Lykaion
Lykaion is a new Italian
band with a multi-dimensional and multi-layered sound, filled and enriched
with various influences from a wide spectrum of metal music. Well, actually
if you read the interview that follows and check out their website, you'll
have the chance not only to get to know the band better, but also to download
their songs for free...
1. HELLO! FIRST OF ALL I WOULD LIKE TO SAY
THAT “BEHIND… A WHISPER” IS A VERY GOOD WORK. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT?
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL RESULT? DO YOU THINK THAT THIS DEMO HAS
THE POTENTIAL TO ATTRACT THE INTEREST OF A LABEL?
Hello! First of all thanks for your appreciation!
We have been pretty satisfied with the good result of “Behind a whisper”,
but it’s obvious that we can and we have to improve, even if as a first
step for a new line-up I think that it’s a good work that worthily represents
us. Moreover the critics seemed to appreciate our work, and this
makes us very happy!
2. SINCE YOU ARE A NEW BAND, I WOULD LIKE YOU
TO MAKE A PRESENTATION OF YOUR LINE-UP AND TELL US THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS
THAT A PERSON SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LYKAION…
At the moment the line-up is changing quickly,
since our first singer decided to leave us, and so now we are looking for
a new one; in the meanwhile we’re also looking for a keyboard player for
the most atmospheric parts. Anyway the very line-up is composed by Alessandro
Sforza at the guitar, Andrea Alberati at the drums, Valerio Miseferi at
the bass and me, Fabio Valentini, at the other guitar.
3. LYKAION, IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN IS AN ANCIENT
GREEK WORD. HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO USE SUCH A NAME AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN
TO YOU EXACTLY?
Yes, it’s the name of a Greek place. This
name was suggested by our first singer Luca, who studies archaeology and
he is fond of it. We all agreed!
4. THIS INTERVIEW WILL BE READ BY PEOPLE THAT
HAVEN’T LISTENED TO YOUR MUSIC YET. SO I WOULD LIKE YOU TO GIVE A DESCRIPTION
OF YOUR MUSIC AND HELP THE READERS UNDERSTAND WHAT EXACTLY YOU PLAY… ALSO
NAME SOME OF THE BANDS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED YOU…
We have no limits in our compositions, we
like mixing up the more we can our influences, so in the same track you
can easily find more heavy parts, progressive riffs and even pop parts
or more melodic ones. Obviously there are many artists who have influenced
us, such as Nevermore, Opeth, Anathema, Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Novembre,
Genesis, and many others. We all have a varied musical background and I
think this is shown in our compositions.
5. YOU HAVE ALREADY RELEASED 2 DEMOS, SO I WOULD
LIKE YOU TO COMPARE THEM AND TELL ME WHICH ARE THE SIMILARITIES AND THE
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM…
Our first work, “The Equilibrium of the Hidden”,
was recorded in 2003, with a completely different line-up and there is
a big difference between that and what we are composing at the moment.
It’s a typical Power Progressive Italian style demo, such as Vision Divine…
Labyrinth, for example. Unfortunately we were still quite inexperienced
during the recording, in fact the production was too rough and this spoiled
a bit the final result. Our last work, “Behind a whisper”, instead , is
more professional both from the compositive and the sonorous point of view,
with more attention to the arrangements and sounds. Moreover, through this
new work we are trying to find our very personal way.
6. I’VE CHECKED OUT YOUR SITE AND I SAW THAT YOUR
SINGER LUCA MAZZILLI, LEFT THE BAND. WHICH WERE THE REASONS THAT LED HIM
TO SUCH A DECISION? DO YOU STILL HAVE GOOD RELATION WITH HIM?
Luca decided to leave the band because he
felt demotivated, he needed to find new stimulations which he didin’t find
in us anymore. Fortunately we only had musical disagreements, from the
other points of view, we’re still good friends!
7. I ALSO READ THAT YOU ARE PREPARING A FULL LENGTH
ALBUM. WHEN WILL IT BE READY? FROM WHICH LABEL WILL YOU RELEASE IT? CAN
YOU GIVE US A TITLE OR IS IT TOO EARLY? WILL YOU INCLUDE ANY OF THE SONGS
FROM YOUR DEMO?
We had many contacts and in April we’ll enter
the studio and begin to record. At the moment this is the only certain
thing I can tell you, we are making the rest and we could also change our
mind from here to April!
8. WILL LUCA’S DEPARTURE HOLD YOU BACK? HAVE YOU
CANCELLED ANY LIVE SHOWS BECAUSE OF THIS DEPARTURE?
Obviously the departure of Luca caused us
some problems, it slowed down our song writing process and it made us call
off some live shows. He was very important for the arrangements of the
vocal parts, so now we are working to adapt the new songs to the voice
of his successor!
9. ONE THING THAT ALWAYS INTERESTS ME IS THE LYRICS.
SO WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM AND WHAT KIND OF THINGS GIVE YOU INSPIRATION
TO WRITE? CAN YOU TELL US IN A FEW WORDS WHICH THE THEME OF EACH SONG IS?
The lyrics of “Behind a whisper” have been
written by our first singer, whereas those of the new songs are written
by me and Alessandro, the other guitarist. We also deal with the composition
of the tracks and of the vocal parts. The lyrics are about real-life experience,
we don’t deal with fantasy or science fiction matters; our subjects are
quite intimate and very close to us, they are about things that we lived
and felt.
10. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOUR MUSIC CORRESPONDS
TO A SPECTRUM OF COLORS. WHAT KIND OF COLORS DO YOU THINK THAT FIT BETTER
TO YOUR SOUND?
I think that the color that fits better to
our sound is grey and it completely represents every shade that we try
to catch through our music.
11. WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH YOUR
MUSIC? IS THERE A SPECIFIC MESSAGE THAT YOU WANT TO PASS TO THE LISTENER?
We are not trying to give a precise message
in our songs; as I told you before, the lyrics are mainly about our personal
experiences and everyone can take out from them every emotion and every
message that arrives during the listening!
12. HOPE YOU HAVE NICE HOLIDAYS AND A HAPPY NEW
YEAR. THE CLOSING OF THIS INTERVIEW BELONGS TO YOU… SAY WHAT EVER YOU THINK
YOU SHOULD SAY AND WE DIDN’T MENTION IN THE INTERVIEW…
Thank you, wishing to you and the whole webzine
all the best, thanks for the attention you gave us! I suggest to those
who read this interview to visit our website, www.lykaion.it
, where you can also download for free our last work “Behind a whisper”!!
See you soon!
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
|