During their recently completed North American tour with SABATON and KREATOR, CYHRA vocalist Jake E and guitarist Euge Valovirta were interviewed by Antihero Magazine. The full conversation can be seen below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): On the response to the group's live performances: Jake: "The reception on the shows has been amazing. The SABATON and KREATOR fans have embraced us with only love, and we're so amazed to see that the halls, arenas, gig places, theaters — there's been a variety of different places — and they've been full from the start. We're the opening band, and we play [at] 7:30 in the evening, so it's been great, just fantastic. It's actually really, really amazing to see that they're listening to what I'm saying, I mean, we're the opening act. We have tons of experience from our former bands, of course. We've been touring for, I don't know, together maybe 60 years, if you put it together individually. But the fact that they're listening to what I'm saying [is great]." On how the group came to be invited to open the tour: Jake: "When you're in this business, as in any business, while you're affiliated with people within the business, you start to [meet] people. [Guitarist] Jesper [Strömblad] started IN FLAMES, a big machine that's been going on for 25 years. Euge has been in tons of different bands. Alex [Landenburg, drums] [was] in ANNIHILATOR and RHAPSODY. I did eight years with AMARANTHE. You start to know a lot of people on the road. You scratch each other's back. Right now, SABATON has a couple of 'ups' on us, but I've actually really helped them out a lot. I used to be their pyrotechnician back in the day, so we've known each other for probably 10 years. As soon as I saw this tour come up, I called Per [Sundström], the bass player which is running the band, and like, 'Hey, dude. There's a thing I want to talk to you about.' There was actually a couple of bands that they had different interest in that they wanted to join the tour, and we're really, really happy that we managed to do that. You cannot just tell a band, 'Yeah, you can come along' — there's so much other things. We had to fix our visas, and stuff like that. We're really happy, and what SABATON and KREATOR have done for our career just now in the start is amazing. We really want to thank [those] guys. It's probably the best tour I've ever been on. Let's put it like this — this tour is what no journalists want to hear about, because there's no drama." On the band's origins: Jake: "When we brought the band together, mine and Jesper's idea was that, 'Now we're going to make everything work that did not work in our previous bands.' What meant most for us was to get guys into the band that we could rely on, and that we have the same — we want to go to the same place in life. Nice guys that like the same kind of stuff and that are friendly, and are people that we care about. Euge and Alex were the first ones that came up, and they wanted to join, and now we're a great team, a fantastic team. There's no scratches." On the challenges of starting over with a new band: Jake: "I guess that we're, I wouldn't say halfway there, but we're having an easier road to go [than] if we would have been nothing, if this would be our first band that got a record deal. It would probably not ever happen. We don't know what happens with us now, either, but to be able to go on a tour like this as a brand new band with one album out, it's unheard of more or less unless you're on a big label that throws money over you. We just have to tour; we just have to play; and we just have to try to gather as much fans of our own as possible, and make great music. Hopefully SABATON and KREATOR fans like us and spread the word. That's what we have to do — spread the word, and do a good job." CYHRA's debut album, "Letters To Myself", was released last October via Spinefarm Records. The disc was recorded at Top Floor Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden. CYHRA made its live debut in October at Nosturi in Helsinki, Finland.
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