We had promised to give a voice to gothic rock in person, to let the music speak for itself... We have kept our word! On this sunny winter day we met Bloody Mary in the Milan unknown to most, the Milan of the outskirts, where the musical ferment never stops and keeps producing new talent. You feel at ease straight away with these five guys, who show a closeness that goes beyond friendship and immediately make you feel at home: their cheerfulness is a whirlwind there is no escaping - the watchword is "have fun", and with them around fun is truly guaranteed. My colleague Paolo Landa and I dived into their mood without fear and followed them as if under a spell, like new Pied Pipers, accompanied by the able managers of the Blasted Agency, Christian Lezzi and Daniela Ardigò, silent and attentive bodyguards of their talent. What follows is the result of this deep exchange of "blood", as the guys would say - of energy, passion, adrenaline. [A note: everything described as "bloody" is to be understood in the American slang sense of the word: fucking, damned!]
Hi guys, the long-awaited interview begins at last... We noticed you around the net thanks to your very original and captivating image (at the concert held at the Transilvania Live, Aldebran had a fire extinguisher hanging from his belt... ed.), but only after hearing your songs did we look at each other and say: THEY HAVE TO BE OURS! Paolo and I have a big responsibility with this interview, that of presenting you to the audience that has not yet had the good fortune to know you... so, the ritual question to start with:
How were Bloody Mary born?
Ale: BM were born from an original line-up consisting of yours truly and Marco (bassist)... we wanted to start a band and began playing together. Then the others joined. The funny thing is rather how we met Aldebran (yes, that really is his name, and be careful not to confuse it with Aldebaràn: he insists on pointing out that Aldebran is a Celtic name!)... he was playing guitar sitting near the church of Sant'Eustorgio; he interested us and we went to talk to him about music, since we were all instrumentalists and were looking for a singer. We had a chat and he asked us where we played... Our rehearsal room was at the Jungle Sound. We went there twice a week, and the first time Aldebran came he left us speechless: he walked in without saying hello and went straight to the mixer, saying: "now let me hear!". We improvised a song, and after a minute or two we had found a verse that fitted our songs.
Love at first sight, then!!
Ale: Aldebran is one of the most unusual people I have met in my life; he played in the street or with his previous band... yes, the chemistry was immediate.
Which musical genres do you feel most influenced by?
Marco: We were born with a very hard rock imprint, but not only that. We liked the song "Face To Face" (a Twins cover - outstanding! ed.) done all with guitars... each of us has a different background, even though the band has definitively taken on a very gothic rock imprint... but that is not everything.
You are very gothic visually too! And certainly original - it is not every day you stumble upon bands with such a carefully crafted image... you make a real impact!
Ale: Aldebran is astonishing in the way he dresses; in fact we have seen him go on stage more than once in absurd outfits. He likes to improvise a lot, and until the last moment not even we know how he will turn up. If it is not the outfit, it is the behaviour: he does crazy things, like the time he went to sing under a girl's skirt, or the time we played the last song on stage together with everyone who was there listening to us! It was very moving!
You say you do not chase success... But taking such care of your look and your music will sooner or later bring success to you - have you ever thought about it?
Marco: The difference is that we do not see success as a goal, but as a means of reaching as many people as possible, of stirring feelings in as many people as possible; if that happens we are happy, because they listen to us, because music is feeling. We often give away our CDs at concerts, because demos are not finished products - we consider them a free sample. We have managed to distribute 700 CDs, which means at least 1000 people have listened to it and we have aroused emotions in them. We count a lot on the live impact, because it is aggressive and because we see ourselves better on stage...
You are a band already packaged for production, both in the quality of the recordings and in the videos and photos - they are professional, fit for a record launch! Who helps you with all this?
Aldebran: Our idea is to create a sort of artistic circle where everyone puts their talent at its disposal. Among our collaborators we have Gianluca Fabbrini, a theatre director - he is the one who directs our videos - and Lazarus Walking Studio takes care of the photos... we were lucky to meet these people; they fully share our outlook and at the same time bring ideas of their own, they do exceptional things. We are always looking for people who can create a particular atmosphere - let's say a state of mind, the feeling, the mood, the "blood" as we understand it - so that they become part of a family where no one judges you for your ideas. The audience is very important to us, and each of us has a task: to create a party, warmth and atmospheres. At the end of the concert everyone thanks us (the club owners included)... Our dream is to create a caravan in the style of an early-twentieth-century American circus, tour for many months involving everyone we meet, and at the end take a month's holiday! It is a very close relationship with the audience, made of emotions; that is why our fans are called Bloody People. They are the ones who give us adrenaline.
Blood as inner energy, then. It seems you have managed to create a certain atmosphere, since your website gives off a particular warmth... it is impossible not to feel at home; it makes you want to come and visit! Does it happen with the bands you play with too?
Marco: It is very beautiful, the atmosphere is created at once! For example, we are great friends with My Sixth Shadow... the night we played together was named the Bloody Shadow Night: we have a sort of communion, with the aim of creating a brotherhood with the bands that play with us; we collaborate and we are not in competition.
In your videos, especially It's Too Late, there is a strong sensual component; you are charged with sexual tension... how important is sex in your way of making music?
Aldebran: We are for free love, we are like the bonobos, hahaha (apes that have a great deal of sex, both heterosexual and homosexual - ed.). It's Too Late was our first video; it was very striking and experimental, made mainly with our own money. The director did all the work for free. We tried to create a mental association between the knife and murders... whoever holds it is seized by the urge to kill. The drops of blood have the same effect they usually have on vampires... A sort of tale of the killer knife. We wanted our way of presenting ourselves to come out as sensual but not vulgar... Sensuality excites us - our whole life is made of sensuality. I think a video is like a documentary: it stimulates the mind, and we would like our music to do the same in every single gesture. And then the sex-and-blood pairing is a classic!
You are saying this to someone who adores vampire stories... well, a few questions for the management cannot be missing: you are the spiritual bodyguards (the bloodyguards!!) of these magnificent guys... But how and when was the Blasted Agency born?
Chris: In '98 I started with Exile; mine is a very emotional and sentimental way of working... I worked with NAUGHTY WHISPER... In the last year Daniela came in to handle international management. With Bloody Mary the collaboration began on 10 May 2003; Daniela and I currently also manage DECADENCE and SOULTAKERS (excellent, by the way - ed.)... We find that being a manager is hard, because it is very difficult to gain credibility... the big players in the sector make us offers for foreign bands. And the historic figures of the music scene keep asking for well-known bands.
Where did you meet Bloody Mary? Was it magic, as with Aldebran?
Chris: It is Daniela's fault (thank you, Daniela, then!!). It was at the end of April at the Rainbow in Milan. They started playing and at the end of the concert they vanished without saying who on earth they were (not even the name of the band). So Daniela started searching the Rainbow's website, but found no information. It was very hard to find the band's website, so she started asking in the forums of all the dark sites which band had played at the Rainbow and what their website was... Then we met them at the Dark Day, and that is where the collaboration began! The Blasted philosophy is that it does not look for bands - it falls in love with bands!!
We feel the same: we too fell in love with Bloody Mary at first sight! Got that, audience? Give them a try!... One last question: is it very difficult to organise booking for emerging bands?
Chris: There are a great many difficulties for bands without a name (small or big), and everything depends on how many people they will bring to the concert... I must say Bloody Mary always manage to draw a lot of people - people even travel up from the South to hear them; they are much loved!
Thank you, Christian, thank you, Daniela, and above all thank you to Bloody Mary... We bet there will be a lot of talk about you! We are keeping an eye on you and we advise the audience not to miss their show - first of all because you would miss a unique experience, and then because you might find yourself facing Aldebran dressed in nothing but cellophane!! Stay tuned: the review of Red and Rosemadder will soon be online!
First published in Italian; in English here.