Metallic and yet hauntingly melodic, London-based act Nya have been making serious ripples with recent EP ‘driving the nails in’ thanks to a punchy, intelligent sound and Anezka Piska’s amazing vocals. very much an act to watch, and already marked out by the UK’s leading metal magazines as somethign rather special, Nya’s ascent is sure to be accelerated by an appearance at 2013’s Metal Days festival and there is no question that the band are destined for big things. Therefore we were proud to cacch Nya at this early stage and question them about their formation, their influences and their ambitions. If you haven’t already discovered Nya read on (and don’t forget to check out the brand new video clip at the base of the page as well).
Firstly could you tell us the meaning behind the name Nya and how the band came to form?
We thought it was a made up word that just sounded cool. However, since then we’ve discovered it’s the Japanese equivalent of ‘meow’. Also, a South African guy we met at Donington told us it sounds like a rather derogatory Afrikaans term.
Your music is heavy and melodic, but also very diverse – could you tell us a little about your influences and inspiration when writing?
There’s quite an eclectic mix of influences for Nya. We are really into what Periphery and Dead Letter Circus are doing as well as the rockier side of things both old and new, with bands such as Queen, Def Leppard, Alterbridge and Guns N Roses being favorites. The electronic aspect of bands such as Linkin Park and Pendulum is also something we are all fans of.
The EP is a five track affair – how did you choose the songs for inclusion and was there anything left over?
There was quite a few left over but we went for the tracks that seemed to go down best live and a couple of brand new ones.
This is your second EP; do you have plans and/or material to develop a full-length record next?
We are definitely working towards doing a full length now. We’ve already begun writing new material to take out on the road as part of our set for UK/Euro dates starting in Feb/March 2013 and a lot of this is likely to form part of our next release. Let it be said we are currently looking for a new drummer to commit to the band and we are taking all submissions at nyaofficial@gmail.com so anyone out there that may be interested – get in touch!
What do you feel are the challenges facing an up and coming band today given the turmoil the music industry is in?
Everything is DIY but that’s not necessarily a bad thing…there is a lot more power in the hands of musicians and artists to retain control of every aspect of there music/marketing – right now things may be tough for bands but they are also pretty damn exciting!
Both your EP and your press shots for the band display a strong visual side to the band – who deals with your artwork and presentation and how involved are the band in its development?
We took our concepts and ideas for the artwork to Steve Braund at CWDmedia who put together the whole package. He found COG Drawings for us who gave birth to the stunning cover art image and really made our visions come to life. The whole process was extremely quick and painless and we are all really happy with how the EP is presented physically. Steve did a fantastic job on the CD and he’s currently working away designing our T-Shirts, Posters and other bits of Merchandise. We teamed up with the fantastic Marie Korner for our current promo shots – there’s some great info on her blog about our work together here and for anyone wanting to know more about our video for the track ‘You Are’, checkout Deadbycinema here.
How long did ‘driving the nails in’ take to record?
It was actually a pretty quick process – we managed to track the record in 10 days at the beginning of March this year.
Which song on the EP was the most challenging to develop musically?
Most of the songs seemed to come together very quickly. The general structure and themes come to us quite easily, it’s the little connections, layering and textures that take time.
Lyrically what inspires you – is it all personal or are there other elements such as literature, history or art that inspire you?
Life and the everyday bullshit that goes with it….
Where can those who are new to the band find out further information about Nya?
We use Facebook and Twitter for regular updates so that’s probably the best place to keep up with us –
http://www.facebook.com/nyaofficial
http://www.twitter.com/nyaofficial
Follow us all with @Neshnyaofficial @Joenyaofficial @Dannyaofficial @Woodynya
For the new video head on over to our youtube channel here (or look at the base of this post).
Grab our EP and Merch over at http://www.nyaofficial.bigcartel.com and for all things Nya visit http://www.nyaofficial.com
When are Nya touring next?
So far we’re planning to be on the road from February 2013 with a mini European tour in July which will include our ‘Metal Days Festival’ Show in Slovenia.
Any final words for your UK fans reading this article?
Thanks for continuing to support what we do and for those of you that have already got a copy of our new EP ‘Driving The Nails In’ we salute you!
See you all on the road!
Nesh, Joe, Dan, Woody
