Hello Michalina, how are you doing?

I’m doing fantastic, thank you so much! Currently wrapping up LYRRE’s debut album, filming music videos, and rehearsing.

When did you start playing the Hurdy-Gurdy?

I started playing the hurdy-gurdy 9 years ago, in 2014. Before that, I played transverse flute for 10 years

Where your parents into Music, Musicians or Listeners, that brought you into the world of Music?

My dad is a musician, he’s a classically trained trumpeter. He introduced me to music and also signed me up for music school when I was 7. 

How did you get into listening to metal music?

I was maybe 10 or 11 years old when I started listening to some rock music, like ACDC and Aerosmith, and from there I was getting into gradually heavier music.

LYRRE

What are/where your favorite bands? and are you listening to Polish bands as well?

Currently some of my favorite bands are Bad Omens, Polyphia and Alcest, I also listen to League of Legends tracks, Apashe, Bishop Briggs and Sullivan King. It’s quite a mix 🙂 From Polish bands I used to listen to Decapitated a bit, I also like Tides from Nebula.

How did you get years ago involved in the band Eluveitie?

I joined Eluveitie after they parted ways with Anna, Ivo and Merlin, and Chrigel was looking for a new hurdy-gurdy player. The band found my covers on Youtube, I could play pretty much the whole Eluveitie catalog because that’s what I was practicing to learn the hurdy-gurdy. They wrote me a message and the rest is history 🙂

Michalina Malisz

With Eluveitie you toured the whole World. Please tell us about some of the things you experianced during this touring in different countries, meeting people with different cultures etc…?

I really liked touring in the North and South America. The US tour in 2019 was probably my favorite touring experience because I could see the country for the first time and enjoy the things I have known only from the TV or the internet before. We had a day to visit New York – it made a great impression on me.

Culinary, my favorite country was Mexico, it’s impossible to describe the amazing food.

Why you decided to leave a known band with a big record label behind them, a lot of touring around and last but not least a huge fanbase…?

I wanted to focus on different things in life: creating my own music and teaching the hurdy-gurdy. It was a huge honor to me as a fan of Eluveitie to be a part of the band, to be trusted enough to join them. I have a great appreciation for this time in my life. However, the extensive touring was exhausting to me, physically and mentally. Now I have more control over my lifestyle, I am excited to be able to write music with my husband and work on our band – LYRRE. 

You started Lyrre with your husband. Please tell us how things got started?

We were thinking about starting a band together with Piotr for a few years already and the opportunity came in 2020. This is when we started writing songs and looking for band members. We knew that we want our music to include hurdy-gurdy, metal, and electronic music, we are both fans of electronic/pop productions. In 2021 we got in touch with Noah Sebastian from Bad Omens who agreed to co-produce the record. That’s how it all started. 

What are your goals with Lyrre. Finding a record label. Touring around…?

In terms of a record label, we will remain independent for now. We already have some shows booked for 2023, our goal now is to tour more in Poland and near countries. 

Will the debut album be a kind of Eluveitie clone…?

Not at all 🙂 There are some similarities because we both have the hurdy-gurdy, but the approach to songwriting and production is totally different. We incorporate a lot of electronic influences in our music and we draw from many different sources: pop, post-metal, folk, cinematic music, etc. We are also far from using harsh vocals like growls and screams. 

Please tell us about the lyrics in the 2 songs you released online; 

-Divide and Conquer

-Call in the Wind

“Divide and Conquer” is about the distractions we are facing in life. The music video we made for it illustrates the lyrics quite literally – there is an evil king, he’s being killed, his sister takes the throne after him – but it doesn’t change anything. I wrote the lyrics as a metaphor for all the entities that want to conquer our minds and attention, play us against each other, and are sneaky and ruthless about it. Once one distraction is gone, there will be another one, and another, and so on.

“Call in the Wind” on the other hand is a more meditative song that contemplates our state as human beings. We are very fragile and limited, but at the same time we are able to create things that last forever, like art and poetry. So we are a “call in the wind”, short and volatile, but at the same time somewhere in us there is a “flame that never dies”. It also explores the concept of embracing our dark sides on the way to reaching inner peace. 

When you will release the album, will it be on a record label or by the band itself..?

We will release our debut album in March 2023 and we are doing it independently. It was made possible thanks to the incredible support of our fans on Kickstarter. 

Your first show in Europe will be in The Netherlands. How did you get in contact with Metalyard Festival? 

The promoter of Metalyard Festival approached us on Facebook after we released our first single. It was quite surprising for us, but also very validating. He invited us to play at Metalyard and we are stoked to come!

Lyrre will play on 22 April 2023, Willemeen, Arnhem with Evil Invaders, Warbringer, Mad Max etc. Any thoughts about going to Holland playing Metalyard Festival?

We are so excited to play our first show abroad in the Netherlands. From touring with Eluveitie I know that you guys are an amazing metal audience and we can not wait to play our songs for you!

Any other plans for the near future?

Release the album, promote it with a lot of shows, and of course write new music right away!

Do you have a last word or something that’s on your heart you want to share with us?

We can not wait to play our debut album live and connect with our fans! Thank you for listening and giving us the opportunity to play abroad with our very first record 🙂