Interview to.....

Interview by Roberto Guarnieri

An Italian guy in Australia, why?

"My parents emigrated from Friuli in the late 1950s .As i have got older my soul, feelings and heart gravitates more and more to Friuli.I was in Italy last year and retraced my parents heritage .I'm proud to be from such a rich artistic heritage."

I've found your cd very spectacular, with great sound and compositions, how it was produced?

"I spent many exhaustive years trying to work out the best way to produce 'Beyond The Skies Eternity". I thought about using some big name producer and studios in Europe and here. At the end of the day I figured that because of the sheer complexity and textures of my CD (not rock music arrangements) time was the biggest issue and it was me who would get the best results. So I produced it
myself in my studio "Music From Another Planet" slowly using both samples and real life playing. The guitar was an Ibanez RG565 recorded using a POD . I also played some guitar synth which was then edited using Logic Audio. The whole Cd was mixed by me using Logic Audio. The samples where the best samples on the planet. Both a real and sampled drum sound was used. Some pieces have up to 60 different instruments"

Tell me something about your studies

"I did a Bachelor of Music at Latrobe University In Melbourne majoring in composition. It was during this course that I was introduced to my now greatest passions in life : Russian and Italian orchestral music.Angry aggresive stuff. There is so much to learn from it. Those guys where geniunes.With my studies I wanted to incorporate my studies of diatonic harmony into music that i do. .I
have many ideas for the future."

How was born your love for the neo-classical style?

"When i was a kid at school i always wanted to listen to different music than everyone else. Anything commercial and pop annoyed me.Aside classical music I obviously heard people like Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore etc . I found it intruiging . I did however want to stay away for the shred thing despite the fact I loved to play ambitiously on the guitar. A lot of what happened in the
80s was productive in a guitar sense but anti productive in the compostional sense. Really I have a whole issue when using the word "neoclassical and progressive etc" After all when you hear Shostakovich or Brahms we arent progressive at all are we."

Guitar parts are not so important for the beauty of your compositions.

"Thats right and enhances what I just said. My aim was for people to have a reaction to my CD negative or positive. I wanted to reach the soul of the listener.The guitar is just a part of the texture . I wanted it to have its place and when it appeared to scream out. I dont have much type for people who compose static pieces with an excuse to do guitar aerobics all over it. I could
do 10 CDs a week of that stuff."

Which kind of effects do you have used for your cd)

"Well i would need 10 pages to tell you what I did on each part. I mainly used plugins in logic. As for the guitar well I set up my own guitar sound in the POD then played with it in Logic . I have used every effect in the book on my CD.The biggest challenge I had was giving my layered arrangements space so that you could hear each instrument clearly. When i took my mixes from my studio into the mastering studio the guy there couldnt believe how clear everything was. It was because I spent a long time mixing it. I dont think any human ear can mix a layered work like mine in 1 week. It needs time "

What do you know about an italian band called Rhapsody?

"Yeah I know about them .One of my guitar students asked me to transcribe some of there work. I found some of there stuff OK. Carmina Burana meets Yngwie . Good luck to them"

What do you think about Jens Johansson and Vitali Kuprij?

"A lot of people have told me that some of my guitar synth sounds remind them of Vitali.The honest truth is I had never heard of him until some radio station here in melbourne asked me.But now that I have heard some of his music i would say the lead sound is reminiscent of him in the same wicked way .I was inspired to create that lead sound and that style of playing after i heard what Steve Tavaglione was doing with it on teh Electric Woodwind Instrument. I heard he's from Ukraine a great part of the world when it comes to artistic heritage. You can tell he is a classical prodigy on piano As far Jens goes. Well its funny you ask. he was initially going to play on my CD. But the sending of audio files between Australia and Sweden didnt really appeal to me. Of course he is great . Hope he hears my CD he was curious about it.

How much time have you passed for the realization of your work?

"Well the piece "Beyond The Skies Eternity' was written 7 years ago on guitar. Then it was reworked into an orchestral piece. Everything elese evolved from then . Some pieces like "MIR" and "Cathedral" came in only recently."

Your difficulties for reproduce the same compositions in a live way.

"Naturally my biggest problem. I would dream of playing with a full orchestra and choir with me. Economically and logically impossible. there are so many parts i would have to sacrifice in order to provide the same sound. Even if i had 3 keyboardist and a drumer triggering samples I wouldnt pull it off. remember my CD isnt a rock work its an orchestral metal work I am more of a fan of the cinematic lord of the rings type music than the rawness of a rock band these days. If you heard what Im doing now you would point straight at Lord of the Rings. Im getting more and more into classical and orchestral arrangements."

I think that Ivan Bertolla is the most important italian artist who plays instrumental metal, it's impossible to see you in Roma?

"Well thats one hell of a compliment. If my CD took off and was sustainable sure I would be on the 1st plane there. At this point it is impossible but I have some exciting future projects maybe you can help me hire out the Rome Philarmonic Orchestra."

The ultimate question: your favourite guitar-player and keyboard-player.

"Gary Moore. His early records made me pick up guitar. And Alan Holdsworth because anyone who is unclonable in my eyes is unique. Of course there are many others. keyboard players well a guy called Alan Zavod who used to play with Frank Zappa and is now a music professor blows me away ."