When I first got in contact with Ynis Vitrin, I must admit, that they were a big unknown for me. But after listening to their debut Demo CD my views changed, so I thought why not get a deeper look into this interesting band? So I’ve put together a few questions for the jungle boys.

Kenn – I am pretty sure most of our readers don’t know the story behind Ynis Vitrin, so if you could fill us all in on the background….
Ynis Vitrin: Well...It all started in 1999. Most of us lived in the same neighbourhood. Just friends that joined to play some cover songs...Have some fun at the weekends. There wasn’t a real ambition. Through the following years it became more serious. We started to compose some material, and realize that it was interesting, that we really could do this. Just that we were able to make nice songs. We started to face it as a solid thing. Something that we should fight for...

Kenn – How well has your debut Demo CD been received by the media and the fans?
Ynis Vitrin: We are very happy with the response we’re having from the media and the music fans as well. They’ve been very cool with us.  

Kenn - I know artist’s don¹t like to put a label on their music - but a spaceship from outer space has just landed in your backyard, and is demanding an answer - so how would you describe your music to an alien from another galaxy?
Ynis Vitrin: It’s a kind of heavy/hard/prog/pop/whatever metal...

Kenn - If your music was an emotion, which one would it be?
Ynis Vitrin: I don’t know for sure if our song can be described as one singular emotion. Maybe passion would be a good one.

Kenn - Who and what inspires you when you write a song? Walk us through the creation of a song?
Ynis Vitrin: It has been the same process for the most of the songs. One of us come with an isolated idea, a riff, a melody, a vocal line, and we all work into this stuff. So we record these parts on our home-studio and build a basic structure that is polished until we think its good enough. Until it touch us deep.

Kenn - Which subjects do your lyrics refer to, and who writes them? And what inspires you when you write your lyrics?
Ynis Vitrin: Our lyrics refer to our own lives. About our feelings, aims, tragedies, realizations, theories, beliefs. They’re very personal. Especially the last ones. They’re based in some bad experiences we lived lately. All the lyrics are written by Benhur, our bassist and vocalist and Antônio, the keyboardist.  

Kenn - I was wondering – is there a deeper idea behind the artwork?
Ynis Vitrin: No. There’s not a real philosophic thing behind the artwork. It’s just our vision of a dark land.

Kenn - Who has produced and mixed the Demo? Are you pleased with the result?
Ynis Vitrin: Part of the songs were recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Roger Fingle at Brave Metal Studios (www.bravemetal.com), while the other part were recorded at our home-studio. And yes, we’re pleased with the result. I think it has accomplished its objective.  

Kenn - What are the immediate plans for Ynis Vitrin; can we expect another demo or maybe an album?
Ynis Vitrin: We are hard working in order to spread our name and music as far as we can. We’re looking for someone that believes in our material as much as we believe and desire to work by our side. A label or something. There are a bunch of new songs. We’re just waiting for the right partnership to show them to the world.  

Kenn - Let’s speculate – you have been granted a free slot on a tour of your own choice – who would be your ideal touring partners – I could imagine that Queensrÿche would be high on that list?
Ynis Vitrin: Yes. You’re completely right. It would be like a dream coming true. Queensrÿche has being a great influence for all of us. Maybe Rush, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple would not be bad...he he  

Kenn - What kind of wishes and expectations do you have for a record label and management?
Ynis Vitrin: As I said before, we are looking for someone that believes in our material. Someone that can really work by our side, as one.  

Kenn - Let’s play an association game, please tell us your first spontaneous thoughts about the following key words:

Brazil
Ynis Vitrin: Our place. Our home. Unluckily not the best place if you want to live as a heavy metal musician.  

Religion
Ynis Vitrin: A very personal thing. Surely there isn’t unanimity among the band members here.  

Politics
Ynis Vitrin: It has been a huge problem lately. We’re surrounded by bad politicians. People that only looks for themselves and don’t care about the real important things.  

Soccer
Ynis Vitrin: The most popular sport in our country. Maybe in the whole world. People love it here in Brazil .

Queensrÿche
Ynis Vitrin: A great band. Huge influence. Incredible songs and musicians.

Angra
Ynis Vitrin: Another great band. They deserve our total respect and admiration. Certainly a pride for the Brazilian heavy music.  

Kenn - Name an album, person or event that has had a huge influence on your life … and why?
Ynis Vitrin: I think there’s an album that changed our minds completely. It was “Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory”. This album shows a Dream Theater more emotional than before. They’re incredibly skilled musicians but in this particular album, we think they let the feeling prevail. It has showed us that no matter how fast you can play or how intricate is your song. What really matters is the way that your songs touch people.

Kenn – Brazil is in metal circles mostly known for either thrash metal or power metal, but how about progressive metal – is it strictly an underground scene and what bands should we pay attention to?
Ynis Vitrin: We have a lot of great bands on the prog scene. For example Akashic, Khallice, MindFlow, Sigma 5, among others. The Brazilian metal scene as a whole has always been underground. There are only one or two bands that reached the mainstream. Luckily it seems to be chancing.

Kenn - Last question - do you have any famous last words for our readers?
Ynis Vitrin: Well. Stay tuned on www.ynisvitrin.com. Check out the last news about Ynis Vitrin, download our songs and let your opinion about them. It’s very important for us. Thank you Power Metal DK for the great support.

Demo CD available here: www.ynisvitrin.com.