FAULT: You describe you sound as classical and electronica  How do you keep your sound so unique?

Anna Aliena: I don’t wanna sound arrogant, but ShirayasDream would be one of a million musical projects without the quality of my classical voice. No matter if people like it or not! Of course the combination of my vocals with Oliver’s instrumental arrangements helps us keep the sound so unique.

FAULT: What’s the story behind ShirayasDream?

Anna Aliena: Once upon a time there was a little girl who met a little boy on MySpace. They never fell in love, but they decided to make music together. Both of them hadn’t been so lucky with their former projects – in summer 2008 those times began to change: Overwhelmed by an outburst of creativity, Anna Aliena and Oliver Höhne wrote 45 songs in only two years. The blending of Anna’s operatic mezzosoprano and Oliver’s synthpop arrangements made them define a new genre they call alien pop. The term has often made people think we were from outer space – well, maybe I am! Rather automatically we gained fans from the gothic and indie scenes throughout the world. The social media helped us spread our alien pop in a wonderful way: If we hadn’t had access to MySpace and Facebook, we might not have been invited to festivals in the Netherlands and the UK. By the way, ShirayasDream released three albums: “Magic Carpet Nights”, “Floating in Space”, “Venus Calls” and the classical EP “Kleiner Vogel Liebe”. The latter contains German lyrics only!

FAULT: You are a Composers as well as a and Musicians, would you ever  consider creating a film score?

Anna Aliena: Yes, of course! It would be great to compose a score for a big science fiction film.

FAULT: What are you currently working on?

Anna Aliena: I’m currently working on a solo project which shall be released under my name Anna Aliena. On Facebook I’ve already introduced my fans to my new logo. At the end of this year I will certainly publish my first single including three or four tracks. If I can work it out, my first solo album will be released in 2012.

FAULT: What can we expect from ShirayasDream in 2011?

Anna Aliena: There won’t be any new ShirayasDream albums in 2011 and beyond. Nevertheless, I’m going to sing our songs on stage as much as I can. I have the impression that there quite many people who like our music. So I simply owe them to present the work of ShirayasDream in concert.

FAULT: Are you inspired by your surroundings?

Anna Aliena: Yes, sometimes. For instance, the song “Lights Go Out” was inspired by living in Berlin. It’s about jumping from one love affair to the other without the willingness to make serious commitments. The huge size of the city makes it easy to vanish in the urban canyon. I guess it’s the same thing in London, isn’t it?

FAULT: What is it like to be an artist based in Berlin?

Anna Aliena: When it comes to art, Berlin is still a divided city. On the one hand we have the glamour of international film festivals like the Berlinale or the Echo, an important music award. On the other hand there are thousands of musicians, actors, painters and fashion designers struggling to get known to an audience. Due to this mass of artists it can be hard to be recognized by the public. However, living in Berlin is rather cheap in comparison with other big cities in the world. That’s why so many poor artists pour into Berlin.

FAULT: Do you have any live shows planned?

Anna Aliena: Yes, there are two gigs in the near future. If you plan a trip to Berlin, you can attend my live shows on April 16^th and on May 14^th.

FAULT: What is the creative process when writing new material?

Anna Aliena: At first Oliver composed the instrumental arrangements. After he had sent them to me, I added the vocal lines and then the lyrics. Concerning my solo project, the music also comes first.

 

FAULT: What do you think of modern day Electronia?

Anna Aliena: Modern computer programmes for music production enable musicians to make use of a million sounds which give them lots of space for innovation. I think there are reams of possibilities to create new electronic genres. However, the music industry does not dare to invest money in innovation these days …

FAULT: What is your FAULT?

Anna Aliena: I certainly have my faults as everyone else does. For example, I can be very impatient!

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