08/05/2024
Marcela Bovio interview:
Joining me for this interview, is the one and only Marcela Bovio singer for: Stream of Passion,
Dark Horse White Horse, MaYaN, as well as her solo project, ex VUUR and guest vocalist on
many band songs/albums/projects such as: Ayreon, Epica, Revamp, Mortemia,
The Gentle Storm, and many others.
It has been quite a few years since I had the pleasure of interviewing Marcela, and as before I so enjoy the pleasure of being able to converse with her, and get a deeper insight into her world
as a musician/vocalist/song writer/the beautiful human being that she is. Marcela thank you for joining me!!!
Part 1, Question 1) Since we last spoke you created the band: Dark Horse, White Horse, what was your inspiration behind the name of the band as well as bringing this band and its sound
together?
Marcela: So the name, Dark Horse White Horse comes from the chariot allegory from
Plato in which he describes man as this figure riding a chariot pulled by two
horses: one dark and one white. And those two horses represent two sides of our
psyche, one of them being the rational side and the other one being the visceral
side. Because her music is sort of like a really big contrast between the very technical mathematical metal that Jord and Ruben make, and my vocals that are more visual and emotional we thought that this name represented the music very well.
And the idea of forming this band came backstage at a MaYaN show. Jord was filling in for Merel Bechtold back then, and he knew that I had just left the band VUUR. So he showed me these tracks he was working on together with Ruben and I immediately got super excited. I started working on them the very next
morning, and we really hit it off musically.
Q2) What songs from the EP ‘Dark Horse, White Horse’ do you resonate most with?
M: Well, I’m really fond of all of them to be honest. I wrote all of these songs when I was going through a pretty dark period in my life: I was feeling pretty bit lost, and I think you can really hear that in the music. there’s a lot of desperation, a lot of
anger.
Q3) From that EP one of the singles is called “Get Out”, what does this song mean to you? What was the inspiration for this song? Do you have any new music you are working on for this band?
M: Back around the time when we were working on these songs, I was quite a different person than I am now. I had quite a hard time connecting with people and for that reason sometimes I could feel a lot of rejection from people even though maybe that’s not what was really happening. And the song “Get Out I think is the perfect example of how it is to feel like that to feel not welcome, to
feel like you don’t belong. We are not really working on any new music at the moment, but you never know
what the future may bring!
Part 2) You have been involved in a variety of different projects from more on the Death metal/heavier symphonic metal (in bands like: Epica, Mayan, Revamp) to the more gentle
soothing melodic sound (such as: your solo music, Stream of passion at times…)
Q1) Which do you enjoy creating/being part of more? Which projects have you enjoyed working with being part of most so far? Do you enjoy the Heavier metal/symphonic metal, or the
more gentle music such as your solo album ‘Found’ or your tearful/sad songs like Loneliness Anthem #1 and #2?
M: I know it’s a boring answer, but I really like everything XD and it has been the bane of my existence because it’s hard for me to focus on one specific genre or one specific project. I love making heavy music because I can really reach for the most extreme and loud vocals, I can really express a lot of very intense emotions
in it, it’s just freaking cool! But playing acoustically and making songs that are more intimate has a fragility that will never ever be possible in a metal band; so to me, that’s the only way to reach a certain level of vulnerability that I also really enjoy expressing. So yeah, no chance for me to choose XD
Q2) Do you find it is more cathartic being part of/creating the heavier music or the more gentle sounding music? Or does it depend on what your going through at the moment in terms
of life that drives your feeling for the music you are creating/being part of?
M: Yeah, I think you’re hitting the nail right in the head. It’s really very much about what I’m going through at the moment: sometimes I feel like I need the more vulnerable side, the more gentle side; and sometimes I need more energy and
more intense emotions.
Q3) Which of your project song or songs have you created/been part of that really brought you to your limits as a singer? Which do you feel really show cases your range ability as a
singer/song writer?
I think probably the Dark Horse White Horse EP has been the most challenging for me vocally, because of the wide range of vocal styles that I’m using on that album. But when it comes to song writing, I think I am the proudest of my EP “A song of death, a song of pain”; because that was the very first time that every single note of the arrangement came for me and I am super proud of how
everything came out and I think it all works really, really well.
Q4) Which of the Mayan/Epica songs/albums have you been part of, that really drew you to the lyrics and overall feel of the songs? Which songs have you resonated with?
I have been most involved in the Dhyana album from MaYaN, that’s the album that I actually co-wrote with the rest of the band. I had a couple of moments on Antagonize but I mostly just recorded choir vocals. And with Epica, it’s the same: I’ve been recording backing vocals in their albums since The Quantum Enigma, but that’s the only involvement I have. I don’t really dwell into the meaning behind the lyrics or anything. It’s mostly a studio project.
With MaYaN, though, I did really enjoy to work together with Mark when we were writing Dhyana, and see how he comes with this concept for the lyrical theme of an album and how he develops his ideas.
Part 3) Q1) You recently restarted your band Stream of Passion, how does it feel restarting the band? What led to the decision to bring the band back together? Which songs, from the latest
EP ‘Beautiful Warrior’ were you most excited writing/looking forward to for people to hear when you were writing it? Where did your inspiration come from when writing this EP?
M: The idea of getting back together started during the lockdown, to be honest. Johan and I got together with some friends and were talking about how we missed being in touch with the audience and playing live. So, we came up with the idea of doing a reunion show and at that moment I mentioned that throughout the years when I was writing for myself, I had some ideas that sounded pretty
much like stream of passion and I suggested that we recorded an EP as well. The EP was inspired, mostly on how I feel right now after going through a lot of very difficult things in my life; having to go through cancer, the lockdown, and many other things, it has put me in this journey of self-discovery and most importantly, self-acceptance and self-love. There’s a couple of different themes in
these songs, but I think the main message behind the EP is to find peace with who you are and the things that you’ve gone through, and love yourself a little bit more. And I was excited to show the world all of these songs, but maybe the last track on the EP that is called “The Promise” was the one that I was the most excited
about; it’s truly an ode to self-acceptance and loving yourself the way that you are, which is something that is very important for me right now.
Q2) Two of my favorite songs from the Stream of Passion EP ‘Beautiful Warrior’ are: “The Hunter” and “Chasing a Ghost” what are they about? What emotions were you experiencing at
the time when writing them?
M: The Hunter’s is actually based on love bombing and being in a relationship with a love bomber: how absorbing that can be and how difficult can be to step away from someone who can really reel you in. And Chasing a Ghost is a song about coming to peace with the idea that there are some dreams and expectations that we might have in our lives that will never be realized, and that we have to find peace in the fact that that’s just the way it is.
Final Part Q1) You had mentioned when it came to your solo music there were a few songs you had written that were the saddest songs you had written. Titled Loneliness Anthem #1 and #2,
what were these songs about? What was the inspiration behind writing these songs? What about them made them sad/emotional?
M: These two songs are basically, like their names say, pretty much about feeling very, very lonely. I’m not a very outgoing person, so loneliness can hit me very hard. I think I started writing Loneliness Anthem #1 quite a long time ago; I think it started with the choir part at the end of the song, and then I finished the rest of
the song way later. I was just going through a period where I felt very isolated from the world and from everybody. Loneliness anthem #2 I wrote after a break up, so it’s very much about that experience. These two songs are I think two of the songs where I’ve been the most vulnerable and the most honest about how I was feeling; so for me that makes them the more emotional because I can really hear what a difficult time I was going through back then.
Q2) When it comes to creating music/working on songs for projects what is your process for creating music? What steps do you take to get yourself in the right mindset to create music/sing?
M: It’s kind of hard for me, to be honest. Most of the time I don’t have a method and I just wait for inspiration to hit me, which is not the most productive way of working. But what I feel helps me the most is to start with a concept, a very clear concept of a song and then work from there. So first think about what the song
should be about and what I want to say, and from then work on how it should sound and what the lyrics should be. I don’t always manage to work like this, but I feel like that’s how I’ve come up with some of my nicest songs.
Q3rd and final question) What is some of your favorite quotes and words of wisdom to live by?
M: Mmh, I can really think of any quotes… Well, how about: “if you’ve got 1 foot in the past and 1 foot in the present, you’re pi***ng on today” :) not a very beautiful quote but something I try to remember often, just to be in the present moment and not to worry about what the future may or may not bring and leaving the past in the past. Oh and also: don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do. Just go after your dreams and carve your own path!
Marcela Bovio, thank you again so much for being able and wiling to allow me to interview you
again. It is always an honor and a privilege to speak with you and hear about your music and life
as a musician.
M: The pleasure is mine!
