A fan of good music? Of female-fronted bands with inspiring backgrounds and dreams only Gods from Olympus would know?
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An up and coming heavy symphonic metal band, Everdawn, has been changing the scope of lyrics and music with their synthesis of poetry and song, blending their humming instruments with the strong vocals of Alina Gavrilenko, a singer from Kamchatka, Russia with a beautiful story to tell.
"I started my musical education in the classical sphere— I remember being a little girl listening to opera excerpts during my music history classes at school and thinking how it seemed impossible to perform with a human voice," she said. "It was years later when I heard Nightwish for the first time and discovered my love for metal music, and even more so the potential that it could help me reach."
She finds inspiration from known artists with unique voices who implement less popular vocal techniques in metal such as folk, belting, shamanic, jazz, ambient etc— women Julia Sanina of the Hardkiss, Noora Louhimo from Battle Beast, Eivør, Dark Her, Myrkur, Suldusk, Chelsea Wolfe, Maria Franz of Heilung and Nera from Darzamat give her a fire for voice.
"Talent is talent, and it is contagious," she said. "When I see authenticity, I am moved and touched. When I see the deeper connection of oneself to their inner perception of this world that they channel through their music, I believe it. I always saw music as this universal language; this invisible force, that is meant to invite us into another worlds, into the vision of others, uniting people all over the Globe serving as a connection and inspiration tool."
She is proud to be a part of Everdawn, a band that puts 100% in, "rain or shine."
"The dynamic within the band is super productive," Gavrilenko explained. "We are currently working on the new material, figuring out the logistics of things, planning, scheduling touring, shows, agencies, releases etc."
Gavrilenko had decided to professionally pursue music in 2011. She always remembered her roots in Kamchatka, feeling inspired whenever she closed her eyes and saw her homeland.
"I come from one of the most gorgeous places on Earth with vast forests and tall mountains, active volcanoes and savage landscapes on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. You may say it is a land where fire and ice unite," she laughed. "Kamchatka truly feels like a different planet, very few people live there and your neighbors are endless borderless sights of the wild land. One day I really want to write the whole album about Kamchatka because the amount of inspiration I gather from those lands is something beyond human words. It gives me this ancient power and allows me to channel something that you can only feel on a deeply spiritual level."
Gavrilenko studied at Western University to a major of Classical Voice performance where she worked with choirs and sang in operas. Graduating, she went into a "recording artist journey," she said, playing shows, teaching voice, writing original music, working with metal bands, doing session work, learning vocal digital production and traveling.
"I simply don't have another vision for my life," she explained. "It is too damn short already that I refuse to do something that doesn't light up my eyes as much as music does."
But the world of a singer isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes, there exist the pools of self-doubt, overthinking and perfectionism.
"Musicians with a vision want to deliver the perfect performance and I am no exception, but facing the reality that we may never be fully satisfied with our work can really keep us from putting the next foot forward," she explained.
And the other shoe dropping, for a lot of musicians, is the greed of the industry— the money and fame venture rather than the raw authenticity of wanting to create something amazing.
Alina Gavrilenko
"Pursuing a musical career is similar to nurturing a tree, often on your own," she said. "It takes years of patience, standing by it, waiting, watering it and active engagement with the growth process. It requires a lot of time and resources. In order to overcome all difficulties, you really must love what you are doing and be willing to invest all your blood, sweat, tears and spirit into the process."
Gavrilenko finds that embracing who you are and what you want makes you more open to music, and to the world around you.
It's not about how marketable you are, but how true and pure your sound is.
"As artists we should strive to dig deeper what truly makes us what we are ,and compete only with one person is ourselves: to grow, to get better, to learn and channel the spirit of music that is authentic to us alone, to express our world," she said.
And that is why Everdawn is such a special band to Gavrilenko, as their music lets her voice power through in a raw, organic way.
"Everyone in the band is an extremely committed and a hardworking individual," she pointed out. "It feels like everything has fallen into place because each of us have the talents for what we do best and together we bring such a strong energy into it."
The band's journey is definitely only beginning, according to Gavrilenko, as they are en route to produce their second full length album that is currently being mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö.
Gavrilenko subsists on music, and is a beacon of inspiration for all those out there who want to pursue their passion and dreams when it comes to harmony, melody, metal and voice.
"There is only one you, and no one in this world is like you," she said. "Embrace it and nurture it. Authenticity is timeless."
"Don't try to be like anyone else, be like you."
