Teen Art Out 37 by Simona Mihalca

37 Drop Dead Cynical

Interview: Charlotte Wessels § Understanding Attention Seekers Andreea Osu

§ Cynic

Nina Moskowitz

§ Mission : Mute Kasey Rae

ISSN 2284 – 6549 ISSN–L = 2284 – 6549

Our editorial team § Editor-in-Chief: Simona Mihalca § Editors: Andreea Albulescu

Andreea Osu Ioana Aghiculesei Delia Cocoș Zaharia Rareș – Lefter Kasey Rae Nina Moskowitz

§ Cover design:

Alexandra Iosif

§ Design: Alexandra Iosif *We reserve the right to select the submissions received before publishing. § Contact:

www.teen.artout.ro teen@artout.ro

Content § LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

§ DROP DEAD CYNICAL

§ INTERVIEW

§ SPOTLIGHT

§ IDEAS ON CELLULOID

§ BOOK REVIEW

§ TAO JANUARY

Simona Mihalca

Ioana Aghiculesei (Amaranthe) Rareș Zaharia - Lefter (Drop Dead Cynical) Nina Moskowitz (Cynic) Andreea Albulescu (Void) Andreea Osu (Attention seekers) Delia Cocos (Addicted to the atention?) With Charlotte Wessels (Phantasma)

Rareș Zaharia - Lefter Kasey Rae

Simona Mihalca (Powered by Editura Litera) Elix Rae (Introspective Inspiration)

TEEN ART OUT NR 37

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR § We wanted to start the year with a bang and that is just what happened by choosing this song by Amaranthe to be our theme. Their mix of soft voices and harsh voices, strong lyrics but good energy, pop and rock is what sets them apart. § I have always thought this was a particularly interesting song. Every now and then it’s good to talk about cynicism. I need attention, feed on my addiction I want the action, satisfaction You have to feed me words that I inquire So my discord someday takes me higher

§ It gave us many things to talk about, not the least of which being the addiction to attention. The spotlight always has to be shining; it just depends on whom it is. Maybe some run towards it and some run away from it. No matter how extrovert or introvert a person, surviving in this world means getting notices. It’s a big and lonely place and we have to make the best out of it. I won’t spoil you anymore and let you read more informed opinions in the articles.

(Amaranthe–Drop Dead Cynical)

DROP DEAD CYNICAL § I would like to mention that this issue is one bringing in many new faces in the team, a lot of young people who have now joined the Teen Art Out team in a desire to create something beautiful, to express themselves and spread their words. In a way, it’s a new beginning and what better time to do it than at the beginning of a new year. 2016 came so swiftly we barely noticed it, but now it’s here in its own right. We have plans and dreams, desires and things to do. What we must always remember is that life is what happens between those.

§ As you well know by now, we present you with a great interview each month, this time being the case of Charlotte Wessels, whom you may have seen already in our magazine as the front-lady of Delain. This time, however, she is talking to us about Phantasma, her newest project, a metal opera musical, a concept album and a novella that she wrote.

Do enjoy this issue!

Editor-in-Chief Simona Mihalca

DROP DEAD CYNICAL

Amaranthe ''Drop Dead Cynical'' § In this article I have decided to talk about a theme resulting from a song by Amaranthe, “Drop dead cynical”, and I started wondering how to start this article and how to understand what I want to write about and I found out that I don’t know the actual meaning for the word “cynical”. For the ones that don’t know either, it is ‘a selfish and dishonest person in a way that shows no concern about treating other people fairly’. From this description I figured out that I may be that cynical kind of person that the lyrics are talking about.

§ I don’t know if you have ever experienced that desire of having total control of one person, to know what they are doing, how they are doing it and with whom they are doing whatever they are doing, and also wanting from them an impossible amount of attention and time, because that’s purely what you want and you can’t change those feelings. Yes, you may think that this is something that an obsessive stalker is doing, but stalkers are actually hurting their victim, they don’t look out for their health, but only for their own purposes.

By: Ioana Aghiculesei

Know Everything § You may think that probably your mothers may be confronted with this disease but I am telling you that they are probably just overprotective by wanting what’s the best for you at all times. What I am trying to make you understand is that in this world at some point you will suffer from this illness, the need of knowing everything about a person and also the need for that person to know everything about you, be it a boy or a girl, or your kids. § Some people will say that I gave the right definition of love, but what we are talking about and the lyrics that gave me the idea are not speaking about love, but about a relationship that is beyond the normal standards in a couple.

§ In other ways, some people are in need of attention from more than one person, and that is what I call the craving for social status, for being famous, for being known. I don’t believe that any of the celebrities we all know are thirsty for the cynical attention. They and their folks are actually saying that they are normal people who are living their dreams the way they wanted. But there are some human beings that are looking for affection and for being in the center of everything and I believe they are just searching for their souls in the crowd, trying to pursue their interest. I would love to know if there is a cure for those like this, but I have never met this kind of person, with a big affinity for being famous.

§ So basically the lyrics from “Drop dead cynical” are

referring to the kind of society that is craving for the feeling of being wanted, of being loved, of being understood. You may be a selfish kind of person, but it’s not wrong to be selfish sometimes, because at the end of the day the person that is still with you is yourself, no matter what, so take care of your knowledge and health, of your body and soul.

Drop Dead Cynical

By: Rareș Zaharia - Lefter

§ Chasing the world, chasing

the sun, chasing the moon, all we do, all day, is really chase ourselves. We don’t care about the others; we get selfish and cover ourselves in a shell, like a snail or a turtle, we start running like leopards and spitting venom like snakes; we are cynical. “Welcome to the new world, open up the gates of paradise” we say. It’s a modern world, we can manage on our own, we work, we earn, we buy, all to impress the others. But when it comes to relating to those we so hardly try to impose our superiority upon with mere possessions – cars and clothes and gadgets, all covered in the filth of robotically gained money – we get cynical. We suspect, we disrespect, we dispose of people. It’s in our system already, it’s addictive, this skeptical selfishness that becomes even harder to get rid of than the oldest human flaws.

§ We so easily discard these faults

by saying: “It doesn’t matter all that much. It’s what makes us human after all”, but what is worse is that being cynical is actually what makes us inhuman. It is the lowest, most dumb and pitiful manifestation of lack of care and love. Yes, that’s what it comes to. Lack of love. Love for our own kind, love for our own kin, love for the ones we say we love. We never stop from being cold and cynical, from suspecting what a homeless man might do with the penny we give him, from worrying about leaving something of ours in the care of someone else. And so we’ve taught them; we’ve taught the homeless man to fulfill our expectation and go buy drugs with our money and we’ve taught the ones that should be taking care of our things to steal or break them instead.

Be Yourself § Not only have we lost the trust and love in strangers and acquaintances, but also in the ones we say we love. We’ve come to the sad point where Tristan doesn’t trust Iseult and where Adam doesn’t love Eve. Where we went back to the ages when marriage was something with financial, social and political importance. One day we say we love a person, and we live only to see them and feed with their happiness, the next day we question their loyalty, their behavior, their words and their everything.

§ Why don’t we take a moment to ask ourselves what and why we are? I can answer that; I can say what I live for and who I am. But can you? In answering these questions, one thing always comes to mind – we are nothing without the others – everything we have ever liked or loved is tied to one or more other persons and enhanced by them. That’s what society is for, that’s what friends are for, that’s what lovers are for, that’s what our children are for. That’s we are for – we are for each other.

Yet, instead, we choose to be cynical. Drop dead cynical.

Cynic

By: Nina Moskowitz

§ There is a word in my throat. It sits there, clogging the airway, preventing me from breathing, preventing me from speaking. This word is the latest in a string of things to steep my esophagus. A pile of objects line themselves along my neck, sounding elegant from the outside, but feeling broken, shattered. § It’s much like the disease. It’s romanticized, painted in such a way that it seems beautiful, tender. Something to be admired, watched from a distance: as the waif of a girl who appears both to be an angel and a skeleton, straddling the dismal line between heaven and a plain grave. The words lodge. I attempt an inhale, but it’s futile. Nothing goes in. Nothing comes out.

§ It feels clunky, tight. But in the way that jeans fit. In a way that you get used to, to the point where you no longer register the pain. That’s how it feels. Like something that is just there. All the time. The disease sits under my skin like an itch that moves. Can’t be scratched. Can’t be forgotten. Can’t be fixed. And for all my efforts, everything I try. Nothing works. I can sense it moving along my skin, a serpent with no intention of slowing. A reptilian beast that won’t stop until my breath and body have been consumed for its benefit. I am nothing but prey.

A Cynic Cave § More words build up. By now it’s a speech. A bucket of words, heaped in my throat, which spread to my belly and wiggle around in fire and acid. They burn, they melt, they are replaced with new thoughts. They are literate butterflies, using their wings to propel themselves above competitors, fighting to fly from my stomach to my throat. Little do they know that none of them will make it out--not that I can tell them. § Looking at the mirror now, it’s as if it were with a new pair of eyes. I see the veins on my arms twist into curls of frustration, impatience with a tendency to snap. I see the bags under my eyes, which hold the possibility of life with happiness, everything I don’t have but should. I see myself swallow.

§ It’s a deep gulp. A full-body swallow, one that takes me down with it, a reduction to a black hole. I can see nothing out of it, just as they can’t see anything out of my eyes. They always said I was someone who could never see the beauty in things. I always thought they couldn’t see the ugly in things. I see myself in the mirror. It’s scary. New. I open my mouth to speak. Nothing comes out. It is silent. The word sits in my throat. “Cynic.”

Void § It’s been a while since I’ve felt like this. Stuck. Empty. Speechless. § There are times when not even my favourite tea can bring it back. When I desperately search for it in every corner of my room, in my garden of frozen roses, in every single snowflake… § I pick my favourite pen up, along with my favourite vintage notebook and I try to hold it there, only to see how it slips through my fingers, almost mocking me. Lacking Inspiration can be very troublesome.

§ It sometimes hides in the light, where I’m often too afraid to search, in the moments that I shouldn’t have missed, or it stays on the tip of my tongue, making me unable to say the right words in the moments in which they are most needed. § I keep staring at the ceiling, waiting for Inspiration to come over me and illuminate my struggling mind. I end up pushing myself to the point in which I feel like everything I’ve ever written is nothing more than a sum of cluttered words and that I should give up already. Squeezing my brains out and forcing myself to come up with good ideas has never led to anything but more self-pitying.

Into The Void § So I guess this could be a great time to accept that I can’t always write. That not even Beethoven can bring back that stream of boiling ideas that usually invades my brain during the most inappropriate moments (project presentations, exams etc.). That I have to hit a wall and learn to embrace the void instead of resisting it. That I need to pull myself together and be patient.

§ Simply wait for it to be shattered by a new temporary muse, that will help me put my thoughts in order and start writing again. I still wait for it to happen. I still need to find my Inspiration, even though it feels much easier to start looking for Nemo. Until then, I will patiently go through these less productive times, thinking of all the pages that’ll feel the flow of my thoughts and feelings that’ll melt into the ink.

An article by : Andreea Albulescu

î&#x201A;şhe VÂşid '' To whomever emptiness is possible. All things are possible" (Nagarajauna)

Understanding Attention Seekers "One of the best gifts you can offer someone is your attention" § Maybe it is true. Maybe we, as human beings, feel the need to be approved by those around us.We are social creatures and need social interaction, positive feedback and even validation of our own worth. Sometimes people inevitably do things that might attract attention or admiration, or both. In some situations it's quite normal to seek them, as long as this need doesn't become excessive. For as long as I can remember, the desire to stand out or to be praised was considered a shameful thing.

§ Even I sometimes found myself judging other based on their actions, questioning their real motives to do certain things, not thinking that they might actually perform some actions for reasons different than I thought. I believe that my distrust in people came from the popular idea that everyone's no. 1 priority is to amaze in order to be admired. Only now I understand that if so many people believe that , then there must certainly be something wrong with our society.

→By: Andreea Osu ←

Seek respect, not atention ! → Narcissistic Behaviour

§ They obviously don't want you to know all that, so they put on a show to convince you otherwise. What we need to do is try to see past the appearence, past the first thin layer of false confidence they try to show the world, and try to help them redeem their self-worth. § Now, on the other hand, there might be people going through tougher circumstances. Psychological conditions related to being addicted to or seeking attention exist and they should be taken seriously.Here are a few examples:

Feels superior, special, unique etc and needs to be admired; arrogant; exaggerates achievements and talents; preoccupied with ideas of success, power etc; has unreasonable expectations of favourable treatment. § Callous: Takes advantage of others to achieve his or her ends; no recognition or consideration of others' feelings. Intolerant of criticism and defeat, responding with defiant counterattack. Relates to others in a significantly or extremely different way to average individuals in the same culture. § But behind this mask of ultraconfidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism.

→ Manipulator

§ May exploit family, workplace or social club relationships, manipulating others with guilt and distorting perceptions. While there may be no physical harm involved, people are affected with emotional injury. Vulnerable family members are common targets. § A common attention-seeking ploy is to claim he or she is being persecuted, victimised, excluded, isolated or ignored by another family member or group, perhaps insisting she is the target of a campaign of exclusion or harassment.

§ This pattern can be found in different contexts although where the alleged aggressor is the government / police / mental health service providers, or indeed "everyone", the person may be suffering from paranoid delusions. § For the sake of this article on attention seeking, the attention-seeking manipulator can be presumed to not actually believe the claims of persecution they make, unlike the delusional person who sincerely and steadfastly believes them.

→ Histrionic Behaviour § Histrionic personality disorder is characterized by a long-standing pattern of attention seeking behavior and extreme emotionality. Someone with histrionic personality disorder wants to be the center of attention in any group of people, and feel uncomfortable when they are not. While often lively, interesting and sometimes dramatic, they have difficulty when people aren’t focused exclusively on them. People with this disorder may be perceived as being shallow, and may engage in sexually seductive or provocative behavior to draw attention to themselves.

§ While reading these, I'm sure at least one person popped out in your mind who fits in one of the three categories, because these people are everywhere. And, if you thought of no one, think again: it may actually be you the one with an attention seeking personality disorder. § But don't freak out too much, anyone may find themselves relating to some of the sympotms. You may start worrying only if too many of them are relatable. Anyway, if you are actually worrying about this, seek help from a psychologist. § Remember: everyone feels the need for attention at some point in their lives. The question you should ask yourself is why.

Addicted to the attention? § We are all humans and we all need to socialize, we need to get feedback from people around us and most importantly, we all crave to be “cool” or to be “liked”, which is a natural thing after all, but it’s not excellent or advisable to desperately seek attention, to do anything just to get noticed by the others or to need all of the eyes on you all the time. § Billi Gordon claims that excessive attention seeking is not a character flaw, but a brain wiring reply to early development trauma. Newborns are highly dependent on getting their mother’s attention for survival, so we can all agree that we can’t live without getting attention from the others, but is it necessary to fiercely seek attention? Can drama be addicting?

§ Some psychologists believe that drama uses the exact same components in the brain as opiates, so people can effortlessly become addicted to the drama. § Just like any other addiction, your body requires more to get the same neurochemical effect and this means that you need more and more drama crisis to get the same feeling. § There are a multitude of types of attention seekers, but these are just a few of the most meaningful ones. § The first one is the victim. People who are “the victim” will play with others’ sensibility by making themselves come out as if they are getting a raw deal in their lives.

By: Delia Cocos 22

§ This kind of people also tend to believe that any unfavorable or negative event that happened to them is premeditated and deliberate and they are reluctant to believe something else. There are also people who deliberately create situations in which it seems that they are victimized. This type of people are cautious, unreliable and deceiving. They don’t feel responsible for what happens in their lives, they usually blame the others for it. § The second type of attention seekers is the rescuer. The “ Rescuer” is that kind of person that chase on people suffering illness, injury or any other burden, dash in to rescue them from their suffering and in the end waits for the praise and honor. If these type of people aren’t in the rescue mode, they are belligerent or condescending. The third category of attention seekers is the organizer.

§ The “Organizer” might seem like the single person in charge, the one who always organizes everything and carries the load. They want everyone to consider them reliable and trustworthy. Nonetheless, this kind of people’s target is not to help the others, but to be in the centre of attention and to have all of the eyes laid on them. § The fourth type of people who are attention seekers includes the ones that have a narcissistic behavior. They feel admirable, superior and unparalleled. This kind of people are intolerant of criticism or judgment and usually respond with aggressive counterattack, reprisal. They also desire to be appreciated, approved. They are preoccupied with schemes of prosperity or influence. § The fifth and the last category of attention seekers is the sufferer.

§ The “Sufferer” may play on an injury, amplify illness or even deliberately hurt himself. This way, this person gains awareness and attention. This person outdoes in shaping people’s emotions, affection. § As a conclusion, it’s normal to want to get attention from the people around us, as we can’t live without getting other’s attention, but it’s not a natural thing to dramatically seek attention all the time.

Interview: Charlotte Wessels

Inter

Charlotte § Phantasma is a project that got many of us excited

from the beginning , bringing together Georg Neuhauser of Serenity, Oliver Philipps of Evreon and Charlotte Wessels of Delain. It was promising to be something you had not heard before, a story-driven (yes, Charlotte wrote a novella for this project) concept album. They give it all creatively and musically, they bring you the magnitude and emotion you would look for in a project like this. If you have not listened to the album (titled The Deviant Hearts), what are you wainting for? § Let’s see what Charlotte had to share about this new project and many more.

rview: Wessels § Simona Mihalca: How are

you? Congrats again for a great album! You definitely have something to be proud of.

§ Charlotte Wessels: Thank

you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed it!

§ S.M: What was your biggest

concern about this project?

§ C.W: First of all, when I was

just asked to do some vocals, I really liked that idea. I know Georg, I know Oliver

and I knew that whatever they were going to come up with would probably be something that i would like to do vocals to. But then appeared the question whether I would want to contribute as a full member of the creative team. Georg really wanted to make a concept record and he asked Oliver to help and, while they both have all the music skills to do a thing like that, they did not have a real idea of what the concept should be.

Interview I’ve worked with Oliver for over 10 years, and he knows that I usually write all the lyrics so he actually asked to invite me as well. My main concern was that I’ve been doing a lot of records and I’ve been doing a lot of songs, but I’ve never had the ambition of doing a concept record before. It was mostly because there are some concept records that I really love and that are among my favorite records in the world, but then there are also some of them which I really, really dislike.I was kind of afraid that, without any experience, or ambition to do a concept record, I would simply make one that wasn’t as good as I expect from myself. . I really thought for a very long time about how I could do this idea of a concept record but still make it personal and special and unlike the things that are wrong.

A lot of people recommended me to listen to this concept record or to that one to get an idea, but I did the exact opposite: I didn’t listen to any of them and I just spent a lot of time thinking: What do I want to do, what story do I want to tell and how do I want to tell it? It was only when I had the idea of The Deviant Hearts and the idea of actually doing the novel with the CD that I felt confident enough to say: Ok, this is a way in which I think that I can really pull it off, and not have any fillers. Because I have to bring the story from A to B on the CD, but to have the book, on the one hand, and have the songs, add a poetic perspective to the characters and the scenes from the book. Once I kind of figured out how I would like the infrastructure of that album to be, then I thought: Ok, I think I can make a valuable addition to it. After that, it actually all went really smoothly, we all contributed our songs and it was so much fun.

We all have very different musical backgrounds, Oliver and Georg and myself, but Oliver did a great job with making a perfect arrangement for all of them so they still sound like a family. That was the main challenge for me: how do you tackle a concept record while I don’t have any experience with concept records, but for me, the book was the solution.

§ S.M: I know it's usually an

impossible question, but do you have any favorite songs or parts from the album?

§ C.W: You’re right; it’s kind of

an impossible question, because there are a lot of songs that I like for a lot of different reasons, but I think that for me The Lotus and The Willow is … special. It’s also one of the songs that I didn’t even know if I could bring to this album, because it’s one of those songs that are just really mellow and really different.

But that’s also the reason why I like it, because it is a song that I couldn’t have done within my usual style and here it, all of sudden, felt in place. Yeah, I think that one is kind of special to me.

§ S.M: How did you come up

with the creative concepts for the artwork, photoshoots and videos?

§ C.W: If you read the book,

you know straight away. We’ve got the paper cranes, which play a very large role and they are visual and beautiful, so this really works with the artwork. You’ve got the hearts, you’ve got the two children, you’ve got the lotus flowers. There are a lot of things, visually, that are really inviting to work with. For ourselves, from the very beginning, I thought maybe we shouldn’t even say who would be behind the project and just have children be in the videos.

Interview In the way that we look I didn’t want any super extreme makeup, I was just basically wearing the same black dress the entire time. It really worked out and I think that the photos work very well and that Marco Mazzoni’s artwork (I’m a huge fan of Marco) – I cannot say enough positive things about it. I’m very happy and proud that we got it together the way it came together.

§ S.M: How was the process of

writing a novella? Did you find it hard?

§ C.W: It was horrible, it was

nerve-racking. I have this thing when, if I really get passionate about something, I want to do it myself This is the very reason I became a musician. . I don’t think it’s necessarily because I was good at it, in the first place, but rather because I love music so much that I wanted to do it myself.

I have the same thing with reading; when I read a good book, I really feel like I have a parallel life going on and I will want to talk to my friends about characters from the book like they’re other friends of mine, and then realize that that’s stupid, but I know a lot of people actually do that. I just really got passionate about the idea of writing, even though it’s a small book, writing the book myself. And of course I’d never done it before, and some parts went really well, like, for example when, the more I thought about it, the more the story actually started playing, like a movie in my head and I could watch it from start to finish and it was on replay for months in my head. But then, once I had to write it down, it was harder to translate what was in my head to words on paper than I thought. Also, of course, because I wasn’t writing in my first language.

So, this was a little bit harder than I figured out, but there were, also, wonderful things about it, like, for example, when something is playing in your mind for that long, you feel like you get to know the characters and sometimes I would write something that Robin would say, and then I would read it again and think: no, they would never say that, that’s not like them, like I actually knew them. I think this was wonderful about it, but just the very technical aspect of writing the book and getting it finished in time for the deadline was horrible and I started over like a hundred times because I didn’t like the way it was. I do like how it is now, but I still think that I could have written for another year on it and make it better. But this is the first one; I hav all of my life left.

§ S.M: While the story was ob-

viously fiction, did you ever find yourself drawing from your own experiences?

§ C.W: Definitely, definitely. I

mean the very main focus of the story, the hearts of the children and how they get bigger when they are happy and smaller when they are sad it’s about experiences and intensive emotions. This very thing is for me just a big metaphor of hypersensitivity, and when something intense happens around me, the best way that I can always describe it is like something is pressing on your heart. I remember at one point I was thinking: What if that actually happened, what if the happenings around you didn’t only affect your emotions and your mental state, but they also affected you physically, to the point where it would become so dangerous? What would you do? Would you stay confined, within a safe, secluded area, or would you chase the risk?

Interview There are actually two voices talking about that, because these are challenges in the story, but these are challenges that everyone faces in their lives, because everyone stands at a crossroad where you have the choice to take a risk or remain in the comfort zone, every now and then. In the book, there are two siblings and they kind of represent for me also the two battling voices because one of them is more eager to jump into it than the other. So, there it is; even though it’s a fancy story, there are a lot of metaphors and references to actual, every-day, life challenges in the book.

§ S.M: Switching between writ-

ing the lyrics, the book, touring with Delain and day to day life, did you ever feel you would adapt a slightly different personality with each of those parts of your life?

§ C.W: Of course we always have

conflicting personalities; you always have the devil and the devil and the angel on your shoulders, but that’s not even bad. I mean, one of the other main characters in the story is a deity, a creature, who is convinced he’s God, but everybody else thinks he’s a demon, and for me that’s actually the most interesting character from the entire story, because I think it represents a lot of us so well. You know, I don’t really believe in good and evil; I believe that everybody is both good and evil…

§ S.M: Villains don’t usually

think they are villains.

§ C.W: Exactly, and we can all

let different parts of ourselves shine through in different moments, but I don’t really feel like I have different personalities ; I am of course different on stage a bit than I am off stage,

but I feel more like I’m channeling different parts of myself on stage than I am channeling when I am home with the cats on my lap. It’s just different parts and emotions that you’re letting out at that point.

§ S.M: Did you ever find

that "too many cooks spoil the broth"? Since this was a trio, did you ever step on each other's toes?

§ C.W: I think that with this

process we did basically all of the creative decisions, when it came to making music, with the three of us. In all the productions that I’ve been a part of, or that I’ve watched, three is really not a lot of people, it’s actually quite little. And it was also because the three of us were writing songs and bringing the songs to the table, but Oliver was also going over all of the songs, so he was the one doing most of the things there, and with the story, I was the one doing all of the things.

So I think that in this project, there was not even a case when there were “too many cooks”, because there were only three of us and all three of us had our point of focus, where we could do whatever we wanted. I know the saying and I know that it can be true, but it wasn’t in this case.

§ S.M: What is the most

annoying question you get asked about Phantasma?

§ C.W: It’s not really a ques-

tion. What I think is annoying is that I’ve read a lot of reviews and a lot of people portrait me as the singer and Oliver and Georg as the creative geniuses. It’s not that I don’t think that they’re creative geniuses. This happens with Delain as well, at least for the last couple of albums, we’ve been writing the songs, all the three of us, and I’ve always thought that it was because started the project and he did the first album on his own, and a lot of people

Interview just let this grow from that idea. But now I’m getting slightly convinced that this is just sexism, so it’s really strange because I really wonder why people would think that. Why people would assume, if they haven’t read anything, that the girls probably just sing and the other people do all the work around it. It is so… frustrating. I put so much effort into this, and then you see a review, even if it’s a very positive review, and then you read, and you’re like: You have no idea about the effort that I put into this, and it’s just really annoying.

§ S.M: What was the most sur-

prising fan-related reaction you saw about Phantasma?

§ C.W: To be honest, I thought

that a lot of Delain fans, for example, would not be very much into this music because it’s a lot softer, but I’ve seen very

positive responses there that I really like a lot. And of course, there are also people – the thing is we never called it metal, we always call it maybe rock musical or symphonic musical – who say: “Oh, this is not metal!”, and we’re like: Yeah, but we never said it was! All in all, I am just really happy to hear the positive responses. Of course I’m not very surprised, because we put a lot effort in it and we hope that it’s good, but you’ll also have to deal with people framing it in a certain genre, because they know from a certain genre, and it’s always interesting to see what that does.

§ S.M: Did anyone you would

not have expected to reach out to you to congratulate you for the album or share his or her views?

§ C.W: Of course the album

has only been out for two weeks now, and I’ve been getting a lot of response online, and I really appreciate all the response that I am getting. For me, the most valuable thing were the people that reached out to me as they learned that I was writing this and offered their help. For example, I mentioned that I had no experience with the book and I have a friend writer in America who offered to look at the book and edit it for me and this was really great to see. I had some of my close friends proofread it for me and give me their heartfelt but brutal criticism on it and I really appreciated this, because without I couldn’t have done it the way that it turned out.

§ S.M: If you'll let me, I have a

few random questions that are a bit more personal. Nothing to be worried about, just to get to know you better.

§ C.W: Sure, go ahead! § S.M: How were you as a kid?

Any funny stories?

§ C.W: I was a big, chubby,

kid and I was actually always banging my head, so that has never stopped. I remember we had these plays, and I always liked to be a part of that, so nothing really changed there, either.

§ S.M: When did you realize

that Santa wasn't real?

§ C.W: Well, because I am

Dutch, we have a slightly different Santa, because Santa doesn’t come with Christmas. We have Sinterklaas. I was in the third grade, about 6 years old when I learned that he wasn’t real. Someone from my class told me, and I was sitting at the dinner table later, and i was like:

Interview “Mom, dad, you know what nonsense somebody told me? They told me that Sinterklaas is not real and that’s stupid, isn’t it?” And they were like: “Um, well, let’s talk about this after your small sisters go to bed.” So, yeah, that was it.

§ S.M: What Hogwarts house would you be sorted in?

§ C.W: I didn’t read any of the

books and I only saw a movie, with kids, when I was babysitting, but I was younger, and I don’t really remember what houses there are. I’m sorry. S.M: If you were president, what's the first thing you'd do?

§ C.W: I don’t know. I have

unlimited respect for politicians, even the ones that I don’t agree with, because they put t hemselves on the line so much for things that they believe in, but of course there are so many things that I would do, from improving healthcare to education to equal rights for everybody. Of course, for me, equal rights would be on top of the list, because it’s kind of my thing. But then again, in a moment where there is so much uncertainty, I don’t know if that’s the first thing that I would do.

§ S.M: If you were president,

what's the first thing you'd do?

Interview

§ S.M: To go to the extreme and finish on a high note:

when I say "warm and fuzzy", what do you think of?

§ C.W: My fat black cat, that’s laying next to me, cleaning her paws now.

§ S.M: Thank you very much.

New section

Spotlight 42

Forever Still § For this new year, we have decided to start a fresh new column, which we will call Spotlight. As you know, the magazine has a rich past in interviews with bands and musical themed articles. Personally, I have always admired the way we could get to know a lot more about artists than just by listening to their songs through these interviews. § Except, there has always been one problem: only the bigger, more well-known bands get the opportunity to be promoted and analyzed.

§ In turn, what we will be following with this column is to review and, thus, promote some newer, less popular bands, mainly Romanian ones. § The idea came to me when I recently discovered, at a rock festival, that not only popular artists are able to make great music and relate to us and our soul. That being said, let’s move on to our first edition of Spotlight, in which we will be checking out Forever Still.

§ Forever Still is a Danish female-fronted band, that specializes in alternative metal. The first impression I had upon clicking on their newest song and listening to it for a minute was surprisingly good; their style is comparable to that of the now legendary band Evanescence, being characterized by powerful, really catchy, metal-like instrumentals (remarkable drummer) and a much lighter voice that focuses on the clear, beautiful lyrics. Thus, the first description I could think of was, in brief, that Forever Still is a newer, harsher Evanescence, due to the lower voice and the occasional growl, to keep up with an energetic guitar, that doesn’t forgive the distort even by a little. § Surprisingly, despite the smooth vocals, the Danish group doesn’t strike as the ballad-band, but rather as an anthem-band, with powerful releases such as “Awake The Fire” or “The Last Day”.

§ One special feature of this band is the relationship with their fans. They have so far released 3 EP’s: “Breaking Free”, “Scars” and “Save Me”, but the first thing that comes to your attention upon looking them up on their website is their price. § It is most delightful for a music lover to see that many of their singles are released as free tracks and that their EP’s usually bear the label “Name Your Price”. Another really important sign of the way they relate to their fans is the fact that they constantly check the comment section of their YouTube videos and reply to almost every single comment they find. This is something I have always loved as a music fan, as it can always create a real connection between the listener and the artist, showing that a singer or a band is not somewhere in another world, a world of fame and carelessness, but actually near you, communicating with you and relating to your feelings.

§ Moreover, the band’s website also features a form that you can fill in, in order to suggest your own city as a destination for their next tour, as well as volunteer to help them organize it and promote it, all of these contributing to the feeling of union and comprehension between the band and the listeners. § This feeling is even more amplified by the music itself. Their “Breaking Free” EP is highlighted by the song “The Last Day” that proclaims living like it’s the last day of one’s life, and is completed by the more emotional “The Key” and “Towards The Edge”. The next extended play, “Scars”, leaded by the song after which it has been named, to which “Miss Madness” and “Once Upon A Nightmare” have been added is built as the classic cry for help and a desperate situation of deep pain themed album (I can’t help but mention again the striking similarity to the style of Evanescence).

§ But the last EP, “Save Me” is where Forever Still have really outdone themselves. As you hear the first chords of their best song (in my opinion) “Awake The Fire”, you can feel the powerful rhythm and observe how much they have evolved since their previous releases. In completion, the album gives another strong track “Breathe In”, and the vocally emphasized “Save Me”. § All these said, at a closer look at Forever Still and their work, the band seems extremely promising, with an evolution definitely worth watching, as, as sensational as it has already been, they definitely have the best ingredients – talent, determination, great relationship with the fans, outstanding vocals, flawless instrumentals – to become a band as popular as the most well-known ones nowadays and to inspire more and more listeners just as they do now.

By: Rareș Zaharia - Lefter 45

Ideas on celluloid

Mission:Mute § French Films, English Films, Japanese Films, German Films… a full world of cinema all unique to its origins, shut off to some of us because of the spoken word. Alas, we all know there is an option of subtitles for when you feel like reading through the film. A lot of proclaimed film fans will hate to admit this, but I find that reading subtitles leads to missing not only the acting in the film but also its potentially beautiful cinematography ! § Outside of the comedy genre, how important is it to know the exact spoken words in any given film? § How often is reading through the film worth the sacrifice of the visuals… what do we watch a film for?

§ To see a story unfold. A transformation of any given subject through obstacles unforeseen to them and hopefully the audience. Which part of this requires dialog? Just like we don’t have to be in hearing distance of two people fighting to know that they are fighting, in film there is strong body language. A stern jaw, pointed eyebrows and twitching lips all have screams of their own. Anger is created with movement as well as sound. § This is why, I now assume, Wes Anderson favors the visual side to film making above anything else and why one of the most famous acting coaches who’s practice is still thought today thought “words are secondary to actions”.

§ Teachers and actors alike still refer to this simply as ‘the Meisner method’ after the 1950’s American Theater practitioner, Sanford Meisner. § A story arch; falling in love heart break - anger - healing. § Hopelessness - fear inspiration - triumph. § Loss - friendship destruction- coping. All displayed in bright reds and pale blues. Laugh lines around the eyes and smiling dimples on the cheeks. Tight embraces and shaking fists. I watched a handful of foreign films without subtitles, understanding the plot easily and appreciating the acting all the more for it .

§ Only missing out on private intimate talks (like the ones in Blue is the Warmest Color) and motives taking longer to become obvious ( Oldboy) . § One particular shot in Amèlie where the main character pushes her hand into a huge barrel of bright berries and closes her eyes to become fully emerged in the feeling of them, closing her other senses. § This help me set my mind to the idea of ’turning off ’ one sense to broaden the others, if it can be applied to a barrel of berries it can be applied to watching City of God, Oldboy and Wetlands just as well.

An article by: Kasey Rae

ยง After researching a few English (my native language) remakes of foreign films I realized dialog is even more so held up by great cinematography and hopefully great acting, sense many of these remakes fall extremely short of their originals. ยง I am not advising to mute your speakers forever . I will never deny that dialog adds to most films, but in the same way reading can derive from it. There are a thousand and one things to observe and take in in a film and every once in a while I find it a good exercise to shut off one of your senses to see or hear what the film shows you and how it makes you feel. ยง We as people are more intuitive and observational then we give ourselves credit for.

Book Review By Simona Mihalca

Asalways, always,we wewant wanttotogive giveyou you As options,show showyou yousomething somethingfun, fun,something somethingtotoread, read, options, somethingtotolearn. learn. something "Şcoala de fotografie. Editarea digitală " Michael Freeman § Needless to say, we love art and any form of it. We believe it takes skill, talent and dedication to create something and photography is no exception. Still, there is only so much your camera will do. Sometimes you come in and work around it a bit, retouch it, edit it. We like constantly learning new things about digital editing. § We chose this book as it’s a really good crash course, teaching you everything you need to know. It takes you through all the steps you need, from taking the photo, importing it as a RAW format, processing it, post-processing and finally sharing it. It takes you through all the tools at your disposals, showing you what’s best for each type of picture. This is what we call educational and still fun.

"Life is like photography. We develop from negatives."

''Trying to do it all and expecting that it all can be done exactly right is a recipe for disappointment. Perfection is the enemy" ( Sheryl Sandberg)

"Lean In'' - Sheryl Sandberg § When you make a list of powerful women, there is no way to avoid Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. Haven’t heard of her: read the book! Don’t know what a COO is: read the book! Don’t know how a woman can be this successful: read the book! § It is important to learn from everyone else and we certainly have enough to learn from her. Watch her tell her story and a universal story about working, winning and losing, leading and being a woman. Watch her tear down all the myths and preconceptions. § If nothing else, you should notice that the quotes on the back cover are given by Condoleezza Rice and Mark Zuckerberg. All the profit made from this book goes to the Lean In Foundation, whose goal is helping and empowering women.

"Books wash away from the soul the dust of everyday life"

"Jake Djones și păzitorii istoriei" Damian Dibben § As far as YA books sound, this sounds promising. The protagonist is Jake Djones, a 14 year old kid from present London, who obviously is a bit of the “chosen one”, though he doesn’t know it. § On a normal day, walking home from school, he gets kidnapped by a bunch of people who claim to do it for his safety, taking him to their headquarter … in Normandy. There, he finds out that his parents are member of the Secret Service of History Keepers … and currently missing. Their job is to guard history as we know it and prevent people from changing the course of events. § Obviously, we will go back in time, to Venice of 1506 where a diabolic prince called Zeldt has an evil plan to destroy Renaissance. Surely, we cannot let that happen, so it becomes Jake’s job to stop them! His courage and wit are what could get him through but what could get him in trouble.

"You are the result of 4 bilion years of evolutionary success . Act like it."

"50 de idei geniale care au schimbat omenirea"- John Farndon ยง 50 genius ideas that changed human kind. I think the title is quite obvious. And if we all think we could guess some of those such as the steam engine, printing press or the telephone, this book really goes deeper to tell you all you need to know. It is a road to discover the evolution of humanity and society. Why society? ยง Because we get to talk about democracy, monotheism, feminism, capitalism and marxism. You have fun stuff and smart stuff, things you would not expect. It makes for an interesting read

TAO JANUARY

Introspective Inspiration § Inspiration comes and goes. Volatile little bird with big wings. Spark in the darkest places of one's mind. You don't catch it on time and you can watch it evaporate into nothingness, forgetting all the ideas it carried. Take care of it properly and you can welcome a brand new world into your life. § Create places no-one has ever been to before. Untouchable liquid escaping through your fingers, sip it before there is nothing left for you to ingest. Look for it within yourself. Seek inspiration in your surroundings. Find it at the edge of the world, on the other side of the planet, somewhere you've never been to.

§ Anxiety, lack of motivation, tiredness leading you onto a path where there’s no room for ideas to bloom. A path that you fear so much. Leaving a blank page syndrome on the way. Blank like your mind that is trying to fight the haunting lack of inspiration, but can't find any useful means or reasons to win this fight. This anxiety stuck to your skin like some loathsome and obsessive leeches, sucking out the couple of ideas you had left hidden somewhere in your unconsciousness. § To be in the mood, to find inspiration, to be active and productive. You have so much on your mind and at the same time you seem to have nothing left inside you.

ยง Fighting anxiety, fighting this state of mind that is eating you from inside and don't seem like it will disappear anytime soon. This anxiety is eating every inch of inspiration you have left, while your inspiration seems somewhere you can't reach. If you ever saw it again, grab and use it while it lasts. Going places. Belonging to a world that doesn't exit. Listening to absurd speeches everyday. Watching people act like fools just because they can. Shameless feelings. Shameless people. All the same, swirling in your mind, losing themselves until you lose yourself. Feeling oppressed and paranoid. Going places again. Vicious circle. ยง Phrases stuck together, found on a long trip they call life. Broken memories, don't lie to me. This is not surrealist automatism. This is the remains of your past inspiration, molting into a new one.

By: Elix Rae 62