Kingcrow

Interview date

25 Février 2012

Interviewer

Didier, Evanessa

I N T E R V I E W

Interview Diego Marchesi (by mailer)


We discovered you with "Phlegethon" which was great and received unanimous great reviews. But was it a commercial success or just a press success?

I still don’t know how many copies "Phlegethon" has sold precisely. For sure, thousands of copies, which is good. To be honest, the main thing is that with "Phlegethon" we gained the attention of a lot of people and made our sound known, we signed with Intromental management and we started great things in Europe and in the USA.

Was the pressure high to get something better than "Phlegethon" ?

No, for this album, I don’t think so. We tried to do what we’d love to play and listen to and make a good record from the production to the performance. From now on... I’ll tell you : )

How did you compose "In Crescendo"? Was this any different from when you created "Phlegethon"?

The main difference is that this time we’ve been a lot more involved in the writing with Diego Cafolla. Don’t get me wrong, of course he always had the main role in each composition but we worked with him day by day giving him the chance to bring out the best for this record from all of us. For example, in "Phlegethon" the vocal lines were originally written for another vocalist and during the recording sessions we had to adapt my voice and singing to each track which is pretty different from having the chance to work together from the very beginning.

Is this a concept album? What is it all about?

Yes and No. “In Crescendo” is not a concept in the “classical way”, it doesn't a well-framed story to tell, a story that connects tracks from the beginning to the end like "Phlegethon" had. The new record has just a main theme: a set of problems about growin’ up and the new challenges of adult life but, apart from that, each song is on its own.

Who writes the lyrics?

This time we cooperated :). I wrote lyrics for  "Right Before", "This ain’t another love song" and co-written the suite “In Crescendo” with Diego C., Ivan Nastasi the other guitarist worked on "The hatch" and "The glass fortress", the rest is by Diego C. Even... We’ve been eclectic with the lyrics :).

What are the main themes that inspire you?

Almost all of the songs are about us, one way or another. Our experiences, our questions, our dreams or losses.

Production is also great, who worked with you on it? Was this different from "Phlegethon"? 

As always Diego and Thundra worked on the pre-production, editing and even a pre-mix. They are maniacs and always try to put Giampiero Ulacco (the mix engineer) in the best condition to work on our songs which is not that simple because of our dynamics and different sounds. The difference from the previous record and this one is the mastering, which, this time, has been given to Alan Duches.

Have you found stability in terms of line-up?

We really hope so. We like to play together and I think this is the best line-up for the natural evolution of the Kingcrow sound and for the new path we’ve undertaken...

Can you say that you are living from your music or do you have other jobs?

We still have regular jobs beside music.

Do you all live in Rome? How is it to be a prog band in Rome or in Italy?

Yes more or less we all live in Rome or in his surroundings, but we have the recording studio the “Under pressure studio” and the rehearsals in a small city not so far from Rome. Here, in general if you come from Italy you have to work hard to gain the attention of your fellow countymen! For us it has been easier to be known in the north of Europe than in Italy. Despite what our country did for the prog-rock scene in the past (Area, Pfm, Balletto Di Bronzo, New Trolls and many more) this genre, maybe not so “easy listening”, is a small market niche which is recently, to be honest, slowly increasing.

You are all masters at your instruments. Do you practice a lot?

Thanks for the compliment!! Together we practice a lot because our sound needs to be perfectly balanced. On our own, I think i can speak for all the others, we play and study a lot of time but... because of the work... not as oftern as we would like to!

I read that you were invited at ProgFest in Europe and in The USA in 2012, how did this go?

Great! Both were great experiences, we had a chance to play our music in front of a huge audience and share the stage with really great bands. I don’t remember so many Italian bands in these festivals if I think about it, and it was an honour. The Proggers are a sort of big family, the audience is discerning but friendly and they made us feel at home.

Now I also read that you will be touring with Pain Of Salvation, that's the perfect team in my opinion, how did this come up?

That’s the perfect choice for us. We all love Pain of Salvation, they are one of the best bands  we could imagine to play with! I think our sound fits very well with theirs, expecially with albums like “ The Perfect Element” or “Remedy Lane”. So, POS wanted to do their first tour in the USA, Intromental which is also our management made this happen and asked us if we were interested in joining them... what would you answer? :)

There seems to be only dates in the USA and Canada, what about Europe and particularly us in France?

Stay tuned my friend... I think great news are comin’ for the next fall...

Any other big festival planned for 2013?

At the moment we’re focused on the forthcoming tour in the USA and Canada, maybe after this we’ll be able to plan new things for the year.

What's next for Kingcrow?

Actually we’re pretty busy :). We have a new record out to handle :), we’re working on the live DVD of our performance in Atlanta at the Center stage for the Progpower USA, We’re practicing for the North American tour and working on the videoclip from “Morning rain” and many more things that as I previously said we’ll reveal in the near future.

Do any of the members have parallel projects besides Kingcrow?

We had, but now except some gigs with friends to have fun we’re giving the priority to Kingcrow project.

And to finish I will ask a question that is usually asked first: where does the name of the band come from?

The name is inspired by the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe.

Thanks a lot, any last words for our readers?

Can’t wait meeting French audience! We’ll surely have fun together! A bientôt!!!


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