics around the notion of power in its different manifestations, be it political power, control over people through several means, power over oneself (will, perhaps) and about the means people have to achieve what they want and the traps they fall into.  So our songs are about different forms of control, rebellion, destiny and the power we have over it. Then there are the war hymns like The Might in my Blood which is simply a Berserker war song. But it still fits in!

05. What means this Triskele on the artwork ?

The cover art work is the result of a long series of experiments and discussions. In some sense, we found ourselves arriving at this final design without it being our initial intention. We initially tried having something that played the role of a “character” on the cover and the triskele as a background. Finally we ended up liking the triskele on its own because it’s strong and sober.  We tried to convey through the artwork the idea of an object motion, carrying out a permanent cycle. As if it were silent but emanating energy at the same time.  

06. Do you plan various editions or bundles for this new album ?

We’ve got two editions for the moment. The CD was released in physical and digital format via the label PowerProg Records on December 11th. On the other hand, in Argentina it’s being released in a Digipack format that’s very elegant. Anyhow, different packaging but the same music! Maybe in the future we’ll release other editions but it’s a bit early to think about it.  

07. What sounds to expect on « The Power and the Will » album ?

In this new record, the writing is more complex and involved. There’s been more work into the arrangements. The instruments weave together in a different way, creating a pattern where everything is right where it should be. Check the guitars and drums in Death Blow, Everything Returns and the title track, for instance. The bagpipes come around more often, we took the folkish sound a bit further, with more careful arrangements. Same for the tin whistle parts. The folk instruments sound different in each song. It’s more aggressive sounding. It’s heavier in general, in some songs we dropped the tuning for the guitars.  On the other hand, there are a few songs which turn down the volume a little bit but there are no ballads this time as we had in Ripe for Rebellion. 

08. What is the type of Bagpipes used in the band ?

I play the Scottish Bagpipes. As everyone might know, there are several kinds of bagpipes from different countries all around Europe. The Scottish (or Highland) bagpipes are well known for the strident, powerful sound. In some sense, all bagpipes sound quite alike, nevertheless. When you listen to one you can tell it’s a bagpipe, perhaps you can’t tell where it is from, but the sound is there and it’s recognizable for sure.   

That's correct. Find a listing for bagpipes and folk metal bands within bagpipes into this project of Sword Chant. Everybody can take part in this project happening through the platform. 

09. Do you plan to tour Europe, the USA, or Canada soon ?

We have received several offers from show organizers in the past years, all of them very interesting. Being based in Argentina, however, it’s a bit difficult because we are far away from the northern hemisphere. But as time goes by, we get more and more comments from people in Europe and USA above all and in the near future we will certainly make it there. 

10. How are the Celtic music scene, and the Folk Metal one in your country ?

The Celtic music may not be huge here, but you’d be surprised to know that there are several Celtic folk bands in general here, whether Scottish, Irish or Galician. Most of them are based in the big cities. The scene has been experiencing a fast growth, and you’ll find live shows almost every weekend, as well as medieval fairs. There are lots of « Irish pubs », and even though the concept is a bit loose, the idea is still there and these places are popular. Folk metal is also growing; there have been many new bands in the past years, as well as many foreign bands coming to Argentina. Korpiklaani, Turisas, Ensiferum, have all been here a few times in the past years. In Triddana’s shows it is really clear; it’s a huge base of enthusiastic followers we’ve got. On the other hand, the Argentinian audience has always been friendly with heavy metal in general. Argentina has its own share of national heavy metal and the big bands have always come to play here because they know they’ll be warmly received.

11. Do you have favourite's bands playing Celtic music or Folk Metal coming from Argentina and elsewhere ?

Well there are many! Some foreign bands I like are In Extremo and Corvus Corax. I’m a huge Loreena McKennitt fan. In Argentina there are a few great folk bands as well. 

12. Tell me, what is the strongest will of yours ? :D

Actually, it’s related to one of the previous questions, one of our greatest wishes is to visit Europe and USA with the band! Our fan base is growing without interruption and we would love to play for the people that never saw us live. There are many other countries in our list, like Brazil, but actually as this is a bit closer, we think that a few shows there will be possible sooner!

13. Have you met some problems in the studio for TRIDDANA records ?

Well, I’m quite certain that every studio recording that ever took place has met with some kind of problem! Making an album is a non-linear creation process, you can’t keep on a straight path because things don’t stay in place, the way you see things change as you move forward, and things you had planned at first have to be modified because they never end up as you think. Maybe we invest some money in some particular aspect of the production process and then realize that things sound better if we do something else which is simpler and less costly… but well, that’s what experimenting is all about!   

14. Do you plan to make new official videos soon ?

Our first official videoclip was released a short time ago, actually! The song is « When the Enemy’s Close ». We’ve just uploaded it and it’s already got some views and positive comments. It was directed by Cristian Trefny and Lady Lemon acted in it, who is a very well-known Cosplay performer (you should check her out!)

Indeed, find the video here.

15. Where is « The Power and The Will » album available ?

You can order the CD in physical format or digital format here through the PowerProg webpage. People in Argentina can buy the album at some of the cities CD’s stores (they are listed on our pages), and they will also be able to order the CD through our webpage (which will be ready soon).

Thank you for the interview, Pablo!

Thanks to you!! 

Thank you very much for the interview, for all the news you posted on us on your webpage and for the patience!!