MAGDALENA OPAZO THE MUSE FROM CHILE!

The Interview

 

By Darkzen

04/10/15

 

Egregor, the Chilean band led by the talented Magdalena Opazo materialize in physical debut album "Karma", I had the opportunity to talk with our friend Magdalena Opazo, who talks about the hard way in the musical life, from the city of Arica, Chile

 

So let go!

 

Hello my friend, it's a pleasure to hear about you and your band.

Please tell us, Who is Magdalena Opazo?

 

It's a hard question! I'm going to start with the simple and then i'll find my way.

I'm a dreamer, with an idealist touch and a psychologist too. I'm not completely agree with some rigid applications on the psychology. Anyway, i love the vision of the soul.

I'm a vegetarian person by a conscience of energies, intolerant to the sun, a lover of creamy sunsets and starry skies. More than a once i've seen those skies and i've felt like someone or something were calling us. Like if they were watching us, waiting for a reunion.

This sometimes makes me feel blue but at the same time motivates me.

I like cooking, i'm allergic to hazelnuts, i love chocolate!, i've never drunk alcohol, i have five tattoos and i'm very creative. I like to play piano but i have not studies, i have not idea of what i'm playing and i just let everything flow. I like many music but i'm bad at remembering names of bands and songs. My brain often link textures with sounds and melodies. It's hard for me to keep my attention to something for a long time, but when i'm composing i sometimes spend hours without eating. I live in constant reconciliation with my body and i've realized that people reject themselves because of stereotypes. I would never do plastic surgery in me.

 

This would confuse my message with my audience so i prefer rediscover myself and ask to other people to do the same. Find the real beauty inside us! the good and the bad one!.

Who i am? Magdalena it's my name today but i'm just a thought, i'm creating my own reality, just a divine particle as well as everyone it is. With struggles and energy expecting for a change, for a transformation and the eternity.

 

How did you begin in this genre? What are your musical influences?

 

I've always been shy and it was difficult for me to sing.

I started singing folklore music, one of my teachers said to me that i had the potential and talent so he invited me to his ensemble. It was a good experience! certainly it helped me to develop my personality. That genre is not my favorite, i like drums, guitars and bass.

 

What made me fall in love of rock music was the sounds, the power and the texture of metal.

I feel influenced of many things, i often listen some bands but nothing particularly.

 

What is your vocal range? How was your vocal training?

 

I'm a little bit ignorant about that, i have no idea of my vocal range.

Honestly, i have no studies of singing or music, i don't know many things but i've read that my voice is kind of mezzosoprano. This voice is associated with pasty voices and with bright tones.

 

I don't have a formal vocal training but i have experience. I've learned to breathe through my body, just feeling it. I'm discovering myself through the singing, i feel the power inside my body and i like to search information and later implement it. Sometimes i feel how certain type of tone resounds in the bones of the face and when you make a lower tone, your mouth changes its shape.  I hope take singing lessons one day, cause i think we always can learn more.

 

What are your plans as a songwriter? How about Egregor?

 

I've always imagined myself with a band, there is people who have asked me to be solo singer but that's not my style. I just love to build something important with my team, how we connect playing together and how you can make bonds of affection with them. You can learn a lot!. This is just my opinion but i really don't like the role you play as a solo singer.

 

Maybe i'm just the only girl in the band and that sets me on the spotlight.

This band is a living organism, vibrant, with an special energy that compliments with every member. We want to transmit something, Egregor means collective soul and expression.

We have many plans, we want to share our music and thoughts and of course keep on creating.

 

I really liked your last album ''Karma''. Please tell us a little about it. How was its production?

 

Karma is our first album. The recording and mix were made by Richard Iturra our guitarist. The production was made by ourselves. This album has much love and passion.

When you start with this process you feel just like a child, we are growing up, discovering ourselves and you want to experiment with everything.

We are constantly looking for new sounds, melodies and this process it can be a little bit stressful. You have to take a deep breath and be aware of giving all of yourself.

Karma is just a fragment of ourselves.

 

What is the main theme of the album? Where does the idea was born? What does its name mean?

 

Karma is not conceptual, doesn't have a main theme nor does the songs have.

Egregor as a band have a main thought and then the lyrics are based on them.

Egregor is a collective soul in constant motion that faces different personal process, all band members are connected each other. We are interested in the awareness of being, the essential, the depths of existence and the transcendental.

We don't want to say what is important and what is not. We just want people discover a little bit more of herself. Egregor want to share a story, its story. Karma for us is the consequence of your own acts, either a good or a bad one. It's a universal law.

Egregor it's an expression of something we did in the past. We lived and decided and then we got together. This connected us. We were born in this life to being and live. To become music and become our own karma. The art of the album was made by Pablo Rebolledo, a musician who brought to life to the girl in the cover. We named her karma because we wanted to represent this energy as a woman. You also can see a energy with different shades of purple, this color represents the transmutation of everything.

There is a symbol just behind the girl, it is a Sri Yantra (the triangle shape) and we decided to make it our official symbol. For us it is a powerful artefact, but i don't want to say more! We need to talk about it in other opportunity.

 

There will be a new videoclip of the álbum?

 

Yes, we are editing and planning three videos more. One of them will be animated and it has already one year in production process. The other two are already in filming and editing process. We hope to share them soon!!

 

Why should we listen to your álbum?

 

You guys should listen our album and get to know us more.

We can't describe by ourselves, it's better if you listen the album and make your own opinion about it. We need to learn more and improve with the time. It's our first album and we hope in the future create better music. Our music is more than a melody. it has a message that keeps us alive. It is an invitation to reflect and the music is our vehicle. The invitation is already made! If you are willing to look at yourself, listen carefully and try to understand our lyrics.

 

What song would be the symbol of karma?

 

ufff hard question! almost impossible to say one!! I wouldn't know. In the album there is a song called Karma but i don't think it's the symbol of the álbum. We didn't create a symbol but maybe with the time it could change. It all depends of what we are living, the song goes changing but in this moment the song ''Inflexion'' represents some things we have lived with this álbum. We are changing constantly.

 

Did you write all lyrics of the álbum?

 

Yes indeed, i'm the one who created the lyrics for Egregor.

It is impossible to not get involved in your own writing, your own lyrics because it means your own reality. You can express yourself in many ways, a lyric has to be connected with your feelings and your own perspective. The lyrics of the album are based in our beliefs, in our experiences, in what we have read and about things we want to learn more about it.

Our main themes on lyrics are existentialists, we are the shift shaft, because we are everything and everything is part of us.

 

When Egregor is on stage, what does it want to transmit us? Which elements are most important for you, culture, music or voice?

 

The music, the energy and the connection. Being on stage is a great experience, it's very different to recording process cause you can see the audience and look its eyes. Despite Of being away from the audience i try to look to the eyes of people. I try to talk with them through the song, that's our goal. Just being alive!.

We try to feel and share our feelings, give ourselves in the best possible way! People are very important for us, we cherish every moment with them, every time they listen our music, going to our concerts, talking with us, connecting with us and live for a minutes in a new reality. We become oneself.

 

Please tell us about ''Arica Unplugged''. How was this experience?

 

It's a tv show that was born from initiative of the producer Nelson Huerta. The idea of this show is to presents different artists of different genres and styles, all in acoustic format. This format is too different to what we are used to. We like to try with something more intimate and warm. It was great this experience, the production team 50mm and mastv channel were great! awesome people who likes be creative and with good energy.

I hope more acoustics for the future. stay tuned with us.

 

There will be a tour to south américa?

 

Nothing is sure but we hope news in 2016!

 

Would you like to share something else with us?

 

Only want to give thanks for this space, people may know us better and follow us.

Thanks to our audience, to people who write us and share with us what they've felt, experimented and reflected with our songs. Please continue sending your messages , we like to listen and reply. We like to know your opinions, it's like see ourselves in eyes of others. Infinite thanks!

 

Link Egregor

https://www.egregorband.com

https://www.facebook.com/EgregorOfficial
https://twitter.com/EgregorOfficial

https://instagram.com/egregoroficial

 

Link Magdalena

https://www.facebook.com/MagdalenaOpazoOfficial

https://instagram.com/magdalenaop

https://twitter.com/Magdalenaopazo