KINGCROW
Kingcrow managed to create
and unfold a beautiful science fiction story that is based upon the human
behavior and sentiments. A great concept that is backed up by beautiful
music. Need I say more? Get "Insider" and check out the following interview
with the band's singer Mauro.
1.HELLO! NOW THAT YOU RLEASED "INSIDER"
AND YOU'VE LISTENED TO YOUR WORK COMPLETED, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? ARE
YOU 100% SATISFIED OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHANGE SOMETHING?
Well... I think who says is 100%
statisfied and would not change anything is a lier, and he's not an artist,
a progressive artist. We have to grow up, musically I mean. And the only
way to do that is to analize what you have done. Many says that their job
has come out exactly as they wanted, maybe because they want to sell one
more copy... But Kingcrow are not like this. We know that many thing could
have been different. I don't know if it would be better or not, but different.
It's important to take conscience of this kind of things.
2.THE CONCEPT OF "INSIDER" IS REALLY
CLEVER AND VERY EMOTIONAL AND DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT IS A SCIENCE FICTION
STORY, IT HAS A VERT REALISTIC AND SOCIAL CHARACTER. IT TALKS ABOUT HUMAN
EMOTIONS. I'D LIKE YOU TO GIVE US A FEW HINTS ABOUT THE PLOT AND TELL US
WHICH SITUATIONS INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS CONCEPT.
First of all I thank you very much,
and I'll confess that everyone who read it got very involved. To be sincere,
everything started one night, after many beers, when I and Diego (guitar)
were talking about the album: "a concept one, could it go?". Maybe it was
the beer, but we were immediately involved... He thought about the sci-fi
side, while I got busy with the dramatic and emotional one. Some hints
could be what friendship means and what it becomes when it meets with the
money and the power... What the right and wrong concepts represent today...
3.I READ IN YOUR BIO THAT BEFORE "INSIDER"
YOU HAVE ALSO RELEASED A DEBUT ALBUM UNDER THE TITLE "SOMETHING UNKNOWN".
WAS THIS OFFICIAL RELEASE OF YOURS SELF FINANCED? WHICH ARE THE SIMILARITIES
AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE 2 ALBUMS?
It was officially released from
Videoradio, an Italian label. Many things are changed, starting with...
the singer! Yes, I didn't sing on the first album! There was Stefano Tissi,
good friend of mine and of Kingcrow, of course, right now too. We became
more progressive, and I pushed to insert some personal preferences, such
as Savatage, Rush and Queensryche, well acclaimed by the rest of the band.
If you hear some aor / hard rock influences, well, it's me too... :) Diego
(the main composer) has changed a bit his approach to the music, he grew
much in these years, and also thanks to the technical improvements made
by Thundra (drum), we were able to play everything we wanted. We made many
experiments before starting to record "Insider", and the top of those experiments
is recorded on a demo (June 2003) called "Matzmariels", from which "Lies"
was included on the album.
4.IT IS OBVIOUS AND YOU DON'T TRY TO
HIDE THAT YOU ARE INFLUENCED BY SOME GREAT MONSTERS OF HARD ROCK/HEAVY
METAL, LIKE RUSH, QUEENSRYCHE AND SAVATAGE. HOW EASY OR DIFFICULT IS IT
TO CREATE A SOUND SIMILAR TO THESE BANDS AND YET NOT COPY THEM? ARE YOU
AFRAID OF THE COMPARISON AMONG YOUR SOUND AND THEIRS?
I told you before, we don't need
to hide this. We're not afraid, because the comparison is not negative,
we don't do what many others do. They cut and paste from other bands (I
will not mention names, but who said Dream Theater?) losing the original
taste... The atmosphere... THAT is what matters! Not the technical skill,
the difficulty of the songs... Shit...
5.THROUGHOUT THE YEARS OF YOUR EXISTENCE
MANY LINE UP CHANGES HAVE OCCURRED WITHIN THE BAND. WERE THOSE CHANGES
HELPFUL OR WERE THEY OBSTACLES FOR THE BAND'S CAREER? WHAT DID YOU LOSE
FROM THE ONES THAT LEFT AND WHAT DID YOU EARN FROM THE NEWCOMERS?
I'm the last that arrived, so I
can't tell you much, but in my ex band, WindSeeker (now dismissed), many
line up changes occurred too, and obviously they make the work going more
slowly, but often they are needed...
6.THIS QUESTION IS FOR YOUR SINGER
MAURO: IN 2001, WHEN WE STARTED THIS WEBZINE I REMEMBER I DID AN INTERVIEW
WITH A HEAVY METAL BANDS FROM ITALY CALLED WINDSEEKER. SO, I WANT TO LEARN
WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS BAND AND IF THEY HAVE RELEASED ANYTHING?
Here I am. We released two demos,
the last of them is "By The Seed Of The Same God", released last summer.
It got many good reviews, but in the band there were too many musical disagreements.
I am more melodic, while the other main man (a guitarist again!!!) is more
extreme... So we dismissed a few weeks ago. Now I'm fully busy with Kingcrow,
while the rest of WindSeeker formed "I Suffer Inc.", after having contacted
a vocalist from the metal-core scene. They will play technical and melodic
death metal core. I wished them all the best, but that was not my way.
7.THE COVER ARTWORK IS VERY DARK AND
BEAUTIFUL. SOMEHOW IT REPRESENTS THE AGONY AND DESPAIR OF THE CHARACTERS
THAT PLAY THE MAIN ROLES IN YOUR CONCEPT STORY. WHO IS THE CREATOR OF IT
AND WHO IS EXACTLY THE PERSON THAT WE SEE BEING IN SUCH DESPAIR?
The creator is a guy from Rome,
we met thanks to a common friend and we worked together to obtain the best
from his paintings. The character in the cover is Jason, the protagonist,
in a strength-jacket (read the story to understand!!!) and oppressed by
everything: the town, the society, even the moon...
8.FROM THE CONCEPT STORY I BELIEVE
THAT YOU LIKE SCIENCE FICTION A LOT. SO, PLEASE TELL ME WHICH ARE YOUR
FAVORITE MOVIES, BOOKS AND WRITERS. DO YOU THINK THAT SCEINCE FICTION HELPS
YOU ONLY TO ESCAPE REALITY, LIKE MANY OTHER THINGS DO, OR DOES IT HELP
YOU TO CONFRONT REALITY AND MAKE YOU THINK SOME MORE ABOUT IT?
Personally, I like sci-fi as everything
that intrigues me... I prefer classic sci-fi such as Star Wars or Star
Trek and I love films where human passions are protagonists, such as Blade
Runner or 2001: A space odissey, which are closer to our concept, I think...
9.CONCEPT ALBUMS MANY TIMES HAVE THE
DISADVANTAGE THAT YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE WHOLE ALBUM AND NOT SOME SPECIFIC
SONGS, SOMETHING THAT HAS AS A RSULT THE FANS NOT TO LISTEN TO THEM THAT
OFTEN. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ABOUT YOUR WORK? HAVE YOU MANAGED TO MAKE THE
SONGS UNITS THAT CAN BE HEARD SEPERATELY AND NOT ONLY A CONCEPT?
With "Insider" you have both things:
if you want, you can listen to one single song, because its refrain is
catchy... we made it so that all tracks can stand-alone. But if you
want to understand the story, you can't "jump" and you must listen up to
the very last second of the CD... I will not reveal more...:)
10.DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS ALBUM WILL
HELP YOU SPREAD YOUR WINGS ABORAD AS WELL AND PERHAPS PLAY IN A BIG SUMMER
FESTIVAL IN EUROPE OR YOU DON'T CARE THAT MUCH ABOUT IT? DO YOU THINK THAT
YOUR LABEL CONSYTECH LIMITED CAN HELP YOU ON THIS?
We hope so... and we're moving
for this but I can't tell you more. Consytech Ltd has made a great effort
for us, and we can't thank them enough. I am in the metal scene from many
years and I didn't think that an old-type-label could still exist.
11.WHICH IS, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE
BEST AND WHICH THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC? WHICH IS YOUR TRADEMARK?
The best is that we have no limits:
our sound is unconfusable, but at the same time we don't have to respect
any cliches, such as power metal bands or black metal... We play exactly
what we like and if tomorrow we'll want to change, we will and our music
will still remain uncofusably ours. The worst part? I can't see anything
wrong in this mentality.
12.ARE YOU SATISIFED BY THE FEEDBACK
YOU GOT THIS FAR? IS THERE A COMMON STATEMENT YOU READ IN ALMOST ALL THE
REVIEWS YOU RECEIVE?
It's a fault of mine, but I'm never
satisfied... I always want more... "Insider" got a great feedback and all
the reviews by now are excellent. I hope to play along with some great
acts in the future, so we have to work hard...
13.WHICH IMPORTANT PERSONALITY (DEAD
OR ALIVE) WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK HIM?
I'd like to meet Geddy Lee to ask
him "Geddy, can I suck your dick?" :)
14.WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW
TO HAVE?
15.THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING MORE
YOU'D LIKE TO ADD? LEAVE YOUR MESSAGE...
If you like the melodic metal,
if you like the TRUE prog, if you like Savatage, Queensryche of Operation:Mindcrime
or Rush, get "Insider" NOW, you will not be disappointed!
Nick "William_Kidd"
Parastatidis
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