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 Milan's Absinthe are probably new to you, although they've been together for more than a year now, the band have never spoken outside their native country, this interview being their first outside of Italy.
Playing a fusion of rock and melodic metal, the band have just finished work on their debut EP, so to find out more we spoke with guitarist Stefano “Zacky” Zuccala and bass player Riccardo “Wolf” Lazzari.
Komodo Rock: For those that are new to Absinthe, can you give us a little background on the band?
Stefano “Zacky” Zuccala: First of all I
want to thank you and KomodoRock for the chance you are giving us. I am
Stefano Zuccala and IÂ’m the guitarist of Absinthe. We were born in
Milan in January 2006 and we are a rock band. The biggest peculiarity
of our band is that we all come from different musical styles and
experiences, so in our songs you can hear many many influences.
Riccardo “Wolf” Lazzari: As Stefano were born at the beginning of 2006.
We began just playing rock and hard rock covers, then we started
composing our own songs which are a blend of different kinds of music,
from rock to punk to indie to electronic. Still we are trying to be
melodic even in the heavier songs.
How did the name come about and is it related to the drink Absinthe?
Zacky: Of course it is. I personally
love it and I usually drink a shot before concerts or recording
sessions. But itÂ’s also connected to DegasÂ’s painting and, more in
general, to the use of Absinthe in the XIX century among artists.
Wolf: Yes, I think it sounds good. And Absinthe is a drink which
inspired many artists, so we hope that its power could inspire us. We
also thought that its green colour would be good.
Your recently finished recording your debut EP. Can you give us a little more info about it?
Wolf: It's a blend of songs that can give an idea of our sound, although we like to experiment new ways of composing music.
Zacky: There is a little story behind our first EP. We wanted to record
it last spring, but suddenly we lost our singer in a very bad way and
soon after our drummer told us that he would have left Milan in late
Summer. So we decided with him to postpone the session to July and we
recorded only the instrumental parts. Later in September we recorded
vocals with the new singer Sara Frusciante. We decided to entitle it
“Absinthe” because, even if some people changed in the line-up, it’s
still Absinthe sound and itÂ’s still us!
 Can you tell us a bit more about some of the tracks on the EP?
Zacky: There will be 4 songs in our EP.
The first single released is “Fallin’ Down” and I have to say that
people liked it. We usually write lyrics using both English and
Italian, so next single will be entitled “Senza Te” (in English
“Without You”). And later on there could be a ballad, or maybe not...I
donÂ’t want to unveil the future yet.
Wolf: As Stefano said there will be 4 songs. Two of these will be rock-
pop. The others.. maybe a ballad or something at which we' re working..
How hard has it been for you to get the band off the ground and get your name out there to people?
Wolf: It has been difficult. Here in
Italy clubs offer few chances to bands that play their own music. The
rock scenery here is not simple for emerging bands, but we' ll struggle!
Zacky: Yes! We had to struggle with some other bands to emerge, and
still we are only at the beginning of the journey. For the future we
hope the situation will get better and better, but we know that it
wonÂ’t be easy. Anyway things are now going quite well for now.
Has myspace been a big help to the band? What about other online sources?
Wolf: Yeah. Above all it helps bands to
meet other musicians and gives the chance to organise shows together.
Bands should cooperate and give up with stupid fights, that wonÂ’t bring
anything useful.
Zacky: It has for sure! We only used our official website and Myspace
and it really helped us to get our name to the people and thatÂ’s why we
decided to publish our single first on Myspace and only later we will
physically release it.
Put on the spot, which 3 bands have influenced the band the most?
Zacky: As I told you before there are
many many bands that influenced us, but if had to say only 3 bands IÂ’d
say Queen, for their way of seeing music, Guns N Roses, for the energy
we are trying to express, and Oasis, for their pop-rock sound. And
personally I have been influenced by Iron Maiden and other metal bands.
Wolf: What a difficult question... each musician brings to the project
its own influences. Personally I love metal and rock but also blues.
Groups that inspire me are Rolling Stones, Ac/Dc and Manowar for their
simplicity. And thatÂ’s important, because often the most simple thing
is also the best. Anyway I donÂ’t have any models to imitate.
Any plans to hit the road in support of the EP once it comes out?
Zacky: For sure we will hit the road,
but we havenÂ’t booked any gig for now. Anyway we should start the
promotion in December, when the physical EP will be out.
Wolf: And we also have to rehearse with Josh, our new drummer, before
we can hit the road. We're preparing old and new song with him and
thing are going well, so we will be ready quite soon.
If you could put together your dream 3 band tour, who'd you pick?
Zacky: Queen with Freddie Mercury, Guns N Roses with the old lineup and Iron Maiden
Wolf: Queen with Freddie Mercury ( I agree with Zacky), AC-DC and the immortals Rolling Stones.
 What's the highest point of your career so far?
Wolf: This month has been interesting:
interviews on Italian radios, an apparition on TV and now our first
international interview on KomodoRock. We' re proud of this. Thank you!
Zacky: I agree with Wolf, IÂ’d say October 2007 when, after the release
of our first single, the song has been put in the rotation of some
Italian and American radio stations, we have been invited to Rock TV,
and we released some interviews in Italy.
And the lowest?
Zacky: When it seemed we would split up
after our singer and drummer left. But we never gave up, we worked
really hard and now here we are ready to rock!
Wolf: Yes, Zacky is right! We were really sad for that and we thought
about splitting up. But now the line-up is strong, maybe even stronger
than before, and we finally we can work seriously again.
In 12 months time, where do you see the band being, and what will you be doing?
Zacky: We are planning to record our
first full length and find a good label which could promote it in 2008.
And we expect to play many gigs especially, maybe we outside Italy as
well!
Wolf: Yes I really hope we will record a full length album and find a good label. That would be the best thing for next year.
Other than yourselves, who do you rate as the best up and coming rock band out there?
Wolf: For what about Italy I don t know
the answer. There are some interesting bands but honestly there isn' t
an Italian coming band that i love so much.. a part Absinthe of
course!! Ahaha
Zacky: Yeah, there are some good bands but only a few will be able to leave their mark in the History of music.
Let us know any important web links and where we can buy your stuff.
Wolf: You can visit our web site www.absintheband.net or check our official myspace www.myspace.com/absinthemilan for the latest news from the band.
Zacky: The EP isnÂ’t on sale yet, but when it will be on sale we will
put all infos on our websites. Thank you very much, it has been a real
pleasure to talk to you and we hope we could meet again, maybe after a
concert in England.
Thanks for taking the time to talk with us!
ABSINTHE LINE UP
Sara Frusciante: Vocals
Stefano “Zacky” Zuccala: Lead Giutar
Riccardo “Wolf” Lazzari: Bass
Andrea “Kappa” Costantini: Keyboards & Rhythm Guitar
Giuseppe “Josh” Scalia: Drums & Percussions
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