Alternative metalheads' THE LUCIDIA PROJECT have a couple of EP releases under their belts, with them hard at work upon what will be their debut album! The band talks with us about coming together, music, and the plans ahead.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
I started the band with Ben Jacobs in 2022. For a while we were a studio project. I reached out to him online, and we met for coffee. Slowly we started working and writing together more and found that we have a pretty awesome creative partnership. Then slowly overtime we found more people to work with, and now in 2026 we have our full line up gearing up for live shows this summer.
2. What's the origin of the band's name?
The name “The Lucidia Project” was chosen for a couple of reasons. I wanted a name that blended metal with progressive/alternative leanings, and two I wanted the name to represent sort of the core idea around why we are making music.
That part of the concept is about shining light upon darkness or speaking truth to trauma. I was originally going to call the band “The Oculus Project” but then I found the word Lucidia, and its variant Lucidia and the meaning behind the word plus the way it sounds just fit really well.
Lucida means “brightness” “distant star” or clarity, and its Italian variant Lucidia means something similar, so it just fits perfectly for the vision for this band's sound.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We are based out of the Fargo-Moorhead region, which is on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota with a population of about 300,000 people. We have a pretty cool underground music scene here with a variety of metal bands ranging from thrash to metal core. There's a death metal band called “Pursuit" that's been gaining a lot of traction here, but as far as melodic or symphonic influenced bands go… I think we are the only ones.
4. How would you describe your style?
We aim to blend Alternative rock/Alternative metal with Symphonic and melodic death metal. In the mix of all of that we lean heavily on post rock and post metal guitar work, so we are going for this atmospheric and melodic but heavy style. Included in all of this is a confessional way of songwriting, especially with lyrics that are vulnerable and poetic.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
Our latest EP The Twilight Affliction was released a year ago, and that is our most cohesive work to date. Those songs we aimed to blend that alternative/Symphonic sound with the melodic death/post metal sound… our first EP was called Requiem, and it was a lot of just tying things out and learning since it was the first release where Ben and I were working together.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
We are working on our first album right now. We are still in the writing process right now, but we've selected 14 songs out of like 24 full songs that we finished writing at the beginning of this year, and now we are refining them, writing lyrics and vocals, and coming up with production ideas. We will select 11 out of those 14 to then slowly release next year. It's definitely continuing the sound of the Twilight Affliction, and it's definitely darker.
7. As far as shows and touring, what is on the agenda?
We have our first show booked for July 3rd in St. Cloud Minnesota. We are working with a really good booking agent, who has been getting us a lot of gig offers. The only barrier right now are people's schedules since we all have loves and day jobs…
8. What else do you have planned for the rest of this year?
We want to play some more shows beyond the July 3rd gig, lots of writing and recording, more photoshoots, hopefully we get another music video done this year.
9. Where can we find you online, listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can find our music anywhere you can stream music. We haven't had a demand for physical media yet, so right now digital and streaming are how you can listen to us.
10. What is it you'd like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
That they aren't alone. If my words and this music resonate with you at all, just know that you are seen, and that you are precious.
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