INTERVIEW WITH KAROLINA PACAN

Karolina Pacan!

The Interview!

By Darkzen

16/03/2024

Official Bio

SKEPTICAL MINDS is a mix of electro-indus music with metal guitar riffs and a melodic female voice. SKEPTICAL MINDS was formed in 2002 in Belgium. The band played more than 350 gigs and has great stage experience. In 2023, the band will release its new album, second part of the Omega Thanatos trilogy.

Hello Karolina! Great to have you again for this new interview! Several years have passed. How are you?

Karolina:

Hi, thank you for contacting me for this interview and sorry for the long delay. We are bit overbooked for the moment but now, it’s your turn 😊

I’m fine, thank you for asking. As you can imagine, when a band releases a new album, it’s a big excitement.

What have you done in all these years?

Karolina:

First of all, we recorded the new album in 2019 and then, we couldn’t release it in 2020 as planned.

During that time, we practiced the new songs a lot , i worked on some songs of my parallel project “Karolina & Muchoralès”. Music keeps me busy most of the time.

In general, I sing every day, i make yoga , i read a lot and i also improve my guitar play. I started during Covid to work more seriously on the guitar, in order to be able to play some songs on stage, where a second guitar is needed. That’s pretty all 😊 I think.

Have you worked on anything else, a different project or a pause in all this?

Karolina:

Yes, with Michel, the guitarist of the band, we have a folk-acoustic side project. It is called “Karolina & Muchoralès”. We released an album few years ago (The Rusalka Project) and when we have time, we go further. You can find us on the streaming platforms if you want to discover that completely different universe.

How do you feel about this musical comeback?

Karolina:

Very very happy !! Impatient to play again on stage. Our first concert will be on 5th may and I can’t wait !!As we have a new album, more dates will arrive, as usual after a new release.

You ca play music with the band, you can play home, you can do many things, but nothing is better than playing live !!!

Regarding your new album, it is the second part of the Omega Thanatos trilogy, how was the production of the album in general?

Karolina:

The new album was recorded in Greece and produced by Fotis Benardo (ex-Septicflesh, Nightrage, Six for nine). We recorded during 3 weeks in Greece and after that, as the Covid came, we took like one year to work on the production and the mastering. It was frustrating to be blocked, but on the other side, it gave us lot of time to do things like we wanted, without rush.

Fotis helped us a lot with arrangements and harmonies, in order to upgrade the level of the compositions. He is very experienced and talented. It was a great collaboration and if it was to do it again, we would do the things the same way !

Will we have a new video soon?

Karolina:

We released a first one in December, just before the release of the album. Of course, other singles will follow 😊 we are busy now on the next video clip. You can expect more for sure ! It should come in March.

Do you already have some dates to follow the diffusion of the new album?

Karolina:

The first is on 5th may, in Belgium for a festival called Hell Open Air. Two days festival.

After that, more concerts are booked later but we cannot say more for now… when we receive the green light to promote them, we’ll put all the info on our different pages.

In 2024 and 2025, we should be present on stages very often 😉 Stay tuned and we really hope we could make it to play finally in American continent and of course in Mexico where we have good returns and some of our early and best fans.

How about the reviews of this second part of the trilogy?

Karolina:

So far, most are very good. Especially about the production and the quality of the songs. We are very happy with the feedback. Some metal media seem to be frustrated that most of the songs are mid tempo. Maybe they don’t like songs like Iron Man from Black Sabbath 😊 but in fact, as the music is like the soundtrack of the comic book that comes with the story, it follows the atmosphere of it. This episode happens between our world and the world of the dead. KHARON is the boatman who transports the dead souls to the afterlife. But where the story happens, it’s where the dead souls travel between our world and the afterlife… The third part will take place in the realm of death. There, you’ll have darker songs, more aggressive and probably not all mid tempo 😊

If fact, we don’t really compose in order to please to the media… we compose something that has to be coherent with the story we want to tell. That’s all 😊

Are there any surprises in this second part of the trilogy that we still don't know?

Karolina:

Like what? 😊 I don’t think so, it’s the following of the first part. So, expect some shows with visual parts mixing video and comic book drawings, like we did already. Signing sessions with Alain Poncelet who is our graphic designer etc… we don’t re-invent our style 😊

Are there any Female Metal events where Skeptical Minds band is performing?

Karolina:

Yes, the first festival I spoke about earlier. The line up of the second day is a metal fronted mine up. We’ll also play in another female fronted fest in September, but I cannot tell more for now 😉 Stay tune, we will promote it soon too.

How do you feel Karolina with this return?

Karolina:

I am very happy to be back with an album and to know that we’ll be back on stage soon.

All what turns around a new album is very motivating, like for example this interview 😊 I feel in my place and I enjoy what I do with and for the band. As for example this interview, 15 years ago, I would never imagine to receive interviews from all around the world. It’s very special to be in contact with people from everywhere. Music has no limits, no frontiers… It’s very pleasant to feel that your music travels and touches people from everywhere.

Anything else you want to tell us or share my friend?

Karolina:

That I really appreciated to answer our questions, I really appreciate also people who are following and supporting us, like you do, and that’s also great to have some contacts that follow you album after album. It’s like the circle grows up, new people show up. It’s good surprises. I would like to thank you for your support and for this interview. Without the fans, a band cannot exist and without people like you, a band has very few or no visibility… then difficult to reach the fans or new fans… and the band can also disappear. Everybody is a part of the process. So, thank you very much 😊

Thank you very much for your time for this Darkzen Dragon Metal Angels interview!

Info

https://www.facebook.com/KarolinaPacanOfficial

https://www.facebook.com/skepticalmindsband

https://skepticalminds.bandcamp.com/album/kh-r-n

https://www.instagram.com/skeptical.minds.band/

https://www.youtube.com/user/SkepticalChannel

https://youtu.be/gebaJueukT0?si=fJk7lG0hYau_CY9y