-- Ciconia gets shredded! --
05/09/2019
Stijn Daneels
Recently I
was contacted by Nataliya Morgynets, owner of the FMA Booking & Management
agency. She introduced me to one of her clients, the Spanish instrumental
progressive rock band Ciconia and told me the band would be doing a major European
tour this September and that they would be doing no less than 4 gigs here in
Belgium! Although I was unavailable to meet the Ciconia in person, Nataliya
introduced me to Ciconia’s guitarist Daniel Dean and together we arranged to
talk with each other over Skype, which we eventually did September 2, 2019.
Daniel and
I talked about Ciconia’s European tour and their follow-up endeavors, the
production of their new album” Meraki,” the core philosophy behind the band’s
sound and Daniel offers some motivational advice for all aspiring musicians out
there!
BMS: Hello Daniel, let’s start off this shred by you telling the readers something about your band.
Daniel:
Sure thing! We are Ciconia, an instrumental progressive rock band from the city
of Valladolid, located in the northwestern part of Spain and known for its
large wine agriculture. Our sound is influenced by the likes of Opeth, Long
Distance Calling, Porcupine Tree, Liquid Tension Experiment and more. Recently
we’ve released our third album called “Meraki” and we’re on the verge of a
month-long European tour.
BMS: Very interesting! Now, where does the name Ciconia come from?
Daniel: Our
band is named after the Latin name for the stork bird. Lots of those birds live
in our home region (wherein we call them “cigüeña”) and we felt that the
similar sounding Latin counterpart “Ciconia” sounded pretty sweet for a band
name.
BMS: Yes, it actually is. It’s short, easy to remember and it has a slight mysterious flair to it. Just like your music, in fact! I’ve listened to the “Meraki” album and what I liked the most of it was the meditative space rock atmosphere you evoked, with excellent guitar work and long but engaging songs. It reminded me of bands from my own country like Celestial Wolves, Atomic Vulture and Vermillion. All similar bands that share the same philosophy: beautiful stories told with nothing but riffs and beats, without a single spoken word.
Daniel:
Indeed! We want to give our listeners the chance to dive deep into our music
and let their imagination flow.
BMS: Have you ever thought of adding vocals to your work?
Daniel:
From day one we decided to let the music as a whole do the talking. Now, should
we one day add lyrics then those vocals would have to be fully integrated
within the usual Ciconia style, the same rule applies if we would be including
instruments like piano or saxophone. The core philosophy of Ciconia’s sound is
to maintain a delicate balance between all the instruments featured on any
given song. We don’t want to have one single instrument take center stage but
rather have all instruments, drums, bass, guitars and anything else share an
equal amount of attention and power.
BMS: That’s
a great mentality! Now, tell me about the production of the “Meraki” album.
Daniel: Before
we entered the studio we did a ton of pre-production. First we composed the
main guitar riffs at our homes and frequently sat together to discuss it. Then we
did the same with the rhythm parts and finally we home-recorded demos of all
the songs we wanted to put on Meraki. That way we managed to save a ton of
studio time and money and it also made the studio engineer very happy because
that way he didn’t have to do a lot of tinkering to make the music sound good. Eventually
we went into the studio with the fully written and approved material and spent
two weeks recording and using everything the studio had to offer. All in all,
we’re extremely satisfied with the end result!
BMS: And it certainly is a result worth being proud of! Now, let’s talk about your upcoming September tour. You’ll be doing gigs in Germany, France, Poland, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and no less than 4 consecutive gigs here in Belgium!
Daniel: Oh
yeah! Back when we were scouting for venues for the tour we received much
positive response from your tiny tricolored country and so we took the opportunity
to play 4 straight gigs here. We believe that Belgium’s a great place for our
type of music, am I right?
BMS: Yeah,
you sure are! In fact, near my hometown there’s the yearly Dunk!Festival which
is dedicated to the post, instrumental and experimental rock and metal
subgenres (check it out: https://www.dunkfestival.be/). You should definitely contact
them!
Daniel:
Yeah, we will! And your country also has great beer, beautiful nature and very
friendly crowds and venue crews. In any case, we take every opportunity to play
a gig, no matter where it is. Every single show helps to expand our fanbase.
BMS: That’s correct! So, what are Ciconia’s plans after the upcoming European tour?
Daniel: We’re
already making preparations for a next European tour and then we want to visit other
European countries like the UK, Italy and our own home country in order to
further promote the “Meraki” album. And at the same time we’ll be working on
new material for another new album afterwards. That’s basically our work schedule:
album, tour, album, tour and so on.
BMS: Well, that’s a very demanding work ethic but it does help in keeping your band relevant to the public and of course it keeps your audience engaged and ever-growing. But how do you cope with all that hard touring?
Daniel:
Touring is indeed a grueling experience, but we try getting as much high
quality sleep as we can while on the road as well as eating lots of healthy
food and moderating our alcohol consumptions. Since our music style is
technically highly demanding none of us will ever get on stage intoxicated.
After every gig we spend time talking to the people who’ve come over to see us,
have a few beers with them and then pack in and move on to the next venue. No
outrageous rockstar antics, but like I’ve said earlier we let our music provide
the spectacle.
BMS: Now, what else do you guys do in life aside of Ciconia?
Daniel:
Both Aleix and I are music teachers. Aleix gives drum lessons and I do guitar
classes. Me and the other members have already done guest work for other bands
but other than that, Ciconia is our lives’ work!
BMS: True dedication, I love it! Tell me, what kind of advice could you give to aspiring musicians to become a full-time musician like you?
Daniel: You
need to have genuine love and passion for your band and the music your band
represents and you’ve got to keep that love going during the countless hours
you’ll be spending on tour, practicing, playing and perfecting your craft and
all the preparations needed to arrange a tour or to produce and release an
album. Sure, things won’t always go your way and some gigs will be less
successful than others, but always remain motivated and enjoy all aspects of
being in a band, both on stage and behind the scenes.
BMS: Thanks
for the awesome shred! It was great talking to you over Skype and good luck
with your upcoming tour!
Daniel: We
will, thanks for shredding us!
