Soundbastard.de / 2004

Interview with Andrea and Cristiano

Apparently, we met the band in an unfavourable moment. Singer Cristina Scabbia wanted to rest her voice, Guitarist Cristiano Migliore was shaving and drummer Cristiano Mozzati did not seem wide awake when we met him. Nevertheless, Cristiano sat down with us and so did singer Andrea Ferro. Cristiano caused our Alex (the magazine’s photographer), who usually sits down and remains quiet for the rest of the interview, to put on a grim face once in a while. But read for yourselves.

SB: In your opinion, what’s the biggest evil and the biggest advantage of human nature?
Andrea: The women are the best…
Cristiano: … and the worst, too!
(general laughter, Alex looks a little grim)
Andrea: Mh, that’s really not an easy question. I think the best is the ability of people to adapt to situations, and to develop. That’s maybe the only reason why we are still here. For example the dinosaurs are long gone ‘cause they didn’t adapt to the changes in their environment. And the biggest evil has to do something with that. We have done so many bad things throughout history; we destroy the planet, our own work. That’s the good and the bad in the human nature.

SB: What do you fear? And what gives you courage and hope?
Andrea: I think you have hope when you get something positive from somebody else. When you have somebody who isn’t false to you, somebody with whom there is a relationship not based only on business. And the opposite is, and I really hate that, when people stick to you only because you give them money or because they need something from you. When people come to you just seeing the negative aspects ‘cause they have to see it like that in order to feel better than you, that’s the point when I have no hope.

SB: What meaning does the word “rebellion” have for you?
Andrea: I think that “rebellion” had a deeper meaning in the past. Today just about anything is somehow accepted. You can be a punk ‘cause it’s in fashion. You can be a metalhead just to be different. But then maybe you’re mainstream again. You know, the people who listen to Manowar, for example, they think they are different for that reason. But that is when their cliché kicks in. They listen to their stuff and they don’t want to hear of the music other people like. They think they’re different, but they’re actually worse than the “normal” people who are open to other things. The problem is their narrow-mindedness. There is no rebellion if you’re open for other things.

SB: Imagine you have 24 hours left to live. What would you do?
Cristiano: I’d go to St.Pauli and stay there the whole night!
(general laughter)
Andrea: 24 hours … mh, I don’t know, really. Probably I’d get drunk, so I wouldn’t be aware of anything.

SB: Is true freedom an illusion?
Andrea: Yes! I don’t know, sometimes we think that we need a great deal of freedom, but maybe that’s not true. Sometimes we just wanna be safe without worrying constantly. When you’re free, you have to think of everything. It’s sometimes easier to stay in your own mind, in your familiar environment. When you go out there, it’s difficult to manage the whole thing. Also, you’re permanently looking for freedom, but when you achieve it, it’s too difficult to control. For a huge part of society, money equals freedom. Bad to say that, sad to say that, but it is like this. If you have money, you can do many things, not anything, but almost anything.

SB: If you look 10 or 20 years into the future, what do you want to do apart from your music?
Andrea: Mh, I have a child, a son. And I think I will continue doing music. Maybe not as a singer in a band, but at least I want to stay in the business. Music is one of the most important things in my life. Maybe I’ll stop being a musician at some point, but I’ll work for other bands, or something in that direction.

SB: If you could go aboard a time machine, where would you travel to?
Andrea: I don’t think I’d travel into the past. I know what’s happened in the past, more or less. I think I’d travel into the future, some 20 years, to see what’s happening then, but I wouldn’t go into the past.

SB: Which characteristic image or character of your childhood do you remember?
Andrea: My Grandma! She was a very important part of my past. She’s already dead, but I have many nice memories of her.

SB: What was your first important experience with music?
Andrea: I think, since we signed our first contract, all the experiences were important. We’re learning from tour to tour, even if we – after seven tours – know what a tour is like. But we learn a great deal of things from other people. You permanently climb to another level while the band grows. You see a lot, you learn a lot. You discover why something in the past happened this way or that, and you see the reasons for your mistakes. You’re not the only one who makes many mistakes. We learn new things with the band all the time.

SB: And where was the crucial experience, the ignition?
Andrea: When we started, we did it just for fun. At home, we covered some songs, Marco – our bassist – and I. That was no job, that was just fun. As we started to tour and as we saw all that happened around the tour, we thought that was something we could try as a profession. We have yet to reach the point where we could make a living playing music. But if you try it as a profession, you really want it, and then you’re happy if it works.

SB: How old were you when you sang in a band for the first time?
Andrea: I was about 20 or 18. But that was just for fun. It was more shouting than singing.

SB: What was the first band you ever saw live?
Andrea: One of the first gigs I’ve been to were Primus. The first album of Primus was released 15 years ago, give or take a few. Before that, I went to concerts as a child together with my parents, but I only went there ‘cause they wanted it and not ‘cause I did. One of the first gigs I paid for were Primus and Limbomaniacs in Milan. That was a really heavy concert, about 15 years ago.

SB: And which bands saw you live recently?
Andrea: Hmm, recently …
Cristiano: Sentenced!
(general laughter)
Andrea: No, as a fan, that was Sytem of a Down. And Korn.

SB: Imagine you rule the world! Which law would you pass first?
Andrea: Maybe I’d destroy the world! I don’t like people very much. Also, I’d give them what they deserve and just kill them all. No, that was just a joke! But many people don’t really deserve to live.

SB: If you could erase an event of your past, which one would you choose?
Cristiano: Freedom of speech for women!
(Andrea & the interviewer laugh, Alex looks at poor Cristiano so angrily that he leaves the room quickly but laughing)
Andrea: I think so many mistakes have been made. Many people would name the Nazis. But that was just one of the more recent events. Before that there were many other worse incidents not having to do anything with the Nazis, many worse rulers and many problems. That’s a really difficult question…!

SB: In your own life…
Andrea: Yes, in my own life, there was a time in which I was really unhappy, when I was between 17 and 20. These three years I want to erase because of problems with the family, in particular because of trouble with my parents. That’s why I want to erase this time.

SB: If you could have a question concerning the future answered now, what would you ask?
Andrea: There are many questions of the past whose answers I’d like to have. But in the future!? Maybe I’d want to know whether our planet is going to survive the next 30 or 50 years. Everybody says that this planet will go under in the next 50 or 100 years. And I’d just want to know if it’s right.

SB: Which dead person do you want to bring to life?
Andrea: My grandma! I’m really attached to her, I have many lovely memories. Now that she’s dead, I know that she’s always watching me. I often feel her presence. I’d love to have her back. She died when I was very young. When I realized how important she was for me, I really missed her, but by then it already was too late.

SB: What’s your most important life philosophy?
Andrea: Take it easy! I don’t wanna make something important out of everything. There’s always another way, a different solution. At the beginning I’m always “brrr” (Andrea looks grim and grumbles a little), maybe a little obsessed. But then I think: “So what?” I just do it and wait for what’s happening then. I’m not the kind of guy who constantly worries about the future. I wanna live day by day. So, take it easy, and we’ll find a solution!

SB: Which law of nature would you deactivate?
Andrea: Mh, that’s actually a dumb answer… my girlfriend’s menstruation when I’m on tour!
(again general laughter)

SB: Where do you go when you want to be all alone?
Andrea: I think at home I’m often alone. I never have problems with that. I often take the time and go somewhere alone. I like being alone. There’s no special place. I simply go to the city alone and look at the shops; that’s no problem. If I’m on the road with friends it’s cool, if I’m alone it’s cool, too. I really have no problem with that. But at home is the best place to be alone. It’s quiet. But on tour it’s quite impossible to be alone. But I like being with many people, too. It’s no problem whether I’m alone or with others.

SB: OK, would you like to tell our readers anything concluding the interview?
Andrea: Yes, sure! We wanna thank all fans here in Germany. The CD sales are very good at the moment, and we get great feedback from the press and the fans. Also, we’re very happy about the German fans. I hope that many are going to come to our shows. We want to let the energy flow between us and the fans. I hope they like our shows. And I want to thank you for that “special” interview. Usually we’re asked about the meaning of the band name or how the tour goes. That’s the same questions every day.
Also, I was absolutely unprepared for this, but that’s the cool thing, to have really different questions for once. Because all the other things you can read in our biography. But the interview today was really cool with these unusual questions!

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