I rather fell head over heels with Stream Of Passion on very first hearing of their debut 2005 album Embrace The Storm. At the time the band were being championed by Arjen Lucassen who was also playing guitar with them and was involved in the writing of the music. As we already knew the man from Ayreon has impeccable taste and had found a rare treasure with the voice of Mexican singer Marcela Bovio. Fast forward a few years and the group are very much an entity in their own right and Marcela having relocated to The Netherlands has consolidated her position as one of the best singer / songwriters around in my opinion, the proof of which became apparent with subsequent albums and live shows. As the band were in town supporting Epica I naturally jumped at the chance to ask her about her career so far….

 

AN: Firstly it was a very nice surprise for us to find you suddenly announced as being main support on the Epica tour was it a slot you had anticipated?

Marcela: It was something we had been working on for a while as we went on tour with them in April through the rest of Europe. We went through Italy, Spain, Portugal and all these places and it worked really well. We were all really happy and it clicked. So we just contacted the guys and …

AN: These dates have really concentrated on the UK, how have they been for you so far?

Marcela: So far the gigs have all been fantastic. We didn’t really know what to expect but the crowds have been really enthusiastic and really great. For us we have been here before but always very sporadically so it was a chance to basically share our music with the Epica fans and it’s been amazingly good.

AN: I was lucky enough to catch the band at the first gig here at the Borderline in 2006. It was a packed show with a great atmosphere and you were over with Arjen Lucassen. What are your memories of that show and how do you look back on that time having come so far forward since then?

Marcela: Well if I am really honest, it was a great show of course and we have really fond memories of it but the day before that it was the first time that most of us in the band got really drunk so I remember it being a difficult gig. It had nothing to do with the venue or audience of course. No it’s not something we do any more.

AN: Of course the next show here was unfortunately cancelled due to Visa problems but the band are now all based in Holland rather than Mexico so what with this and more recent shows with Leaves Eyes I take it you do not intend being strangers to our shores in the future. Who would you ideally like to tour with and what are the chances of getting onto a festival bill over here?

Marcela: Oh wow, well I really can’t imagine a better combination than this because it has been fantastic. Of course Epica attract a lot of people and even though are music is kind of different their fans are going to appreciate what we do. I can’t imagine things getting much better than this but we are focussing on next year and hopefully doing some headlining shows. As for the festivals, we are also trying our best.

AN: Holland has a great array of likeminded bands  such as Epica, Within Temptation, The Gathering etc. It seems like people in the country really love orchestral and passionate bands like this. Would you agree that it is quite unique and is this one of the reasons that it is such an important country to be in?

Marcela: Yes definitely. Basically the musicians in Holland realise you can go places with this kind of music and one good band helps the rest, it flows and goes further. This is one of the reasons that the scene is so big there.

AN: There is a lot of negative press associated with Mexico due to all the drug and cartel problems but what in particular do you miss about the place and how often do you get the chance to head back there?

Marcela: Well the thing I miss the most is my family, they all still live in Mexico and I don’t see them very often and well the weather haha as the weather in Holland is yes pretty much like here, a lot of rain, a lot of darkness. I miss it a lot; unfortunately I haven’t been able to be there for a few years now because of all the touring and stuff it just gets really tricky. Yes it would be fantastic to get it on the tour schedule and just slip in a little holiday afterwards.

AN: You have been doing some rather special shows with guests and covers involved. Tell us a bit about these. I guess we would be dreaming in the hope that you would ever be able to bring something like this over here?

Marcela: Yes we are doing it again this year. Last year we had indeed a very nice show with Charlotte from Delain and Marjan from Autumn and we had other guests like Joost Van De Broek who used to be in After Forever. We are doing it again this year and we have Damian Wilson from Threshold, Charlotte will be there again and Daniel De Jongh from Textures and it’s on the 28th December in Utrecht. It’s a nice way of ending the tour and we get to do some crazy stuff that we don’t get the chance to do normally.

AN: I guess we are talking at a time between albums as Darker Days was released in 2011. So what is the situation at the moment with regards to new material is it something that is being worked on at the moment and are there any titles or ideas of direction that you can share with us at the moment?

Marcela: Yes we have got quite far with the song-writing, I thing we have about eight songs already. As far as direction it is going to be a little bit more ambitious than the previous album, concerning diversity well a little bit more progressive and challenging as we really think our audience can appreciate that. Actually at the Tivoli concert on the 28th we are going to be previewing one of the new tracks called ‘The Curse.’

AN: Darker Days as the title suggests was quite dark in places, is this a theme you are continuing to explore or may you lighten the mood a little

Marcela: So far the tracks we have been working on have been rather dark as well. I can’t really explain it as we are not really depressed or pessimistic people but it does kind of have that direction about it.

AN: I also believe you have parted ways with Napalm Records which was a bit of a surprise, can you tell us why, is there anything firmly planned for the future label wise?

Marcela: I would rather not say why but I can tell you that we are looking for a new label for our new album because we really believe in the material that we have got and we want to make sure that it is delivered the best way possible.

AN: Tell us a bit about how you go about putting an album together and the arrangements behind things. Who are the main writers as far as the music is concerned and I assume you are the chief lyricist?

Marcela: I am also the main song writer, all the initial ideas come from me and then we will develop them with the band or producer and basically refine the details. Time wise it can be really tricky as we all have work and stuff that we do besides the band so it could take as much as a year but actually working on the album it’s not really as long.

AN: You are multi-lingual and this comes across heavily in the music making it all incredibly versatile. How do you decide which parts are going to be sung in say English or Spanish? Is it a case of what fits best for the overall sound? For instance take a track like Reborn with both languages in the same song; it could be a bit tricky on stage the first couple of times?

Marcela: Well not really it all happens very naturally. I always come up first with the music and the vocal melodies come next then the lyrics. When I am writing the melodies I normally have some gibberish or something to go with it. English and Spanish has a very different musicality to them and that usually shows me how to go.

AN: Where do ideas for themes come from and where do you take influences from as far as lyrics are concerned?

Marcela: Well I can’t help but write about stuff that surrounds me or stuff that I am going through at the moment. For instance Darker Days was all about the adjustment for me of moving to Holland and the whole theme of it was about hardship and overcoming difficulties. With the new album yes it has a bit of the same theme; I also get a lot of inspiration from the things happening in Mexico currently.

AN: I was interested in how you got into singing in the first place, were you self-taught? You were in a couple of bands in Mexico prior to SoP, did you take singing lessons at all. I have to say you have a very natural sounding voice, at the moment I am listening to ‘Spark’ there is nothing forced or over the top about things which I think is something that band’s with more operatic singers can suffer from.

Marcela: Thank you, that’s actually my whole intention. I have taken singing lessons for quite a while, I have been involved with classical singing in Mexico for about seven years. Now I have found a really great teacher in Holland who has continued with my classical voice training. I love it but I always think of the voice as an instrument and I always try to use it in the way that suits the music the best.

AN: As far as musicianship is concerned it is all very tight, at times flamboyant and incredibly well for want of a better word talented. I believe some members are in other projects too or is everything focussed on Stream Of Passion now.

Marcela: Some of us actually do have some side projects and we do other things besides. Stephan plays in very different sorts of bands, blues and that kind of stuff. Eric has Saturnine which is dark melodic rock, so we all do other things and I like that as it makes the band richer I guess.

AN: There are lots of different sounds and styles one can hear within your music, I would imagine between you all there is quite an eclectic playlist. What do you all like listening to personally?

Marcela: A lot of different things yeah! I love bands like Muse and alternative rock and I also listen to opera and jazz. It’s a mixture of everything really, World Music too really inspires me. There are not really any arguments on the tour bus, someone will put something on and if it’s not really disturbing we will all enjoy it. We all have a bit of metal to go on, we all enjoy a good Slayer album as well.

AN: I believe that outside the band you do quite different things in everyday life, I believe you work in IT and designed and coded the band website too. Is this something you really enjoy or would you prefer if you had the chance to concentrate on your music full time?

Marcela: Well I like it a lot as it’s also rather creative work and it’s also very intellectually challenging which I like. If I had the choice to only do music, maybe I would because I do have the problem where I sometimes don’t have the time to do all the stuff I want to and finish an album and make that whole engine run faster!

AN: You seem to go above and beyond the call of duty interacting with your fans on the net answering questions on your forum etc. It gives the band a much more personal focus. Do you find in return that this gives you a much more dedicated and passionate fanbase?

Marcela: Yes definitely. We have people who come back to our shows really often. Last year we brought one fan on stage as he had seen us for the 50th time and that’s amazing. We really like to stay in touch with people and see them again, so after every show we will be hanging out with the audience, we love it.

AN: A bit of a clichéd question really but if you had the opportunity who would you most like to perform a duet with?

Marcela: I have been dreaming for a little while of doing one with Anneke Van Giersbergen the old singer from The Gathering. I saw her recently in Holland. I hadn’t seen her perform for a while and she has got so much more amazing even than before. Anneke has been one of my idols for ages.

AN: What would you like to happen in the future for Stream Of Passion, any objectives you would really like to achieve?

Marcela: We want to get the new album out there and see about doing some headlining shows throughout Europe. We feel very confident about Holland and what we have done there so that’s the next step. Yes of course somewhere like Japan would be great and South America too of course

AN: Anything else you would particularly like to add?

Marcela: Just a big hello to all your readers and hopefully you will stick around and see us on stage.

AN: Consider it done!

http://www.streamofpassion.com

Interview and photos © Pete Woods

Pictures taken at Camden Underworld 2011