Interview with Andrea Ferro
Laura-How was your Christmas and what did you get?
Andrea-The best present I got was X-box because I love video games-I used to have a very old Playstation One and for the band on tour we would have them but at home I never had anything like that. But I had a very good Christmas. I got some money, some boots and jackets-a very rich Christmas! But of course the best gift has been the band’s success. I think it’s honest to say you are happy when you sell records-I am honest to admit it’s a big pleasure that we can live only with the band and we are able to have some money on the side so we can begin to work in better ways. I now take vocal lessons, which I couldn’t afford before because it is very expensive-like $50 for an hour, so it’s a lot.
L-Have they helped?
A-They’ve helped a lot especially since I’m studying a different type of singing because on the next album we want to try a different style of vocals-clean vocals. It helps a lot. We’ve recorded a couple of demos-production stuff and I already feel a lot of improvement because I want to sing in a clean way-not only in the growling. And also because we do a lot of acoustic stuff now and we go on TV so we need to be more precise. I really want to improve as a singer-that’s my goal. For the band, but also for myself, mostly for myself.
L-How’s the new album going and what can we expect?
A-So far we have a lot of music and songs but not many vocals. I think that there will be a lot of heavy songs-heavy guitars and riffs and the vocals more melodic but it won’t be completely different. Some songs will be in the style of Comalies- heavier and others different so it’s going to be an evolution of Comalies. We are going to keep the style of course and you can reconise us very easily on the vocals. Were not going to do a hip-hop album or anything, or a techno album or death metal (laughs) It’s same style with heavier guitars and bigger sound and were trying to use the vocals in a different way-different melodies, that’s what we want.
L-What were your favorite Ozzfest experiences and bands?
A-We had a great experience-very long! It was never-ending because you play like three times a week and only twenty minutes a day. Because we were in the rotating slot sometimes you play like 8.30 in the morning and the latest was like 2.30 in the afternoon. So when your done by nine and do a couple of signing sessions your free with nothing to do-it’s kind of boring sometimes. It’s good because we meet all the bands and musicians and hang together and get drunk, but then you get drunk once, you get drunk twice but you can’t get drunk every day, Well you can but we came back quite wasted since we have nothing to do. There was a sort of secret association in the night called ‘The Shirts Off Crew’ it was us, and Corey from Slipknot and a lot of the guys from the other bands and it was just people getting naked and you know when you have nothing to do it gets boring. It was a great experience and it helps a lot, especially the selling and promotion- we were doing great with the signing sessions and selling but in a way it’s tough since you play three times a week and have a lot of free time with nothing to do. The venues are very big and they are all out of the cities, very open in the middle of the desert-I mean what can you do? Of course it was the best experience so far but it was so tough and very, very long especially with the P.O.D tour and then straight after the Ozzfest so we stayed like five months in America in a row without ever coming back home…
L-So you end up missing home a lot…
A-Yes, yeah we do. If you do like two months then you go home for a month that’s fine but to not see your family and friends for such a long time. It was great though!
L-What are your plans for summer? Can we expect too see you at Ozzfest again?
A-I don’t think we are going to be able too because so far we don’t know exactly when the album is going to be released probably somewhere around May and the album will be too fresh. I think this summer we are going to do a lot of European festivals.
L-With New Year coming up do you have any New Year’s resolutions?
A-My world is always incomplete so I always try to fill a bit of myself and now I concentrate mostly on the vocal lessons and the new songs because it’s the most important thing at the moment so mine is I’m going to be a better singer.
L-What music are you currently listening to and what was the very first and last album you ever bought?
A-I listen to a lot of different stuff; I listen to, of course metal, from extreme to classic rock to reggae sometimes. The last album was Skindred and the first was very, very old AC/DC but I like everything. The Cult, some EBM stuff, Whitesnake, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden. There is the right moment for every music-I live my life with a soundtrack; I always have a song in my mind. Sometimes more heavy, sometimes more relaxing.
L-What are your thoughts on the music scene here and in the US?
A-I don’t know a lot besides the big names like Robbie Williams or The Darkness, that’s what I know the most so it’s difficult to say really.
L-What do you think about Dimebag’s death?
A-Well, we met him on the Type O Negative tour when we played Dallas, and him and the Drummer came to the show because they toured earlier with Type-O and we had a few drinks and had some great times. I can’t say that we were friends because we just met him the once but we also played the same club with Anthrax two years ago. It was a shock because it’s not the typical gangster city like Detroit. You don’t expect someone to start shooting in the club. It was a small venue-it wasn’t a big place. I heard it on the radio, we have a rock station in Italy-just one and I was driving around and I heard it on the radio. In the beginning they said that both brothers died, then the news starts coming and step-by-step you know. It was a shock.
L-Who would you like to work with? Is there a certain producer or a guitarist?
A-Actually, at the moment we are still working with Waldemar but mostly on the pre-production and we are probably going to have another guy for mixing. We have two or three names in mind that we will probably work with. We need to see who will do the best job-it will probably be an American guy for mixing and it will be Waldemar on the artistic side lets say.
L-Well, you’ve always had Waldemar..
A-Yeah, absolutely. He’s like another member of the band, he knows us very well and he knows where we can go and gives us good ideas. We don’t really need too much but he came up with the idea to give the record a little bit of variation. Like ‘why don’t you do this or that’ and that’s why we like him, we can talk with him you know what I mean and he never forces you to do anything you don’t want to do.
L-What do your family and friends think of your newfound success in the US?
A-They don’t realize sometimes because when you live there you’re a big band then when you go home it’s a different reality. You’re a known band but not as big as over there so they don’t really know what it means. They’re not on tour with you all the time so it’s a bit different- their glad of course!
L-What was your memorable experience to date? Not including ozzfest?
A-Not including Ozzfest? We’ve had so many, the summer was great with the POD tour and Ozzfest was amazing. But I think the one we’ve enjoyed the most was they Type O tour. Mainly because we really love the band and the guys were like brothers. They treated us in an amazing way and everyday we had fun and played jokes together and it was a really personal relationship so that was the most amazing. After the summer now we just came home and started working on the new album and writing and pre-producing-that’s all that’s happened so far.
L-If you could go back to any period of time what would it be and why?
A-In general? I really like the medieval times but we have a lot of history in Milano so the original scenic center, like the big castles. I really liked the medieval times like when I was a kid. We still have a lot of the racing, and the swords and weapons. I really like that era, but personally I’d like to live in the reality. I like a lot of stuff from the past like when I watch a movie but in general I’m more projected in the future and in the reality of today.
L-What’s your happiest childhood memory?
A-I had quite a nice childhood so I have a lot of different memories but probably my grandparents because I lost them very early. I was very connected to them especially my grandma because she was the mother of my father and I grew up with her because when I was born, my mother after the birth she had to stay in the hospital for three or four months with cancer and so I spent my first four to six months with her, she was like a mother for me. I was very, very close to her. In Italy the family is very important, even if your twenty or more you’re all very connected. Not just to the parents but the grandparents, the aunts and uncles. It’s very common to stay in the same city and not leave. Like when I went to the states I met so many people who’s father lived in Florida, the mother in California and Grandma in New York so its something you don’t really consider in Italy. In Italy you try to keep your family close and help each other a lot. We’re in a very old way so that’s why we’re very connected and that’s probably why it’s my best memory.
L-What do you think of the rise in popularity of male/female-fronted bands since you started?
A-I think of course the rise in popularity of bands like Evanescence has helped a lot. Even if we have been around earlier, the explosion has been helped with the attention of female fronted bands. We’re glad about it-better now then never (laughs) I mean we don’t really care; we’re not like super fans of bands with female vocals. We like male/female vocals, but more male-not only me but everyone in the band but we have no problem with any kind of bands. We are part of it, it happens and we are glad that it is happening-to be part of it, especially in the US-even in Europe. The attention has helped with the explosion of the album and the band-we’ve exploded much more in terms of selling’s.
L-Well now you’re Century Media’s biggest selling band!
A-Yeah! Exactly, we never thought it was possible with this album-especially in the US with one year after the album it’s very uncommon for us. I mean we’re still touring after two and a half years and we’ve never done that before-it’s always been one year and one album and now it’s almost like three years. We’re looking forward to it actually-and to play new songs!
L-Okay, that’s it! Thank you very much!
A-Thanks a lot!
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