Friday, December 12, 2014

Reasons Behind Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
The Reasons Behind project officially came to life in 2010, from the ashes of a gothic metal band (something like After Forever, Within Temptation, early Lacuna Coil).  In 2012 we self-published the EP “Ouverture”.  Fortunately our work received good press and audience reaction, so could play quite a lot of shows here in Northern Italy and be known a little even in Europe, South America and Japan!
Now our debut album “The Alpha Memory” is finally out, along with the first single official video of ‘With Your Light’, so…here we are.


2.SO far you have released one full length and an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both recordings and also how do they differ from each other?
Well “Ouverture” was our very first work together as a band, so we were searching for our musical identity. You can hear stronger symphonic influences from masters like Nightwish, Within Temptation and so on.  However in some tracks you can hear some synth sounds and less operatic vocals, so that's what we had in mind and that's what you can find on “The Alpha Memory”.
The keyboards are more electronic music oriented; the guitar, bass, & drums combo is a bit Swedish/Extreme Metal inspired, and our vocalist gravitates towards a more modern technique than an operatic one.


3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Mainly we talk about real life issues: feelings, worries, everything that somehow can move our heart, sometimes by using fictional stories.  In ‘The Last Night Of Ilion’ (from the EP), for example, we tried to imagine Troy's destruction seen through the eyes of Helen, but we actually tell a tale of passion and regret.
“The Alpha Memory” itself is a concept album about a woman with Alzheimer’s disease, but behind the story there's a reflection about the link between memory and identity.


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Reasons Behind'?
The name of the band came by chance, while I (Gabriele – guitarist and lyricist) was writing lyrics for what would become one of “Ouverture”’s songs.  I was wondering about deceit and the true reasons behind things, what lies under the surface…even though in the end that sentence got deleted, we all found that the two words just sounded good, so we found our moniker.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Every gig is unique, because we meet different people and bands, but there's a venue in particular in northern Italy that has believed in our music from the very beginning of our live activity.  Every time we play there they make us feel like real at home.
About our stage performance, at the moment we’re working hard to set the show since it will be all (or mainly) about the concept album.  We’d like to translate our performance into an all around experience by adding elements that can help people in not merely listening to the songs but live the story as it unfolds through the music.  A sort of dramatic dimension.  It’s quite hard to define all the details, but we hope that in the end everything will turn out to be a great event!


6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
For us the most important thing is to reach people with our music, so the next step to promote the album will be to play as many gigs as possible, especially abroad. We’re planning to make a tour, maybe also supporting a bigger band or playing at some festivals in 2015. Moreover in the summer there will be many festivals in Europe, and it would be great for us to perform in front of such bigger audiences. Who knows.


7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of both the symphonic and power metal genres?
The first reviews were published a couple of days ago and they are all great! Old fans and newcomers too seem to appreciate our new sound, the concept album story, and the first video single ‘With Your Light’; so the world reaction to “The Alpha Memory” seems to be very positive.


8.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
Reasons Behind is the main project for all of us, because after study/work and all that's necessary for the band (you know, promotion, social networks and so on) you simply see that time's up.


9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Maybe it's too early to talk about it, but we can say we'll try to dig into the electronic/modern side of our music even more.  At the moment we have several riffs and melodies we're working on for the next album and everything seems to be becoming heavier and more modern.

10.What are some of the bands or musical genres that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Each member of the band listens to many genres of music and draws inspiration from different bands. Some of us listen to power/speed metal.  Some others prefer death metal, as well as symphonic or progressive metal.  Someone also likes 80s and 90s dance music. When we write a song everyone naturally brings his/her ideas, then we try to mix them all together, so you may find aggressive riffs along with synths, acoustic and melodic parts.
Just to name a few band we're influenced by, we could say Sonata Arctica, Kamelot but also something from early In Flames (especially in some guitar riffs) or, as we said, some 90s Eurodance artists (2 Unlimited, Datura, …).


11.What are some of your non-musical interests?
When we don't play gigs or write new stuff, we are quite busy.  Elisa also works as a model. Gabriele is a volleyball coach and a graphic designer. Dario recently started playing golf and Enrico...well is a brand new daddy so he must be the busiest of us all.


12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks to you for this interview and for your hard work to promote bands like us to metal fans worldwide. You can follow us on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/ReasonsBehind) and official website (www.reasonsbehind.com), or our label’s website (www.maplemetalrecords.com), 'cause soon we'll post some news about live dates and more!

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