“Full-throttle guitar and hook-filled rock defines Winnipeg based quartet Domenica. A perfect balance of metalcore and pop infused with melodic vocals, Domenica is gritty, dark and honest - everything hard rock should be.

Wrapped up tight in the intense vocal folds of Bekki Friesen and rock-solid rhythms from bassist/vocalist Kurtis Wittmier is lead guitarist/vocalist Josh Bedry and drummer Steve Hrycyshyn. The members of Domenica come from a primarily self-taught musical background that started in their respective early childhoods, proving the deep-seated passion for the music they make. Simply put, Friesen and her band are not together to become the next rock phenomenon.

On The Luxury, the debut album from Domenica, the band collaborated with famed guitarist Marcos Cureil (P.O.D) while recording at Matt Sorum's (Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver) Hollywood-based studio and at 441 Studios in Winnipeg. The album, released on August 4, 2009, encompasses a vast array of the band's musical influences of hard rock, punk and metal. With songs such as the first single "Above Me", "I Love My Gun", and "Luxury", the band showcases their ability to create hard driven infectious rock tracks.”

For those that don't know anything about Domenica, please feel free to give us an introduction.

Bekki: Domenica is basically a 4 piece full throttle, guitar driven hard rock band that started in Winnipeg. We’ve been rocking together for 5 years now, touring heavy, and are loving every minute of it! We throw it down on stage every night, and our new CD is tight. We’re very proud of how far we’ve come.

‘The Luxury’ is such a diverse sounding album, how would you describe your sound to someone that’s never heard Domenica?

Bekki: We’ve got influences ranging from metal to punk to pop to grunge… our sound doesn’t quite fit neatly into any given genre, although each song definitely encapsulates many different “sounds”. After shows, we often hear people tell us they have no idea who they could compare us to, but that the show was wicked…people need to see us live to appreciate it I think. Very melodic…very heavy…very different personalities within each song. 

What's your songwriting process and where do you draw your inspiration from?

Bekki: I write most of the music/lyrics for the band. Basically, I have a Protools rig in my basement and I play around with it a lot...recording tons and tons of demos…nothing really obvious inspires me that much-I just enjoy writing. I like being able to express myself the way I want to through music…So I do my thing, and every now and then, a killer tune for Domenica comes out of it. I’ve got hard drives full of crap though. I write all sorts of different stuff. 

You've been a band now for 5 years, what's been the lead up to the release of your debut album 'The Luxury' and has it been a 5 year labour of love to finally now see it released?

Bekki: Umm…it kind of felt like it was never going to finish. It took so long. We didn’t record it for 5 years straight, since we started as a band we’ve had a bit of an “on again-off again” relationship with the recording studio. It’s great to have it released though, we’re pumped that we have an actual product to finally support…but we’re also ready to start moving on. Because it took so long to finish, a lot of the songs on the record are quite old (its about ½ newer, ½ older material). We want to start the 2nd album within the next few months…and hopefully get it done for next summer! 

You co wrote and produced 3 tracks on ‘The Luxury’ with Marcos Curiel of P.O.D. How did you get involved with him?

Bekki: Well, through some mutual acquaintances, I randomly connected with Marcos’ management while I was doing some work in L.A a few years ago. I gave him a copy of our promo EP (which was basically the record half done), and he loved the song “I Love My Gun”…so he sent it over to Marcos who also loved the tune. Long story short, after that we set up some sessions and Marcos and I wrote 3 songs together. A few months later Domenica and Marcos hooked up at Matt Sorum’s studio to record them! 

Musically who are your main influences?

Bekki: Radiohead, System of A Down, Silverchair—although you probably wouldn’t be able to tell by listening to Domenica…it’s more like a pop-twisted personal interpretation of whatever influences us.  

In recent years we have only seen a few bands fronted by women that have really taken the rock world by storm, bands like Evanescence and Nightwish to name a couple, do you feel any pressure to put in just that little bit more to be noticed in what is an obviously male dominated scene?

Bekki: No. The only thing that sucks is we are often underestimated with regards to our live performance….although, for people who assume mediocrity that do show face, they’re blown farther away by the end of it so it can work to our advantage as well. There are more male-fronted bands than female-fronted bands. There are more male executives than female executives in the business. That’s just the way it is. We always end up winning our rooms over when we tour. People forget this is a hard rock band when they start talking about “women in music”. We’re playing the game the way we want to. 

In a day and age of illegal downloading and file sharing you took it that next step and made your first single ‘Above me’ available for free download from your website www.domenica.ca what was the thinking behind doing that?

Bekki: We just want people to hear what we do. We love touring, and the more people who hear us, the more people come to shows plain and simple. We’re not worried about royalty cheques or $0.20 cent download royalties. We sell tickets, merch, and make friends with the awesome people who take the time to check us out on the road. A lot of people still end up buying the CD anyways just because they can relate to what its about, and they want to show their support. We didn’t think it was a big deal to give the single away. 

You did some tour dates throughout Canada with Papa Roach whose show is so high energy and always on fire.  How were those shows and did you pick up any tips from a band of seasoned touring veterans?

Bekki: Absolutely, they were amazing….They laid it all down on the stage…and were very cool, laid back and gracious with the people who came out for the show. They’ve also been touring hard for how many years now? A decade? That’s the main thing we learned from them—you don’t ever have to stop touring and releasing CDs if you don’t want to…you just have to work really hard. After playing with them and seeing it first hand, we ‘get it’, and that’s what we’re striving for. 

‘The Luxury’ has now been released in Japan and Switzerland.  How has the reaction been outside of Canada?

Bekki: The CD’s been released in Japan, and it’s coming out very soon in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It’s so cool to know that people are into what we’re doing in completely different cultural domains. In Japan, we’ve been doing especially well…glossy magazines…lots of fan mail…but it’s weird when you can’t read the language or see first hand the result…We’re going over there for some touring in the new year so that should be a trip! It just seems surreal. 

Lastly, what does the future hold for Domenica?

Bekki: More releases in more countries, lots more touring around the world to push those releases, more videos, and most definitely making CD #2 ---then … repeat for round #3. We’re going to keep touring and recording until we’re done…and we’re pretty sure that’s many years ahead of us still.