Violent
Storm
After playing with so many
guitar heroes all around the world, Mike Cervino decided to bring to life
his personal musical vision and create his own legacy. Perhaps "Storm Warning"
isn't a breakthrough, but it's definitely an amazing album that will please
even the most demanding fans of hard rock and classic heavy metal. I think
you ought to check it out!
1. “STORM WARNING” IS A VERY GOOD ALBUM! BEFORE
WE TALK ABOUT IT, THOUGH, I BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WHO MICK CERVINO
IS.
Thank you. I have been playing bass
professionally since age 16. Grew up in Buenos Aires, toured and recorded
with major artists there, moved to Spain and then to the UK, toured and
recorded with various bands. In the States joined Ritchie Blaclmore's band
from 1997 through 2000, and in 2001 joined Yngwie Malmsteen's band with
whom I've been touring since. With him I performed in the G-3 tour with
Steve Vai and Joe Satriani on "Lve in Denver", DVD/CD which I believe
went platinum.
2. “STORM WARNING” INCLUDES COMPOSITIONS THAT
BALANCE BETWEEN HEAVY METAL AND HARD ROCK. DO YOU AGREE? HOW WOULD YOU
DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND TO PEOPLE THAT HAVEN’T LISTENED TO VIOLENT STORM YET?
Yes, I agree. Violent Storm offers a variety
of contrasts within the spectrum of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock, you can't
really judge the album by one or two songs alone. I think there's
lots of hard, raw energy on most of the tracks, with plenty of opportunities
to dislocate a shoulder or dissect an internal carotid artery by headbanging
yourself until you're injured.
3. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO PREPARE THE COMPOSITIONS?
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL RESULT? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE
TO CHANGE ON THE ALBUM?
Some of the songs I had in my head for a very
long time. Adjusting them to the way I perceive music today was quite natural
and didn't take very long.As critical as I am of my own work, I have to
say that I am very pleased with the end result. Of course, with KK Downing's
contributions the project I knew the final product would be outstanding.
4. CAN WE SAY THAT VIOLENT STORM ARE THE PERSONAL
PROJECT OF MICK CERVINO? CAN YOU TELL US WITH WHICH OTHER ARTISTS YOU HAVE
COOPERATED ON THIS ALBUM?
Initially it was my personal project, but
I was privileged enough to have KK Downing of Judas Priest cooperating
on the album by performing lead guitar on two tracks and by Executive Producing
it. I also invited Yngwie Malmsteen to perform on two songs, then Roy Z
did some guitar work as well as Engineering and Mixing the album together
with Stan Katayama.
5. GREAT NAMES OF THE METAL SCENE PARTICIPATE
HERE LIKE K.K. DOWNING, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN AND ROY Z. AREN’T YOU AFRAID THAT
ALL THESE NAMES CAN, IN A WAY, “STEAL” YOUR GLORY?
No, if anything they've enhanced my music
with their amazing talent, and by doing so, their participations will make
more people aware of Violent Storm.
6. IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN YOUR ALBUM WILL BE RELEASED
IN EUROPE FIRST. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO DO THAT? WHEN WILL IT BE RELEASED
TO THE REST OF THE WORLD?
The album was first released in Japan a few
months ago, and it was just released in Europe on October 23. We decided
to release "Storm Warning" in Europe next because the foundation of Violent
Storm's material is inspired by early British Rock, we anticipate the European
public would be very receptive as they seem to identify with this style
of music very well. While we work on other territories the album is available
through Violent Storm's official website www.violentstorm.net
7. ON YOUR ALBUM YOU HAVE A SONG CALLED “STORM”
WHICH IS WRITTEN BY RITCHIE BLACKMORE AND CANDICE NIGHT. IS IT A COVER
SONG OR A SONG ESPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THIS RELEASE?
It is a cover of their song, but done in a
Rock feel. The original version by Blackmore's Night is acoustic and suits
their style very well, but I wanted to rock it out a bit and play
it on the electric guitar, with distortion and aggression, and hoping that
Ritchie doesn't hear it so he doesn't get too pissed off.
8. WHO HAS WRITTEN THE LYRICS? WHAT KIND OF THEMES
INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE ABOUT? CAN YOU TELL US, WHICH THE MEANING OF EACH
SONG THAT YOU HAVE INCLUDED IN THIS ALBUM IS?
I wrote most of them, except for "Pain", written
by Denise Love; "Alimentary Fable", written by Conrad Warre; and Storm",
written by Candice Night.
From the ones I wrote, the inspiration comes
from my personal experiences in my daily life. Some of them are too personal
to divulge with detail explanations, but here's a few:
"War No More", obviously the world events
affect you in many ways, so wrote about war, battle fields, and people
who profit from one sided movies about it.
"Fire In The Unknown", basic unanswered questions
about life and death, good and bad, and the unsuccessful search for knowledge
that won't come until one gets to the other side.
"Screaming In Your Face", inspired by my experiences
at haunted castles during my days with Ritchie Blackmore.
"Owning You", though it may seem like a bit
of a sick love song by some kind of pervert, it is a song about banks and
credit card companies who are there to clean you out financially while
advertising family oriented commercials telling you how much they care
about you. (bastards!)
"Empty Hope", the relentless pursuit of hope
and happiness that is destined to fail because, basically, life is
a bitch.
9. WHICH WAS THE WEIRDEST QUESTION YOU’VE EVER
BEEN ASKED?
What am I going to do now about what I did
in the past?
10. IMAGINE THAT IN A CROSSROAD YOU MEET THE DEVIL
AND THAT HE ASKS YOU TO BARGAIN YOUR SOUL. WOULD YOU DO IT? WHAT WOULD
YOU ASK IN EXCHANGE?
I already did, but I told him to fuck off!
11. HAVE YOU NOTICED UNDER WHICH CIRCUMSTANCES
OR EMOTIONS YOU BECOME MORE CREATIVE AS A MUSICIAN?
12. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEW ALBUM “STORM WARNING”!
THE LAST WORDS BELONG TO YOU AND LEAVE A MESSAGE TO THE READERS OF BEHIND
THE VEIL WEBZINE…
I hope all of you enjoy the album as much
as I do. Listen to it LOUD!!!! See you on tour in 2007!!!
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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