ELECTROME[N]TAL SYNTHESIS

Neon : Synthesis

Neon:Synthesis is a new band orignating from Italy and has the potential to shake the waters with their unconventional and original music. They have certainly managed to arise my interest! So, here we have two of the band members, Seth and Thyper talking about all kinds of stuff around the band and not only... Check them out!

1.CONGRATULATIONS FOR "PROMO 004"!

[seth] Thank you for your review, obviously it's always a great thing to receive positive comments.

2.FIRST OF ALL, POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY AND INTRODUCE YOURSELVES TO THE READERS.

[seth] Neon:synthesis is an Italian band who plays a sort of industrial metal full of gothic, dark, EBM and techno influences. It's a young band, created on april 2004. Last July we recorded a promo cd with 3 tracks, and since then we'have played live to promote it. Now we're composing some new songs for a cd that will be probably released next spring.

3.WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO OUR READERS, IF I ASKED YOU TO PRESENT THE ALBUM YOURSELVES? WHICH WORDS WOULD YOU USE?

[thyper] I would say that our promo takes life from the analysis of man and the shadows that live inside him.

4.GIVE US SOME INFO REGARDING THE RECORDING SESSIONS. THE PRODUCTION IS GOOD, BUT A BIT DULL! ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FINAL RESULT OR IS THERE ANYTHING YOU 'D LIKE TO CHANGE?

[thyper] I can only say that our next cd will have a better sound quality. Anyways I'm quite satisfied with our first promo cd.

[seth] It is a homemade recording, a friend of us helped with it. He owns semi-professional instruments and he's very skillful. It was our first try, so it's normal the sound quality not to be perfect, but I'm not fully satisfied. Perfection is just a word, you can never reach it, but I'll try to get as close as I can with our future works. I think we have to work on the guitar's sound above all.

5.YOU HAVE MANAGED TO CREATE AN ORIGINAL AND SPECIAL SOUND, HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE THIS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THAT IT'S HARD TO HAVE A UNIQUE SOUND NOWADAYS? WHY DO YOU THINK SOME BANDS CAN OTHERS CAN'T CREATE A SOUND THAT BEARS THEIR PERSONAL STAMP?

[thyper] First I'd like to thank you for your statement. In my opinion it's not so hard to carry out an original sound because it's a continuing satisfaction. We have received lots of entusiasthic comments, but I also know there are many oppositors. I'm not worried because they are a spur to continue on our way. I think every band could create its own sound, but often this doesn't happen because they are attached to genres and definitions written by someone else.

6.COULD YOU POINT OUT SOME OF YOUR MOST BELOVED BANDS AND ALBUMS? WHICH ARE THE MUSICIANS THAT "CARVED" YOUR MUSICAL IDENTITY?

[thyper] I have always been a big fan of black and gothic metal (Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Tristania, Satyricon, Marduk). I also love other genres, in particular 80's dark, wave and synthpop (The Cure, Depeche Mode, and so on...).

[seth] As a band we love lots of different genres, like metal (especially black, death, gothic, industrial), electronic and industrial, even rock and blues. Each band member has various musical influences, so sometimes it's hard for us to find a common line to follow in our music. Personally I don't like metal very much, I prefer electronic music (EBM, futurepop, hardhouse, psytrance and progressive). I also am a great fan of baroque and classical. Nothing can be compared to classical music, in my opinion.

7.YOU HAVE A FUTURISTIC, GOTHIC, PSYCHO AND A BIT DECADANCED IMAGE. WHY? ARE YOU PESSIMISTSOR DO YOU THINK THAT HUMANITY HEADS TOWARDS AN INEVITABLE DESTINATION?

[thyper] I don't see myself as a pessimist, I only see man in strife with powers greater than him. he has to carry stress, frustration, anguish... Family is subdued by work because it's money that makes everything move, this creates uneasiness and psychological disquietness, but I also think that man could find "light" or serenity if he really wants to.

8.BY THE WAY HOW IMPORTANT IS IMAGE FOR YOU? DOES EACH OF YOU HAVE AN ATTITUDE AND OUTFIT THAT STANDS FOR SOMETHING IN SPECIFIC?

[thyper] Image is important to leave a trace into the audience. Personally I try to interact with the audience, I want them to participate and be urestrained.

[seth] Image is everything, it often counts more than the musical aspect. We try to take care of our look and we're also trying to delete the differences in our personal outfits, to obtain a sort of a uniform.

9.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY FOR YOU? CAN YOU TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT EACH SONG?

[thyper] Our lyrics talk about themes related to man, human psyche and its fears... The song I wrote, "Solitude And Fear", tells about a human being, man or woman, who explains his/her suicide using thoughts and images.

[seth] We don't have a unique lyrical composer, everyone can write his own lyrics if he feels he has something to say. Speaking for myself, my songs are autobiographic, they refer to emotions or states of mind I was feeling while writing. For example "The Prophet" refers to the creation of a parallel identity, a mask for the world, while we hide our true nature because we feel scared of living. "Rays Of Mind", our third song, has been written by our drummer Vyrarld and tells about the strife of man against his sense of impotence and his weakness, his desire to reach higher goals and the unavoidable failure of his attempts.

10.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO INVITE FAMOUS MUSICIANS TO PARTICIPATE IN YOUR DEMO, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?

[thyper] I'd like to invite Dani Filth to record some vocal tracks without effects, to see what the result may be. I'd also like to congratulate him for his beautiful and inspired lyrics.

11.WHICH IS, ACCORDING TO YOU THE BEST AND WHICH THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC? WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR TRADEMARK?

[seth] We've been playing together for a few months, so I think we're still quite immature. We have to grow up as composers and arrangers, sometimes the songs are a little expected in some parts. The synthesizers are surely our trademark, they are everywhere and create a cold atmosphere. While the other instrumental parts are quite basic, the synths are more elaborate, they are the real soul of the song.

12.HAVE YOU SENT THE PROMO CD TO ANY LABELS? WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK DID YOU RECEIVE THIS FAR FROM LABELS, FANS AND REVIEWERS? ARE YOU SATISFIED?

[thyper] We've not sent the promo to labels yet, we wait for a more complete work. Our fans appreciate our style and they gave us a great feedback during our live performances, and the reviewers seemed to appreciate it too, we've obtained satisfying results.

13.WHAT REVIEW MANAGED TO PRESENT YOUR MUSIC THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY AND WHAT WAS THE WORST? PLEASE MENTION THE SPECIFIC PHRASES THEY USED. WHAT STATEMENT WAS THE MOST FLATTERING FOR YOU?

[thyper] In my opinion the italian webzine haternal.com has described the promo in the best way, saying: the lyrics are inspired and unconventional, and the five musicians are great songwriters. I have nothing to add and sincerely I can't compare them to more famous bands. This implies uncommon maturity and originality. I think the reviewer from noizeitalia.net did not understand our work... he said: sometimes it looks like the stucture of the songs are too filled (too much stuff!). They are too charged, while if they were more simple they could be more effective.

14.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?

[thyper] If it was a painting it would show an industrial dancefloor with baroque elements and lots of people dancing and melting in the dark atmosphere, a joyous black sea.

[seth] When I listen to our songs I feel powerful and proud... The painting should be made with cold colors, mostly white and blue I think, and represent a sense of vacuum, like an empty room... and there could be a window too, a chance to escape.

15.WHICH ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS? WILL YOU PERFORM LIVE? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE A TYPICAL NEON:SYNTHESIS LIVE SHOW?

[thyper] for the future I hope we'll get a contract, possibly with a well known record label. It's sure we'll continue playing live to bring emotions and enthusiasm... a typical neon concert is full of lively and crazy people who move, scream and suddenly jump on stage... it's a sensual and at the same time aggressive rhythm.

[seth] We've already performed live, and people seemed to appreciate us. We try to interact with them, make them participate and not only stand up in front of us. At present we're improving our stage appearence, we're studying a new and more impressive scenography.

16.IF TIME TRAVEL WAS POSSIBLE, WHICH PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?

[thyper] I'd like to be a noble in a XVIII century French court to live in luxury and see the cultural transgression of that time.

17.YOU ARE GRANTED ONE WISH. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH IT?

[thyper] I would give neonsynthesis the chance to have success.

18.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION? LEAVE YOUR MESSAGE...

[thyper] thank you for letting us describe the neon:synthesis project (visit our site www.neonsynthesis.com), I hope one day we'll meet in the wonderful Greek landscape for a live concert... I'd like to leave you quoting a sentence by the great oscar wilde: ""we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

Christine Parastatidou

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