Interview: Nervosa
We decided to make an EP, but as soon as we started to compose the four songs, we were feeling like, No man, this has to be an album.
Brazilian thrashers Nervosa had just brought out their latest album Slave Machine and it is a full on collection of razor sharp, metal thrashing mad anthems. Gavin Brown caught up with Nervosa singer/guitarist Prika Amaral and guitarist Helena Kotina to here all about the creation of Slave Machine and what the album is all about as well as discussing the live plans for Nervosa, their startling music videos and what they have planned next.
E&D: Your new album Slave Machine has just come out. How did the creation of the album go?
Prika: We start to compose this new record two years ago, in 2024, when we decided to make an EP, but as soon as we started to compose the four songs, we were feeling like, no man, this has to be an album, and we were feeling so inspired to say let’s do it the way that should be, so then we gave up and we started to compose the album in between tours.
E&D: Are you excited to be getting the album out?
Prika: Yes, absolutely. We have waited for one year since we recorded this album, and we are super excited to show all the songs that we did for the people and for the fans, to play live shows.
Helena: Yeah, for us, because we know the songs, it feels like, Okay, finally it’s time for people to listen. The wait is over and it’s kind of unreal.
E&D: What do some of the songs on the album deal with, and what does the title of the album relate to?
Prika: It’s for everything nowadays that we are living and we are feeling about the internet, social media, and how the world is working right now, the entire dynamics. How we feel so addicted with the cell phones. If we are away from a cell phone for more than an hour, we are worried that someone sent an important message, and we have to check something is going on and you are not aware because you are comparing yourself for all the people that you see through social media. We are still discovering the boundaries of everything. We are not against this, but it’s an important topic to talk about it and not leave these things to control us. It is something that is nice to use, it’s a tool, but these things cannot guide our life.
E&D: Have you had bad experiences with social media or is it generally positive?
Prika: Yeah, of course, there’s a lot of things that are positive. Social media is very democratic, everyone can go there and expose your talents and your music, and the Internet gives a chance for you to be viral. So of course you have to adapt everything from what the people expect from you, but you don’t have to change your art for that. t’s so easy to record a song and put it out nowadays, that is a very good thing. There is positive things, but the toxic thing, it’s everything that we’re talking on this album,
E&D: This is the second album in a row with the same lineup of Nervosa, how are things working out in that department?
Prika: We have the same people, the same lineup. So it was fantastic, because this album, everybody was more experienced, everybody was more comfortable with everything, and actually everyone was on the same page to create,l what we want for this new album. So it was very smooth, at least for me, it was very good, and that’s why we are still having the feeling to keep it composing.
Helena: Yeah, we were exactly the same team, and even though the process was, let’s say, a bit harder, because we also had a lot of tours, so we had to make everything in between, everything went really smooth, really easy and with much less stress, maybe than the previous time, because we worked together on Jailbreak, but it was our very first time even meeting each other, and being inside the studio We still didn’t know each other and some stuff can be awkward and stuff. But three years later, touring and being together all the time all, having so much conversation and discussions about the new album, it was pretty easy to arrive there.
E&D: Was it recorded with you all in the same room again, like you did with Jailbreak?
Prika: Yeah, it was Helena and the drummer, Michaela, but we recorded here in Greece, before we recorded in Malaga and now we have our own studio. So we had all the time in the world to compose, so it was very easy, actually. For me, Jailbreak was extremely scary, because it was my first time as a singer, and I had a lot of concern and questions about the vocals, because I was not ready for that, but I managed it and somehow did it. But now, of course, I’m totally ready. I was feeling more comfortable. I could try more things. So for me, it was way easier, even though for the timescale, it was a big challenge, but we planned everything, so that’s why we could make it happen.
E&D: Do you think having two bass players has enhanced your sound as well?
Prika: Yes, but the two bass players, they just played live. They didn’t participate in the compositions. Helena recorded the bass, as it was so short a time to do it. The girls could not be present, and at this time was not possible for them. The doors were always open, but also the girls were busy with other things. Emmelie is finishing school and Hel Pyre was on tour with King Diamond. Everything had to happen in a short period. So we just manage it inside of us to to make this happen. But they contributed with the ideas, with the talks, with inspirations, and that is also an important thing. So we all built this together, the two basses switch during the tour. They don’t play at the same time.
E&D: Were the videos for ‘Ghost Notes’ and ‘Impending Doom’ from the album fun things to make?
Prika: Yeah, all of the videos were recorded here in Trikala in Greece, and it was very fun, but it was extremely cold. We almost died there. I literally almost died because I had allergy from the cold. My arms were extremely red and scratchy. I said, by the end of this video, we’ll be dead totally. But we had some breaks, and I was putting the jacket so I could calm down the allergy a bit, but, yeah, it was very fun and very nice. I love the process of making video clips, taking photo records and everything that involves music. For me, it’s very pleasurable.
Helena: I think the time of making the video clips and everything. It’s a job that has to be done. But you know that it’s always gonna include a lot of fun in there. Of course, this time we were really freezing in there. I mean, in the video clip, we look cool and everything is perfect, but we were actually freezing! The video we did for ‘Impending Doom’ was the hardest one. We did the two of them in the same day, on the mountain, and it started to rain the middle of the video clip. That’s great. That was fun.
E&D: You’ve got a show coming up at Rock In Rio festival. You must be looking forward to that, particularly with it being in Brazil?
Prika: Oh yes, man, this is my second chance to have another dream come true. I had the chance to play Rock In Rio in 2019 sharing the stage with Slayer and Anthrax, and also the Brazilian bands Torture Squad and Claustrophobia, and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and to have the opportunity to be there again and now as a singer, and after seven years, it’s amazing. I’m super happy and excited to see the girls there also. They fought so much to be in this band, and found it very difficult, and they deserve that experience as well, and I’m super happy with that.
E&D: Where else do you love playing live?
Prika: We love to play everywhere, and every time that we come back, we have different experiences, so we just want to come back.
E&D: What are your touring plans once the album comes out?
Prika: We have some festivals during the summer here in Europe, and then we have some tours coming. We are working very hard for that now we are just focused on the promotion of the new album, to give all the content to the people working behind the scenes, and to give the best for our fans. So what can I can guarantee, is the wait is gonna be worth it , and there are tours coming.
E&D: Will the material from Slave Machine be a big part of your live set for these forthcoming shows?
Prika: Yes, of course. We are also waiting for the fans to have time to enjoy and know the songs because we also want to know the opinion. The show, it’s for the fans, but also for us. So it’s a decision that we have to take together. So we are waiting for the reactions of the fans.
Helena: Yeah, we have some songs in mind that are gonna be there for sure, but, yeah, we want to also know the reaction of the fans, because we want to prepare something really special for them. So we need to know what they like the most, and what they would like to listen us performing live .
E&D: What Nervosa shows stick out as being the most memorable over the past few years?
Prika: Wow, I think Wacken. It marked the history of Nervosa. We waited so much for that show because actually Nervosa was confirmed to play in 2020 but it got cancelled because of the pandemic. By the time it came back, they had different bands but in 2023, they called us and we finally played there. It was when there was the floods and all the rain and telling people not to come there. It was chaos, our flight was cancelled and we were supposed to arrive at exactly our stage time so we may have had to cancel, but luckily because of the rain everything was delayed so we managed to make the show! There was so much energy, we had a lot of technical problems, but still, we were super happy for every single moment there. And also the show that we played together Metallica in Norway. It was amazing. We have such a big list of very memorable shows. The entire tour with Testament, Destruction and Obituary was such a nice experience. Nice people, and the first show of me as a singer in Brazil, which was at Summer Breeze Brazil, in Sao Paulo was also a memorable show. The show in China that we played a festival for 20,000 people, those crazy things!
Helena: I would go with that festival in China, it’s the most recent in my mind, although it’s kind of a year ago already.
Prika: The show at the Whisky a Go Go was amazing, a the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise.
Helena: I have two other shows, actually. One was in New Jersey, and the other one was the next day in Brooklyn, and they were the most hardcore shows ever. I remember by the time that the first person stage dived, then it was all bodies in the air for the whole show.
E&D: Are you going to be on the road for the rest of the year?
Prika: Yes, we will be working on this. Of course, we are very inspired to keep on composing, but with no pressure, just put it out and try to enjoy the time at home because later we’re not gonna have time at home at all.
E&D: Even though, the new album has just come out, have you had any thoughts about any new material, especially with you having your own studio?
Prika: Man, we are so happy with this album, we are extremely excited to know the whole opinion of our fans, how they’re gonna react about every single song. We are still constructing rehearsals here and there, and we are also working to improve our own studio, because everything was a bit improvised when we started recording, because we just started with the studio before the recordings. So we are working on that, and to have our own space to create videos to be closer to the fans, to give some content to practice. We just want to play.
Helena: Whenever inspiration strikes, we are always open to collect ideas, because you never know what you might need that. We like to have some stuff in there and not actually start from zero. You don’t know how the next album should be, we need to spend a bit of time,l to let the album be released. Let’s see the reaction of the fans, of the audience, of everything but it’s always good to keep some ideas in there and take everything out, because you never know when you might need them.
