ROOM WITH A VIEW
Interview with Francesco Grasso (vocals, guitars)
Q>>
Hi there, first of all, I think it would be nice if you could tell us a bit
more about all those old pictures that I found in your booklet... Is it some
kind of concept that is connected with your lyrics one way or another?
A>> I am a collector of books, old black and white photos, letters and
other memorabilia associated with early 20th century Europe. You know, I have
a real fascination with that period of our history, le début du siècle,
the Belle Époque and the star-crossed epoch between the two world wars,
those days simmered with conflicting passions, alternating between dreams and
nightmares, hope and decadence. That's because I chase ghosts…. All the
photos you can see in our booklet are taken directly from my collection and
as you can notice every picture has a symbolic connection with the lyrical meaning
of the songs it refers to. As for our lyrics, the common feelings on them can
be found in the concept of departures, distances, journeys in space and time...
My lyrics usually come out to retake and repair what life should have been.
Otherwise they come out to turn a big emotion into something epic and reproducible,
since usually big emotions don't last.
Q>> About
the lyrics, I noticed they're pretty concise. Did you write such short texts
on purpose or is your English vocabulary still a bit limited?
A>>Mmh… the words that appear on the booklet are just an excerpt
from the full lyrics. That's because we hadn't enough space... we decided to
sacrifice the integrity of the full lyrics in order to emphasize the evocative
power of images. By the way, you can find our full lyrics on our official web
page at www.clubepoque.cjb.net. Anyhow I really wanted them to be pretty simple,
not hiding in complicated words or difficult terms like most of the bands do
today. I don't really mind to spread "the word about something" with
my lyrics; my only real influence is my petty existence, I'm afraid.
Q>> The musical
progression I heard through the songs that appear on "First Year Departure"
seems to indicate a will to start from simple things and get them always more
elaborate. I mean... "Departures", the first track of the album, starts
as a quite normal Gothic Metal piece and "Tiergarten", the last one,
is some kind of very avant-garde and complex song. Again, was this done on purpose
or is it just a coincidence?
A>> I really never thought about it. Maybe unconsciously it might have
happened, I mean the will of a musical progression from simple to complex. Of
course we were aware of the deep difference and contrast between a melodic,
Mediterranean song like "Departures" and an elaborate and dramatic
track like "Tiergarten"… At a certain point, during the recordings,
we were almost determined to choose "Tiergarten" as the opening track!
Imagine it: it would have been a totally different album! Maybe some could have
liked it more, who knows? But I think that the "First Year Departure"
track list is quite well thought… it's just a journey of imbalance into
the daydreaming minds of four melancholic young men.
By the way, in the future I think we'll concentrate more on linear song structures:
once the song has justified its existence then nothing more needs adding to
it. With our new stuff we are trying to make every single song strong and relevant
as never before. It consumes you and then leaves you waiting for more.
Q>> I've
heard tons of albums in 2002 but only a few deserved to be considered "original".
I think yours is one of them. How did you guys manage to put so many influences
in one single package?
A>> Well, I don't really know what "being original" means. When
people say that "First Year Departure" is original, that it's different
or a departure or whatever, and I guess they mean it as a compliment - or they
mean we'd gone off the rails, one of the two - I am a little confused. Ok, we
do offer a particular and very multifaceted sound to the listeners, but we're
also influenced by many things and I think that these influences are quite recognizable
(of course there are also lots of influences that are hardly noticeable). Mixing
all these elements, we are not really trying to set ourselves apart: we just
try to play the music we would like to listen to but no one is playing. It's
like mixing colors in a painting, or a modern approach of music with old gear
and it's not something we do consciously, very honestly speaking: it's who we
are. Musically speaking we all are products of the influences that we have heard
and grown up listening to. So when we create our music it just happens like
that. It's the way we approach music and the way we interpret it. Simple.
Q>> With
such an original sound as yours, one wonders what you guys listen to... Are
you all Gothic Metal fans? Katatonia and company? Did anyone in the band ever
hear of David Sylvian?
A>> We have all very different likes and dislikes. For example Alessandro
and me really love Katatonia, Beyond Dawn, Novembre and that kind of melancholic
stuff, while our band mates simply ignore them. Fabio, our drummer, comes from
the Hardcore scene, while Francesco L., our bass player, is really into Prog/Art
Rock. As for David Sylvian: yes, of course we know him and we like his stuff
very much! I also love Japan, his previous band, and the whole New Wave/Neo
Romantic scene of the early eighties.
Q>> How do
you come up with a song? I suppose there are some brains that work more than
others, am I right?
A>> Room with A View has never been a real "band". We have always
been a duo, just Alessandro and me, since we have started the whole thing in
1999, under the moniker Black Thorns Lodge. We have managed to find our drummer,
Fabio, only one month before starting the "First Year Departure" recording
sessions… Still it's just Alessandro and me who compose everything. Regarding
the process of composition, it's all about finding the right relationships among
elements of a whole, if definition is what we are after. Experience of that
"whole" seems quite possible by summing up the impressions of listening,
in our case, to a song. It is far harder to discern and describe the "elements"
and "relations". I strongly believe that every musical experience
is a visual experience. We have a very visual approach to composition and an
extremely lively, emotional and organic creative process.
Q>> Let's
talk about your most extreme influences. Growls, heavier and Blackish parts
are generally avoided by the Goths. They usually prefer silk and sweetness.
Are you some kind of "angry Goth" deep down? Or is it just that you
have a more extreme musical background?
A>> Well, I think that to label Room With A View's sound as Gothic Metal
would be misleading as it would most likely bring the old Theatre Of Tragedy
and the like to mind, of which we are quite far. Ok, we do have a rather strong
Gothic essence, but it's not Romantic or Tragic Goth. Maybe it has more to do
with my eighties Wave inspired vocals. Also, our guitar work has that distant
resonating feel that defines the most of our Gothic musical sound. But our melancholic
mood has less to do with tragic loss and more to do with loneliness, isolation
and introspective themes like emotional and mental disturbance… As for
our more extreme side, you should know that our first incarnation, Black Thorns
Lodge, dating back to 1999, was devoted to the Katatonia "Brave Murder
Day" sound… so those slightly heavier and "Blackish" parts
that appear on "First Year Departure" all come from these extreme
roots.
Q>> Who's
playing all those "non Metal" instruments (trumpets, accordion, synths...)?
A>> For trumpets and accordion, we have a pair of guest musicians who
help us to recreate the atmospheres we are searching for. I think we have managed
to characterize our songs with a deeper mood that immediately pictures our love
for circus music, Kurt Weill's compositions, the magic tunes of Federico Fellini's
movies... The trumpet is a major part of the Room With A View's sound because
it enhances the melancholy of our songs with its mournful sound. It may be hard
to imagine this instrument providing a depressing tone but it seems to work
here; the songs probably would not be the same without it. The other instruments
like piano, classical guitar and percussions are all played by us.
Q>> I don't
know exactly how happy you are with your album... Are things going all right
with My Kingdom Music? And what about the feedback you're getting from the media?
A>> An album is always a momentary point of view of a band. We made the
best out of it, so therefore Í wouldn't change anything. As far as being
satisfied with it... I think if I'm ever completely satisfied with my work,
it'll be time for me to quit, as there wouldn't be any further point in going
on. As for our label, it's perfect to work with them, because they respect us
a lot on the artistic level and we get great support! We learned a lot from
them and they from us, because it's a relatively new label, but I think it's
one of the most promising labels around. They are doing a great promotional
work with us and till now the media reactions have been enthusiastic everywhere...
from Metal webzines to alternative magazines! It demonstrates that we have a
certain appeal with a very large range of audiences… The expectations for
"First Year Departure" were rather high and I think it's doing well;
it's quite a diverse album and many different kinds of people seem to really
enjoy it.
Q>> Are you
well informed concerning the business things? Coz' I'm pretty sure that RWAV
can become big if it's put in the right hands...
A>> Of course we are always informed by our label about how the business
is going. I'm happy about your good omen… I'd really like to grow bigger
together with My Kingdom Music because we're feeling at home with them.
Q>> To conclude,
please say something weird that no one will understand...
A>> ...We sing the ambiguous, auto-ironic, decadent scenery of unreal
nights of a pseudo-cultured and pro-aristocratic new bourgeois class. One day
we'll leave our last audience with biting irony, avoiding this fatuous unreal
world which is shattering like a fragile champagne glass...
RNO