Evershine

Interview date

20 Février 2012

Interviewer

christian, Evanessa

I N T E R V I E W

Interview Ivan Palmieri (by email)


Why did you choose to name your band Evershine? Are you all die-hard optimists?

Yes we are!! We tried to find a name that could express in one word both our music mood and our will to preserve forever the feelings we share when we play together.

It took you eleven years to release Renewal: why have you waited so long to release your first album?

The first reason is that we gathered up just a year after the very beginning of our music studies, so we took some years to get at a good technical level as we are now. Furthermore we have thrown almost twenty songs since we started playing as Evershine, thus actually “Renewal” could be defined as a sort of “Best of” album!! And last but not least, we had some bad times in the past, that have surely hampered our progresses in the composition process. Anyway, at the moment we got eight new songs ready to be recorded or played live, and we hope we will have the opportunity to put them in our next album. We’re planning to release a single at the end of this year or in the first months of 2014.

Do you disagree if we call Evershine a melodic power metal band?

Not at all! Actually our music has its roots just in that genre... Anyway, nowadays Evershine takes only some elements from that kind of music, and then proceeds straight to another dimension in which progressive metal, hard rock, Japanese rock, A.O.R. and many other musical influences are mixed in just one sound, Evershine’s sound.

I have to say that your album is a very good surprise for me, as I didn’t know you. I really enjoyed the cheerfulness in your music; it seems that your pleasure to play is spreading to people listening to you, like an infectious joy. What do you think about that?

It is exactly what we want to do with our music! We would like to make people feel the same energy and joy that we feel playing our songs. Music is a direct and universal language to share an emotion with people that you even don’t know; this is wonderful, and it is even better when I understand that our songs have really reached this goal, like you say.

We can compare your style to Stratovarius's, is it true that they are one of your inspirations?

Of course they are. Albums like “Visions” or “Elements pt.1” truly represent a benchmark for melodic power metal genre. It is almost impossible to avoid some influences from a great and beloved band like Stratovarius. However there are many other bands that have inspired our music: Hammerfall, Rhapsody, Queen, X-Japan, Dream Theater, Angra, and the list could go on like that forever...

We guess that you have been playing together for a long time because your music and the way you play it are wonderfully harmonious: how do you proceed when you compose?

Initially I was the only composer of Evershine, thus our sound used to be very close to my musical background, that is to say a melodic Power/Heavy Metal similar to Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Rhapsody and Manowar. Year after year the other members of the band have become more and more relevant in the composing process, and this brought to the creation of a more mixed and various sound, as I said. Technically there is not a unique way to compose; sometimes we start from a melody, sometimes from a guitar riff, sometimes we start just doing “cazzeggio” (roman slang)... it means that we do a jam session without any particular idea... but when something that seems musically interesting comes out, we stop and focus on it.

There are lots of Italian metal bands, and especially melodic ones. How do you explain this musical trend?

From the great tradition of symphonic classical music to the most recent pop music, Italian composers have always been strongly bound to the centrality of melody more than harmony and rhythm. This may be the reason why Italian metal bands usually tend to prefer a symphonic and melodic sound instead of a rough and martial one, like generally German bands do, for example.

So does that mean that it is hard to break into the music business in Italy?

The music business is hard to break into for many reasons. First of all it is hard to find a place where bands can play their own songs instead of playing cover songs; then I can say that Italian people are very reluctant to go to metal concerts, even if on stage there are bands like Vision Divine or Rhapsody of Fire, and even if the price for the ticket is cheap! I don’t know if there is a specific reason for this situation.. but it is sad and it makes difficult for us and for any new young band to play and earn something by playing live in our country.

Why did you decide to sing in English and not in your mother tongue?

Because we want to reach the largest audience possible, of course. Composing the lyrics in English sometimes may be more difficult, but on the other hand it gives a stronger and more powerful sound to the song. May be one day we will try to compose something in Italian or in other languages... never say never!

How much do lyrics matter to you? Do you use it as a way to share a message or are you more focused on the music?

Concerning "older" songs like “Here we come”, “The Storm” and “A chance to be free”, the lyrics are just a mean to create the right mood and atmosphere, revealing my personal passion for Epic and Fantasy thematic. Moving to the newer songs like “Run”, “Angel/killer” and “Evershine”, words have gained much more importance, dealing with relevant autobiographical referrals and introspective elements.

You are all highly skilled musicians on your respective instruments. We guess it takes you a lot of work and practice. Do you make a living from your music, or do you have other jobs?

We all have other occupations. Personally, I love composing and playing my music, but I would never be good as a session man or as a teacher. I would be enthusiastic about earning enough money with Evershine to sustain myself and my family, but it is a vision far from reality at the moment. But... who knows what the future could bring? hehe

I think you are all from Rome; are there many concerts in Rome and thereabouts?

Actually there are many concerts in Rome, but the statistics fall down if we talk about Metal concerts. As I’ve already said, Roman metallers are a bit reluctant to go to see metal concerts and I think that this could make band managers avoid Rome in their tour planning. Usually Milan is much more taken into account.

Are there any tours planned? And if so, will you come to France?

At the moment we are focused on writing new songs and the shooting of a video that should be finished within this summer (I hope!). In the meantime we are planning some gigs for the next months, but they’ll all be in Italy. Anyway I would love to play in your beautiful country, I truly hope to make it happen as soon as possible!

I thank you deeply for your time. Long live Evershine! I wish you a very successful future!

Thank you so much for this interview, we are so glad that you liked our full-length and I want to remind your readers that on our website www.evershine.it “Renewal” is available for a super nice price: 5 EU!! But we’re running out of stock, so hurry up French metal brothers and sisters!


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