I have written several times in these pages about the Serbian heavy/thrash firecracker of the fair sex, Jenner. On the occasion of returning to active touring in a completely new line-up, I chatted with the leader, Alexandra Lioness.
You recently graduated from the Faculty of Medicine. How do you feel with being a rock’n’roll MA?
Yes, that’s true, but I don’t feel that anything’s changed. The only thing that has changed is that I’ve started to think more seriously about playing and making music, since the situation with the health care system and corruption in Serbia is terrible.
The band came through a major lineup changes last time. How do you feel with becoming the band’s frontwoman?
Actually, awesome! I took 50% of responsibilities in the band – singing and playing guitar. I lost faith in people, and wanted to do as much things in band as possible by myself. Being a frontman is another responsibility that you have as a singer in the band, because it’s very important to connect with people during the show and to keep their attention, to encourage them to headbang and, above all, to entertain them. We always had problems with that because our former singer was very shy. I’m shy too, but I’m trying to overcome my fears and gain new experiences. I’m constantly working on myself. Before the show, I think about how it would look from the audience. I still have to learn lots of things, but I think I’m on the right way, haha.
Is there a possibily that you will bring back Marija to the band? Why had you part ways?
Marija has her priorities and I respect that. However, the reason for our separation is not that she has two small children (who are my nieces and I adore them). We haven’t had nearly similar musical tastes and expectations from the band for years, and that had led us to constant quarrels. Every rehearsal ended with all of us going home furious or in bad mood, and that is not the point of having band. The point is to play what we love and to escape from the horrible everyday life through our music.
You recently played the first gig after a long break. How’s your impressions?
It was great! I really missed playing live and I had a blast. The best thing is that we were invited for that gig few days after we formed a band, so we basically had less then a month to prepare for the concert. We had only 4 rehearsals. This was Anja’s first gig ever, but she was like a real rockstar, I’m very proud of her. Also, Selena’s energy brought these songs to another level, so they sounded even better. This was my first concert as a singer and a guitarist, so I was little affraid because I didn’t know what to expect. In general, I think I did well, I gained new experience and now I know what to pay attention to next time we play.
You record many awesome covers for your social media. What is your favorite band? Do you still have any inspirations while being an independent musician with an unique style?
Thank you! I do that because that is awesome way for me to learn lots of new riffs and techniques and actually have fun while doing what I love. Also, it’s good for reaching new people and building new audience on social media. It’s strange for me to say this, but I don’t have a favorite band. I like way too many bands and artists. There are just some periods when I listen to one or few bands the most. And then some other band takes that place, and then the circle continues, haha. Nowadays that bands are King Diamond, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper.
What’s your current concert plans?
Actually, we still don’t have defined plans. We wanna keep it slow, without pressure. We should start working on our new songs soon. I already have few songs and riffs that I wrote while I was alone in the band. We even played one of them on our concert.
„The Test of Time” is a bloody good EP. Does it herald the long-awaited Jenner’s second album?
Thank you! Not really. That EP was made at a time when I wanted to stop working with the band. I almost gave up on everything and released that EP as a solo project. I recorded everything myself, except for the drums recorded by my friend, Nikola Simonović. I’m really impressed with the sound of EP, but our new album is gonna be different in so many ways, but we’ll talk about that some day in future, haha.
Apart from Jenner, you play with Sigma Epsilon in which you perform with your boyfriend. How do you manage to combine private and professional life? Do you get along on musical matters?
Haha, nice question! Yes, I’ve been a member of Sigma Epsilon since 2018 and I really love that band and those people. Emil and I met through music and we are each other’s biggest support in everything. We do everything together, we even run a company and we work together. Sometimes we fight when we make music together, but in the end, when we hear the final result, we love each other even more hahaha!
Interview conducted by Patryk Pawelec
