by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
What if Bruce Dickinson sang for… Icon Of Sin? That’s a question many will ask on April the 16th, ‘cause that’s the day the aforementioned new project’s album will be out on Frontiers Music SRL. It’s not an Iron Maiden singer’s new side venture, though – but an ensemble fronted by a Brazilian YouTube sensation Raphael Mendes, known from series “What if Bruce Dickinson sang for…?” And it’s certain that in the future there will be less and less of such comparisons as Mendes’ career develops. Hardrock Haven caught up with the singer to talk about his first release as well as his YouTube activity, plans and classic Metal influences.
Hardrock Haven: Are you happy with how things turned out and is the debut album by Icon Of Sin exactly how you envisioned it to be?
Raphael Mendes: Oh yes, sure. I’m very happy about it – that’s one of the things I always wanted to do in my life. It’s something very special and I’m very excited to do it with Frontiers [Music SRL] and I look forward to this a lot.
Hardrock Haven: It will be a sort of understatement to say that the album is the best Iron Maiden album that Iron Maiden have never released in the ‘80s, so can you point out to any other influences on the album?
Raphael Mendes: Yes, it has a lot of Maiden over there and in general, I agree that my voice is sometimes similar to Bruce [Dickinson], but I also think it sounds very [much like] Judas Priest only mixed with Iron Maiden, something like that. But I like it and I really appreciate it what we’ve done with this album.
Hardrock Haven: So with all that NWOBHM vibe of the album, do you think this is still something the 21st century listeners are able to easily relate to, especially the younger part of the audience?
Raphael Mendes: I think this is a style that will never die, you know… And I think the most of the people will like it. I don’t know, but I just see actually quite many bands with this kind of sound nowadays… So I think we’re bringing something really special back from the ‘80s and surely many people will like it.
Hardrock Haven: And what was the process of making Icon Of Sin like?
Raphael Mendes: It was all based on vision Frontiers had. They got in touch with me after they saw the videos on YouTube and they wanted to work with me, and then they came up with the idea of the sound [for the album] inspired by the bands from the ‘80s, like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden or DIO, and this is what we’re trying to do.
Hardrock Haven: What do you think is the particular strength of the album?
Raphael Mendes: With the songs on Icon Of Sin, I think the theme of the album is very interesting. I don’t know if other bands are inspired by things such as video games – that’s very nice to see for me – and even the name Icon Of Sin is inspired with Doom. And there are songs inspired by the movies too, for example “Clouds Over Gotham” and “Road Rage” which is about Mad Max. I think the theme is quite special for this album.
Hardrock Haven: Can you reveal anything about how the line-up of the Icon Of Sin was put together?
Raphael Mendes: I hadn’t met anybody from the band until the moment we started to work. Frontiers got me in touch with Sergio Mazul [Semblant] and Marcelo Gelbcke [Landfall]. They’re from Curitiba which is not near my city. So we started to work together, and the guys created all the songs and showed me the demos. When I’ve started to listen to this for the first time, I realized how great this stuff was. They created the line-up out of the musicians coming from Curitiba as well, and we started working together – and that’s it.
Hardrock Haven: Before Icon Of Sin, most of us knew you from your YouTube covers, especially the series “What if Bruce Dickinson sang for [insert a band name here].” When did the idea for this series start?
Raphael Mendes: My video channel started as a fun thing I’ve done with a friend – like, “Hey, Raphael, what it would be like if Bruce Dickinson sang for Queen…?” So I go, “I want to break free…” [singing] So it was just a kind of fun really. Then I was at my friend’s house, a very close friend of mine called Fabio Lima, and we’ve done the first cover on YouTube together. I started with him on his channel, and the idea worked, so I thought about my own channel and I try to put a cover every month. For example, yesterday I posted a video called “What if Bruce Dickinson sang for Aerosmith…?”
Hardrock Haven: Right. And what kind of bands do you plan to feature in the series further on – will they be just another Rock and Metal acts, or perhaps something entirely different?
Raphael Mendes: I have some plans and some things that I have already recorded with the drummer that has already played with me and is featured on my channel. One example could be Helloween and the other I haven’t done yet, but one that could be is AC/DC. Maybe I’d also sing in Portuguese, but I don’t know if it’s gonna work (laughs). I don’t know… but someday I will try to do it. Anyway, I think I like it more with Metal bands. I think it works better.
Hardrock Haven: A lot of artists are reluctant to play covers in fear of being pigeonholed as a cover singer and then having it more difficult to continue their career with the original material. Have you ever given that possibility a thought?
Raphael Mendes: I know what you’re talking about, but when it comes to me – I don’t know… If it hadn’t been for my covers and the impression that my voice is similar to Bruce’s, maybe I’d never have a deal with Frontiers. I think this was the main thing that caught their attention. And I don’t mind, I’m very happy doing it and for example, I’d never imagine things like doing this interview with you for your webzine and that’s really crazy… Everything happened because of my covers and I’m very thankful for this.
Hardrock Haven: It’s always my pleasure – and our pleasure to feature you on Hardrock Haven. So back to the topic, being a YouTube sensation brings a lot of attention which is not always positive. Have you ever had any negative experiences related to how people reacted to your activity on YouTube?
Raphael Mendes: Most of them are and were positive. I’ve read some comments that were negative as well, but most of them are positive. I just try to do my best and things happen naturally – I mean, that’s my natural voice. I just learnt how to sing because of Bruce, and if you ask me, “Raphael, sing in a different way! You’re copying Bruce! You have to sing it in another way!”, I’d go, “No. I don’t know how to do it. That’s my only way [of doing it].” And you know, I don’t care about it. After all, I think Bruce’s the best singer ever and if somebody says I sing like Bruce, I can only appreciate it.
Hardrock Haven: Do you think YouTube is the best way to start out your career in music these days?
Raphael Mendes: Yes, I think so, because the things changed in music and especially now, because of the situation with the pandemic, you don’t have another tool to show your songs and your music. I think YouTube is a very important tool for that these days.
Hardrock Haven: True! Many people complain the tribute bands are not the real thing, but they’d still go and see them performing. I’m not sure if your Iron Maiden tribute band Urizen is still around, but having experience with tribute bands in general, what do you think is the secret of their popularity?
Raphael Mendes: For example, Iron Maiden is still very popular here in Brazil and the whole South America, so when you’re playing in a good tribute band and doing a good job with it, people like it. I don’t know how it is in other countries, but here in Brazil these things work very well. We have a lot of tribute bands here that are very good and play all over the country. In Brazil and South America in general, it just works.
Hardrock Haven: Speaking about your home country, what do you think about the state of music market for Rock and Metal acts in Brazil, in terms of promotion and popularity of these genres?
Raphael Mendes: This kind of music is popular here, but it’s hard to go out there with it – especially a new band with their own music. I think nowadays it’s way harder to do it when you have your own band with original music, compared to the tribute bands. Sometimes you can get by better with a tribute band than your own music, so it’s hard to say.
Hardrock Haven: In 2018, you’ve become a part of Marius Danielsen’s Rock Opera project Legend Of Valley Doom Part 2. Are there any other projects like that, beyond Icon Of Sin of course, that we should keep on our radar?
Raphael Mendes: I’m not sure if we can talk about it, but there’s one like that, a well-known Metal Opera project – I recorded two songs for it and the first single will be released next month. With Icon Of Sin, I can’t say much, ‘cause I don’t know when this thing is going to end and right now it’s a very hard [situation] in Brazil actually. But I hope for a tour in Europe and the US – that’s what we want to do…
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