Marcela Bovio speaks about her new band Dark Horse White Horse
Marcela Bovio, super friendly, gave us a beautiful interview that you can check exclusively here on Playfonic. We have the text interview and at the end you can watch it on the Youtube player.
Marcela is a Mexican singer, songwriter and vocal technique. She was the singer of the famous symphonic metal band called “Stream of Passion”. But this band split in 2016. After that she had some problems and started some projects.
Now Marcela is back with her new band and project. A band more heavy and progressive metal. Dark Horse White Horse. In this interview she presents about it and tell us more about her solo career as well.
All the details of this and much more you can see in the interview that we had the privilege to produce, below:
Playfonic: How did you choose the name Dark Horse White Horse?
Well, we were looking for something that would picture a sort of duality of the music. Because, you know the guys Jord and Ruben, they make very heavy, proggy , very technical music. And I am more on the emotional side, if you could say it. So we actually got the name from the chariot allegory of plato. It is a story where he basically represents man as a charioteer, riding a chariot with two horses. One of them is white, and it represents the rational side of our psyche and the structure. The dark horse represents the impulsive part of ourselves. That’s where it comes from.
Playfonic: What is the theme of the EP? The theme of the songs. Does the album have a closed concept or does each song have its own message?
It wasn’t a really conscious concept, it’s more something that just happened. I was going through a dark period in my life when I was writing the lyrics of these songs. So they’re all pretty dark. It was basically what I was feeling at the moment. In the past, I was going to participate with this band called “Vuur”, and when I left I didn’t have a plan for what was going to happen in the next year. I had nothing absolutely planned. That really hit me. It was very impactful in my life. For some reason I felt like, okay, that’s it, that’s my career. I’m not going to be able to do something cool. But thinking now, it seems a little exaggerated But back then, it just really felt impactful. I’m happy to say that I don’t feel like this anymore.
lyric video for “judgement day” by dark horse white horse
Playfonic: In previous projects, his voice went from the popular to the lyrical soprano. How do you imagine and propose your vocal technique now for the new band?
Well. I knew that I was going to try and do something more heavy. Because, the music is very heavy, very technical. Definitely way harder than anything that I had done before. Except, maybe Mayan, because I’m not the only vocalist in Mayan. It’s heavy, but you have the guys that do the grunts. So I knew that I’d have to try something more heavy. And I do like gruns, screams and these heavy things. I used some distortions too, that was something that I’ve been working on in the last year.
For me it’s like I was trying to put out this is all that is in me. But it was definitely difficult to do. Because I really tried to push the bar, to go beyond the limits. After writing the songs, I thought oh I need to practice a lot, but in the end it got easier. I like that, taking risks and looking for challenges.
Playfonic: How do you define the band’s musical style?
Well, we ended up calling it sympho-tech metal. Because it’s a tem that we came up with. I do think that it has a good balance between technical, proggy, relatively melodic.
live performance single “Get Out”
Playfonic: After the pandemic, do you intend to hold concerts?
To be honest, we’re not thinking about it yet. It’s really hard to make plans at the moment. I know a lot of musicians that are making plans, and some of them make small corona shows, and some people have giant tours that keep getting postponed. I think for a starting band, it’s not easy to do plans at the moment. And besides that I think it will be better for us to have some more material before going live. I think the priority will be keep writing songs.
I have seen these live shows where people are just playing at home, and editing the video together. But that for me feels freaky. It doesn’t feel like a real live concert. That’s why I ended up recording a live version myself singing. It’s not with the band, just me singing. So this way I like it.
Playfonic: Tell us a little about your two solo albums. How was it to produce them?
Oh they’re both very different. The first one is called Unprecedented. And I released this in 2016. That was basically like a first sort of adventure for me on my own to make something that is one hundred percent coming from me. I had the idea for long time to do this, but I couldn’t decide for a specific style because I like a lot of things. So I was talking one time with Joan van den broek, the producer of Stream of Passion, Dark Horse White Horse, Epica, and son on. Basically everyone in the middle of the symphonic world works with him. He is a really good friend of mine, and he once said “Oh maybe you don’t need to think of a genre, but then maybe you can think of the instruments that you want. For instance I know that you like classical music, strings…” And that’s how we came up with the idea of doing an album with a string quartet. So Unprecedented is nothing more but a string quartet, and voice, so it’s completely different from anything that I have done before. And that’s very personal songs, topics.
And the second album, it’s called “Through your eyes”. And it’s very different because it’s actually songs that I wrote for other people. So there’s eleven songs. And each song is based on a different person, and a different topic that they gave me, to write a song about it. It’s really cool, cause it’s people from all over the world. I made crowdfunding for my first album, and that was one of the perks you could get. That I would write a song for you. And the idea was initially that it would be just for them, and no one else would hear them. But then the songs started getting so nice, that I liked them so much. So I asked them: “Would you be ok if I put them in an album?”. And they loved the idea. And it was really nice because although it was their stories, there’s always something in there that I could connect to. So it was very nice. We created a bond due to that. It ‘s very special.
Playfonic: A question outside of music: Marcela, what film or series have you been watching?
I don’t watch a lot of television nowadays. But I was watching Ru Pauls Drag race, I really love it. I spent a lot of time gaming too. I really like gaming. But lately I discovered this British show called Task Master. That is hilarious. You can find it on youtube. I highly recommend it because it is so funny. And I was watching the marvel movies. I went to the very beginning of the avengers end game.
Playfonic: How was it for you to move from Mexico to Europe?
To be honest, it was pretty tough. And I don’t think that I thought about it completely. I didn’t realize how the impact was going to be till I came living here. Because people are very different. I think you guys in Brazil are a little bit like we are in mexico. If you meet someone, you’re gonna be best friends. If you have something in common, we’re gonna get talking, share, we’re very warming people. And the Dutch, no offense to them, they’re a bit colder. It takes a lot longer for people to open up. So in the beginning that was very hard for me I am also a little bit of an introverted person. So in the beginning I felt a little isolated. And then the winter came, and it started to get cold and dark. The days got really short. I didn’t have that in mexico. So it was cold, it was dark and lonely, so it was hard. But now it’s all good. Now I feel at home here.
Playfonic: So the band “Stream of Passion” began in Mexico?
I was still living in Mexico when we started. We wrote the first album through the internet, by sending files and producing it remotely. Nowadays it’s very usual.
Playfonic: You went through a difficult situation, where you knew how to fight and overcome. That was your illness. Are you healed today? What message could you pass on to fans who are going through the same or with loved ones in this situation?
I am healed. I hope it stays this way. I recently had some scans and exams, and everything is okay.
It took a really long time for me to fully recover after the treatment. Because if you have this intense treatment chemotherapy, radiotherapy of cancer that I had. It was very heavy. And I didnt know, but your body really takes a punch. Even after you finish, your enery goes down. I had to rebuild my energy levels. In the beginning, if I took a shower, I needed to lay down in bed. I felt exhausted. It was very strange. I couldn’t work, I couldn’t do anything because I got tired very fast. It took me a year to totally feel back to normal.
So for all of you women out there. Get your tests. Go to your gynecologist. Go to the doctor. It can save you from a lot of trouble. Do it as a personal favor for me!
I feel very happy now. I’m glad that I recovered from this and that I learned with it.
Album Artwork – Dark Horse White Horse
Playfonic: The cover of DHWH’s first work has a design that explores the lines and refers to the technology. In it, we can observe a horse’s face where traces symbolize the light reflected in it. Each side with a different intensity. One side is dark and the other is light. Does this duality refer only to the aesthetic question or does its concept relate to the point of view we have of each situation? Where the human being usually takes his own interpretation on everything and defines it as an absolute truth. However, there is always another point of view. Anyway, what is your view on these issues?
Well, we have the logo of the band. The logo with the lines. It was designed by a company here in the Netherlands, called Black Lake. So they did the logo, and the rest of the artwork design was done by me.
The idea of this logo. We wanted something geometrical. We think that this relates to the very technical aspect of the music. Basically, that’s it. The logo has one part just line, and the other half is filled. So it’s the two sides.
Playfonic: Is there any possibility of having a new song by the band with a collaboration of another singer together in a feat?
Well, to be really honest, that is not something that I thought before. If we want to do something like that, which I’m always open for, but if I’m not writing specially for that purpose, I’m not going to come up with the idea. So I would have to think oh I want to sing a song with this person, I’m going to write for this purpose.
We had some shows with Stream of Passion before we split, and we always invited some artists to perform on stage with us. When we knew who was going to be in the concert, I listened to their music and rearranged a song, so that it would fit their style.
I think I could do a feature, but I have to write and prepare for it.
Playfonic: The EP has five songs. Why does it not have a ballad song? A lighter song?
Well, the word ballad did come up at some point. Although I found it very predictable. If we were going to do a ballad, it would be not really a ballad, but then something that is less heavy, but still pretty weird. You know what I mean. Something very atonal music, very dissonant, very quiet but very weird. Soft sounds but still very creepy sounds.
Playfonic: Do you have anything else about the band to say?
Tell us if you like our songs from the EP Dark Horse White Horse. Let us know. And thanks so much. Obrigada! Hola Brazil. Eu não falo português. Maybe someday. I would love to go back to brazil. I’ve been there once. So I hope that we get to see each other personally at some point. And Stay Safe. Take Care.
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Thank you for reading our interview with Marcela Bovio. We hope you enjoyed it.
