Prog
metal; some understand it and some abhor it. But for those of
us who actually consider it music, we are the lucky ones! And
Italy's ASTARTE SYRIACA, have just added their
name to the lucky list. A band with a vision to create beautiful,
captivating art. And they have done this with their self-titled,
self-released demo. I had the chance to chat with the bands
guitarist, Andy. Now that they are out there, hopefully they
will venture out of their home in Rome and tour sometime. But
for now, let’s just get onto the interview!
Ashley: First
off, I would like to say hello and good job on your demo! I
hope to see more of you in the future!
Andrea: Hello Ashley, I hope it too. We’re trying
to climb the wall of music business!!!
Ashley: Your
new demo was very well produced, where did you go to record
this? How long did it take?
Andrea: Thank you very much. We produced it in Rome
at 16th Cellar Studios. The sound engineer was Stefano Morabito
who produced also Theatres Des Vampires. It took 1 week to record
instruments and vocal sessions. Then 2 days for the mixdown.
We worked a lot in studio before the beginning of recording
session.
Ashley: Italy is not very known for their metal music,
where do you draw your inspiration from? And how did all of
you meet/get together?
Andrea: As musician I try to draw my inspiration from
everything’s surrounding me, so I listen a lot of music,
different kind of music: classical, jazz, ethnic etc…
Anyway, I think that playing Metal Prog is like joining several
styles and mixing them together to create something new and
different from each other music. I don’t know if we reached
the purpose, but we’re trying to do it.
Ashley: What does your name mean/stand for?
Andrea: ASTARTE SYRIACA is the title
of a picture by Dante Gabriel Rossetti an English pre-Raphaelite
painter of the second half of ‘800. With this picture
he wanted to describe the four obsessions of the artist: love,
legend, art and religion.
The subject of the paint is the Venus Astarte who represents
the goddess of fertility, war and love.
Our singer was in love with this paint and than we decided to
use its name as the moniker of our band.
Ashley: What are your plans for touring? Any new albums
planned for the future?
Andrea: We hope to reach the ears of someone who’s
working in a Record Label or as a tour manager. We want to play
out if Italy because we think we will have more possibilities.
If doesn’t happen in the next future we will produce another
promo with our new songs and than we will try again. It needs
a lot of patience.
Ashley: To you, who are some of the best bands around
right now?
Andrea: I think Pain Of Salvation, Symphony X, Dream
Theater, Angra, Ayreon, Threshold…
Ashley: How would you describe ASTARTE SYRIACA to someone
who has never listened to this type music before?
Andrea: Close your eyes and dream. Let the waves of
sound flow around your head with the melody of the voice and
the power of the rhythm.
Ashley: What are some of your musical inspirations?
Andrea: Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, Bach, Mozart. Now
I’m hearing a lot of songs by Goran Bregovic
Ashley: What are some of your favourite pastimes? In
other words, what do you do for fun?
Andrea: I have a passion for martial arts (Karate)
and I like to play tennis.
Ashley: How would you describe ASTARTE SYRIACA? Musically,
lyrically … etc.
Andrea: A metal project with narrative lyrics and a
lot of melodies. There are a lot of influences, but to understand
them you need to listen to our music more than one time.
Ashley: In closing, I would like to say good luck with
ASTARTE SYRIACA and is there anything you would like to say
to your fans out there?
Andrea: Tell about us and spread our music in your
country making a lot of copies of our promo
Ashley: Thanks for your time and I hope to hear from
all of you soon!
Andrea: Thank you for the interview. Bye
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