What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences and are they the same as when you started out?
The band name came from 2 concepts I had floating around in my head. One was the 3-eyed raven from Game of Thrones™ and the second was the Oracle at Delphi in ancient Greece. I liked the idea of combining the Raven image that could see possible future events with the ‘all knowing’ Oracle at Delphi.
Supposedly the Oracle was the person all the greatest minds went to when they could not find a solution to a problem or any hidden knowledge. The Oracle would provide this information.
The combo of seeing future events with this all-knowing person was the result… Delphi Ravens.
Band members have a very wide range of backgrounds including metal, hard rock, alternative rock, jazz, country, blues, and even orchestral. All these influences come into play when putting songs together.
I think that is why reviewers often compare us to completely different bands depending on which song(s) they have listened to. And even more often they find 2-3 different comparisons in the same song.
No one genre impacts us strongly other than maybe the alt-rock one.
How do you approach songwriting?
I write most of the music and about 60% of the lyrics and Kira, lead vocals, writes the other lyrics and nearly all the melodies.
Both of us use more than one method. For example, writing lyrics first and then the music and melody. Or the reverse, come up with the music and write the lyrics (less often). I think you should write in the way that best works for you and the song and sometimes that can change from day to day.
Here is the big thing: you must finish the song, partial songs aren’t songs, just ideas. I do have 50+ song lyrics sitting around and 15-20 bass lines as well. But most of the songs I write are new lyrics. And most of the bass lines are new. I will bring an idea I have written before into a song if it serves the song the best.
If Kira writes the lyrics, she usually has a melody in mind. First think I do is ask about the story behind the lyrics and what it means to her. I may not have the same experience she is writing about so I try to get as close as I can to hers.
Then, I pick the key it will be in, the tempo, and write the chord sequences for our 2 guitarists, and then the bass line. If I have any specific sounds/beats I want from drums I tell our drummer Brandon, who is great. He is so good I only do this occasionally. For example, in the song Delphi Raven (not to be confused with our band name…really!) I told him I did not want any snare, hi-hat, or cymbals at all in the opening, kick and toms only. I verbally gave him the beat idea and he created an even better one but with the sound I wanted for the song.
Last, I write this all down on a giant paper pad and mount it on an easel so everyone can read it. And we play, get input, play, get suggestions, repeat, until we have a working song. Off to the studio to record when we have 4 songs ready. Hear the mix and make final adjustments, add vocal tracks if needed, add instrument tracks to fit the song and the story. Tada! New Song. We average about 1 new one a month.
Themes are mostly emotion driven from real life events. So, breakups, bad partners, fears, anger, warning signs, losing a loved one, everyday life struggles, overworked, insomnia, substance abuse, and so on. We are called a “dark” band by many since we have few uplifting songs, but we do write them, just not often.
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
I think most people have had tough experiences and they can relate to these emotions and feelings we explore. It is kind of cathartic for them and us as well. I think sharing them can be hard for us but also relieves a burden sometimes. Everyone can realize we are all people and share the same emotions and difficult times.
When we play live, we want everyone to share at least one experience and emotion with us and know that they related to it.
We write and play our music to share it with people who like both the style and the messages.
How do you decide what to perform live?
Live shows are so much fun to do. We put a lot of thought into them. Selecting and ordering the songs is determined with 5 factors in mind. If we are doing 2 or 3 sets will make a difference. So here are my factors that we consider:
- Circle of Fifths – what chord ends the song and then what chord starts the next one. If they are far apart on the Circle, we have to plan for that.
- Length of songs – always try to make the set lengths about the same
- Number of songs total – follows the first 2 criteria as we have songs from 2.5 to 7 minutes.
- Emotions of the songs – we want to separate similar emotions or experiences if there are any and make the emotional sequence work.
- Tempo and feel – we want to slow down and speed back up depending on where we are in each set.
In other words, it can be difficult, but we want the audience to go on a journey with us even if they don’t realize they did so! If they are talking about how they enjoyed the show, then we probably have done our job well.
What plans do you have for the future?
Continue to grow our fan base and continue to write and record new music. EP release later in 2022 and first album in 2023. Not worried about touring now, too much to do, it will come. We will also play live gigs starting very soon but we will be selective on venues. Sometimes less is more.