Crypta 2020 1

"We are really enjoying this new beginning": Luana Dametto, Crypta

Several weeks have passed since Fernanda Lira and Luana Dametto announced their departure from Nervous, the best-known female thrash band on the planet. However, both put to work and made known Crypta, a Proyect of OldSchool Death Metal in which they have been working since the middle of last year.

We had the opportunity to talk with Luana Dametto about the plans they have with Crypta and the new opportunities and challenges that arise as a drummer in this new adventure.

Crypta emerged almost a year ago, in July 2019, how did the idea of creating this new project emerge?

I always wanted to have a Death Metal band again, it's my favorite metal sub-genre, and Fernanda knew about it and we decided to start a side project with me. We got this project as something that we could challenge ourselves, learn new things and try different directions from what we were already doing, it's always good to refresh and have new things going on. It started as a side project and ended up becoming our main band and work.

Was the selection process for the new members of the band complicated due to the pandemic or did you already have everything planned before?

We didn't have anything planned when we decided to start this project, not even the band name, but as soon as we thought that we needed to find a guitarist, we both talked about Sonia Anubis. We always admired her, not just as a musician, but as a person, so we decided to invite her to join us. After that we needed another guitarist, we tried to search online a bit, and found some girls that we would like to try, but then we received a message from Tainá, asking us if we needed a guitarist, and telling us that she really wanted to be part of a band again and so on. She is brazilian and fits in all the aspects that we were looking for, so it just worked and she joined us.

"To me, the greatest thing that can happen as a female musician, is to receive messages from other girls saying that they started to play cause they saw me doing it."

The direct question why did you and Fernanda leave Nervosa?

Everything we wanted to say about it we said in our public pronouncements, we wouldn't hide any information from the people that always supported us. There is no specific reason, like "it was this or it was that", being in a band is being in a relationship, just like being married for example, and after some time together things can change, you have a new view of things, you wanna try new things, have new goals, and it's just fair for everyone to had this discussing and move on, we never had a fight and we will for sure play together in many fests, it's honest with the fans and with the three of us.

Apophizys, your first band played Death Metal. Do you think that forming Crypta is a way to go back to your roots?

For sure, I'm actually really happy to be playing Death Metal again, it feels a lot like it felt when I had my first band, and we never really forget our first band, everything is exciting and we wanna do our best. I missed playing some specific things and now I can do it as much as I want with Crypta, my bandmates from Apophizys heard some very early demos and enjoyed what we're doing, we're all enjoying this new start.

You started playing drums very young, at 12 years old. It is increasingly common to see girls involved in extreme music. How does it feel to see them follow your steps?

To me, the greatest thing that can happen as a female musician, is to receive messages from other girls saying that they started to play cause they saw me doing it. I love playing, and even tho I work with music now days, I still do it for fun, for passion, and seeing other people getting influenced by what I'm doing, to me, it's bigger than any technique that I will ever learn, or bigger than any festival that I will ever play. As a woman, I know that many girls hear that they aren't capable of playing, that this is too "masculine" for them, and they get no support to buy their first intrument and start learning. My mom always supported me, but I even heard from my school teachers that I would starve if I wanted to be a musician, specially being a woman. It's nice to be one of the women/musicians that shows that this is not true, and everyone is as capable of playing drums (or any other instrument), and turning music into a career.

You are also very young! You are only 23 years old and you have achieved quite interesting things while positioning your name within the scene, do you consider yourself an example to follow for other women in the industry?

I don't consider myself an example, because I still have so much to learn and to experience, and also because there was so many women before me, doing this in much harsher times for women in the rock/metal scene. I'm happy with what I've done so far, I know I accomplished many things at a young age, but it's what I said before, the best thing that can happen to me is get to know that other women started in this business because they saw me playing somewhere. I don't want to be an example, but I will always be the happiest as long as I get to be someone's influence to start. Just like a few drummers where my reason to start, it's cool to be someone's reason too.

What are your short and medium term plans with Crypta?

Right now we just wanna finish our songs and record our first album, we can't wait to do it, but unfortunately we're stuck due to the pandemic, we all need to travel to be able to record, so I hope this pandemic is over or at least more under control by the end of this year. Second thing, we wanna start touring, we're receiving so many emails with offers to play in different countries, so right after recording the album we will be touring around.

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Switching from Nervosa thrash to Crypta Death, is this an opportunity for you to showcase a whole new range of skills and how you play drums?

In Downfall of Mankind we were kind of hurrying to write the songs and record, because we were so full of tours and other commitments going on, so I just played things that were inside my comfort zone, I did my best at the time and my drumming was all based in things that I knew I would be able to record without a problem or without any editing. With Crypta, we are giving time to time and I'm having much more time to learn as I write, I'm putting things that weren't really tight two years ago, and that I'm much more comfortable now, and also adding things that I just learned, so I can practice while playing the songs and having some fun. I'm sure that this album will be more challenging for me, and that our second album, will be even more, that's the goal.

You were part of the last festival before the end of the world, Hell and Heaven. Did you think at the time that the situation would become so critical?

I must confess that I never heard about it before, but I searched and it looks very funny, haha. If this pandemic keeps going strong like it is in Brazil right now, I would totally be up to a drive-in concert, haha, we would be a very very different experience, that's for sure.

You signed a new contract with Napalm Records ...

Napalm always worked very well with Nervosa, and we never had anything to complain about. After Fernanda and I left the band, they found out about the existence of Crypta, so they contacted us to find out more about it. Although we weren't able to show any of our music, when we announced Crypta we got a huge response online, which was surprising to us and Napalm offered to release our first album. They have already listened to our demos, they know how everything will sound and we are very happy to collaborate with them again.

What do you think about Drive-In concerts? Would you consider it as an option for Crypta?

I must confess that I had never heard of that before, but I searched and it looks very funny [laughs]. If this pandemic remains as strong as it is in Brazil at the moment, I would be totally willing to try the option [laughs]. It would be a totally different experience, that's for sure.