Hey, thanks for having me. Magic Madness Sadness is a 30ish minutes instrumental EP that lingers between metal, prog rock, chiptune and fusion. The songs are from different times in my life, some from 8 years ago and some written just before recording. The structure and the composition is free, I only care about telling a story using music. i don't know what story and I don't decide it while writing,
but there definitely is one. i think that i am improving in the quality of recording and of the finished object, but i still have a long way to go before having something that matches what i would like to have. it is kind of a clichè having the author being eternally unsatisfied with his creations but the real world unfortunately is not the world of ideas, and compromise is the enemy of art, but the friend of actually published art.
How would you describe your sound?
I think that my sound is a mixture of modern metal and 90s videogame music and fusion, with some prog rock inserts. I like that I have been described as "Frank Zappa meets death metal". still, i have a long way before actually deserving that title, my music is still kinda repetitive and unrefined, but maybe that's how it wants to be, and I don't really decide what to write anyway.
What do you write about?
My lyrics are mostly about Taoism, Buddhism and The city of the sun, but next EP I would like to talk about consciousness and what to do with it. still, i think that the text is secondary in my compositions, the music is the focus, i just wanted to also have some kind of didactic aspect in the aestetic experience. man do I sound self important ahah. i am human as well, i have done and still do many stupid things, we try to get better. hope towards getting better is also a theme i would like to explore.
What do you listen to when you are home?
mmm lately i have been playing a lot of Victoria 3 and while i play i listen to all the new prog death releases on YouTube, but also electronic music (Psytrance,Future bass/Funk etc etc), fusion and sometimes Touhou or Undertale OSTs. this year i listened for the first time to Megadeth discography in its entirety, what can i say, i liked it a lot. i really like the rite of spring.
Your favourite live performance so far?
The G3 with Steve Vai, Steve Morse and Satriani in italy, i don't remember the year or city, i remember i had a lot of fun because i was young and went with a lot of friends and teachers from the music school. also, Where the wild things are (haven't been there live but i watched the dvd a lot of times).
Tell us a funny story that happened in studio or on stage.
The really funny things unfortunately cannot be told ahah, but there are some videos of the recording process of the old Folk Metal Jacket (my previous band) CDs, and while they are in italian some of the humor i think is universal. mmm also, working with me means at some point receiving a box full of italian food, fact that i think can qualify as at least humorous for adhering to the stereotype.
Your favourite albums?
Very hard to say, Symbolic and Sound of Perseverance, Traced in air, Close to the edge, Tales of the Sleepless Empire, Perdition City, Hands Cannot Erase, Deliverance, i can't pick a favourite Opeth album, maybe Blackwater Park?. i really like The Mountain, and when i was little I loved Octavarium and A Change of Seasons. Anything that Steve Vai or Zappa wrote.
A musician you would like to meet for a beer?
mmm Leonardo Da Vinci qualifies but it would not be for his musical talents ahah, i think i would say Stravinskij or Skrjabin, or Vivaldi would be cool. Paganini as well for the Marfan brotherhood and for the virtuosity. Modern one Zappa, Vai, Masvidal or Steven Wilson. Dan Swano would be also in the list but for a more technical beer discussion ahah
What would you ask for backstage, if you were the most important band on earth?
66-67 euros (this is only funny in Italy). more seriously, like a real wood oven and a pizza cook (not even joking), a luthier, a doctor and a pack of Old Holborn White.
What are your plans for the near future?
I want to learn German and reach a better fluency in spanish, find a job i like and more students to teach guitar and bass to, maybe go meet my Grandma in Sicily and my cousin in Germany. musically speaking i am already working on the next album, that could be called "Brain Food" but i haven't decided yet. it will be 6 tracks and a bit longer than the previous, but I need to find money and i think i will start the recording around March 2026. Thanks again for the interview, Cheers.