INGRID (ENGLISH VERSION)

THE LANGUAGE OF TREES

We decided to meet each other in the band, in order to start composing our following album, though we didn't have the slightest idea what we were going to write about. However, in the end, we worked in the same way as the previous years. Each one of us would start writing our own songs and when completing them, we would present our demos to the others. This is how the composition procedure would start. One of the following mornings, I got up from bed and went straight to make coffee. I walked out of the house, in order to enjoy the Irish spring and my flowers in the garden. I think I hadn't had such a feeling of serenity in years. I had missed walking out of my house with a wide smile on my face, only because a simple flower made my day. Even though problems of the previous years did not vanish, during the last month I felt more carefree and delicate.

I was looking at nature's beauty outdoors and this is what I got inspired by. I could start from the garden. I was still excited by Mother Nature's topic and style and mad about nature, so my mind was still stuck on that. That's why I put my big straw black hat on and along with my coffee I grabbed a pen and paper and sat on the little table in the garden. And there I started writing the lyrics of a song, which was later called Flower Blossoms. I hadn't thought of the music yet, but the lyrics were inspired by this beautiful show, unfolding before my eyes.

I found soon inspiration about the music too. I need to say that, during all these years, our music had more or less atmospheric, folk and acoustic elements. Our best songs would last about ten minutes and their ending was distinguishable by a long guitar solo. One could clearly notice that we were inspired by Pink Floyd, especially by songs like Comfortably Numb or High Hopes. However, this time I realised that the songs I was writing for that album were more progressive and the sound was more down to earth. One may compare it to Dream Theater, though I'm not such a big fan of them. Or maybe an album such as Fear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree. Also, the other guys in the band kept on with that and also considered this change in our sound to be a very positive development. 

As huge Pink Floyd fans and given the fact that it was my favourite band, since I was five years old, and as I said before, our main influence, in April 2020, we were about to do a gig in London, which would be a Pink Floyd tribute. I can remember that three weeks before the gig, Vivian, Bryan and I were drinking wine and I was telling them that I was so excited about the gig and that such a tribute had been a pipe dream for me. The day, when we would perform live, I gathered the rest of the guys outdoors and told them seriously: "Listen up. If the time is enough, we're playing Echoes too. The whole song! That's why it's very important that we do our best in that show. Don't forget that we owe our success to those people". However, an hour before the show, I went out to smoke a cigarette, as my whole body was sweating. I'd never ever panicked so much before, prior to appearing on stage. Quite the contrary, actually. I usually had a really good time during live shows and I loved headbanging before the synths. In general, I'd overcome stage fright, because as an actress, you have to play a role before a huge audience and you can't afford to have any stage fright. However, this time, as a sort of a perfectionist, I thought that it was necessary we are perfect because when you pay a tribute to a band, it's out of the question that you don't perform as good as they do.

I ended up being in the dressing room, with my arms raised in front of the air conditioning, while the air was falling upon me. Then, Dina walked in and told me, laughing:

"I wouldn't advise staying like that for a long time. You'll get a strain in your neck and you'll feel the heat of the show". Then she saw that my face was pale and she said:

"What's wrong with you now? You're the only one of us, who never got scared to walk on stage. You're an actress, Ingrid. A stage fright, now?"

"We're making a tribute to Pink Floyd!", I replied. "If anything goes wrong...".