Priscilla Hernandez!
http://www.yidneth.com//
Interview by Faith McKay
FantasyIsLove.com:
What draws you to fantasy?
Priscilla Hernandez:
Since early age I've collected illustrated fairytales, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac and many others, the power of the colour of such drawings, the imagery and its romanticism gave shape to my being. I was also raised in the eighties so movies like the Dark Crystal and Into the Labyrinth (designed by Brian Froud) also filled my head with other worlds and wonderful things. On the other hand I was a very shy creature and always had to cope with sleep paralysis, a disorder that makes you hallucinate when you're about to wake up or fall sleep, it's a dysfunction of the triggering on/offset of dreaming and waking up and due to this I developed an appeal for what's eerie and spectral. I'm also very fond of ghost tales and victorian literature. I love fantasy... fantasy is my life, I spice everything with it, if not the world would be too hostile. I like to think I can stop the clouds while wind is still blowing.
FantasyIsLove.com:
Music is a very involved process, from writing songs, recording cds, performing, etc. What is your favorite part of all that you do?
Priscilla Hernandez:
I started as a writer, then I started to draw for my tales, and finally I was involved in music. Though I had been composing all my life secretly I never thought of giving it a formal shape. I love cinema and soundtracks and in my mind I always thought of my music as a score, of course to aid an image, that in this case is not a movie because it can't be, but a story (that later became the words of songs) and my own drawings. When I decided to use my own voice (after looking for a vocalist) I found out that I love singing, never had imagined it but I just love the stage, it feels so natural and enjoyable for me and I wish I could do it more often. Maybe the hardest part is always the professional recording because composing and showing the final result is very funny, but there's a lot of struggle and hard work to make things done properly in between those two points. The months before a release are not very enjoyable, once done starts the fun!
FantasyIsLove.com:
As I mentioned, you do a lot! How do you stay motivated?
Priscilla Hernandez:
With determination. I really believe in what I do and It was after many decisions that led me here precisely that I'm finally doing something that I do love with my life. Even if it's not a very "sensible" way of living for a beginner but honestly I would not get back to my earlier work (I studied genetics). I'm happy going the humble way and i'm enjoying all the way through. I try to think about little achievements and go for them, one step further each time, not really big jumps!! It's really quite encouraging when suddenly some people start to recognize you or bring the cd to be signed stating you´re their favourite artist... then you start to think something is really happening. My music and art are not for masses, but the public it gets is faithful and gentle and respects what I do. For an artist to have this kind of motivation is pivotal.
FantasyIsLove.com:
Your label and website both have the name YIDNETH. Where does this name come from?
Priscilla Hernandez:
YIDNETH is a comic project that was scripted and illustrated by me, it was done in the late nineties and I tried to get it published then with no success (didn't try hard I admit, but I lived in a very isolated small place then). It's a 74 pages story, a cross over of fairy and ghost tales. Yidneth was the female character and "the ancient" the male character, thus "ancient shadows" and "lament" from the album are directly inspired in it, as well as the duality ghost/fairy, but ancient shadows is not very related at the end with this project that I intend to finish, one of these centuries, ha ha.
FantasyIsLove.com:
From start to finish, how long did it take you to put out Ancient Shadows?
Priscilla Hernandez:
Well this is a tricky question ha ha ha because Ancient Shadows is a compilation of songs i've written during my life, some are rescued from my childhood like "sueño muerto" or "the voice of the night" and others from my teen years like "away", though this songs were taking shape a long. I even made several demos and got through some contests, but it was in 2004 when I decided to go for a self-edition and invest really seriously my time and money in a formal debut. I had collaborated with several short movies soundtracks and albums and after declining a wealth of label deals (they were not wanting my compositions, just a voice, and I love composing rather than singing) I created mine and went for it. It was two full years of recording and hard work.
FantasyIsLove.com:
Do you have any plans for your next album that you'd like to share?
Priscilla Hernandez:
The provisional name is "the underliving" and it's turning out to be much darker than Ancient shadows, we want to go on with the eerie mood... the underliving is about things that look like being alive but are not (like the whistling of the wind, or a bad dream, or things that you can catch with the corner of your eyes) But we want (at least we plan) to record with a real orchestra (we´ve scheduled plans to do it in east europe) or at least increase the strings section and add a closer mood to film music to the album. It will also still keep the electronic instruments that are familiar to us, as i'm a synthetizer and keyboard player mostly. We´d like to have it done by 2009 (mid-late) but we lack enough sponsorship and thus things go at a slow pace. The plan is to try to make something better than Ancient shadows and keep on evolving and learning. In between we might release some singles, and i might dare to finish my comic yidneth and release it with a few themes.
FantasyIsLove.com:
In closing, would you like to give a quick "Why you should check out the 'Ancient Shadows' CD" shoutout?
Priscilla Hernandez:
It´s a work done with my heart and spirit, it's not commanded by any commercial canon, it does not belong to any particular genre, I wanted to release my heart and soul and tell stories, and I try to make it with as much magic, love and honesty as possible. This is a very very personal work. Aside the package comes with two booklets with all the lyrics and my own illustrations. I think when an artist does something just because of the will to make it, it really shows that at least we´re dealing with something very personal. I'm willing to share my dream, and I'm quite proud of it so I encourage everyone to share it with me.
- Homepage:www.yidneth.com
- Videos:youtube.com/yidneth
- buy cd:priscillahernandez.yidnethfanclub.com
- myspace: myspace.com/priscillahernandez
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