SIGMA
Well there is a rumour
in the metal scene that the drummers are the best personalities in comparison
with other musicians that play in heavy metal bands. Andrew , the drummer
of SIGMA with this interview confirmed this rumour. I got the fealing by
reading this interview that he is a guy with whom can easily become a friend.
As for his band, SIGMA? Those that you like quality european power meta,.
you have to check them out... Andrew hope to see you soon for a live show
here in Greece....
1. HELLO AND SORRY FOR MY FIRST
STUPID QUESTION BUT I’D LIKE TO KNOW WHERE ARE YOU FROM, SINCE I COULDN’T
FIGURE OUT FROM THE BIO.
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Hi to you and to everybody, I’m Andrew
Sigma’s drummer. As you said in your review, yes Nick, we are from Milan,
Italy.
2. NOW, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO TELL ME
WHAT YOU THINK FOR “WIN OR LOSE”. DO YOU STILL LIKE IT AND LISTEN TO IT
OR NOT? PLEASE TRY TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS YOU CAN THOUGH I KNOW THIS IS
DIFFICULT.
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I have to say that we are really proud
of the album that for us was a concentration of our energies. If I have
to be honest, the first months after we had finished it, I didn’t listen
to it just cause, it was me that followed all the mixing session, and,
after 4 months in the studio, I was full and bored, so I didn’t listen
to it too much, but being honest, I have also to say that when I received
the final version of the album I put it on my cd player for some weeks.
I really love this album and I would like the listeners and the fans to
keep not only the “power metal” attitude, but also all the job we have
done for the atmosphere and concepts inside this “journey” on the album.
3. THE “WIN OR LOSE” ALBUM IS CONCEPT
AND BASED ON AN ITALIAN NOVEL “I PROMESSI SPOSI”. I HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK,
SO CAN YOU TELL US IN A FEW WORDS THE BOOK’S STORY AND PRESENT US THE CHARACTERS?
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Well, it’s not easy to explain 875
pages of story, but I will try ! Fondamentally it’s a troubled love story
between a guy (Renzo – ARIA OF VENDETTA) and a girl (Lucia - S.o.S.) who
wonders where is Renzo and how their love goes during the time she is in
a convent as guest, escaping from Don rodrigo, here (in the convent) we
can find a sister soul that chose to become a sister or else her family
would make her marry a man she didn’t love (LADY OF THE TEMPEST). Then
there is the classic bad character that doesn’t want them to love each
other and he doesn’t want them to get married. (Don Rodrigo – The mighty
master of the town – WIN OR LOSE). There is a priest (Don Abbondio – TEARS)
walking in the dawn, near the shores of the lake, he is going to see the
master of the castle (THE LAKE), and he doesn’t know if he has to follow
his master’s will (God) and help Renzo and Lucia get married or the will
of the chief of the town (Don Rodrigo). There is also the mother’s
love for Lucia (Agnese – I LIVE IF YOU) in a conversation with her daughter.
“L’innominato” (THE BLIND MAN) is a song dedicated to a character who converts
his bad and bloody soul in a man able to be next to God in a new life style.
Also Fra’ Cristoforo is another priest who before becoming a priest has
killed a man for pride, and the only salvation except to die was to close
himself in a church as a person who has to renounce his past life, but
this way, at the end, he finds his right place and quite state in religion
lifestyle.(PRIDE & FORGIVENESS). We have the first soldier and friend
of Don Rodrigo (Griso – EAGLE’S DEN), who at the end understands what’s
happened and leaves the castle and lets Don Rodrigo alone. But the album
doesn’t care just for the story, but also for the historical period, so
you can find some songs speacking about “the plague” (the great disease
we had in Europe back then – NEW BRAVE WORLD). Then other situations like
the poor people in that period that had to fight, kill, and maybe also
die for a piece of bread (THE BREAD AND THE IRON). The happy final song
is a composition that explains at the end that they marry each other like
in a fairy tale (BETROTHED). It was hard but finally I did! ?
1. YOUR MUSIC CAN BE DESCRIBED AS EUROPEAN
POWER METAL INFLUENCED BY BANDS LIKE ANGRA, RHAPSODY AND HELLOWEEN. DO
YOU AGREE? WHICH OTHER BANDS INFLUENCED YOUR STYLE?
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Yes and no! I mean yes cause obviously
we come out from the 80’s metal bands like Maiden, Helloween, Scorpions,
Dokken, Except, Ozzy and so on, but we also keep attention to the great
works the other recent bands have done, as Angra (that I really love in
the Holy period) and Stratovarious (that I like in the Visio one). No,
cause we always try to put some feelings and emotions in more than technical
execution or progressive just to show how good we are, cause we are not
so gorgeous and technical, but we try to mix together a lot of things in
order to give more importance to melodies and feelings. Regarding other
influences, you have to think that before Sigma we played as a Hard Rock
band called Love Machine, we did 4 albums, and I think that in Win or Lose,
the “affettionados” can find some hard rock stuff.
4. SIGMA, THE BAND’S NAME IS A GREEK
WORD AND IN SPECIFIC I THE NAME OF A GREEK LETTER (S). HOW DID YOU CHOOSE
AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
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Yes, but I don’t want to teach anything
to you, I am kidding! I mean that we found a tale that said this ” An ancient
legend says that, in a wild night, a man carved the SIGMA symbol, seen
in a dream, on a rock. The morning after was a beautiful day and the sun
lit up the symbol, which, slowly, started turning into different colors
and suddenly vanished. People believed the mysterious transformation and
disappearance of the symbol was a work of Zeus. Since that day, the symbol
has had a magic meaning of power and fantasy.” So we liked that and we
used it for the name of the band. We always thought that power and fantasy
were the distinguishing marks of SIGMA even if we didn’t discover the hot
water.
5. S.O.S.” IS AN ABBA COVER SONG. HOW
DID YOU DECIDED TO COVER A DISCO SONG AND NOT A HARD/ROCK METAL ONE AND
HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO MAKE IT FIT WITH THE REST OF THE SONGS AND THE ALBUM’S
ATMOSPHERE?
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So, S.o.S. is a song that gave us the
feelling that we needed to use it like Lucia is speaking, asking about
the love she has for Renzo, while in the book they are separate. So we
try to arrange the song in a metal way but without really changing the
structure and its dynamics, cause it was just near what we were searching
for. In the first Sigma album we can find at the end the cover of Maniac,
the soundtrak of Flashdance (the movie) but it is at the end, and it is
just a “cover”, but S.o.S. is different, ok, it’s a cover, but we put it
inside the album with its meaning and with the right sense in the story.
That’s all!
6. WHAT MORE DO SIGMA HAVE TO OFFER
TO A FAN IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER BANDS OF THE SAME STYLE?
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Ahhhh, I don’t like to do comparisons
between artists, but if a fan has to choose Sigma it’s because we are “true”.
I mean that we play in order to communicate, we play cause we love it,
we play live cause we really want to have the contact with the fans, the
businnes part is just a part. If you and all the readers will come to our
concert, you won’t find a perfect band that plays in a perfect way just
for doing the copy of the album. No we are musicians, we are humans, we
want to play for fun, our fun, fan’s fun. Our concerts are always like
a party, where the band and the people share the same thing. So, my only
guess to the metal kids is try Sigma and try to understand that there are
not only the bigger ones but also other bands like us that would like to
have the possibility to grow up and be always better.
7. WHICH SONG WOULD YOU DEDICATE TO
THE WOMAN OF YOUR DREAMS?
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If you refer to one of our songs, then
it would be “The Lake”. If you refer in general, it’s a difficult choice!
May I have some more possibilities? Still loving you (Scorpions) Mr Crowley
(Ozzy) The power of love (F.goes to Hollywood) and...I could be able to
go on like that for 50 pages... ?
8. IF YOU COULD TRAVEL BACK IN TIME
WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY?
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1600/1700 at the court of the Luis
XIV, Versaille, France. (Obviously in his graces) Why??? Cause of the free
wine, free parties, free love, free experimentations...
9. A WORLD WITHOUT MUSIC. CAN YOU IMAGINE
SOMETHING LIKE THAT? WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN SUCH A CASE?
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It means that each one is voiceless,
hearless, cause music comes out of the sonar wave and the next human studies
and experimentations brought us the “Music”, so I can’t immagine that!
In that case, maybe I’d be a “Gigolò”... ?
10. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE
SHOWS? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING TO DO NEXT?
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We are planning a European tour in
March and April with a Switzerland management company while we are preparing
the new material for the next album. Surely we will inform you for the
dates of the tour.
11. IF YOU WERE A FLY, WHERE WOULD
YOU LIKE TO BE?
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In Jamayca!!! ? Not for long,
but for the “right time” (You know what I mean, man!!!)
12. IS THERE A MOVIE YOU’D LIKE TO
TAKE PART IN OR COMPOSE ITS SOUNDTRACK?
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As actor I would like to be inside
“THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW” but I won’t tell you “who” I would like
to be ...?, As a musician or band, I would like to be able to realise the
whole soundtrack/coreography/direction of Win or Lose theater representation,
(just like a musical comedy) but with a real 40 piece orchestra.
13. WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK/COMIC
HERO AND WHY?
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I love Charles Bukowski, Umberto Eco,
Beaudelaire, ecc... clearly Alessandro Manzoni. Best book, “Dr J. and Mr.
Hide” ...why? Cause each one of us has 2 faces! The outside one, for all,
and the inside one just for ourselves!
14. THANK YOU! THESE LINES ARE YOURS…
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Thanks to you and all the readers.
Thanx for your great support. Frank (the solos guitar player) wants to
thank you for the compliments he received directly on your review. (“Nick,
great man...thanx a lot” he said) To all the readers... rock on and see
you on the road of the W.o.L. European Tour ’04. Andrew.
NIKOS "William_Kidd" Parastatidis
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