In addition to my in-depth album review about Pirate Queen’s stunning debut „Ghosts“, I had the opportunity, to do an interview with their drummer Raindrop Oceanus. She had many interesting, mystical and fascinating stories to tell! It was a funny but also very entertaining interview!
Hello Raindrop Oceanus,
first of all, congratulations on your fantastic debut „Ghosts“ and thank you very much, for taking the time, to do this little interview with me, for German metal-webzine „Undercover, Rock & Metal“.
Pirate Queen/Raindrop Oceanus: Thank you Pirate Thomas for listening to our debut album, studying our world so deep and making this interview. I must say, we like the German scene. You have a lot of cool bands, as our friends Orden Ogan but also known pirates as Klein Henszlein, who lives now on Lyxion island for past few hundreds of years.
Undercover, Rock & Metal: Let’s start with the line-up of Pirate Queen. Would you please introduce the band members to our readers?
PQ/RO: We are 5 friends that know each other for hundreds of years. We all come from Lyxion, a floating island in the Bermuda Triangle. We met at Lyxion. You can call us fantasy metal, pirate metal or as you wish. I am Commander Raindrop Oceanus and I play drums and are in charge of our submarine. Captain Destiny Grieflord plays guitar and composes. Her Majesty Maria Aurea (Fleet Admiral) is the main singer and composes too. Luna Lyss (Vice Admiral) plays bass and also sings. Victoria Pearl (Admiral) is the rhythm guitarist.
URM: From what I know so far, the story of Pirate Queen sounds quite mystical and thrilling! Would you please tell us, how everything started? Who came up with the idea to form an all-female symphonic/power/pirate metal band, rising from the Bermuda Triangle, to conquer the world?
PQ/RO: Thank you for the compliment. It is a story based on real events. You know we come from Lyxion, a very mystical place. Lyxion is a floating island and the capital of a pirate kingdom. It is a land where dreams and hopes come true. A happy place where the only law is love, music controls emotions and its inhabitants live in harmony with nature. Our singer is a direct descendant of the first Pirate Queen. All the rest of us are also descendants of the nobility. We were formed in 1523. „Ghosts“ album talks about our lives as pirates on the floating island. It is about our travels to Eldorado, battles, communication with ghosts, our ship Santa Lucia. We could say, that our debut is partly conceptual. Imagine a short plot. With the opener Happy Pirates are sailing and looting. They have a party. It becomes dark and cloudy and suddenly they start hearing siren’s singing. This is why „Siren’s Tears“ got this position of track two. The charming voice hypnotises them and leads them to a „Ghosts“ seance, where they meet their protector Barbatos. He reveals the location of hidden treasure in „Eldorado“ and blesses their ship „Santa Lucia“, to win a final battle with „Open Fire“. Like this, we urge the listener to understand the whole world of Pirate Queen more like reading a book, than listening to a standard album. We were careful, to make the album like a journey through our fantasy pirate world.
URM: The songs are very powerful, versatile and multifaceted, all created with a lot of brilliant ideas! The mayority of the songs, as the booklet says, were written in collaboration between your singer, Her Majesty Maria Aurea and Slovenian musician/producer Bastian Doblekar. Can you tell us a bit about the songwriting process and how Pirate Queen‘s music comes to life?
PQ/RO:Let‘s put it this way. Lyxion is the residence of pirates, ghosts, dukes…and different entities. We work closely with many. We have a friend Barbatos, who, from time to time, whispers a melody to us and inspires us to continue creating. Lyxion palace is stuffed with officials, officers, media officers…and we want to keep the mystery part and just don’t talk about some things. I really appreciate your words. There are many different factors. We all in Pirate Queen are professional or semi professional musicians. We like classical composers and we like metal. When it comes to education in metal, I can say, that we are very up to date with the current and general metal scene. Her Majesty is a professional soprano. She sings in churches and operas and she has a very distinctive voice. She is also metal producer and composer. So what you hear on the album, is a result of many years of study and investigation of classical and metal music. We all contribute something to the compositions. As our preferred music styles are different from member to member, there is always something we can add to give a fresh touch to the songs.
URM: Who is the creative person behind the huge, mysterious and mystical storyline, that goes back 500 years in history and from where does she/he get the inspiration for a story, that could even fill a book?
PQ/RO: On Lyxion, our Royal Court includes all kinds of officials, as chancellors, chapel master, ghosts, grandmasters, royal fools, knights and also historians, who collect important informations in Lyxion chronicles. We like to read the chronicles and also get the inspiration for the lyrics. It is only a question of time, when we will release the first book. Our master of pirate ceremonies is working on it. But we have to keep some of the mystery. You know we cannot reveal all at once. I can tell you, we are real pirates and stories are based on real events. Pirate Queen is a very organised establishment. Also our grandmothers told us a lot of anecdotes, that go back to ancient times. In 500 years we experienced a lot of adventures on our own too.
URM: The sound, the mix and the great orchestral arrangements, worked out very well and seem to be on the highest technical level. Who took care of the production, mix and master for „Ghosts“? Did you work with a real orchestra?
PQ/RO: Thank you. I think we delivered a real Lyxion sound. A famous Polish pirate Kazimier Lux, who was active in the Caribbean Sea during 19th century, lives on Lyxion now. He is an old friend of ours and he is a chapel master and a producer too. He came to help with the production but turned to be so drunk, that he slept through the recording sessions. So we took over. Most of the material was recorded in our studio at Lyxion. The studio is located in our environment. It is a relaxed place where we can create and compose without any problems. The studio is equipped with modern technology and has a view on the ocean. We had plenty of time. Final mix and master was done on the mainland. Our ships are also equipped with studios as we travel a lot and have to work from distance sometimes. Yes, we used the real Lyxion orchestra. They are all old retired pirates, who enjoy playing in an orchestra.
URM: Pirate Queen is a young and very promising band, with highly talented musicians. I know that your frontlady Maria Aurea is also the singer for the symphonic metal band Tales Of Time. Do any of you, also have experience in other bands? And if yes, in which bands?
PQ/RO: We will always stay young but now, after 500 years, we will finally start with releasing albums and playing on the mainland too. Yes, Her Majesty lives partly on the mainland too. She is a professional soprano. She also has her melodic metal band Tales Of Time. It is a very good band. All members have different bands on the mainland and on Lyxion.
URM: Including five regular tracks, one short track („Siren’s Tears“) plus the radio and the instrumental version of the title-track, „Ghosts“ looks a bit more like an EP, than a complete album. Are you already working on new and more music, for a full-length album?
PQ/RO: We have some more stuff composed and recorded but as we were thinking of a debut album as a concept, we started to believe, that less is more. Other songs just didn’t fit to this album yet. In our opinion, the album structure is exactly how we wanted it and we like it. Like this, we tell a story. The rest of the material would just spoil the atmosphere. It would be a different album. „Ghosts’“ harmony and tones we use in the main theme, are very mysterious. It is actually the most dark song on the album. It has evil colours inside. We needed to do a radio version, because radios requested that. The instrumental version we wanted to put on the album, because of several reasons. „Siren’s Tears“ is a separate track, own song but at the same time, overture to „Ghosts“. They just fit together. Both are spooky.
URM: You are booked for two festivals this year so far (Full Metal Holiday and No Sleep After X-mas). Are there already concrete plans for further „live“ activities, such as playing some support shows on a tour for a bigger act? Maybe, someday, together with another symphonic/pirate metal band, like Visions Of Atlantis?
PQ/RO: Pirate Queen is a live band. Live performance is a big part of Pirate Queen. We cannot wait to hit the stages. After we released our first single, the promoters started writing. We would love to do all shows we get offers but you know, we come from Lyxion. It is far away and we have to deal with all kinds of transport and logistic planning. Great officers of the Crown and Secretaries, are taking care of that. Full Metal Holiday on Mallorca will be fun. It is already sold out. No Sleep After X-mas will be probably our debut concert in Germany. We are looking forward to share the stage with so many cool bands. We are also talking tours options. You will for sure see us live soon. When you mention Visions of Atlantis. It is a great band. They are the real pirates and it would be a pleasure to sail together.
URM: How do we have to imagine a Pirate Queen live show? Will you have a pirate ship on stage or maybe some cannons? Will you wear clothes, like in the videos, which are replicas of historical dresses?
PQ/RO: We will just wear our casual daily dresses. You know tricorn hats, crowns, Victorian influenced fashion and weapons. We work closely with some cool brands as Epic Armoury that supplies us with LARP weapons and costumes. We also work with Museum Replicas who did props for movies as Gladiator and Zorro. When we got the offer to play Full Metal Holiday in Mallorca, we agreed with the promoter, that we will arrive there with our submarine. We can not do it with our ship Santa Lucia. Because the ship is too big for Mallorca port. The promoter will arrange us a good parking spot for the submarine. I am experienced mechanic engineer. But for the show in Germany, we will have to fly. We have cannons in our technical rider, but for this album cycle, I don’t think, we are bringing any cannons. Because it is a logistic nightmare.
URM: I guess, you have a clear vision, how the future of Pirate Queen should look like? What are your plans, your ideas, your dreams, your hopes?
PQ/RO: As our Queen would say, our main motivation is to have fun. You know we are musicians, that enjoy all the process of preparing for the album. All the vision, the concept, lyrics, composition. Then we enjoy the final product in a shape of vinyl or CD. For example, our vinyl is pressed on Gold. The cover and booklet are conceptual. And of course the live show. So, you can imagine with all that, we have plenty of work. Because we aim to perfectionism, we will always try to deliver better. I can tell you, that everyone in Pirate Queen is very happy with what we are doing and yes, our vision is very clear. Right now we will concentrate to promote our debut. We are doing a lot of press before the album release. People seem to love our story and music and this is just the best reward we could get.
URM: The mystical legend says, that you raised from the Bermuda Triangle. Well, that sounds really cool, mysterious and also mystical, especially in combination with the historical plot, in a world of pirates, buccaneers and treasure hunters. But I guess, for some of you, the Bermuda Triangle is not the real place of birth!? Would you like to give us a hint, where you all come from? Of course, if you want to keep the secret, I understand!
PQ/RO: Lyxion is a real place. It is not only a legend. Everyone has access to it. You have to believe in it and with some guidance, you can reach it. Her Majesty’s ancestors and her family are old inhabitants of Lyxion. Captain Grieflord was born on the floating island too. For Victoria Pearl I really cannot tell you, because no one knows, when or where she was born. I just know, she is very old but looks very young. Because she can replace the body from old to new. I was born under the floating island in the water. Our bass player Luna Lyss has mermaid’s DNA inside, as one of her grandmothers was one of the last 21 living half-mermaids. We all come from old pirate families, that raised us on Lyxion. All of us also live on the mainland. There is no secret about it.
URM: Now we have reached the end. Thank you again, for this interview! Is there anything else, you would like to tell us?
PQ/RO: Pirate Thomas, this was a really nice talk. I enjoyed it a lot. Now I must finish the interview. I am responding from Lyxion and we are just leaving to mainland. We go to see Judas Priest. Big pirate hug to you and all your readers. I welcome all, to join us on our pirate journey.
(c) Pirate Queen
Interview with Raindrop Oceanus from the band Pirate Queen (April 2024)
for German metal-webzine „Undercover, Rock & Metal“
by Thomas Stengel