Last year, the group “Royce”, which was formed in 2013, not only celebrated a decade of activity, but also presented an exceptional concert program with the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra and brass quintet. The electronic rock group will hold a concert that has become a great achievement on March 15. Klaipėda concert hall. “Banga” talked to the group’s leader and vocalist Ilja Gun, who presented the group’s path and current goals.
Decided to create original music
Founded more than ten years ago, the group “Royce” consists of Ilja Gun (vocals), Kristina Jatautaitė (vocals), Justas Katauskis (keyboards), Karolis Žioltikovas (guitars, vocals), Artūr Mamin (bass guitar), Simonas Olechnavičius (drums). During all the years of activity, the musicians released three full albums and played dozens of concerts. In July of last year, in celebration of the band’s anniversary, the performers presented an interesting spectacle – they took the stage with the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra and brass quintet, in total more than 30 musicians appeared on the stage.
The group’s vocalist Ilja Gun shared that the group, formed in 2013, rehearsed its original program for about a year, several people changed during the year, but the foundation remained. “We started with arrangements of Depeche Mode songs, it was quite a successful project, but we realized that this path leads nowhere – if we want to go further creatively, we have to create our own songs. The band’s first album came out in 2016,” the artist recalled about the beginning of his work.
I. Gun, who lives in Klaipėda district, also shared the beginning of his musical career: he studied music in his youth, but did not finish. “I didn’t like playing the piano because it made me play. In adolescence, the desire to play returned. I played at home, then after 10 years I started playing in bands, Royce is probably the 5th or 6th band in my life. It was more of a search for style and team. “Royce” is composed of professional musicians, I’m not a “pro” myself, so I decided to look for people who are better than me,” said the group’s performer jokingly.
The vocalist said that music surrounds many people: “For a musician, if creativity doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, but if you hear something and feel that you can’t help but convey it, then music is born.” An old friend of mine once said, ‘if you can’t play, don’t play’, that’s the answer.”
The concert was extremely successful
Speaking about the idea of such a concert with an orchestra, I. Gun shared that it arose more than a year and a half ago. “We had a meeting with Mindaugas Bačkus, the artistic director of the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra. We talked and the idea for such a concert was born. Appropriate arrangements were needed, because Mindaugas strictly did not want the orchestra to be just a beautiful background. We turned to Vytautas Bikas, a great in our field, who rethought all the songs, one might say, even “translated” them for the new line-up. We had to “put” our original music aside and actually write it from scratch for chamber orchestra and brass. We didn’t do it ourselves, because we wanted Vytautas to look at it with different eyes, from his perspective and with the help of his unique experience and taste. In my opinion, it turned out perfectly”, the artist was happy.
The preparation of the arrangements alone took half a year, followed by rehearsals. “To put in so much work, money and effort and perform such a concert once would be a crime to say the least. In addition, in 2023 all the tickets for the premiere concert in July were sold out, it was a record sale for us. We must repeat for ourselves, for the work we put in, and, most importantly, for the sake of the listeners,” said I. Gun.
Now the group is intensively preparing for next week’s concert. “Sometimes the life of groups is romanticized – now we just work, rehearse every day. It’s actually a physical process that doesn’t involve much of that magic. But without proper preparation, lightness and emotion do not appear on stage. You only need to focus on the meaning,” emphasized the performer of the group “Royce”.
The highest rating is a full hall
I. Gun said that the biggest appreciation for any performer is a full audience. “A full hall is an eloquent thing, it is gratifying. After the concert, by the way, you often feel a strange emptiness, you realize that everything is over, that the long-prepared event is over and you have to start again from scratch, to prepare for the next one. That artist’s world is full of roller coasters,” the artist introduced.
When asked what message he is trying to convey to the audience at the concert, I. Gun said that he leaves room for interpretation. “Different messages, thoughts are put into lyrics, melodies, but as a rule, the viewer will take away such a message that you didn’t even think about. This is the charm of all creation: the viewer will appreciate it through himself, through his experience and perception, and will take away what he needs only. We want to believe that our work has more layers and we leave a lot of space for the listener’s interpretation”, noted the vocalist.
Ilya emphasized that the most fun thing in the creative process is that everything you’ve done ends up on the Internet, on records, and begins to live its own life. “Sometimes songs are born in half an hour. In the process of creating a song, which is heard by the listener, the creation is maybe only 5%. the whole process. Then comes the work: arrangement, recordings, doubts, sound searches. That journey from creation to launch is long, I have songs that took 10 years to reach the light of day,” said I. Gun.
According to the vocalist, the group “Royce” plans to present the concert program to the widest possible audience this year, and a new album is being created.
Tickets: https://www.bilietai.lt/…/teatras/royce–orchestra-420691/
Event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/703314864970937?ref=newsfeed
Gabriele ČIUNKAITĖ
Photo by Dom RIMEIKOS.
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– 2024-03-29 09:31:17
