Canadian rock/metal singer Irian Darkwood is described as a musician whose aim is to bring back rock and soul to today’s music. A musician who pours everything she has into each song as though it would be the last thing she does before shes dies. Wow. She joins us to talk about one of her sources of inspiration, Halestorm’s lead singer Lzzy Hale.

LOOKING UP…

I have always looked up to artists who have the ability to convey the meaning of their songs. I started out as an professional Karaoke singer. I used to sing hard rock and metal songs that were heavy and had straight up in your face messages. I studied the bands and artists that I performed, but in many cases I found that they just “did their song” and I didn’t feel they really meant it, but instead they tried to make it sound cool or look good.

This was until I first heard and saw Lzzy Hale. She owned the stage, she was the song. She connected to the
music on a level that I have never seen or experienced before. I felt that I wanted to be able to do what she was doing.

She inspired me to work hours and hours on my own stage presence and on my vocal technique. The image of what she was able to do on stage drove me into changing a lot of how I approached singing and also gave me courage to try harder and tougher songs.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH…

Being a female singer in a music scene that is male dominated can be tough but looking at what she could do and lead her band and also her own solo career, made me realize that the hurdles and problems that appear on your way to success are very often created by yourself. You are scared or pressured into doing things in a certain way but after getting inspiration from Lzzy Hale I started looking into other female fronted metal bands and I realized that “I
can do this”, and later on after some years I got the chance to release my own music.

When I started to work on my own music. I got into many new situations. I had an producer who worked with a lot of other artists and that gave me so much input and feedback and I started to feel overwhelmed, but then I remembered why I was there in the first place. I wanted to be the lead singer that owned the stage and inspire people and to be the force that connects lyrics, melody, music and stage performance into an unforgettable experience for the audience. It was like getting a “second wind”. I started to own my own situation in a new way and I also noticed that I could lead the music and the process around the creation of the songs in a way that suited me well.

NEW FUEL…

I feel like Lzzy Hale was one of the reasons for me to be here today, releasing music, working with excellent people, networking and living more or less my childhood dream. I have so much things coming up, and to be honest, I still get a little overwhelmed from time to time. But then I go back to my inspiration to get new fuel. Thank you Lzzy Hale for giving me a nudge in the right direction.

Our thanks to for Irian for the contribution to our Why I Love archive.

Here’s Irian’s latest video for a song with a message of hope and recovery through dark times. Light At The End Of The Tunnel:

Irian Darkwood online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / Youtube

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

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