INTERVIEW : GIULIO GARGHENTINI

Giulio Garghentini is an Italian rock singer and "Believe" is entitled his debut solo effort. Mario Percudani, from the amazing hard rock band Hungryheart, is collaborating with Giulio and the result is a solid album that can't be missed by any fan of rock music in general. Giulio answers to Heavy Paradise's questions about his new album, his collaboration with Mario and some other really interesting stuff. You will, also, find out an exclusive answer from Mario of what's coming-up next in Hungryheart's camp in the near future!!! Enjoy......

Heavy Paradise : Hello and welcome to Heavy Paradise for this interview! It’s really a pleasure to have you here to share some things about the up-coming release of the “Believe” album. Before starting this interview, would you like to introduce your band and to give readers a short bio of the band?

Giulio: The band is composed by Mario Percudani Guitars (Hungryheart, Mitch Malloy, Axe, Lionville), Paolo Apollo Negri Keyboards (Link Quartet, Wicked Minds, An Apple A Day), Gianni Grecchi Bass (Blueville, Rusty Miles) and Paolo Botteschi Drums (Hungryheart) and naturally me.

I met Mario two years ago for the first time, and it was great to discuss with him about music,

We agreed the most of the things we spoke about the album.

Mario has worked for years with the musicians who participated in making the record, and I was very happy to have them in the project. They are simply fantastic.

Heavy Paradise : After a couple of spins of “Believe”, I must say that I enjoyed it and it’s about a US-flavored album full of melodies, catchy hooks and choruses, very good songs and, of course, very good guitar work!!  So, my question is, are you satisfied by the final result and how do you describe the album’s sound?

Giulio: The album’s sound is a mix of my influences and the ones of the musicians who play in it.

What you can find there is a mix of melodic rock, hard rock, blues, funky, pop.

But our real intention was to create an album of ten hits without paying too much attention to the genre and trying to mix vintage and modern sound in a unique project.

We worked very much on the songwriting aspect trying to reach our goal.

I’m very pleased with the result and I love it!

Heavy Paradise : Who is responsible for the songwriting here and how long did it take you for the recordings of the “Believe”?

Giulio: Me and Mario started co-writing the songs just over a year ago. It was very easy and professional to work with him. I love the way we worked.

Everytime our goal was just to obtain the best solution we could to produce good songs with something different in the style.

The collaboration with him is a very good begin for me…

Also the other musicians participated in part of the songwriting…

Heavy Paradise : The album is going to be released through Tanzan Music. In my opinion, nowadays, on one hand it’s pretty easy to promote your music with all these media sources (FB, Twitter e.t.c.) but on the other hand it’s, also, difficult to sell albums ‘cause of the illegal download. How you guys do see this situation in the rock music in general ?

Giulio: We just think that’s terrible! Crazy that we can’t do anything to stop this theft. But we trust in people and believe in their love for the music. On the other hand we think that it’s very good to have the possibility to promote your music and creations in an easier way, but sometimes the disadvantages outweigh the advantages

Heavy Paradise : From your new album, I have to say that among my favorite songs is the funky and Kotzen-esque tune of “Rockstar”. Impressive!!! If you had to choose your favorite tracks, which would that be and why?

Giulio: Oh yes!!! Good choice!!! It’s one of my favourites too!!! But i love them all for different reasons.

If I had to choose, I would choose “My Jesus”. It’s a very special song for me, not just for the words, but for the melody, choirs and arrangements too. It’s a letter to Jesus trying to explain how he’s important in my life and how I’m fighting everyday to better understand where he is and what I have to do to deserve his love..And maybe to explain to him how I feel his presence in my life. Sometimes it’s very strange ‘cause I don’t know why this happens to me, but it’s amazing to have a guide like him! Naturally I’m talking about Jesus, not about the religion…

Heavy Paradise : Is there going to be a video to promote the album?

Giulio: Oh yes, absolutely!!! We’ve chosen “I can’t stand the rain”. We think it’s a very good hit with a very melodic chorus and an interesting and particular arrangement.

Heavy Paradise : The Italian melodic hard rock/AOR scene over the last years achieved to build a strong reputation with some really impressive releases! Do you believe that the Italians have nothing to be envy about regarding the Swedish melodic scene?

Giulio: Everyone of us has grown up listening to some great Sweden bands, so I don’t like to compare the Sweden scene with the Italian ones. Our country has not the Rock reputation, but in the last years the italian AOR/Hard Rock scene has done something special, many great albums have come out and we are proud about it. And it’s nice to be part of this new wave of Italian rock music.

Heavy Paradise : Which are your influences? 

Giulio: I have many and, sometimes, very different influences:Lenny Kravitz, Jeff Buckley, Sanandamaitreya, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Guns’n’Roses, Soundgarden and many others. When I write songs I would use all of them, because they all play an important role in my way to feel the music. 

Heavy Paradise : With the album’s title, “Believe” do you want to sent a message to everyone to believe in something or is I just a word after all?

Giulio: I think there’s always something to believe in!! Youjust have to find your way and something to fight for! Sometimes life events can be very brutal and we begin to live just for the pain!!! But maybe what we’re feeling is just our need to believe!!

Heavy Paradise : Are there going to be some live performances to promote the album in the near future?

Giulio: Oh yes!!! First of all we are going to play the album in some realise parties and are planning a European tour as we really believe in this project.

This is just the beginning!!!

Heavy Paradise : Closing, I would like to thank you for this interview, to wish you all the best for your future plans and to ask one last question to Mario; what about your main band Hungryheart Mario?? Is there going to be a new album in the near future?

Mario: Hi Vassilis! It’s nice to talk with you again and thanks for this interview. The new album of Hungryheart is coming very soon… we will start the recordings during the winter and it’s scheduled to be released next spring/summer. By the way we will probably come again to play some shows in Greece and we are working on managing a tour together with Giulio. We will keep you updated! Talk to you very soon ;)