With:	Fabio Gremo [bass], Guiseppe Spanò [keys]
Conducted by:	wrathchild
Published:	14.10.2004
Band profile:	Daedalus

[img src="http://cjouineau.free.fr/img/loDa2.jpg"[/img]

- First and inevitable question: could you introduce the band to our readers?

Fabio: Daedalus project starts from the idea of creating something that could sound really new in the actual musical scene; in our compositions we try to combine a variety of elements taken from our taste, impressions and cultural background, melting them as much as possible in a fresh and innovative way, trying to offer an interesting musical journey capable to fascinate and catch the imagination of the listener.

Beppe: our activity began long ago in Genoa (Italy), trying to find out the right musicians. It has been a really hard work, but in April 2000 we finally did it and we rushed headlong in our live and studio work. During the next four years we played much in live contexts and worked hard on our first work, dealing with a number of line-up changes. On October 2003 we finally released "Leading far from a mistake" and in 2004 we achieved the most convincing line-up since our birth! Now it's time to write our future...

- You say Daedalus is an experimental progressive band; what does "experimental" really stands for, musically?

Beppe: nowadays a genre definition is a must. Market offers any kind of music and sounds, that's why we need a kind of "affiliation"... on the other side we have to deal with a great will for cultural freedom. I think that "experimental" means "no limit", no way to say "you're doing something different from your declared intentions".

Fabio: progressive music, in my opinion, means something always running and altering itself in an unpredictable way; in our music we try to achieve this goal by "experimenting" the combination of features such as sudden changes in atmosphere and colour, peculiarities in melodic and harmonic structures, the use of effects enforcing some aspects of the lyrics, as an attempt to create a sort of never-ending emotion.

- I personnaly didn't find the album "Leading Far From A Mistake" so "experimental", but however, it's an excellent progressive metal album.
I have found some similarities with bands like Adagio, Symphony X, Dream Theater, Stratovarius and even Iron Maiden in several songs.
How did those bands influenced you and your music?

Beppe: I remember a sentence by my piano teacher: "The three steps in making music are: assimilation, imitation, innovation". That's what you usually need to achieve a personal style. That's why you can feel something from the bands you enlisted (I'd add surely one that everyone forgets... Arena). We all are children of our musical habits. They put us on a musical path, as a point to begin. Now we're moving by our own skills and we're trying to create our own dimension. I think we're succeeding in such a work.

Fabio: surely our first album was a first step towards the definition of our style; the new compositions will be marked by a more peculiar approach.

- The band went through some line-up changes, concerning the guitarist and the singer.
What were the reasons for such changes, and how will it affect the music, the composition progress?

Beppe: especially during the growth of a band it is really hard to maintain that "common target" that is necessary to work in a productive way. Duties changes, personal life changes, musical tastes morph theirselves. I don't think that these changes affected our music considerably. As I was saying above we've chosen our way. Obviously new motivated band mates bring along with them new ideas and this is the "fuel" to produce more and more interesting music!




- What do you say to all those who keep saying progressive is nothing but a way for musicians to show off their skills, that its complexity ruins the emotions, etc?

Fabio: the meaning of "progressive" is too large to be constrained among definitions; for sure progressive music doesn't mean a show of technique, because skill must not be the aim of a musician. Emotions take their strength from music itself; this is the main target of a composer.

- What are your opinions about other metal genres such as death or black metal?

Fabio: my musical tastes touch every genre in which there is an effort towards a good composition and a meaning in lyrics: I cannot stand songs in which some sections or elements are scarcely polished and not well-crafted; every bit of a piece of music must have its importance and its balance among the others. Some genres lack in this homogeneity: sometimes lyrics are meaningless, melodic lines are too simple and childish, vocals parts are impossible to be sung?

- You signed with New LM Records, an unknown label outside Italy.
Does this mean there's little chance for Daedalus to cross the frontiers of your country?

Fabio: it is very complex for an unknown band to find a good label interested in promote its music worldwide starting from the first album. When we started searching for a contract we were told there were too little possibilities for us to gain audience, due to a lot of reasons. The only producer who believed in our music was Luigi Mazzesi of New LM Records: he liked our music and wished to publish it. Unluckily, the label being very small, we have no distribution in music stores, so our album hardly reaches the audience.




- Have you got any gigs planned for the near future?

Fabio: at this moment we only have two planned shows, one in October (Saturday 16th in Genoa) and the other in November (Tuesday 19th in Pisa with DGM, another Italian prog-band); unfortunately it is quite difficult here in Italy to find chances to play live, in particular dealing with our musical genre.

- I suppose you're already working on a new record, so can you give us a report of your progress so far?

Fabio: we composed several new songs; we need two more tracks to complete the length of the second album. Most of the lyrics refer to an analysis of what a human being could think if some aspects of daily life were perceived in a unusual way.

- With such a name as Daedalus, we could expect you to explore the ancient mythology in your music.
Are you dreaming about a concept album?

Fabio: of course we thought about a concept album: probably it will be our third one. We'd like to deal with mythology from a particular point of view, avoiding a mere review of ancient events, but now it's too early to speak about it.

- Thanks for your answers. You're free to leave a message to our readers.
Good luck for the future!

Thanks to you for your kindness, it was a real pleasure to reply to your questions. We really hope everyone could have the chance to listen to our music and enjoy it. We'd be glad to receive your opinions, so feel free to write to us!


Link: http://wwww.progdaedalus.it