Anilah

After discovering Warrior, the debut release from Canadian project Anilah, I really got interested in the healing aspects of the act. Wanting to know more, I decided to ask the lovely lady, Drea Drury for an interview about her music and ritualistic experiences. And I got just that; read on to know more about the woman and her music.


As a start, this is everything that I do with every interview, you wanna tell us something about yourself, a little about your personal life?

Dréa Drury - "I don't even know where to start with that one. I grew up in the woods, I grew up in a lot of nature and so the music just comes from a lot of experiences I had alone in the woods. And I've been studying music my whole life, and I'm really into the esoteric application of sound and using sound in ceremony settings and to induce trance and different states of consciousness."

This is gonna be another bland question, something that I ask most people, but what inspired you to start making music? Were there any artists that directly influenced you?

Dréa Drury - "I would say some of the biggest influences being the band Tool and Nine Inch Nails. I mean, that's kinda going way back, but Opeth was a big influence as well."

Now, something that I'm extremely interested when it comes to your music is that you make healing and ritualistic music. What exactly is that?

Dréa Drury - "It's basically using sound and different elements of sound and rhythm and melody to guide the listener into different states of consciousness that we usually aren't inhabiting."

And when did you first discover this type of music?

Dréa Drury - "I first discovered it in my early twenties and I was just getting into artists like Lisa Gerrard and Dead Can Dance. And more of the traditional Shamanic artists. And I just discovered it along the way, really."

I noticed that on FaceBook and everything that you're located in the Selkirk mountains. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that right, but has your home in the woods helped you develop more into this type of healing music?

Dréa Drury - "Yes, definitely."

How so? Would you say that the setting helps you get into the mood of it?

Dréa Drury - "I would say that just living close to nature allows me to be in a state that's more expansive than living in a city where you're often dealing with a lot of external distraction. And, I'm able to just kinda retain a more focused state and I feel like I can listen better in that state to the music that's coming through."

How do you go about making the music itself? Do you go for a certain sound or do you believe that all sounds have some sort of healing power?

Dréa Drury - "I feel like all sounds have the ability to transform the listener, such as anything from metal. I feel like metal is healing; metal is as healing as, you know, new age meditation music. It just has a different purpose. How I approach the sound itself is I usually will, through ceremony and ritual and pranayama, I don't know if you're familiar with yoga breathing techniques."

My girlfriend practices some of that.

Dréa Drury - "Oh, nice. I'll get myself into a state, almost like a trance state and the music will just come through in that state once I let go of my kinda of rational, logical mind."

Does your music focus on the more mental or physical portions of healing, or both?

Dréa Drury - "I would say more mental/emotional, but I have worked with people in a one on one setting where I'm working with physical symptoms because music and sound can definitely influence the body physiologically, especially the parasympathetic nervous system. It can directly influence heart rate and breath, which in turn influences state of mind. As for the music on "Warrior", I feel that if the listener allows themselves to surrender to what is being expressed, both lyrically and sonically, there is a lot of potential for self reflection and inner change. One of the important elements in music that I like to work with is creating trance, which helps guide the listener into a more expansive state. When we can allow ourselves to rest in this place, which is beyond the limitations of the five senses, a lot of transformation can happen. This is, in part, what the title track "Warrior" is about: Opening ourselves to different ways of perceiving reality."

As far as your spirituality or religion goes does that tie into your music at all? Do you have a specific religion you go for or do you just practice healing itself?

Dréa Drury - "I would say that I don't have a specific religion, but the closest that my own personal spirituality comes to is Druidic or Pagan, honoring nature as the primary source."

Would you say it's close to Wiccan, or no?

Dréa Drury - "Wiccan is similar to Pagan. I don't worship individual Gods or Goddesses, per say."

As far as actual ritual go along, do you actually perform rituals that encourage a healthier mind? Or does that fit in with the music itself?

Dréa Drury - "That would fit in with the music itself, but I also do personal rituals that influence a specific state of mind so that the music comes through. I do personal ritual usually in nature."

This is actually a question that I have not prepared, but do you prefer being in a household setting, or, I'm pretty sure you'd prefer being located outside in nature when doing this type of stuff, right?

Dréa Drury - "Usually out in nature, because often it involves fire. I need to be out in nature in order to build these fires."

Now, I wanna talk to you a bit about your first release, Warrior. I found that to be absolutely beautiful. What gave you inspiration to write the album?

Dréa Drury - "Warrior, the title track from the album, that was quite a rare experience in that that song came out in one go. There was no premeditated thought. I was in a very interesting state and the whole song just came out. All the lyrics, all the melody, literally in one hour. So, I would say that came from quite a transcendental state, that song, and that's why I felt really driven to release it because I just felt like it had a lot of intentions and power behind it."

Were there any specific issues you were trying to tackle with Warrior? If you were going through any personal problems, or if you were going for any political errands, or even just a problem with society in general?

Dréa Drury - "That's an interesting question. I find that a lot of songs that come through, and especially that one in particular, it's very multi-layered because the issue was approaching. I feel like it's both a personal issue but it's also an issue that our society is going through as a whole. So it's kinda like the individual reflects the society, and the society reflects the individual and I just feel like it's multi-layered in that sense."

With Warrior, are you working on any follow up albums, or something completely new that strays away from the themes in Warrior?

Dréa Drury - "Well, right now, we, a few friends, are making a full length video to accompany Warrior. Which is kind of going to be almost like a mix between Lord of the Rings and Alex Grey, if you know Alex Grey's art."

I honestly have do not know who that is.

Dréa Drury - "Well, he's done stuff for Tool, like, he does really cosmic, kinda psychedelic art. We're working on that video and then I have a whole other album written. So, yea, there's a follow up, and that album is gonna be a lot more Shamanic and tribal."

On Warrior itself, I noticed that you were collaborating with a few other artists, but it says that, I'm not sure how to pronounce your title, but Anilah. But it says that you're solo project but you had help come in on this album, correct?

Dréa Drury - "It's a solo project in that I wrote all the songs and then I had a friend,Kevin Thiessen, do a little extra guitar and actual mixing and engineering. But it is a solo project right now."

Alright, that about does it, and I don't really have anything else to ask other than do you have anything you want to say to any listeners or fans of your project?

Dréa Drury - "I would say the only thing I feel is important for people to hear, especially like other artists and musicians, is that no matter what just keep doing your thing. Whatever that is, just keep supporting your creativity because I think creativity and artistic expression is what can change how things are."