Interview withAziza Poggi, front woman of Dendura
Dendura is an Egyptian inspired progressive metal band formed in 2004 in Detroit/Grand Rapids, Michigan – USA. In April 2006, they released New Life, their debut album. Their Mid Eastern influences create a unique sound which is complemented live with a belly dancer on stage. My contact with Dendura all started with a request from Lee Runchey, Dendura’s publicist, to publish some news release and conduct an interview with the band. I did some research and discovered an intriguing and innovative progressive metal band. I started the interview by e-mail and was very excited to the possibility to see them live and meet them at the Flight of the Valkyries festival in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Aziza Poggi, the pretty front woman of Dendura, explains how she became a singer and the origin of the band and its influences; she reveals her origin and passion for Egypt.
What is the story of Dendura? When and how was the band created?
“Back in 2004, I was looking for a group of musicians who would like to experiment in hard rock with Middle Eastern elements. It took a good 2 years to get it off the ground because we kept having to retrain drummers and it held us back for a while. But I thought it would be interesting if we mixed in my Middle Eastern roots (Egyptian and Lebanese) into our music and theme. Not like Nile, but our own thing. Steve, our original bassist Mike and I decided we wanted to become a progressive metal band in 2006 as we always wanted that, but it wasn't happening with the line-up we had at the time. So eventually, Steve and I sought out new musicians and finally found what we were looking for”.
Where does the name Dendura come from?
“The Dendura name comes from The Temple of Denderah or also spelled Dendera in Luxor, Egypt. The temple is the main temple of the goddess Hathor who was of music, dance, and poetry amongst other things. I stumbled upon the name while reading about the temples in Egypt and it stuck with me.”
What are your main influences?
“I definitely love good singers in the metal, rock, classical and opera genre. I am inspired and influenced from Warrel Dane of Nevermore, Geoff Tate of Queensryche, Floor Jansen of After Forever, Tarja, Russel Allen of Symphony X, David Draimen of Disturbed but I also am a frequent listener and studier of the classical voices of Maria Callas, Renee Fleming, Diana Damreu, Melissa Ferlaak, and Natalie Dessay. So I don't just sing classical, or rock vocals, but combine them together though staying my own person instead of being a replicant of other singers. I love these singers for their amazing inspiration they have given me, but wouldn't want to copy what they are doing.”
Dendura plays "Egyptian infused" prog metal. Can you explain what that means?
“My friend Garnet actually gave us that title "Egyptian infused" as when people asked her what we were like. LOL. We are a progressive metal band as you will hear especially on our songs since we recorded New Life (debut cd)”.
I have been listening several times to "New Life"… and it's great stuff!!! I have as much pleasure listening to it as to any Lacuna Coil album… The music is great and your voice is very special. It makes me think about Theatres des Vampires, but also the Belgian band Vaya Con Dios and their singer Dani Klein. Do you know her?
“Thank you. I do not know of Dani Klein. I will check them out!”
Any other comment on this statement?
“New Life is over 2 yrs old now so my top range and power isn't as prominent as it is now. But I am proud of it. I look back at it and can see how much the band and I have improved as musicians since and it's nice to see growth.”
Aziza, tell us about your origin. Are you a descendant from Cleopatra?
“Absolutley! Actually, my mother’s side of the family is from the Middle East; Lebanon and Cairo, Egypt.”
You say, you are "egyptian possessed", what does that mean?
“I am Egyptian obsessed I think I said. I am obsessed with Egyptology, the gods and goddesses, the whole culture of Egypt and the way the ancients had knowledge way before their time is fascinating. Egypt in general, is very fascinating and mystical. I like mysteries and unique cultures.”
Have you ever been to Egypt?
“No but I will someday! Egypt is a fascinating and mystical country!!!!”
Who is your favourite artist?
“It's hard to say just one but Orphaned Land, Nevermore, Echoes of Eternity, After Forever, Epica, Maria Callas, and the list goes on and on.”
With which band would you like the most to share the stage with?
“I cannot name one, so Nevermore, After Forever, Echoes of Eternity, Epica, Orphaned Land, Lacuna Coil, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Sympony X”
Why?
“Those are powerful metal acts and I love their music. Plus, just to hear someone like Floor Jansen sing live and watch her day in and out would be a voice lesson all in itself!”
I agree with your comments about Floor. She's a blast as a singer and for the photographers too. When I see and listen to Dendura, somehow it makes me think about the band Distorted. Do you know them?
“Floor is a big inspiration to me. I think her and Melissa are at the top of the food chain with female voices. I hope to be that good someday!!! I do know Distorted. In fact, I have spoken to them via email often and have their newest cd. I quite enjoy it. I first heard about them about 1 1/2 yrs ago, and found out they also used the same scales we do in our music. So, we are focusing to make sure we aren't ironically the same in sound. At one time we were talking about doing some grunts in our vocals like they do (way before I heard of them) but we decided not to after I found out about them and then thought that would be too similar. We want to stay different from what they are doing ya know and I am respectful of them and what they have going on. They are very nice people and you’re the first to mention some similarities but a lot of our fans are the same people so it's a great win win if we ever toured together. I always love meeting people from other countries because they live differently than us Americans do and have more culture. I think Miri and I are completely different kinds of singers but I love her voice. She has more of an angelic and warmer tone than I and with Raffael doing the grunts, it's a great balance for them. She has a lot of passion in her voice and he holds a lot of aggression. He's a pretty bad ass guitarist too. I would love to tour with them and have Orphaned Land also on the bill for an all out Middle Eastern metal show but who knows if we can pull that together sometime!!! I should have put them on the bands to tour with list. Thanks for bringing them up again cuz you should add them on the list. Have you heard of Niyaz? Azam Ali? The singer is phenomenal. She does Middle Eastern vocals too.”
Since when have you been singing? Where and how did you learn?
“I have only been singing for 6 yrs, with proper voice teachers for about 3 years. I always wanted to sing but was very shy and would hold back a lot. I didn't get the voice out until right before New Life's recording. I had my singer/producer friend Steve Hopton come in and help me in the studio on that album. I first went to a community college 6 yrs ago to get a voice degree but I had a thyroid problem that affected my voice and I was singing wrong though the teachers weren't helping me with my situation but advising me to quit. I spent many nights back then in tears and questioned if I should sing. Later, I toughened up and that's about the same time my voice started to develop and come out. I met a voice teacher named Dale Schriemer who knew I had self esteem issues with my voice and he had several students like me come to him for help. He helped my confidence and also helped develop my chest voice. I had to go through the emotional agony to fall and then to stand back up. I occasionally still see Dale but have had lessons in between with another voice teacher who is all technical and now I am regularly seeing Melissa Ferlaak who is helping me with my classical singing, opera, and my head voice”.
What does playing at the Flight of the Valkyries festival mean for you?
“It's very exciting! When we first started performing, I wasn't aware of how big the female fronted metal genre was. In fact, I didn't know of many female fronted metal bands until about 2 1/2 years ago. Of course I heard of Arch Enemy, Lacuna Coil, Evanescence but never of Epica and After Forever or Nightwish so it was inspiring to see many of them doing so well. I also think it's great that this festival is devoted to the female voice because it brings us women together for that day and evening showing the world female fronted metal is not a fad. These women all have their own voices and sound, not one sounds like the other, and they all sound great. I think Nathan and Bobbie know exactly what they are doing in promoting this festival and I see it lasting a long time! I'm happy they asked us on board for it.”
Having a belly dancer with a metal band is quite unusual. How did this idea come from?
“I always wanted belly dancers and finally the guys gave me my way. haha... No, actually, I did want belly dancers but we didn't know how to work it in our set the right way but then one day we saw Abida (who'll be accompanying us this weekend) dressed up in her costume at one of our Detroit shows and we got her on stage with us improvising to our set and she did so well, she became our featured dancer.”
Your graphic designer is Helcanen, from Belgium, co-organizer of the famous Metal Female Voices Festival. Is it a coincidence? Will we have a chance to see you play at this festival?
“It is a coincidence. We posted a bulletin quite some time ago on MySpace that we were seeking a new graphic artist as at the time (before we signed to Killzone) we were going to release an EP. She contacted us and we were amazed at her work. She is a phenomenal artist. It's like I tell her what I am going for and she just makes it happen. I never tell her, I don't like that, try something else, she nails it every time! For Metal Female Voices, we do hope to be there in 2009 though they are focusing on 2008 right now so we will see.”
What can we expect from Dendura in the short term?
“We are going to add on other neat things to our stage show, play out a lot more in the near future and put out a cd produced by Neil Kernon (Nevermore, Queensryche, Tapping the Vein, Judas Priest) late in the winter of this year or early in the new year, so once that is done we will be doing as much touring as possible.”
Anything else you would like to tell for the readers of Reflections of Darkness?
“Thank you very much for the interview Stephane! For everyone else reading, be sure to check us out on myspace.com/denduraband. Also, if you sign up on our street team/the temple, you are eligible for free Dendura goodies! www.myspace.com/thetempleofdendura”
Thank you for giving this interview. It was a pleasure to talk with you.
“You as well! Shukran (thank you in arabic)”
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