Interview with The Lucidia Project

Hi! What inspired “Soul Killer” and what message do you hope listeners take away from it?
Hello, and thank you for the interview! Soul Killer is about a personal relationship I had several years ago that was very damaging. The aftermath of that led me down a path of self discovery, not just of the nature of that other person, but also how I had lived my life prior to meeting them and how trauma informed my life and my own choices. I wanted to capture the feeling of being in an abusive relationship and really emphasize how difficult it is to actually leave it. It takes on average 7 attempts to leave (I will leave a couple links below this answer, feel free to add them if you want)… So in the lyrics I wanted to capture those feelings. I’m sure many people who have listened to our music have experienced this, and my message to them is that they are not alone, they are not crazy, you deserve better, and you deserve to have happiness
https://psychcentral.com/blog/how-to-stop-going-back-to-an-abusive-relationship
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mysteries-love/202209/what-does-it-take-get-out-abusive-relationship

Your music blends diverse genres – how do you keep a cohesive sound while exploring these Influences?
Ben and I (Chase) had a lot of really detailed conversations about what we want to sound like and where we are going. Our last EP (The Requiem EP) explored a lot of styles and genres, and while we are proud of those songs, it wasn’t very focused. With soul killer we tallied up all of our genres and influences and found a lot of alternative rock, doom metal, and symphonic metal between the two of us. Soul Killer is our attempt of blending those three genres together. The piano plays a very important role, and the vocal style I apply also plays a role. Genre wise though, we are moving in Alternative metal style with heavy doom and symphonic influences, and we will be fleshing that out and refining that more on future releases.

How do you balance melodic and harsh vocals to convey emotion in “Soul Killer”?
The Melodic vocals are sort of my default vocal style. I use them in the majority of the song, and all of our songs really. Mostly to convey most of the emotions in my lyrics. However, I have a limit to what I really want to express. The bridge is totally death growled. It’s death growled because I wanted to convey just how much damage was to the protagonist in the story of this song. I needed to really drive my point across. I often feel that is where I use harsh vocals in general. The balance comes from the way the music is written. We have songs in the works where the harsh vocals and the melodic vocals are layered on top of each other, because the lyric lines are complex, but the music is heavier in those sections, and could use a little bit more aggression in those spots. Really, it depends on the song, and what is needed.

How has The Lucidia Project evolved musically and thematically since its beginnings?
We haven’t been around that long. Maybe only a year and half. I met Ben in September of 2022, but even since then I’ve seen our sound grow in a huge way, both in regards to production and songwriting. In regards to the demo, I was more concerned with trying to find the right person to collaborate with, and then building this thing up from there. I never expected songs like “Lights Out” and “In The Fray” to gain any attention. In many ways, those two songs represent the early seeds of what our sound would later be like. The Requiem EP is where we really got to explore our symphonic influences and I got to play around with harsh vocals. Today we are a much more refined version of those two releases, and I feel like we have a clearer vision for our sound now.

Can you walk us through your songwriting process, especially the integration of intricate Arrangements?
There is no one strict formula for us. If we are in major planning mode, Ben and I usually get together and set up the foundations of a song or group of songs. The two of us are trained in music theory, and we work really well together. It typically looks like me at the piano with the DAW open, and him on either bass or guitar, and we will both try out a few chord progressions, and develop our songs from there. Another approach involves more band members, where we would have Chris, Dan, or both of them in the room together with Ben and I, and we will work out melodies and try to get a loop done together. I also write by myself a lot, and I’ll bring songs to the other members that I think will work well for this band, or Chris or Dan will write a riff and we will construct a song around that. I work well with all of the other members in this band so I don’t have a particular formula. As long as we stay within the vision of what we are trying to sound like, we are pretty much good to go!
Arrangements come after the band has written their part. I start having ideas of where the piano’s and strings will be during the process, but I really want the band to establish its core first since there are some really cool guitar riffs and melodies that come out of this process. Once that is done, I start thinking about how I want to do the strings. Sometimes I will echo the riffs in the guitar and treat them as motifs in the strings to try and create these recognizable sections. Oftentimes I will write the strings to sort of “sit” above the band, and write these elongated melodies. I will also use them to establish more atmosphere, so they will be holding out the chord progressions. Pianos are more difficult I find, especially the heavier we go. Sometimes I’m bringing out my full classical big piano fills, sometimes it’s just one note at a time because the guitars are doing these really cool riffs that really do need to be front and center in regards to instrumentation. It’s a fun process, I’m having a lot of fun! My lyrics aren’t fun, but I am having fun with the music.

What impact do you envision “Soul Killer” having, particularly for those who relate to its themes of abuse?
Validation. The people who have been through this kind of abuse, the emotional abuse, covert narcissism, and you feel like nobody sees you… I want you to know that you are not alone. No, you are not crazy, yes, what is happening is wrong, and you do not deserve to be treated this way. I survived it, I’m here to tell my story. I want to inspire you to tell yours.

How does the visualizer for “Soul Killer” enhance its mood and message?
There’s a lot of symbolism in both the cover art and the visualizer. The keyhole with the light shining through, the three keys, this dark ominous door…It’s all related. The keys represent 3 specific events in my own abuse story that led to me being a shell of a human being in my early 20s. The keyhole with the light shining through represents the soul, and the door represents a prison, in this case, with emotional abuse, the prison is internal. I wanted the visualizer to represent this as well.

With recent lineup changes, how has your creative process and sound evolved?
For a very long time, the core of this band has been Ben and myself. During this process, we have been trying to build this thing up. We have tried out a few different musicians during this time. Some people couldn’t commit to the time and others were not a fan of the music. In March of 2023 we met Chris and in September of 2023 we met Dan. Before we met those two, Ben and I wrote and produced pretty much everything. Our guitar work on our songs got more intricate and interesting after we met Dan and Chris.

Any exciting upcoming projects or collaborations in the works?
We are promoting Soul Killer right now. We have an official music video planned. We also have a ton of songs and ideas. We have 2 more releases planned for this year.

What are your long-term goals for The Lucidia Project, creatively and in terms of connecting with your audience? Thank you for your time!
Once we get our numbers to where we want them to be, we have a full-length album planned. In the meantime, we are releasing singles and smaller EPs to help us refine our sound and build up our following.
Thank you for the interview! We really appreciate it!