Rock Monsters Romania

Do you want to start a band? University colleagues and talent shows are the best ways to find new members for your dream band and one of the best recent examples in Romanian underground is Risen From Ashes.

Risen From Ashes are one of the Bucharest’s underground bands who stood out in 2022. After releasing their debut single “I Am” in April and after having no less than 5 concerts in the last 6 months, the band is set to feature on the stage of Talpa Iadului festival this month.

After such an amazing year for them, we wanted to know more about them, but also what plans they have for 2023.

How did you meet?

Well, the whole thing started back in 2019, when Codrut and Mihnea, who were colleagues at the same university, decided to play covers at a talent show organized by the same university. They realized that they needed a singer and that’s how they met Rares, who was also studying at the same university.

How was the band founded?

After the talent show from the 15th of April 2019, they decided they wanted to continue playing, and to write songs not just play covers. During the years, there have been some lineup changes, but the (almost) final formula was created in summer 2020 when they were joined by Mihai and Luci. Fun fact, initially Luci was supposed to play the drums and Mihai the bass, but in a twist of fate, at our first rehearsal with them, they decided to switch instruments and jam and that’s when we discovered that it sounded better this way, so it stuck.

Where does the band’s name come from?

The name came from our situation and how we view ourselves in society. We believe that our purpose was to rise above our condition since we came from nothing. Also, because there were quite a few people that came into our fold and then left, when we finally had our current lineup, we knew that we achieved what we wanted and it felt that we finally managed to rise above all the roadblocks and the failures, so in a way, we had risen from ashes.

In 2022 you released your first single. What did you feel when it was finally released?

We felt pretty great, releasing our first single was a new experience for half of the band, 3 of our members never having released a song with a different band before. The track was recorded at Andrei Dragos’ house, he is one of our friends that we have met through Mihai, and he also plays guitar in the band The Jack O’ Diamond (go check them out). As I said, recording a track was a new experience for some of us, especially learning how to perform the song when recording, because you have to be really tight in the studio, compared to, let’s say, when you are playing live (we’re not saying that you can be sloppy when playing live, but that due to the nature of the live performance, with all the movement on the stage, you sometimes won’t be as tight as on the record). We are happy with the way the song came out, and with the fact that we finally managed to release a song, after all those months of hard work. However, not everything was good, due to some time constraints, the lyric video didn’t come out the way we wanted to, it being cobbled together using royalty free stock footage videos. But I think that we have learned from our mistakes and we won’t repeat them in the future.

What inspired the song?

The song tells the story of a psychopath looking for easy targets to satisfy his need for control. The antithesis used in the lyrics presents the two possibilities you have when you meet a new person. You can say that these possibilities are viewed from both perspectives. One perspective comes from the psychopath and the other one comes from the person he will meet. The climax occurs at the moment of the breakdown when the true intentions are revealed. There are two versions of the lyrics in the breakdown. The recorded one does not have an end, but the live version comes with the end of the story. To see how the whole story ends, see you at the concerts. 😉

Your first concert was online and it was a charity one in collaboration with ASMI in 2021. How did you choose the event for your debut?

Codrut had some connections to ASMI, and when an opportunity presented itself to expose ourselves to the world for the first time, especially during the pandemic when such endeavors were scarce, we didn’t hesitate. The whole experience was a bittersweet one, on one hand, being a learning experience for us and a fun time with the band, but on the other, quite tiring and with a lot of effort involved. In the end, we were pleased with how everything turned out.

You also had your debut in-person concert in 2022 in Underworld Bucharest with BERZERK. How did it feel like?

What can I say? It has been an incredible feeling. Even though every one of us at that time had played live before, coming together to perform the songs we have worked hard on for the last few years was, in the first place, very rewarding. The place was packed and seeing everyone bang their heads on our songs and being into the music as much as we were was incredible. It gave us the appetite to want even more and will be a fun memory to look back on.

How did the pandemic affect the road map of the band?

To be honest, this pandemic situation actually helped us in a way. Because we couldn’t play any shows, we had a lot of time to write our first batch of songs and also practice them. This time also helped us bond with each other and build some chemistry. So, after the restrictions were lifted, we were ready to go out on stage and play and put on a great show.

What are your goals and plans for the rest of 2022? But for 2023?

For the rest of 2022, we are going to play the Talpa Iadului fest in Ploiesti and we’ll maybe have another show in Bucharest, but that’s about it. We will also launch our next single, “Dream Creator”, which has been recorded and mixed, but we still have to deal with the whole song releasing process. This winter we are going to take a break from live shows and we’ll write and record more songs. We’ll try to take a new approach to songwriting and have all members participate in the process, opposed to the approach we took so far, where one member would bring in pretty much a finished song. Also, now that Mitza joined us, we will also write the vocals in a way that is an interplay between him and Rares.

What objectives do you have for the next 5-10 years?

We want to become famous enough that people recognize you on the street and you get stuff for free. Also, play some big festivals like Wacken, Resurrection Fest, Download, Bloodstock, Talpa Iadului, and the list can go on. But for real now, we would like to make an impact in the Romanian metal scene and create something that will influence the next generation of musicians. And why stop at the Romanian scene? Maybe we’ll finally manage to put Romanian metal on the map so that the whole world will know that our music is a breath of fresh air and not something to be fucked with.

Also, it would be nice to be able to make a living out of this.

What message do you have for the people who have seen you live? But for the ones who are discovering the band through this interview?

We hope to see you at our shows banging your heads against the stage and never give up hope! Just like us, try to rise from the ashes of your failures and achieve something that you are proud of. And if you haven’t heard of us until now, we hope to see you in the front row at our future shows, and remember: don’t be a sad cunt, be a sick cunt!
RFA Out!

Interview by Radu Mihai