Full of sex and vampiric

 

10 years passed from your first demo 99…can you explain us your personal consideration about these years? 

I must say that these last ten years were really magic. We have grown a lot, not just from the point of view of our music but also from a personal and spiritual perspective. We had moments of great joy and enthusiasm followed by moments of deep suffering and despair. The death of my father in 2006 left a deep scar in my soul. Terry and I, however, never lost sight of the path we were following. We were connected by a kind alchemic bond. In all of these years, we have always paid utmost attention to each and every detail of our work. We have tried to become more and more professional in our approach and to leave nothing to chance when it came to producing a new album. That's why the path ahead of us has always been clearly defined: starting from an artistically well produced demo - recorded at the 'New Sin Studio' and accompanied by a concept album and a photo collection - down to the contact signed with Nuclear Blast, to the creation of our small ' feud' with Lunatic Asylum Records, with which we became publishers and producers and - eventually - to the cooperation with Self Distribuzioni, Poci One Records and Massacre Records. We are now building our own studio that will be used to produce audio and video recordings and, hopefully, in the future we will be able to promote other bands, too. Ours is still a small 'empire' but we are growing thanks to the support of 'brave warriors', wonderful people who are endowed with amazing enthusiasm and terrific professional skills: our new band members Furyo (drums) and Max Rivers (bass), our sound designers/engineers Daniele Francini and Luisa who have been with us for years to beautifully support our live perfomances and, last but not least, the person who really marked a turning point for Mandragora Scream, a person we are proud to know and have as Manager: Simone Gagliardi. 

 

Mandragora Scream is an important project …your band plays a certain kind of music that in my opinion is reductive to catalogue "gothic rock/metal"….how can you describe your music? In my opinion your music is full of melancholic refrains…you usually give an essential importance to the atmospheres not necessary considering metal approach…what is the secret of your songs?...and about inspirations? 

Well, it's difficult for us to say what kind of music we play but we don't care so much definitions. Music is something that comes from the heart and we usually try not to put it on some kind of "one-track rail". It's the combination of heart, brain, melancholic spirit, love for some ancient poets and belief in the power of magic. It doesn't matter if you play gothic, metal or dark music, it's important to explain what you feel and establish a connection with the ones who listen to your music. It's not a secret, I think every musician does that, but it's difficult to find the right vibrations to make one's heart beat. 

 

The new album …what are the main differences among all your albums? 

As far as the lyrics are concerned, every album is a story on its own, a concept, but they are all linked with one another by a subtle line of decadentism. As to music, instead, the first album is based on more 'natural' sounds and was recorded in a traditional way, a bit like in the seventies. The drums, for instance, were fully acoustic, no sampling techniques or loops were used. In the following albums, instead, we went for sounds that were progressively heavier and more extreme; we also used samples, loops and experimented with new solutions to fully match and express the contents of our Poetics. 

 

You're a very beautiful woman…but nowadays the presence of a beautiful woman-singer is a mark for many metal bands …who are( in your opinion ) the best female metal singers?

For sure Tarja …despite the fact that I really love her voice, her beauty reminds me too much of Snow White!!! 

 

Can you explain us your personal favorites bands? 

Well… what can I say, I love all good music, from country to classical, so it's difficult to tell!!! Anyway, let's say that Muse, Rasmus, Apocaliptica, Him , Cradle Of Filth , the old Nightwish and some others are among my favorite bands. 

 

Now I give you the chance to convince our readers to buy your new album…can you explain the essence of it? 

It's a very intense and magic album, full of energy and suffering at the same time. I can tell you that after our Manager heard the first samples, he could not stop listening to them. He used to listen to them in a loop on his car stereo. Terry and I, at night, were often awakened by melodies you find the album because they were echoing in our mind… It's a bewitched album!!! Don't buy it unless you want to have nightmares all night!!!! 

 

I can image Mandragora Scream like protagonist of a film…would you like to be part of a soundtrack for a film? or to be part of a film like actors? 

Ha ha ha , yes, of course ! … becoming an actress or a film director has always been one of my dreams. And we are thinking of approaching the sound track world so I am sure something is going to happen in the future: it's a very strong feeling I have had for quite some time. You must know that, as a natural witch, I am never wrong about my feelings ;) … luckily enough … Anyway, had I been a man, a role I would have loved to play is that of Leonardo Di Caprio in the movie 'The Man in the Iron Mask'. 

 

Italian metal scene gets good but underestimate bands…do you agree? 

I don't know, I think there are very few good bands in Italy ... and that's because many underestimate the technical side of music. Abroad, for instance, I think I met more than 100 musicians and at least 97 of them went to a music school and they studied music. In Italy most people play the role of musicians on the spur of the moment but they hardly ever took a music lesson!!! The problem is that in Italy music is not considered as a real job but rather a hobby, something you try to do, but if you don't succeed you can always forget about and go back to your 'real' life! Abroad, young people who play music really love it and have a passion for it. They perceive music in a totally different way, both mentally and from the point of view of execution. They see music as a fundamental part of their life and consequently they act in a very professional way towards it.

 

Your imminent tour will be with 69 Eyes and Christian Death…two very important Bands….are you ready for it? Can you tell us something about it? 

For over a year now, we have been trying to organize a tour with some of the big names. It's something we already had in mind ever since our first years of activity, when our record company was Nuclear Blast, but we were never actually supported by them; for a number of reasons that I am not going to list here, they never really promoted our band… When we left them, it took us quite a long time to find someone who was going to work with us as a Manager but finally we have found the right person and together we are defining the right path to follow, especially for concerts. We spend a lot of time in the rehearsal room to get ready and we really hope we'll be worthy to appear next to two such giants of dark music such as 69 Eyes and Christian Death. 

 

Can you describe your music by 3 adjectives? 

Deeply introspective, full of sex and very vampiric !!! 

 

Ok…the final question is the game of the tower….you are on a very high tower and with you there are 3 bands….you have to push down two of them, saving the third one…for you there are: 

LACUNA COIL, DEATHSS , CRADLE OF FILTH

Ha ha ha!!! I really love this game !!!!! Certainly, the first ones to be pushed down would be Lacuna Coil, while between Deathss and Cradle Of Filth… let me think…it's a hard battle!!! First, because I know Deathss very well and second, because I like their music very much; from Cradle Of Filth, instead, I only like some songs … so?? who do you think I will keep with me on the tower ? Ha ha ha Cradle Of Filth for sure!!! 

 THANX!!!!!!!!!