Layra
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Interviews
Forum Description: Original interviews with Prog artists (which are exclusive to Prog Archives)
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=81459
Printed Date: February 19 2025 at 19:27
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Topic: Layra
Posted By: toroddfuglesteg
Subject: Layra
Date Posted: September 25 2011 at 15:09
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Italian band LAYRA was formed in Rome in 2005. Their main aim is to craft music that represent an alternative to current pop music, blending influences from the likes of Pink Floyd, Genesis and Dream Theater. Liberally flavoured with nuances and details reflecting the musical legacy of acts like Le Orme and PFM. ###########################################################################################
When,
where and by whom was your band born ? Did any of you, past and
present members, play in any other bands before joining up in your
band ? Why did you choose that name ? Layra
formed in 2005 from
the ashes
of a
Depeche
Mode
tribute
band (!).
We can say
that each
member has
formed his
own
musical
identity
within the
same band:
there are few
previous
musical
experience
that are
truly
worthy of
note. We
wish we could
say that
the name
'Layra'
is
born from
A
Momentary
Lapse of Reason,
from a
winning tangle
of Images
And Words
or from a
Stupid
Dream.
In reality
we just
felt nostalgic
for the
old
Italian
currency -
the lira
–
prior to
the euro.
We just
did what
we do
best: make
it a little
more musical ...
from Lira
to Layra. Your
music have one foot in the Rock Progressivo Italiano scene and the
second foot in the English prog rock scene. I can also hear some
Dream Theater influences too. Which bands are your biggest influences
and which bands would you compare your sound with ? Good
point! If
you listen to our
two albums
you will
find some
quotations
taken from
the bands that
inspired
us, that is (without
any logical
order):
Genesis,
Pink
Floyd,
Porcupine
Tree,
Marillion,
Dream Theater,
Riverside,
Pain of
Salvation
(with the
right
foot) and
PFM, Le
Orme
and New
Trolls
(with the
left foot). The Italian progressive rock is one of the best periods of music history, pure avant-garde and experimentation. We don’t consider the admixture with the metal genre to be sacrilegious at all: it is a natural evolution of the underlying concept. Syncretism and liquefaction of the score. Complexity of death without the burial imposed by labels.  Over
to your two albums. Your debut album was ChiarOscuro from 2008.
Please tell us more about this album. The
common thread
of
Chiar0scuro
is the
result
given from Taoist
philosophy concepts.
It deals
with the
issue
of
double and
it does it in
a truly
pervasive
way: all
the lyrics
have two
meanings,
one
superficial
and one
more
hidden.
The
concept of
double is
obviously
present also at
musical
level: soft
pieces
alternate
with
harder
musical
textures,
a mixture
of light
and dark,
exactly in
line with
prog principles. The alternation of light and shadow is continuous and both originate and end in each other. Chiar0scuro is a first album in all respects: there is the search for an identity not yet fully defined, still it contains some of the most beautiful songs written by Layra: Un’altra luna (inspired by the life of Van Gogh), Nessun Destino (Donnie Darko) and Il Grande Imbroglio (the September 11 tragedy).  Your second and most recent album is the brand new Crono album. Please tell us more about this album. Our
second
album,
Cr0no,
is the
result of
a more
mature
musical
identity,
a greater
awareness
of the
ideal
music
to reach,
an opera
that took
three years
of hard
work,
a real
challenge.
Each song represents a chapter of the narrated story, each singer plays a character, according to the typical tradition of the concept album. The lyrics are full of more or less hidden quotations and references to philosophical currents, scientific treatises, books, movies, songs or albums by international authors. Some of these quotations contain personal references. Most of the names mentioned in the story are anagrams and even reading the lyrics in a way it is possible to derive alternative meanings. Cr0no
is based on a delirium: the obsessive attempt to understand the real
border between free will and destiny.
From
the smallest
daily
action
to
the greatest
decision
at
the international level,
everything
is
decided
by a
balance
between
neurons.
A
chemical
process that
really reminds
the
concept
of
algorithm
as
well as
the
theories,
often
referred to
in
the
concept.
Aryal,
the main character, is the deus ex machina of the events. He
fights against the terrible idea that our thoughts can be controlled
since our birth. Aryal
is
only the
unwitting
subject
of
a complex design that
involves
the
exploitation
of
other
people
like him,
totally
unaware
of
what
their
lives really are.
Genetically
predisposed
people
to
fill
certain
roles
in
society,
closely
monitored and oriented
in the development of
their culture,
of their own knowledge.
These
ideas
were developed
by
many
authors
in
the past,
especially
George
Orwell
(1984)
as
well as
Aldous
Huxley
(Brave
New World).
Order
against chaos. Crono
is the Titan who
eats
his
children
to
prevent them from
committing
what
he
has
already committed
in
the past:
take
the power.
Crono
does
not leave
their
children grow,
but oppresses
and
devours
them.
The
musical textures
of Cr0no
are
definitely
more
aggressive
and
more
complex.
They caress
the
progressive
metal
and
some
passages
are
contorted
enough
to fit
in
the tradition
of
math-rock.
It
is a
special work
in which
we have
high hopes.
Like all
special
things, it
requires
a little
more attention to
be fully
understood.
How
is the music scene in your local area now and how is the gigs
situation ? From
the
creative
point of view
Italy and,
in
particular,
Rome
is a
real
breeding
ground of
music.
There are
many
bands
that
produce
quality
works and
that constantly move
in an
underground and
alternative
context.
However
the
problem
concerns live
music and
the devastating
decrease
of
attention
that it suffered in
recent
years.
People
don’t like
(or
at least not as
before)
the idea
of live,
actually played
music
anymore.
We don’t
feel to
point the
finger at
the clubs
that house
masterpieces
of
banality
as the
usual
tribute
band of
Ligabue
or Vasco
Rossi
...
they just
match
demand.
There
are still people
(very
few actually)
who
believe in
the beauty
of this
genre and
treat it
like a
fragile
little
jewel
that only
occasionally
is
shown
to those
few who
can
understand
it. Is
maybe in that the
secret of
its beauty? What
is your current status and plans for this year and beyond ? We
definitely
will try
to
introduce
our second
album
Cr0no to
as many people as
possible.
Now,
thanks to
new
technologies,
this is
really
easier to realize:
it is wonderful,
for
example,
to find on
the
Layra’s
Facebook
page the photo
of our
CD
purchased
at a store
in Japan. To
wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this
interview ?
Yes. To ProgArchive users: If you adopt unconventional lifestyles, and if you appreciate originality and innovation listen to Cr0no. Then have fun and post on our Facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/layraprog" rel="nofollow - ) all quotations and easter eggs you will find in our work ;) Thank you to Layra for this interview Their PA profile is http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=6646" rel="nofollow - and their homepage's http://www.layra.it/" rel="nofollow -
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