Pirate Queen Talk Debut Album, Their History And More

Who is in Pirate Queen, how did you all meet what do they play?

We are 5 friends that know each other for hundreds of years. We all come from Lyxion, a floating island in the Bermuda Triangle. We met at Lyxion. You can call us fantasy metal, pirate metal or as you wish. I am Captain Destiny Grieflord. I play guitar and I compose. Her Majesty Maria Aurea is the main singer. Luna Lyss plays bass and also sings. Victoria Pearl is the second guitarist and Raindrop Oceanus plays drums.

Your debut album ‘Ghosts’ is released on 3rd May 2024. How did you want to approach the making of this record?

We were working on it quite some time. We were formed in 1523 and immediately started to compose. We had few years of delay because the conditions on the floating island. We had a period of heavy tornados. We started recording demos in our studio in Lyxion. We have plenty of material done. Then we picked the material we thought was the most suitable for the first album. We went to few studios in Europe to mix and master. We shot 2 videos last summer and now we are getting ready for the album release. We are doing a lot of press and confirming first live shows. All goes by plan.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

Most of the material was recorded in our studio at Lyxion. The studio is located in our environment. It is a relaxed place where we can create and compose without any problems. The studio has a view on the ocean. We had plenty of time. Few producers visited us at Lyxion, but final mix and master was done on the mainland. Our ships are also equipped with studios as we travel a lot and have to work from distance sometimes.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

Well, yes. Here I can speak for myself. I am a big fan and enthusiast for axes. Throwing axes was my job for few years. I love the shape of an axe. As you can see I also use guitars in axe shape. I have two guitars and a bass in axe shape. Beside that I also use Battle Axe by Epic Armoury. It is important prop for Pirate Queen live show.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Lyxion is a floating island and capital of the pirate kingdom. It is is a land where dreams and hopes come true. A happy place where the religion is love, music controls emotions and its inhabitants live in a harmony with nature.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the album recording sessions?

Plenty. I don’t know where to start. A lot of important pirates came to visit us in our studio when we were recording and gave us moral and financial support. A famous Polish pirate Kazimier Lux who was active in Caribbean Sea during 19th century lives on Lyxion now. He is an old friend of ours. He came to help with the production, but turned to be so drunk that he slept through the recording sessions.

You have also released the single ‘Pirates of The Sea’. What was the story/inspiration behind the song?

It is like our hymn. A representation of Pirate Queen. The whole idea behind our debut was that we take listener to a journey. Lyrical and musical journey. Each song has own atmosphere and Pirates from the sea is a very positive, enthusiastic tale. The symphonic part is very strong and important one in Pirate Queen. As we come from classical music background and are metal fans it was just normal to combine these two strong elements. When a listener puts headphones on and closes his eyes he goes on a journey. If you listen to the album like this a certain imagination like a movie will start playing in your head. It is like deep meditation. The better soundtrack you have, better movie you will see. We could say that our debut is partly conceptual. When you put all the songs together you get a story. Imagine a short plot. With the opener Happy Pirates are sailing and looting. They have a party. It becomes dark and cloudy and suddenly they start hearing siren’s singing. This is why Siren’s tears got this position of track two. The charming voice hypnotises them and leads them to a Ghosts seance where they meet their protector Barbatos. He reveals the location of hidden treasure in ElDorado and blesses their ship Santa Lucia to win a final battle with Open Fire. Like this we urge the listener to understand the whole world of Pirate Queen more like reading a book, then listening to a standard album.

 The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed and starred in it?

We shot the first two videos in few days last summer in Barcelona. I can tell you it was the hottest day of the summer when we shot a video for Pirates from the sea. We started early morning on one of Barcelona beaches. It was like 40 degrees before the sun rise. We had to stop shooting early afternoon, but managed to get enough material for the video. The next day we travelled to Catalonian mountains to shoot Ghosts. The video was shot in a horror hotel called Insomnia. We also passed an old house where real paranormal activities happen all the time.

Do you have any plans for live shows in Europe/UK in 2024?

UK would be totally awesome. We would love to play for our British pirate family. A lot of fellow pirates are writing us and asking for shows. We cannot say anything yet, but we started confirming first shows. In October you can catch us on Mallorca at Full metal Holiday or in Germany in December at No Sleep After Xmass.

How do you look after your voices?

I don’t actually. I am a guitarist and a pirate. But this is more a question for Her Majesty and our lovely Luna Lyss. I would ask them but today I am at the mainland and a connection with Lyxion is pretty bad. All I know they use some type of magical golden elixir for their voices.

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

The opener Pirates From The Sea is absolutely happiest. Ghost is maybe not angry but is evil and spooky. Perhaps Open fire could be angry because of the lyrics. It is a heavy song but on the other side, Her Majesty’s vocals are so gentle, that it is not a candidate to be an angry song. Most reflective I would say is Eldorado. It is a tale of old pirate who became explorer. He found Eldorado. The symbolism behind is very beautiful as it tells a listener that everyone holds Eldorado within himself. You can find it if you want to.

Was it a difficult album to write?

Our main motivation with Pirate queen is to have fun, but at the same time we strive to certain levels of musical perfection. We could deliver album master to our label much earlier, but you know there are always details that artist is changing till the last moment. The album is a reflection of the two worlds that we live in Pirate Queen. We like classical and metal. So when you combine two things that are your passion you get a nice result, so no for us it was a very natural process.

Who created/designed the album artwork?

We have many talented artists from Lyxion. We came up with basic ideas of how our cover and booklet should look like. Then few artists approached and Vives did amazing job. He works for the royal Lyxion ministry of art.

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

We have many. When it comes to classical composers we all love Wagner, Bach, Tchaikovsky and Liszt. From metal bands we like all kind of melodic power metal as Nightwish, Orden Ogan or Powerwolf. We also like pirate bands as Visons of Atlantis or Alestorm.

What makes Pirate Queen happy and what makes you unhappy?

Gold makes us happy, sailing, playing shows, looting, composing ..those are cool things. Ocean and environmental pollution make us very unhappy.