Dear friends!

Ex-vocalist of Amberian Dawn and now the front woman and the leader of Dark Sarah agreed to answer some of Lola's and my questions!

Here we go

MG: Heidi, you call Dark Sarah music cinematic metal. Do you plan to write a soundtrack for a movie? =)

Heidi: In a way this is a soundtrack yes. The album tells a story so maybe I could say the music is here and the movie is in your mind.

MG: Where and when did you study music? And why did you decide to sing metal, how did you come to this idea?

Heidi: At the moment I study classical singing at the Conservatory of Helsinki, I´ll graduate this Christmas. I started my metal career quite early, already in 1997 in a death metal band as a keyboardist and backing vocalist. And in 2006 I joined Amberian Dawn. In 2012 our story ended and Dark Sarah came to the picture.

MG: Your collaboration with Manuela Kraller – duet song Memories Fall – is excellent! Could you tell us some words about the main idea of Memories Fall video? Whom (or perhaps what) does the heroine of Manuela symbolize referring to Sarah?

Heidi: Sarah is sad of her loss and the glass walls picture her mind. Then she hears a voice talking in her head. She is scared but ready to listen. Manuela plays a role in the story as all the guest. She is Sarah´s fate. She tells to Sarah that she needs to face her fears, walk through the darkness to be born again. She feels impowered by her fate´s guidance and she takes her chance. But it didn´t go as planned. She changes to her evil side persona Dark Sarah and locks her fate inside of her mind and Dark Sarah starts to live her own life.

MG: Manuela Kraller’s got one of the most impressive voices on metal scene. What can you say about your experience of working with Manuela? Was it a pleasure for you or is she hard enough to work with?

Heidi: She is my good friend and an excellent singer as you said. Working with her was really fun!

MG: We’re all expecting for your new song in collaboration with Inga Scharf from Van Canto and sure it’s gonna be great! Heidi, do you have any plans to make some other interesting duets with other famous musicians? Whom would you like to work with?

Heidi: The duet with Inga “Evil Roots” is already made and it became a really good song! Van Canto did also backing vocals on it and it really made the song perfect. The song is composed by Stefan Scmidt of Van Canto. On the last episode the guest will be Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica.

MG: Whom can you name as your favorite voices in metal? And in general?

Heidi: Tricky question. There are so many good ones can´t point out only one. My favourites are so many and from many genres too. And mostly I like good songs and it don´t need to relate to a certain artist.

MG: How do you prefer to spend your leisure time? Do you have any hobbies?

Heidi: I have many. I like gardening! That is a perfect way to relax and get a good exercise too. Also walking with my dogs, doing sports etc. Singing is also my hobby! ( if I had more free time I would do yoga!)

MG: As a musician you have to travel a lot. What places in the world have impressed you most? What cities perhaps?

Heidi: Switzerland - I love the mountains! It is so beautiful there! If I didn´t live in Finland I would love to live there.

MG: I know Dark Sarah’s going to take part in Metal Female Voices Fest. What do you expect from this show?

Heidi: It was a lot of fun and a good moment for us to perform our music for a larger audience. It was our first international show and I think we did quite a good job! Most important thing for us was that people seemed to like our music and it worked also live.

MG: How do you see Heidi after 10-15 years? =) Are you going to continue creating your wonderful music or would you like to concentrate on your family?

Heidi: At the moment it is really the music that I´m concentrating to. And I also hope to be able to continue for a long time. But music business is hard, it is up to bigger forces if will I be able to continue and if so in what form. I´m also really open for new adventures. Let´s see!

MG: Describe please your ideal day.

Heidi: Wake up early in no horry. Drink my morning coffee and healthy breakfast. Walk with the dogs and of to conservatory to sing. Early back home to spend time in the garden. Some sports, glas of wine a movie maybe and then to bed. ( normally this is not possible because I have to spend so much time working on the computer after coming back home. But it was an ideal, right. )

MG: Do you have any pets? And on the whole, what do you prefer – cats of dogs? =)

Heidi: I do! Adorable two chihuahuas called Hukka and Repo ( Wolf and Fox). And in the garden comes almost daily wild hedgehogs that I also feed.

MG: Many bands and solo musicians often perform cover versions of different famous songs. Do you like an idea of recording a cover? What would you select – some of the pop like Lana Del Ray or, for example, Madonna, or it’s gonna be some old-school metal stuff like Metallica? Or something different from both directions?

Heidi: I would love to do one not so popular song as a cover. I heard it as a teenager the first time. It is Valencia´s “Gaia”. Maybe one day!

MG: What sources do you get inspiration from when writing songs? What life impressions or perhaps books and cinema can help you out?

Heidi: I´ve always had a wild imagination. It works really mysterious ways, things just pop up into my mind. Sometimes they need time to develop sometimes it is really clear. This time the story of Dark Sarah is not inspired of any ready story. It is a pure product of my weird imagination and the music. My friend Emy Frost makes most of the compositions, Mikko.P. Mustonen arrangements and orchestras and I write lyrics.

MG: What would you like to say to you Russian fans? Can we expect Dark Sarah in our country some day?

Heidi: I really hope so. At the moment we´re not working with a label and touring is really expensive without any support. It is not possible for us yet, but we´re really working hard to be able to tour one day. It is nice to have fans in Russia! Thank you for your support! You can learn more info about our upcoming album and also help us finish it here: http://www.darksarah.com/

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

Metal Gossip and Nightcom Team wish Heidi good luck and new wonderful songs!