De Blaise formed at the end of 1988. The first line-up [ Mark I ]
was composed by Paolo Gianfrate (Keyboards & Vocals), Bruno Giordano (Keyboards),
Mauro Bartolozzi (Bass Guitar) Gianni Pierannunzio (Drums) and Fabrizio De Battista (Guitar)
. In early 1989 Fabrizio Gianfrate, Paolo's brother,
replaced Fabrizio De Battista on the guitar. With this line-up[ Mark II ],
the DeBlaise made their debut in private parties and then in young bands festivals.
They were among the founding members of the local musical
association VIBRANIA, operating from 1990. The association was born with the attempt
to put together the forces of the numerous young bands from Civitavecchia in
order to organize concerts and festivals of bigger proportions compared with
the means of every single band. Gianni Pierannunzio, since this period divided
its time between the DeBlaise and the Mistici, another founding group
of Vibrania. The history of the first years of the DeBlaise was strictiy related with
the activities of the association. DeBlaise's music was
influenced by the progressive rock bands of the seventies (Genesis, Yes)
and above all by those of first '80 (Marillion, IQ, Twelfth Night).
In their concerts the DeBlaise began to play, besides their favourite
band's tunes, their own compositions.
The Demo Tape " Equilibrium " (1992) was the first production of the group. This tape was mostly instrumental. The demo was positively reviewed on various fanzines (Arlequins), and magazines (Metal Shock, Flash). Many progressive fans from Italy and foreign countries contacted the DeBlaise to listen to their work. The positive feedback received by the DeBlaise stimulated them to continue on the undertaken way. In late 1992 Fabrizio Gianfrate moved to Verona for job reasons and was forced to leave the band.
In April 1993 Marco Mattei, previously guitarist
in other bands such as Fahrenheit and Black Rose
(to which some year after will land also Gianni Pierannunzio)
joined the DeBlaise. With this line-up [ Mark III ]
the DeBlaise composed new material and begun playing in many clubs
, beside Vibrania's activities.
This period culminated with the participation to Progressive
the Rock Festival in Passoscuro (Rome) in september 1994, where
the DeBlaise exhibited with Arcadelt and Asgard. After
this concert Mauro Bartolozzi left the band.
In the beginning of 1995 the bass payer role was taken by
multi-insrument player Duilio Galioto, keyboardist with the Lilliput
and various other bands. With this line-up [ Mark IV ] the
band organized a recording session in the small studio
equipped in their rehearshal room, to record some
of the covers performed in the live shows.
Bruno Giordano decided to leave the band before the first live show of
this new line-up.
At this point the question was: was it better to replace Bruno Giordano
with a keyboardist or a singer, so that Paolo Gianfrate
could concentrate mainly on the keyboards ?
In the meantime Mark V
(Paolo Gianfrate, Marco Mattei, Duilio Galioto and Gianni Pierannunzio)
begun a set of live concerts whose
positive outcome, joined to the difficulties in the search
of a new member, led to the decision to go on in four.
In the meantime the taste of the band went away from the new
progressive in order to recover a more direct sound.
Remaining in four the guitar acquired a greater weight
and the sound of the group became more rock.
In the end of '95 the DeBlaise published their second
demo tepe " By common consent " that enclosed the best
moments of their last three years. From the first concert of
Mark V the DeBlaise began to insert an acoustic parenthesis in
the middle of their live shows. In 1996 the De Blaise organized
a new recording session at their Mouse House Studios and
recorded three covers (Watcher of the Skies, Whole Lotta Love,
Purple Haze) to give as a complimentary ticket to the clubs
they wanted to play in. During the summer of the same year DeBlaise took part in
Musicammà, a competition among the emerging bands of the
area, conquering the first place. 1997 was another year rich of live
engagements while in '98, for various reasons, the DeBlaise
endured an abrupt stop. Duilio Galioto entered, as a keyboardist,
some bands of the musical panorama of Rome (Mama, Dado
e le pastine in brothers, etc.) while Paolo Gianfrate
dedicated to the composition of original musics for ballets.
In 1999 the DeBlaise started again from the acoustic. They decided to prepare an entire acoustic set in which Duilio Galioto could use his ability in playing different instruments (guitar, bass, reeds, percussions), Marco Mattei could express in assolos his classic vein and the voice of Paolo Gianfrate could acquire greater prominence. For this acoustic set the band it began to experience multiple voices choruses. The members of the band liked this innovation very much and within a year they were able to introduce in their live shows a song for four solo voices. The acoustic songlist earned a good success and the DeBlaise decided to alternate electric and acoustic live shows according to the situations. They started again performing electrical concerts and composing new songs. DeBlaise's password became: versatility. Mark V by now has achieved a very good understanding and is the more long-lived line-up among the DeBlaise's . In this period Marco Mattei began a collaboration with a pop band called Meridiana. We arrive to the recent history made of electrical (Memphis Belle, Rome, nov 1999, Marasma, Grosseto feb 2000) and acoustic (Loco Loco, Civitavecchia, gen 2000, Movimiento Cafe, Tarquinia Lido, feb 2000) concerts and of good intentions to record soon their new compositions.