1. Cru Cru Realma, always a pleasure to have you back! Where is your head stuck as we speak?
Cru Cru Pigeon, it's been a while since we've last spoken - always great to be back here! Luckily, my head isn't stuck between those metal bars from my childhood I mentioned in the last interview, ha ha. But you can certainly say my head is always in the clouds and in the music I'm making. At the moment, specifically, it's stuck on promoting my newest, action-packed release 'Down the Railway Spine'.
2. Fuck the police?
As N.W.A's lyric goes, 'fuck the police comin' straight from the underground'. Those corrupt and abusing power - absolutely. Especially those personally involved in my mishandling case back in March 2020... However, I'm pretty much over that and have learned to move on. In a way, as dark and traumatic of a place it led me to, I came out stronger from it all. And I think this is well reflected in 'Down the Railway Spine', where despite all the instrumental whirlwinds that sound like RPG boss battle moments, you can hear this gritty, heroic and resilent atmosphere going on in the song. I also believe in karma, so I'll leave it to her to do the dealings. Being a drama graduate, I'll quote Bayne's play Arden of Faversham (1592):
"For curses are like arrows shot upright,
Which falling down light on the shooter’s head."
Nonetheless, in case of officers who actually do the right thing according to their duties - I applaud you.
3. Is every song of yours able to transport you to an entire different realm?
I mean, I'd like to think so, ha ha. Firstly, it's in the name of my alias and project - 'Realma' itself is a pun on the word 'realms'. Then, it's also a part of my creative process - to me the act of songwriting or composing is almost like weaving sound spells by which I try to summon distant lands of the mind. Whether it’s the moon-charmed landscape of my debut release ‘A Hint of Pink’, the noir cityscape of ‘Wandering’, the vibrant fairyland of my third release ‘Ashgrey Butterfly’ or the intergalactic action vista of the current track ‘Down the Railway Spine’, I think each song I've released so far has been established with its own unique portal in my audiovisual universe. In addition, I'm happy to say that this theme continues in my side project I titled 'Cinematic Miniatures' - you can find the first instrumental titled 'Last Breath', which resides in an underwater ghost realm.
4. Where do you find your textures for this fantastic worlds? In The Silk Road?
Hopefully you don't mean the Silk Road online black market that was shut down by the FBI in 2013, ha ha - just joking of course. On that note, in a literal sense, I do know that EastWest indeed have a nice Silk Road VST library, but I haven't used it. Jokes aside, in general, I do tend to utilise film/orchestral libraries from Spitfire Audio, Orchestral Tools and similar sample providers in order to achieve those fantastic textures. I will spend hours searching for a particular sound or effect, where its timbre would not only move me, but would also work perfectly and match well with the world I'm trying to paint on each sonic canvas. Actually, that's maybe how I'm treating the whole process - much like painting and that's why I'm always on a look-out for new tonal colours. I will say that The Silk Road is quite a nice mention too, since it ties into my heritage and also my real name, which is Ariadna. If you know Greek mythology, you will know about Minoan princess and later Goddess, Ariadne, her association with mazes and labytinths via the involvement in the myths of Theseus and Minotaur. There's also generally the idea of Ariadne's string. My parents, who are from two culturally disparate countries and continents (Serbia in Europe and China in Asia), would sometimes joke that I'm like a thread that unites East and West. So, who knows, maybe some of my heritage also tends to creep into the fantastic worlds of my music.
5. Meanwhile, did you learn how to ride a bike?
Oh my God! Not yet, can you imagine - I still can't ride a bike... I really should learn how to soon!
6. Was music already being recorded in the 19th century?
Yes, in fact, there were many pioneering attempts to record sound during the latter half of the 19th century. Among the earliest inventions were de Martinville's phonautograph of 1857 and Edison's phonograph of 1877. However, these early recordings had low fidelity and volume due to the limited segment of the audible sound spectrum being captured — from what I know, frequency-wise it was usually around 250 Hz up to about 2,5kHz, I think? Still, what an achievement, because it was the spark of origin that eventually led us to the contemporary sound engineering. For anyone interested, this video is a great introduction on the subject:
7. What's your favorite animal?
I am definitely biased towards dogs, because I have two best pups in the world in my family. Actually, since the last interview a year ago, I've adopted my second dog. She's a blind rescue that my other dog, a Samoyed, sniffed out near a sewer when we were on a walk. No emergency service wanted to help, so instead my friends and I went down and got her out to safety by ourselves. A little bit later, we found out she had this rare mystery eye disease called SARDS. Despite that, she's such a strong pup and inspires me every day - she doesn't let her eyesight stop her and will go up and down the stairs and enjoys running and playing outside. Of course, I really love and admire all animals in general, often more than us, humans, ha ha.
8. Do you see yourself as a person with the feet on the ground or do you go through life with your head in the clouds?
As in the first question, I'm more of a person with my head in the clouds - a dreamer, a fantasist, a romantic... Though, I can be quite practical when it comes to certain things (probably my taurus sun and virgo rising astrological combination, ha ha), like I am at this moment building my career as an independent musician. So yeah, even I have moments when my feet are on the ground - it's good to balance this aspect.
9. What's your second favorite album by Kate Bush?
Probably Hounds of Love from 1985. It's so dramatic, moving and wild, with traces of classical, operatic, tribal and twisted pop styles - love it. Definitely an inspiration for me in many ways.
10. Do you still agree with the Pigeon?
Of course, cru cru! Forever and ever - who dares not to?!
Review
In "Down the Railway Spine" by Realma we enter a time and space loop that transports us to an apocalyptic, futuristic mini-series! Visually, it looks like a fusion between the polished flourish of Tron and the epic architecture of Arcane! Realma's keys add immense refinement by bringing an intrinsic beauty to this initially barren world! The stupendous visuals drive you crazy and Realma's mesmerizing vocal performance is akin to Björk representing an imprisoned woman who is about to be emancipated in the form of a mystical creature made of lava! It's the end of time and it's the season finale that ends in a cliffhanger. To conclude, in "Down the Railway Spine", through her imaginative music and abstract visuals Realma continues to take us through unique fantasy worlds that are well worth exploring!
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