Currently the most successful Swiss band: Eluveitie are known all over the world for their folk metal. This year, the group is celebrating its 15th anniversary. And almost forgot it.
Japan, Russia, Australia, India and the USA: Eluveitie's tour takes them all over the world. Founded in 2002 by Chrigel Glanzmann (42), the band is captivating more and more people with its folk metal and is currently the most successful Swiss band internationally. However, things got turbulent for the band last year: some members left the group and even founded their own project, "Cellar Darling". Nevertheless, Eluveitie returned in August with the new album "Evocation II: Pantheon" and new singer Fabienne Erni (24). We spoke to Chrigel Glanzmann and Fabienne Erni about the new album, their most special performance and why they even collaborate with scientists for their song lyrics.
event: Your album "Evocation II: Pantheon" is acoustic. How did this idea come about?
Chrigel Glanzmann: It was already clear from the first part of Evocation in 2008. Back then, we wrote an acoustic concept with a thematic thread.
The music on this album is less metal, more folk. How do the fans react to that?
Fabienne Erni: Positive, actually. But you have to be prepared for the fact that you can't please everyone with an album like this. I even have friends who like the acoustic album better than our folk-metal songs. The average metal fan is very receptive to that kind of thing, so the reactions have been good.
For the Celtic lyrics you need an incredible knowledge of language, culture and deities.
Chrigel Glanzmann: It's extensive, but also publicly accessible. Maybe we seem like nerds, but for us it's a matter of respect that we deal with history accurately.
"Eluveitie albums are always created with the help of scientists."
How do you come to this knowledge?
Chrigel Glanzmann: Back when I was writing songs for our demos 15 years ago, I had gaps in my knowledge and asked a Swiss scientist for information. He knew even more scientists in the field and this led to long-lasting friendships. Eluveitie albums are always the result of a collaboration with various experts from different universities all over Europe.
Impressive! Fabienne, this must be a whole new world for you.
Fabienne Erni: Yes, Chrigel really tells me a lot and passes on his knowledge. It's very exciting!
You also studied pop singing at the Zurich University of the Arts. Something else again.
Fabienne Erni: I can't say I always listened to metal or pop. I mainly sang, but above all I listened to Swedish folk. I have a wide range of musical tastes.
Was that also evident in your Bachelor's degree?
Fabienne Erni: I tried out a lot there, as I didn't know what direction I wanted to take. But a friend said that my own music sounded like a pop version of Eluveitie. I imagined a dream world with leaves, moss and a tree and created it with the help of violin and flute sounds. That was cool.
You've been very well received on social media as a new singer.
Fabienne Erni: Following in the footsteps of a good singer is a big challenge. I read the comments at first, but at some point I stopped. I do my best and some people like it, some don't.
Chrigel Glanzmann: New appointments are always difficult.
How was it for you, Chrigel, to find the new singer?
Chrigel Glanzmann: We searched for months until we found Fabienne. Her predecessor Anna was and is for me one of the greatest singers ever. And I had to travel all over Europe and make test recordings with almost a hundred singers. And then Jonas, our guitarist, mentioned in passing that he knew a singer from his studies. And then everything happened very quickly.
"It was very difficult at the beginning to sing the old Celtic songs."
Fabienne, it must be strange for you to sing in Old Celtic.
Fabienne Erni: Yes, it was. With the old Eluveitie songs, I can listen to the songs and copy the lute, but when we record new songs, that's no longer possible. I then have to make mnemonic bridges. And at some point I've sung it so often that I've got it down.
Chrigel, which concert do you particularly remember?
Chrigel Glanzmann: It was a concert in India. We had a quasi positive culture shock, we were treated like Michael Jackson there and even had military escorts. We were in a huge hotel resort with a personal butler in a country characterized by poverty. We had no idea what to expect as we didn't know the Indian metal scene and didn't know if it existed or if people came to our concert. Then, on the big stage, we saw 20 to 25,000 people who all knew our lyrics by heart. That surprised us.
What is surprising about yourselves?
Fabienne Erni: I collect Christmas snow globes. I always buy one that makes music at the various Christmas markets and I already have lots of snow globes at home.
Chrigel Glanzmann: And I really read a lot of academic books about Celtic culture.
