INCONCERT
What: Unleash the Archers, Dead Asylum and Liberatia
Where: Lucky Bar (517 Yates St.)
When: Tonight, 9 p.m.
Tickets: $20 at the door
Note: Unleash the Archers also performs Saturday night at The Cambie in Nanaimo; singer Brittney Hayes will speak Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Harry Hickman building for the Boundaries and听Ties metal conference at UVic
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Brittney Hayes started singing in choirs when she was eight, but the Vancouver native did not fully pursue her passion until she attended the University of Victoria.
It took her some time to sort out her priorities, however. 鈥淚听always loved the stage, and did musical theatre and drama all through my youth, so I knew the arts would be a big part of my life,鈥� Hayes, 32, said.
鈥淚n my first year at UVic I started focusing on sports and taking that part of my life seriously, but I felt like something was missing. In my second year, I knew I had to do something with music or I was going to go nuts.鈥�
Hayes, a mezzo-soprano with a听four-octave range, played varsity rugby for the women鈥檚 squad at UVic before auditioning for the University of Victoria Chamber Singers. She earned a spot in the ensemble, which took Hayes on tour to Eastern Europe, Russia, China, and Italy, where she sang Ave Maria at mass in St. Peter鈥檚 Basilica in Rome.
鈥淭hat was my first taste of being a touring musician. That鈥檚 when I realized this was something I needed to do for the rest of听my life.鈥�
Her next decision while living in Victoria鈥� to start the metal band Unleash the Archers with her boyfriend, drummer Scott Buchanan, in 2007 鈥� was yet another bold step for Hayes.
鈥淲e were just trying something new. All I knew was that I听didn鈥檛 want to be another opera-metal vocalist. We all agreed that was the sound we weren鈥檛 going for when we started听the band. Right from the听beginning, this was not going to be a typical symphonic metal band.鈥�
At the time, a female-fronted metal outfit was considered more of a novelty than anything else. But Hayes and Buchanan, along with Comox-bred guitarists Grant Truesdell and Andrew Kingsley and new drummer Nikko Whitworth, have put in their time 鈥� and have been reaping the rewards as of late.
The Vancouver-based band has听a strong online presence, with 4.6 million views on YouTube for the video Tonight We Ride and 2.9听million for General of the Dark听Army. Unleash the Archers released their fourth full-length album, Apex, this month, with lyrics written exclusively by Hayes (who goes by Brittney Slayes when she performs).
She received her degree from UVic in European art history, which shows in the lyrics for Apex. The record follows a storyline from the perspective of the Immortal, a character who is cursed with an eternal life. The听Matriarch commands him to听hunt听down her four sons so that听she can achieve immortality.
The recording, much like the听band itself, is slightly left of听centre, Hayes said.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been more influenced by the traditional male vocal. I鈥檝e never listened to [female-fronted metal band] Within Temptation and said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 what I want to sound like.鈥� It has always been Bruce Dickinson [Iron Maiden], Rob Halford [Judas Priest], Geoff Tate [Queensr每che], or Dio. That鈥檚 a听big reason why it has been hard to pinpoint us, because I am not doing what you would consider traditional female vocals.鈥�
It鈥檚 different nowadays, Hayes said. Operatic female voices in metal are commonplace. Hayes, however, is extremely well-read and well-spoken, which gives her an additional leg up on her competition, and enables her to speak at events such as the Boundaries and Ties metal conference at UVic this weekend.
Hayes said she takes all facets of her career very seriously.
鈥淢usic is not a hobby. It鈥檚 something that never goes away. It鈥檚 part of who you are. It just took me a while to figure that out.鈥�