Transcript of an interview I recorded with Luca Turilli of TURILLI / LIONE RHAPSODY - 31/05/19. Full article here. MAL-
On the line right now Luca Turilli, and he's going to explain all about the new TURILLI LIONE RHAPSODY project and upcoming Australian tour. Luca, thanks for taking my call. LUCA- Is my pleasure, really. MAL- It's great to have you on the line. Can I get you to sum up your involvement and Fabio's involvement with Rhapsody over the years? How it went it's separate ways, how it's come back together for you guys. Can you explain that quickly for us? LUCA- Yeah, absolutely. Quickly is a difficult task that's for sure. But I will try to be as short as I can. Well, you know, okay, now, of course everybody knows that we started, we released our first album 'Legendary Days' in 1997. And we decided to create this huge saga concept connecting many albums. When the saga ended after 10 full length albums, in reality eight full length albums and 2 EPs, we decided to part ways because at the time you know, after 10 albums I think it was the one of the greatest artistic projects ever known, *laughs* I don't know many bands work on something with such with such incredible... such perspective. So, it was at a time 2010 already we released the last chapter of the saga corresponding to the album 'From Chaos To Eternity'. And then the saga ended, of course it was kind of natural now after such a long time to feel the necessity to start a new artistic adventure because you're searching for new stimulation. You can know whatever job you are doing your life after 10 years or even 15 years or 15 years, almost, then you feel the need to do something different. So we did that. But at the time only I left, Dominique and Patrice they followed me. So let's say three members of the older RHAPSODY then became RHAPSODY OF FIRE just because of legal problems, but it was essentially the same band. So then when there was (?) after the split it create LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY and I released just the two albums with them. For me, was an incredible artistic goal (?) because with the last album, 'Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus', I reached the top in the sense that I had this incredible collaboration with Dolby and Yamaha and thanks to them I realized this dream of having the first album in music history remixed in Dolby Atmos and so it was even used by Yamaha and Dolby to promote such new incredible technology which is Dolby Atmos, of course in all the world. So it was just amazing no after that, you know, I was even thinking to leave metal honestly, to dedicate myself to other projects like symphonic rock project because you have to know that one of my favorite bands is MUSE. I love MUSE, the English band, and I wanted to make something that's connecting classical music with QUEEN or something like that, things like that. But what happened? It happened that there was this chance and of course I'm sorry at the same time then Fabio was simply going along with RHAPSODY OF FIRE. And then it came this moment totally unexpected you know the managers who spoke 'Ah, you should do something together like this. What about a reunion like this? You know because of course with the new process is not that we were selling the same copies that we were sending before in the early years when we started that RHAPSODY adventure we noticed (?) that the market was very different to be honest. So the music (?) to record in the studio were a very different but let's say that at the time, you know, the manager was starting asking us, 'Why we don't make something bigger again? And now you do that you reach your goal. You have this incredible artistic goals. We're each doing so now you could think to to connect back with Fabio'. I said I don't know. I'm not that sure and so on. But it happened that then, one evening I was reflecting and I was thinking that when I was contacted by the managers It was 2016 and so I thought wow, if we make start this reunion thing next year, it will correspond to the 20th anniversary of the band. So I contacted Fabio telling this and of course he loved immediately the idea then I contacted Alex Staropoli but he preferred to not because he just released the first album and because same time some months before it Fabio left RHAPSODY OF FIRE also Alex Holzwarth, the drummer, so but this was really a kind of casualty didn't know this has nothing to do with their union or not. So because we were speaking already before when Fabio was still in RHAPSODY no we were still thinking about this reunion. We seem and we ....(?) but then it happened all this so there was the possibility for me and Fabio to be again on tour and even if Alex didn't want, Alex Staropoli of course and so we said 'okay let's let's make something' but really a presenting... any we wanted to leave metal Fabio also wanted to do other things after he left RHAPSODY OF FIRE. So we say okay, but we will do this, but we make it for just a season of festivals. We were planning just to play a few summer festivals. And we present this really like a farewell tour. So that's why we called it to the 20th anniversary reunion and farewell tour really because we wanted to close the saga circle (?) in that way, playing some of the old hits on stage for the very last time, and so that was the plan then that the success was huge. The success was huge, from six seven festivals we were supposed to play in the very first minute then we are at to play for almost two years around the world, over 70 shows, so it was a totally unexpected but after this we wanted, Okay we say now we were two years around the world. Now we promised to the fans. This was the last time because this was the promotion was also based on these that we play for the last time these very famous all the hits of the band. And then after some months when when I was already working on other things, you know the promoters, 'Oh the tour was so successful, you should go like that'. So me and Fabio said 'No way'. We said no way because it was a farewell tour, we don't want to make hype of the band out there that promise something they don't keep in order for money or things like that. But then and to make it shorter because otherwise I would speak for two hours to explain all this. To make it short. We said okay, you know we can reach a compromise to make Fabio that gives it really the perfect stimulation, artistic stimulation to me and Fabio, promoters are happy. We are all happy. So at first we had a different project to start with a new band called ZERO GRAVITY, always playing metal in there. It's a kind of evolution of RHAPSODY but called ZERO GRAVITY really to say that we were something different, new, we wanted to do something (?), but then the promoter store not like this is just impossible for you even to start because of course they offered you can imagine my friend were impossible no? Where it was like to start to start from zero. And this was just not possible for us no. So we're into this kind of compromise we put our name TURILLI / LIONE RHAPSODY on top of the name me, I stopped definitively LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY so, this is already something removing some complications some confusion from the table as you can imagine. And so now the situation is very clear we call the album 'Zero Gravity', the under title is very clear is a statement in some ways , our motto, 'Rebirth and Evolution'. Rebirth and evolution means everything so what we have in mind with this new band so in some way now it's very clear for everybody now or now at least in some months from now when the album will be released that everything will be clear from the fans because now there's no LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY making something between now there is an old RHAPSODY OF FIRE band playing the same style of music we were playing 20 years ago and there is our band that wants to move to new direction. Want to really to have a new artistic challenge. So that will be very clear because there is space for both bands. No one is invading the other field and will be very, very, very clear. MAL- Tell us about the recording process quickly. I mean, you listen to this album and it sounds big. It sounds like huge, and you might say QUEEN is conjured up in the mind like you were mentioning before. It's a very epic album. Tell us about the making of this? LUCA- Well, it was a tough challenge because you know, just something like eight months ago we didn't even know that we would ever release this album. So you can imagine that since we agreed to move in this direction and me and Fabio faced really in the position to say yeah we want it because now the situation is the one that we want to go for. Then from that moment okay everything became really hectic. So thanks to God I had the 3 songs which I was working for another project that were really any way you know so it was me as composer so in some way I could rearrange these three songs and they became some songs of the new album so this saved us and we were able to respect the incredible deadlines that we had this time for recording for the production in general because there were already some festivals immediately fixed for July you know we entered the studio in December so we had to have the album out in time for the festivals so it was a really terrible I found myself, this was the most terrible production in my life and they normally all the production were tough. But this one I remember I beat my record of staying awake for three consecutive nights during the mix of the album so believe me my friend it was tragic. And but it was really was amazing because it was the first time we were recording in a different studio that was not located in Germany because until now we've always recorded in Germany. We recorded in San Marino which is a small small small counry in the middle of Italy but it is a real country is not a town. So in this in this place, we recorded the album and we found this engineer for the first time I was working with it I was scared because you know Fabio and I are the producer but you never know which kind of recording surprises you can have no when you work with a new studio, but everything was really smooth...(?)worked really great. MAL- My favorite tracks are 'DNA' 'Multi Dimensional' and 'I Am'. Tell me about them. LUCA- Well, yes, yes of course for me and Fabio 'I Am' is one of the favorite songs because it really presents the new face of RHAPSODY. So you have the typical symphonic impact. This is the kind of trademark I would say of RHAPSODY. Because we come from classical music, of course no especially me the composer, I'm coming from classical music. So even if I will write a pop project I that would be some symphonic touch into it so it just like that. So of course, you have this connection between symphonic we have some new for the first time ever some progressive elements, I would say I got DREAM THEATER or thing or bands like that, so in this specific song, we have a special guest. He's Mark Basile, he's performing a duet together with Fabio on the song. He's the singer of DGM, the Italian band DGM. By the way, our engineer in the studio was the guitar player of this band, which is one of the most under evaluated progressive metal bands we ever in Italy metal progressive bands of course. And so yes, it was just when I discovered about the singer I said, Wow, he has to perform a duet together with Fabio. And so yes, I really love also as you say that he's this typically QUEEN influence that will become fundamental for this band. Also because you have to know that one of the options after we finished the farewell tour was for me and Fabio to proceed to create a rock symphonic project in the style of QUEEN so was natural that when we we agreed to move on as LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY (he obviously means TURILLI/LIONE RHAPSODY) we implemented in some way these typical QUEEN vocal arrangements that we love so much in our music. So, this would be a main component or even more in the future albums and then we have a song like DNA where we have the other, second special guest of the album and I love it especially because the lyrics are really interesting. And I wanted really to speak, you know one of my maestro's is Carl Gustaf Jung, the famous psychologist and I speak in this song about the the theory of projection in psychoanalysis no, so based based the theory based in which we tend to project on an older (another?) person, the negative side we are not able to accept as being a part of ourself. So this is a very interesting matter no I love this stuff. And so it was great to have on this song, a duet, another duet, but this time between Fabio and Elyse Ryd, she's the singer of the band AMARANTHE. MAL- Yes, I've spoken to her. She's a lovely girl. LUCA- Ahhh, love her, and yes, we found that the combination of the two voices is just magic. And really we have this presentation of the subject of the lyrics and so we have Fabio representing this dark side, and of course, Elyse the most energetic side of our personality. So yes, and another song that we love for sure. And then of course, there is I already I would say a lot of variety in general and this is you know what, after 20 years is it all you know, when you have a job you work for 10 years or 20 or 15 when you feel you need some stimulation, in our case, such stimulation is guaranteed by the variety, the variety for us is very important. And in this case for this band, apart from the QUEEN vocal style of arrangement, we really went for this progressive elements then we wanted to have for the first time some low tuned heavy guitars that we never had until now, as we love this kind of new modern productions, we really wanted me and Fabio, for the new band and then we have also this ethnic touch. That is a place of replacing a little bit of the folklore that we had in the in the old RHAPSODY bands. So now we visit ethnic emotional (?) for me is a really important you know, I'm practicing yoga, meditation so I'm very close to this kind of sounds very really touching your heart and soul. I really love them they really make me cry things like that. So I really wanted to incorporate also these elements in our music so I think that a little bit of these of that is is creating a special formula that is our base of the new RHAPSODY band. That's why this album for us is very important. Also zero gravity, you know, everything is about the subject of spiritual evolution. Zero Gravity, as you can imagine, represents also what we have on the represented graphically on the main artwork. We have this Phoenix and the same subjective which because in the song Multi Dimensional, or 'Decoding the Multiverse' or 'Phoenix Rising' with these Phoenix rising from the ashes of this technological universe, which represents the material aspects of life. So the Phoenix is representing really the higher self in every one of us trying to reach a higher level of consciousness. So everything is basically about that we were speaking about these things even before with the old RHAPSODY, just that before everything was filtered by heroic fantasy saga now we speak about all this in a more direct way, just that the only difference. MAL- Now the album will be out very early in July and then later on in the year in October, you're coming down to Australia to do three shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. You must be looking forward to that. LUCA- You may think that it was always my dream to come over there just simply because me I am a lover of nature. So I know what there is, you know, I was already New Zealand but only New Zealand and never in Australia. So for me something incredible just the fact to come there to your country then to play some music I like to play them is something additional on top but already for all of us the fact that just to come there is something incredible. I cannot believe that we had to wait for 20 years just before coming over there. MAL- Luca Turilli, thanks for talking to me about the new TURILLI/LIONE RHAPSODY album which is called 'Zero Gravity, Rebirth And Evolution' that'll be out early July. Looking forward to seeing you in Australia in October. Thanks so much again for your time. LUCA- Thank you my friend. It was a pleasure. I invite all our fans really to those shows because we need to share some positive energy together really. MAL- Thanks Luca, good luck with it all and thanks again for talking to me. LUCA- Thank you my friend. Comments are closed.
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AuthorMetalhead who hates bad parking. |