Reva Interview

 

1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the solo project?

1 Hi, here is Flv, I'm happy to present Reva, my new post-black metal one-man band.

The idea of Reva was in my mind for a lot of time, but I never realized it before due to a lack of time and the commitment to my other bands.

At the end of 2021, my main band went on stand-by so I started thinking about Reva again: so, at the end of the last summer, I had the inspiration to begin writing music in the way I needed what I see and feel about Reva: in three months I realized the ep "Far Away from all this" and the full length" Urban Madrigals" that I will release later this year.

2.So far you have released an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?

2 Reva is beyond pure music, it's a total artistic vision made of photos, images, and feelings.

The music style is post-black metal with progressive and post-rock influences, a violent overture that drowns in atmospheric, melancholic moments, something near an oniric and hallucinating vision like a David Lynch film.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?

3 The lyrics talk about the sense of loneliness and vulnerability we live in modern times, where cities devour our existence lost in our daily routine. We are constantly immersed in thousands of people, their voices, their stories, in a perpetual river of souls. But there is a lot of loneliness and frustration, there is no time to understand the suffering of those who are near to us, and this is the great paradox of the modern community always connected by technology and on socials, but so far and alone in the cruel reality. The songs are fully immersed in the rain, the night light, the neon signs of the shops, and the constant noise of the cities

Reva tells the sense of being alone and at the border of this type of life.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Reva'?

4 I found inspiration from the 2018 Swedish film Gräns by Ali Abbasi, a beautiful story about who is different from others and who lives outside of what we identify as normality. The real name of Tina, the protagonist of the movie, the name she had from her breed is Reva. She is beyond humanity and the conventional limits, like the spirit of my music.

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?

5 The artwork is strongly connected with the mood of the music. The photos are shots I've done in the late afternoon of the last December: the colors, the melancholy of the sky, and the suspended atmosphere of the images represent perfectly the spirit of Reva.

6.With this project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?

6 Yes, I'm open to every type of collaboration with people who have a similar vision about music like mine, but Reva will remain my personal project, where nobody can't interfere o slow down my urgency to create music and express myself.

In the past, I had a lot of difficulties in the management of my other bands,  sometimes the personal problems of other members made it impossible to organize activities making things frustrating and difficult in an unacceptable way.

I've understood that my need to make music can't be related to this, I want to be free to follow my passion, so Reva will be always my personal space for creativity and artistic expression.

7.On the ep you also done a cover from 'The Beloved', what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?

7 Sweet Harmony is a very famous hit from 1993 and it's a song with a particular atmosphere that fascinated me since the first time I heard the song.

I have a clear memory of a specific moment in my past that I come back to every time I hear the song, so I tried to capture that instant, and the sense of nostalgia and melancholy for something that there is no more.

I rearranged the song,  drowning the music in reverbs, desperation, and oblivion.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

8 Yes, Reva is unsigned and I'm working to find someone for the release of my first full-length. Things are moving fast, let's see what will happen.

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of post black metal?

9 The reaction is promising, the first single was well accepted and the first feedbacks for the Ep are good.

I know that for someone my music is a little far from the pure black metal paradigm, but that is part of the things and I don't care too much.

Reva has different influences but the fast rawness aggression and obscurity typic of black metal are strongly present in her music.

I recommend trying to listen and judging by your ears.

10.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?

10 The first full-length "Urban Madrigals" is ready and it's another intense musical experience for those who don't fear contamination and surprises.

The music is quite more aggressive, mad, and obscure than in "Far Away..."

I plan to release it by the end of 2023.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

11 I listen to so much different music that influences me unconsciously. Many things come from the past but I don't have any kind of prejudice toward the new bands that are in today's metal underground.

I'm always looking for music that can excite me and stun me with crazy and unsettling contrasts, I'm hungry for intense and new things, ready to try what is recommended to me, this is fuel for my burning soul!

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

12 Thanks so much for the space,

Reva is a new creature who is growing up and who wants to tell her emotions to anyone who has the desire and the time to enter her kingdom.

To do this, just go to

https://realmofreva.bandcamp.com

put your headphones on, turn off the light, and get lost in the 28 minutes of "Far away from all this".

Take this trip, my friends, and enter the realm of Reva.