What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?
Alicja: Stephen came up with the name as a play on two words put together. My influences ..gosh..I listen to all kinds of music, r&b, pop, metal, rock, anything 80’s and 90’s. Currently my Spotify playlist is having an identity crisis!
Steve: What she said! I was throwing around the names forever and surreal…Then had the brainstorm to combine them to create a new word.
Nelson: The good thing about making up a name is that it’s almost guaranteed that no one else is using that name. As for influences, I think Steve, Gord and I were all influenced by Rush. We all like that progressive hard rock genre. Before joining Evereal, I played in a symphonic metal band that did a lot of Nightwish, so that was useful coming into this band.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
Alicja: I will listen to the instrumental track of a song Stephen has prepared and I usually start humming to it right away and then I’m off! Other times I start with my acoustic guitar or piano and then the song is developed and metalized to make it a band song.
Steve: Generally speaking I hear music in my head and often put together those ideas then sit down and record them. It could be something like a song I hear or just a fleeting idea. Once I have a couple ideas and a theme going I send it to everyone to see if it sparks ideas or inspires them.
Nelson: My only input into the writing is sometimes adding to the lyrics, so I just basically try to write to the theme that’s already been decided on.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
Alicja: I will listen to the instrumental track of a song Stephen has prepared and I usually start humming to it right away and then I’m off! Other times I start with my acoustic guitar or piano and then the song is developed and metalized to make it a band song.
Steve: Generally speaking I hear music in my head and often put together those ideas then sit down and record them. It could be something like a song I hear or just a fleeting idea. Once I have a couple ideas and a theme going I send it to everyone to see if it sparks ideas or inspires them.
Nelson: My only input into the writing is sometimes adding to the lyrics, so I just basically try to write to the theme that’s already been decided on.
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
Alicja: This is just what comes out naturally. I don’t try to force it. Having said that I have written in various styles of music but I would say that I maintain the fact that it does genuinely come out naturally.
Steve: It’s fun and challenging. Personally I love the mix of big guitars, strings, piano and keys. Writing these elements together into a cohesive song is rewarding and adding layers of clean vocals on top takes it to the next level.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Alicja: So depending on the time we have allotted for the performance we will make a list of songs we for sure want to showcase. My process is them selecting the first and last song because you may wish to set the tone or end things off on a particular note (pun intended hahaha!). The rest then is a discussion about flow and what blends well together musically, logistically and emotionally.
Steve: I rely on the others to suggest songs and reasons for and against. It’s often about playing a certain selection of songs that the group enjoys or feels are the strongest. It’s often about the length of the show or set we will be performing. We strive to produce the music as close to the recordings as possible..
Nelson: There is surprisingly pretty good consensus on what to put in and what to leave out. We all have our pet songs that we like, but I think we’re all pretty good at putting that aside and agreeing to play what is most likely to go over best. And Alicja’s right — the most important ones are the openers and closers.
What are your plans for the future?
Steve: The pandemic makes you look at things a little differently. I think immediate plans are releasing some new music. We will see how the music industry comes out on the other side of this before making any real plans.