Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Gallia was founded as a musical project, but we soon outgrew that term. Nowadays, we are a five-person symphonic metal band from Belgium with original songs and a strong passion for music.
Gallia’s songs are written by lead guitarist Yannick. He is one of the founders of Gallia and the creative brain behind the band. He started with music theory and clarinet at a young age, and discovered the joy of being on stage and making music. Next to his solo project where he writes symphonic pieces, he started Gallia and hopes to bring joy to others through the music the band works on.
Davy is the rhythm guitarist that supports the lead guitar. Davy started in 2011 with making music, when he was first handed an electric guitar. He now translates his passion for the metal genre to the songs of Gallia. Ever since he has been a fixture in this band.
The bass melody is played by Laurens. Since his teenage years, Laurens has been a fan of hard rock and metal genres, and founded Gallia together with Yannick. Laurens picked up the bass guitar and hasn’t put it down since. He plays with a lot of enthusiasm and occasionally ventures out to vocals.
The lead vocalist, however, is Elyn. She joined Gallia in 2015. She has a background in musicals and experience with classical singing, but isn’t afraid of the challenge that metal brings. Since she joined, she has also picked up writing lyrics for Gallia.
The band relies on the rhythm of Dieter, Gallia’s drummer. He started with a local marching band, and after that played for local band Clouds of Gravity. He took a break from drumming to focus on his studies, but recently picked up his drumsticks again and joined Gallia.
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
Our main influences came from bands like Xandria, Epica, Sabaton and Nightwish. In short, we are a symphonic metal band, but we try to stand out by doing our own thing and trying to avoid clichés.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
Why shouldn’t they? We are confident that our music is accessible to a broad audience. Go ahead, pick up the album and give it a spin. You will not regret it!
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
It all started with a couple of demos, which we released on Youtube a couple of years ago. It was only after the release of our music video of Rise of the Fallen, that the band emerged from the dark and got its first feedback from the public.
Now with the EP release, things are picking up speed. We got more support and positive reactions; more people show interest in what do.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
We do play live shows, but it’s hard to get booked as a starting band. However, that doesn’t stop us from giving it our best during a live performance. We always try to please the audience, we don’t spare any energy or sweat!
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
We try to do something fresh: delivering symphonic metal with baroque and cinematic influences.
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
In the near future, we’re planning to release some singles, which didn’t fit onto the EP.
In 2020 we will start working towards the next big step, our first full-length album!
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Our music can be bought through CD Baby or iTunes. You can stream our EP and future releases on Spotify. We don’t have a lot, but we do offer some band merch on our webshop.
CD Baby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/gallia
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/1474983596
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0rJw0LfdpBVtX7df9gVveT?si=tSUbIAGqS7a_BNwXWuPvyQ
Webshop: https://www.officialgallia.com/shop
August 2019