Marina La Torraca speaks about the new album “Titanium” and more
Interview with singer Marina La Torraca from the metal band Phantom Elite. We talked about her career, Phantom Elite’s new and newly released second studio album “Titatinum”, the “Exit Eden” project, and much more.
We have the video interview below on the youtube player and the transcribed text interview below.
You can see all the details of this and much more in the interview that we had the privilege to produce, below:
Playfonic: About Phantom Elite, what was the production process for this second album of yours? Where did you start and what are the inspirations?
We started writing the songs for this album in 2019 and it was a kind of weird process because we had another line-up and people were leaving and it was changing everything. Phantom Elite has always been a team effort, from the beginning, everyone writing together and collaborating. And the people who wrote with me a lot left. So we thought, “Okay, we really want to diversify the style.” That’s when the new boys came in and we started writing experimenting (new things) and we didn’t even know if it would work or what would work. And it ended up working out. In the beginning it was very difficult to mix this heavier and modern thing with a melodic and classic vocal, without screams that would be the most obvious. So we managed and produced 4 songs (demos). Frontiers Music (label) contacted us and asked if we were interested in having a contract with them for a multi album, not only for recording 1, but for more. We accepted and they gave us a deadline. So we wrote most of the songs in 2 months. But (despite the rush) it was easier too, because we had an extra incentive. We had a record company and that helped us..
Playfonic: Was the first album released independently?
It was, completely independent. We had a distributor, which many times some sites appear as a record label, but it wasn’t..
Playfonic: We know you work with Sander Gommans and Amanda Somerville. What is their relationship with Phantom Elite?res, his voice went from popular soprano to lyrical soprano. How do you imagine and propose your vocal technique now for the new band?
Sander was the one who founded the band together with me, although he was never a ‘live’ member, as a full member of the band. He was always in the band. On ‘Wasteland’, for example, he co-wrote a lot of the songs and that was no longer the case with ‘Titanium’ as he didn’t actually write any more. When we got to the stage of having all the demos of the songs ready, he listened and gave his opinion, suggesting possible changes, when deemed necessary. Let’s say he gave us an artistic direction. As he is a behind-the-scenes member of the band, his involvement in everything is straightforward. And Amanda is his wife, my friend, another bandmate. She did the vocal production for this album, along with me. I recorded vocals with her and she gave that “Amanda Sommerville touch”. She coached me, directed… let’s say..
Playfonic: And is there any song she sings?
Yes, there are some songs she sings. For example, “Silver lining” she does a feat. She sings with me. And “Eyes Wide Open” she sings some backing vocals. Most people think she sings in “Diamonds and Dark” but she doesn’t..
Playfonic: I had this notion myself. The first time I heard it I thought she was on backvocals.
no no, we wanted to do something “a la Exit Eden” with those vocals in the pre-chorus. But, she just helped me set up the harmonies. I recorded all the voices in the choir.
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Playfonic: The first album was more raw Hard Rock and you guys switched to something more melodic. Maybe even a symphonic metal, due to the coral elements.
I think this new album is a really big mix. The first one was something like you said, hard rock. More progressive too. A little more “old school”. And now we implement modern elements. I think there is a little symphonic yes, especially in “Diamonds and Dark” with the choirs and everything. But, it’s very modern. The boys have a lot of metalcore influence.
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Playfonic: Do you have any influence from Amaranthe too?
Not direct. Nobody in the band listens to Amaranthe very much. I really like Amaranthe’s stuff. But it wasn’t a direct influence. It was more like, “Oh, I’m going more into this modern side”. Which, by chance, turned out to be the “Glass Crown” which is very danceable and electronic. It ends up looking a bit like Amaranthe.
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Playfonic: And “Glass Crown” has that music video that was really cool. Very well produced. Really enjoyed.
Thank you, thank you.
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Playfonic: I would like to know if there were any Titanium songs that were difficult for you to sing and which one. And which one did you like the most (favorite song on the album)?
The favorite song is not difficult (to choose) because “diamonds and dark” was always my favorite from the beginning. But in terms of difficulty…hmm. Well, as I had commented that I write, I think the difficulty was there in the beginning. Like, how am I going to incorporate this vocal as melodic as the instruments are doing something so unexpected, let’s say. That was the biggest difficulty. That in the beginning was very difficult. But, it seems like I got the hang of it and we found “flow” a way to collaborate creatively that works, at least for us.
Playfonic: It’s just that you need to imagine how your vocal would go along with a background choir, for example…
Yeah, so if we pay close attention to the instruments, it’s pretty rich. From the beginning, from “Wasteland”. I think the tradition continues. That it’s not a singer project, it’s not a project for singers whose focus and only focus is the vocals. It is not. Obviously it’s not. I think one of the cool things about Phantom Elite is that the instrumental is also in focus. So it’s hard to balance, even. We try to make it as boring as possible. Yeah, I think if things get too progressive or too instrumental it gets boring (laughs). I come from pop music, got it (laughs) So let’s say my role in the band is: “ok, how are we going to make this also “listenable” and cool?”
Playfonic: An instrument that keeps changing. That goes with layers. Rich with multiple elements. This I noticed a lot from the songs.
And that for the singer or for whoever is writing the vocal melodies, either at the same time or after the instrumentals are ready, is a little difficult. Because sometimes instruments do so much that the only option would be to hold a long (long note). You know? And that’s why a band from… I don’t know, Metalcore does that, because sometimes it’s the only thing that fits. But I said: “NO!” (laughs). “I’m just screwed here, how am I going to keep the melodies and stuff more… symphonic?”.
Playfonic: The band has been growing with the second album. And you are gaining new fans and a new audience. Do you think this is the best Phantom Elite moment? What do you attribute this success to?
Certainly. So far is the best time. I think it’s pretty cool and the fact that we’re working with a record label that already has its followers helps. Though, Frontiers’ followers are generally not much the audience of a more modern band. They are very Hard Rock. But they are trying to vary more, which is legal and valid. And they have a wide audience. And we also invested a lot in quality, you know?! We wanted it to sound the best it can be with what we have at the moment and we invested a lot in the videos. When I say investment it is not just financially, as we are a band without an astronomical budget. Of course! But, invest a lot of energy and work in these videos. On the product. It is a product that, from beginning to end, it is always proud to put “out there”. We worked and you can see that something of quality remained. So is. I think it helped a lot.
Playfonic: And the videos were very well produced. It has a well edited look. Pretty cool to see.
Yes, these are quality videos. And that’s what we said: “we don’t want to do anything that isn’t of quality”.
Playfonic: For the videos on this album, did you work with any specific video producers or was it something more “organic” made by yourself?
It was a mix. For both videos we had the main ideas. In “Glass Crown”, for example, I found the location and set up all the “props”, myself with my mother. Look at this (laughs). So, those candles, those masks, my crown. It was all D.I.Y. But, we do work with people who got the job done. The first video was made by Bart Sperling (Rock Steady Visual), who is actually a very young cinematographer (he’s not an amateur, but he’s starting now). And he’s been doing some really cool music videos in the Metalcore scene. He’s Dutch and he’s friends with the boys here. So we worked with him on the first one and it was great. And the second one, he can’t record for reasons of time and such. So at the last minute I got in touch with Mirko Witzki. He is a German here in the region who shoots video for everyone. He always makes Enemy Inside videos. He did the last of Beyond The Black’s Human. He also did it. He is VERY GOOD, very professional. We sent him the ideas and what we had in mind, more or less. And he brought all the equipment, all those lights, those particles flying in front of the camera. Fantastic! He’s really good and he’s going to be our partner for the next videos as well.
Playfonic: Getting away from the subject of Phantom Elite. How did the idea of starting the Exit Eden project start?
So it’s not as romantic as people think (laughs). Exit Eden started as a label project here in Germany. And it was the idea of one of the heads of this record label that he wanted to do, it was kind of his dream to cover pop music in a metal version. So it was his idea and he said: “I want female singers here and I want to do fantastic and epic things.” And ok! He had the budget and gave it to the CORRECT studio. It’s Elephant Studios in Frankfurt, here in Germany. And from them, because they have contact with Amanda, because they always work with her. And she first recorded the demos. So they produced the songs and Amanda recorded all the voices as if it were a demo of all the songs that were ready at the time. And then, they would go looking for singers from there, but the producers and this head of the record label liked Amanda singing so much… (Ahhh, and Anna also sang in the demos because, by chance, she worked in that studio). So it was all very random and things ended up happening. He liked what he heard from Amanda and Anna so much that they said: “so, why don’t we just stay with the two of them and look for one or two more girls?!”. Then they asked if Amanda had anyone to nominate and she said “hmm, actually I do.” (burst out laughing) And it was me, just in case. I thought it was really cool. She called me asking, “So, are you up for a project?” I didn’t even know what it was, but if it was with her I said: “Top! if it’s with you I know it’ll be fine.” Then they asked me to audition in the studio together with Clementine, she was also there that day. It was brought in from Napalm, as Napalm was already going to be our record company and they nominated her. At the time they weren’t quite sure if it was going to be one of the two or both. And it ended up being the two of them, which I thought was really cool.
Playfonic: But was the choice of pop songs for the metal version from that producer? Wasn’t it yours?
It was from these producers, most of them yes.
Playfonic: The songs that were chosen are excellent. Beautiful ballads… “Total Eclipse of your heart”, “Lady Gaga”… very good songs.
I couldn’t have chosen better.
Playfonic: They are very good. It’s an album that I give my mom to listen to, that she doesn’t listen to Rock. And she loves it for being songs from her time.
Exactly!
Playfonic: Are you planning to make a second album for the Exit Eden project?
So as I already explained things with Exit Eden are not as DIY as Phantom Elite is. Our band, which we started. This is not the case with Exit Eden, so there is a whole bureaucratic administrative side behind it that makes the biggest decisions. Not exactly artistic, but the decisions that make the project go forward, (if it will) continue or not. But what I can say for now is that you can look forward to it. I unfortunately can’t say much about it. But, I think you can have hope…
Playfonic: I don’t know what Exit Eden’s producer was inspired by, because he has another project that are just male singers who make metal versions of popular songs.
It is the Northern Kings.
Playfonic: Yes, even Marko Hietala from nightwish participated. I think it was just an album.
Oh yes?! I think it’s pretty cool. I don’t know if he (the producer) was inspired by this project, actually. I do not know
Playfonic: About the elite Phantom. You have just released your new album which is being very well received. Do you plan to release new singles? Are there any predictions?
Look, we’re already working on our next album.(laughs) Yeah, we’re kind of… “Workaholic” in that sense. Of course, due to the current situation (world pandemic) the promotion of Titanium is a bit difficult in terms of touring and all that. And we even wanted to make ‘live’ videos and things here in Holland and Germany ended up getting tight everywhere, there’s a curfew here. So, we’re not even able to meet officially. So it ended up interfering a little with our promotion plans. Which made us start working on new songs earlier. But that’s okay, because we’re pretty excited about them too, which is really nice. Our intention is to do a little more with Titanium. As soon as possible, do things ‘live’, in the studio, release acoustic and stuff like that. We have some ideas like that. But, if it depends on us, the band, we would release at least some singles already.
Playfonic: There are some bands that plan to broadcast live concerts, but without the audience, in “Live” style. But, as you just said, it’s complicated even for them to officially meet. So it’s not something you can do right now.
And we find it very boring. I know for fans it’s not boring. It’s cool. But, we have something against it too, because it is a very big investment. It has to be really good to work. To convey that energy of a “live” show. So, we already thought: “Isn’t it better to invest in new versions of songs? acoustic, for example. Do something different. Leave ‘live’ for ‘live’ anyway?”. I do not know. It’s a personal thing too. I think there are a lot of bands that do these ‘live’ shows very well and some not so much.
Playfonic: It’s something you’re singing there and you have to imagine the audience. It goes from each band.
I personally don’t care. Because I’m not too embarrassed or “awkward”. If I’m “awkward” I’m going to be “awkward”, standing on stage and that’s fine. He knows? whatever. The problem is that the whole production has to be very good. It’s a big investment. If we have a “budget” we have to see the best possible way to spend it. It’s more or less that question.
Playfonic: And acoustic versions are also a good option. There are songs that in the acoustic version are very beautiful.
Exactly, we are working on one, specifically, with orchestral bass. I think it’s going to be really cool to do something different. Even because the album is so heavy. There is no ballad. Take one or two songs and make an acoustic version I think it’s appropriate.
Playfonic: How did you start your singing career? Were you a child? Did you take classes? How was this process?
Wow, I wasn’t a kid. When I was a kid it never crossed my mind to do something with music because my family has nothing to do with music. Nobody is an artist. Ney Latorraca isn’t exactly my family. Interesting is that he is from my family, but he is not. I mean he is, but I don’t know him. People say in my family that Ney is related. But, I think he doesn’t know of my existence. So much so that I once met actor and film critic Rubens Ewald Filho at an audition for a musical and he said: “I can’t believe Ney doesn’t know you, I’ll pass your e-mail to them.” (laughter) I believe he didn’t do that…(laughs) Anyway, it was something funny.
I think I was about 15 years old when I started and it was listening to metal that I got interested in singing. I actually got interested in music and fell in love with the metal community and heavy metal. At first I never liked music as much as when I listened to metal. So I wanted to make a band with a friend of mine at school. We were a lot of rock and heavy metal fans. Then she went to learn to play the double bass and I went to learn drums and we will make a band. I went to study drums at my neighborhood school. I took a little class a month and of course it didn’t work out very well.(laughs) I don’t even have where to get a drum set, I don’t have money to buy it… my parents will never let me have a drum set at home. Then let it go”. Then I started practicing guitar with friends who play guitar and it was always a great frustration because I still don’t know how to play guitar properly. I think guitar is a mystery. I don’t know how people manage to play properly. Anyway, I gave up! After that I thought, “Oh my, I’m going to try to sing it because it seems like the easiest thing.” So I tried to start because it had never occurred to me to sing. I started training Iron Maiden. And then I sang along with Bruce Dickinson and I thought to myself: “but this isn’t so bad, am I crazy? Am I crazy or do I know how to do this?”. I would go out singing and asking people and people would say they thought it was good. After that, my friend’s band never went forward, but I got excited about wanting to sing. And I found an ad for a neighborhood band as well, wanting a singer for the Iron Maiden cover. I went to audition in their garage and they liked it and I was in the band. When this band broke up I found another band that played covers all over São Paulo. They played always, every weekend in various places. They played melodic metal, like Stratovarius, Helloween, etc. I didn’t know these bands and decided to study them to audition for the covers band. I did and they liked it. They kept me in the band and I thought it was great. They were all big guys, including a very good band, the boys were very good musicians. They were in their late 20s and I was 15 years old. So, I started playing almost every weekend in São Paulo in several bars. And that’s how I started. I’ve already started singing in a direct band, on stage. I started taking classes with Mario Pastore at some point. He is a very good Brazilian metal vocalist. I was about 17 years old and went once a week and exercised, etc. But to tell you the truth, I’ve never taken as much singing lessons as a lot of people do. I always trained really, really hard. But in the self-taught scheme. I would go on youtube, try to sing at home, spend hours, hours and hours practicing. As I grew up and became a professional I realized how important it is, in fact, to know all the techniques to do the best with your voice. So I went through some very good musical opera singers. It sounds really fancy when I speak, but I did a few months training at a school in New York where I got a scholarship. So I studied there for a few months and it was really good. I learned a lot. And that’s it. I keep training, always. For me vocal technique is very important. I teach, I have my students. And, when I want to learn something new or improve something, I go to the teachers in the area here, who have some very good ones. I schedule one session, two.
Playfonic: Do you have anything from Phantom Elite you’d like to talk about that I didn’t ask? Any news you want to share?
Look, news from Phantom Elite not yet. I think I’ve said it all. Some acoustic stuff, some interesting stuff, maybe a ‘live’ stuff. And Exit Eden, let’s stay in wait and pure suspense. I participated in Timo Tolki’s Avalon, who was from Stratovarius and he has had this project for a long time. And there are a lot of cool people on this album. There’s James LaBrie, so there’s a really good crowd. I recorded 2 songs. They’re pretty cool. So there’s this. And this album will be released in June through Frontiers. I recorded a ballad and a metal, very power metal. I have something I’m going to release soon with my name on it, which started out as a diversion and I ended up thinking, “hey, I’m going to release it, why not?!” A cover of a pop song too, but it’s not Exit Eden solo, isn’t it, it has nothing to do with this project. But it’s a cover of a Demi Lovato song she just released. So I’m going to release this single soon. I’m going to release it as a solo Marina Latorraca, but without any pretensions of solo (career). It’s just because it looked so cool and I thought about sharing it with the public on itunes, spotify… It’s just that all this takes a while. I need to do this officially and take leave, several things. So, it takes a while. I just hope that people don’t think it’s a solo Exit Eden, because it has nothing to do with it.
Playfonic: What is symphonic metal for you?
In my view, symphonic metal is where metal meets classical music. Where is this encounter stronger: melody, “epicness”, lots of drama, “over the top”. (laughs) And it’s a weird thing for me because I’m not even the biggest fan of symphonic metal, to tell you the truth. But for me, for example, a project with Exit Eden, is where you are super dramatic, “over the top”, understand? It’s time to break out. Which I think in other metal subgenres it doesn’t have that much connection to drama. So I think this is really cool.
Playfonic: Before closing, would you like to add anything else?
What I have more to add is that I’m also on Patreon. If anyone wants to accompany me there. In Brazil in reais I know it is a little difficult (because of the dollar rate). I understand, but it’s a platform where you can support the artist directly. And the more supporters on the patreon, the more time the artist has to do the music exclusively. That’s what I think is cool about the patreon.
Playfonic: Here is the invitation for anyone who wants to and can support the work of Marina Latorraca in Patreon. There are exclusive things over there. Would you like to leave a message for the people who follow playfonic?
Oh, if you haven’t checked out Titanium yet, go check it out. It’s a really cool album. In fact, my boyfriend (drums in the background) is practicing the title song, which isn’t very easy. He’s the band’s drummer.(laughs)
And that’s it. I hope everyone is taking care of themselves and getting vaccinated in this pandemic.
Playfonic: Marina, thank you very much for your time and kindness in answering us. Success for you and all Phantom Elite musicians.
Thank you for the invitation. And I would also like to say congratulations for your blog and/or Playfonic concept. I think so well done. You can really see that you put work in every art you guys and in the interviews you post. I think it’s very well done and it really has to grow.
Thank you for reading our interview with Marina La Torraca. We hope you enjoyed 🙂
