Amnesia
Amnesia comes from Italy
and they aren’t the typical band from this country. You can read this interview
in order to discover their world and to learn some interesting stories
about their history.
1. Hi there! Since this is our first interview
please tell me a short history of Amnesia.
Amerigo: Well, we formed in 2001, coming from
bands with really different genres, and after becoming a band we became
really good friends, determined to constantly make further steps in the
world of heavy metal music. We have never planned to decide a genre; neither
have we wanted to create one. I think that this is a reason of why music
has such a lack of originality now: for commercial reasons you have to
be labelled with a genre so you can sell to all the fans and collectors
of that genre. Also new bands are not allowed to have a first period of
uncertainty; Labels want them to be already sure of their direction for
more then one album. Instead we are yelling for our right as a young band
of not knowing yet what direction we want to get!
2. Why did you choose this name for the band?
Is there a story behind it?
Amerigo: Yes, of course! We had a concert,
the first one, and still the band didn't have a name. One week before we
really had to find the name, so we went to a restaurant, we got a lot of
wine and we decided that we wouldn' t leave the place before having found
the name. Well, the only thing we remember is the name, and it seemed that
we didn't find the name, but the name found us...
3. Tell me some details for the recordings
sessions of your latest work.
Amerigo: We recorded "Digression of Mind"
in 5 days, and I have a really good memory of that period. It was the second
time we entered a studio, but this time we were determined to come out
with a professional recording. We were afraid that this would have played
a bad role on our nerves, also for all the money we were spending, but
the band demonstrated unity and supporting always any member that had some
problem at first in recording, and I think that this has been fundamental.
Also the cases of beer (3) helped us stay calm.
4. How have the reaction been from the press
so far for your latest release?
Amerigo: We are very satisfied on how the
press is reacting to "Digression of Mind". We have had at least a good
70% of reviews far over the average, and the rest are really shocked to
find something new in our music. I think that if every review was good
that would have been a bad sign, showing that we are good musicians but
not very original. Another good thing is that every review liked more one
song or another, showing that we didn' t make just a good song, and the
rest was just to fill the time, and also this shows that we got the target
we had in our mind, that is to speak with our music to all the different
kinds of people and all the different perception they have of life. We
really want to explore any corner of the human soul with our music.
5. Can you tell me some things about the lyrics?
Amerigo: “To Nevermore” is an enraged exortation
to stop whining and start acting. “AmnesiA Part I” instead is a very oniric
reflection on how we are defined by our memories, and how much is hard
for us to keep them... the epilogue of this will be in the next parts of
the song. “Souls In A River” instead talks about predestination, as our
souls are compared to drops that will for sure follow the road of the river.
This is briefly what the songs are about...
6. Do you have any future plans in order to
support it?
Amerigo: Playing everywhere in Europe! We
are a real live band, we give out the best there is, we do everything to
involve the people in our shows, and we are absolutely positive that bands
that are good in the live shows will have a future. It's incredible how
you can "explain" your songs when you are on stage, with the way you move,
with the expressions of your face. Unfortunately you need a good sound
quality that unfortunately you don't always have.
7. How is the metal scene in your country?
Amerigo: We used to say that it was terrible...
but now I think that we have never had such a cool metal scene... I feel
like the volcano is going to erupt! Our underground bands are very good
like Subliminal Crusher, Dysthymia, Neptune, Overfaith, Ciompo Rock, Hyades,
Death Mechanism and many more! I can tell you, I think that Italy will
make a big lap in the next years! The only thing I don't like in our scene
is that it seems that almost all the people that listen to metal also play
an instrument, so at concerts the public instead of going crazy is standing
serious to evaluate your performance... This is bad... we are not playing
classical music (that we really like). This is Heavy metal! Drink and start
banging your head!!!
8. Tell me some details about the artwork?
Amerigo: The artwork is a drawn by Cristiano
Sili, one of the most inspired covers he has ever done... in fact that
sort of maya drawling is printed also on the Cd, to show how well it was
connaturated to our music. There are four faces that show different emotive
states: Rage, Happiness, Fear, and instead of certainty, doubtness, that
represents the amnesia, the subject we asked Cristiano to represent. For
the cover of the alum instead we wanted to represent a distorted view of
reality, so you have a desert in the sky, clouds in front of you etc...
everything going to be confluent in the eclipse, which represents the amnesia.
Also the desert represents To Nevermore, the river Souls in a River, the
clouds Amnesia part I.
9. Thanks a lot for your time. Close the interview
as you want.
Thank you guys for having the patience to
read all this 'till the end! We really are looking forward to coming to
play in you beautiful country, and you can be sure we will do our best
to give you a hell of a show!!!
Antonis Maglaras
|