Fenisia Interview 26.09.20
MM: Who is answering these questions?
Hi, Nic Ciaz, i'm the voice and the lead guitar of Fenisia
MM: Can you tell us about Fenisia and who are your biggest influences?
Many and different are the artists and bands that have influenced us over the years, the Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers and the Black Crowes as regards our "Southern rock" origins, then passing through Richie Kotzen, then again Soundgarden, Zakk Wylde and his Pride & Glory and Black Label Society, obviously the prince of darkness Mr. Ozzy Osbourne and the Beatles, up to the brand new Alter Bridge and Black Stone Cherry and many others that have forged and directed us on our way.
MM: When will you be releasing your Album and can you tell us about the background to "The Spectator"
The Spectator will be available in all distribution channels from 30 October 2020. The album was produced by Ray Sperlonga in his Rosary Lane studio and distributed by our label Eclipse Records worldwide. We are absolutely satisfied, from the beginning we understood that we had managed to catalyze in these eight songs all our ideas and experiences that allowed us to mature what we started in Lucifer and Fenisia Cafè. The Spectator is the perfect third chapter to tell our sound and our ideologies, elaborate but concise, with attention to the smallest details, but also very instinctive. From the first two albums we have had many concerts and many experiences that have led us to knowledge of sounds and melodies full of ideas. The break between the Fenisia Cafè and this new album was a bit long but everything served to deepen and enrich our sound. We worked a lot on the sounds also in post production, and we left a lot of naturalness to the recordings, the nuances and even the small inaccuracies made the songs more real giving a live flavor for the listener.
MM: Plans tour and festival wise for probably next year thanks to COVID19
Unfortunately, due to COVID19 we still don't know if it will be possible to plan a real tour to promote the new album "The Spectator" which will be released in October.
For obvious reasons the live activity has suffered a sudden halt due to the pandemic and now, even if it is timidly resuming playing, we are definitely not even close to a normal situation yet.
We hope that we can return to playing both in smaller and larger contexts as soon as possible and to be able to travel without too many problems and difficulties.
We would love to have the opportunity to play in some festival next spring / summer.
We would like to be able to set some dates, as well as in Europe, also in America for 2021 and if the situation is resolved we hope that many will invite us to play in every other part of the world :-)
MM: Tell us what can we expect from live
We always play Live very willingly and we know how important it is for a band to play a lot of live to increase our professional experience and keep the band alive and united. For an emerging band like us it is doubly important and necessary to let a greater number of people listen (and we hope to appreciate) our music and at the same time keep the relationship with the most loyal fans alive. At our concerts we usually play our best songs including the oldest ones which we always play with great pleasure. The Fenisia sound that is perceived listening to the studio version of our songs is rather (pass me the term) "hard and raw" and therefore it is quite natural for us to propose it again when we play live. Usually we don't overturn the structure of the songs compared to what we recorded in the studio. But we always have fun inserting new and unpublished elements among the songs of the lineup, even in the arrangements, to make the concert more engaging, unique and exciting and allow the public to participate and consequently feel more involved.
MM: Which three Bands would be your ultimate touring buddies
This is also a difficult question, there are many artists I would tour with, if I really have to choose It would surely be a dream to be able to share the stage with Ozzy Osbourne's band, with Alter Bridge and the Black Label Society, I would like nothing more!
MM: Whats the most memorable concert you've been to (other than your own) and
why?
The Black Sabbath concert at the Verona Arena in 2016 was a unique emotion, the last live of a band that made history. The magical atmosphere, the strong and delicate sound at the same time, a real adrenaline rush, unforgettable
MM: How has COVID 19 affected you personally
Personally it struck me essentially under the musical aspect, it has been and continues to be very difficult to know that you can't play live or go to a good concert. For me the relationship with the stage and with the public is very important, this forced rupture has disturbed me a lot and I believe that the return to everyday life will be very slow.
MM: What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment so far?
There is not one really important to overcome other Fenisia highlights, certainly the new contract with eclipse records marked an important era for the band, being with a label of a certain prestige gives value to everything that is done in the own musical career. Each album is an absolutely significant step as well as videos and live shows, they are all part of a growth made to achieve the fundamental goals for the life of a band.
MM: If you were stuck in isolation for a year which four "famous" people would you have with you and why
I would like the fantastic Charlize Theron with me, because I consider her as charming as she is professional, a true super woman. Zakk Wylde because he's always been my personal guitar teacher, I learned a lot from him. Slash because I grew up with his historical solos and riffs and I have a lot of questions and curiosities for him. And if I had been granted the right to include a character from the past, well ... Immanuel Kant no doubt. He is my mentor and the root of my philosophy of life, so I would have so much to ask him that I might not sleep for a week straight without getting tired of listening to his teachings.
MM: Two favourite Albums of all time
It is very difficult if not impossible to answer this question, but if I have to venture I would say The Southern Harmony and the musical companion by Black Crowes and Pride & Glory by Zakk Wylde, these two albums have seriously marked my way of making music and consequently that of the Fenisia
MM: Can you remember the first time you ever played live and how it felt to have people
watching you?
I remember my first live very well, I was still in school and it was 1994. The concert was held in the theater and it was full of people so much that we couldn't believe our eyes. Doc Liquido al Basso was already in the band and the evening was a huge success! I was so intimidated by the crowd that I sang the first three songs with my back turned and wearing sunglasses. It was a rush of emotions so strong that it made me understand that this was my true great passion and that I should have followed it for my entire life.
MM: Growing up which Bands posters did you have on your bedroom wall?
There were many posters stuck to the walls of my room, each stage of my journey into the world of music contributed a new poster to display. From The Doors to the Black Crowes, from Aerosmith and Guns 'n' Roses to Zakk Wylde and Ozzy Osbourne and so on. Today, however, I only have the covers of my albums and the photos of my Fenisia
MM - Who do you think influenced the world of Metal / Rock more than any other
person?
Maybe I'm biased, but I firmly believe it was Ozzy Osbourne with his Black Sabbaths. They initiated a process of structural and sonic change in songs that was revolutionary by developing today's metal
MM - Whats the most important thing to the band right now?
The most important thing now for Fenisia, obviously after the release of the album The Spectator, will be to participate in important live events, such as international festivals. This would certainly be a significant milestone for the band, and an important window to have more notoriety among the bands of the star system. We know that covid will inevitably slow down this goal, but we will try to be stubborn as much as possible in order to achieve what we have set ourselves.
MM: If you could do a cover of any song which one would it be and why?
We actually did it, it's Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way". I was in London, it was 1993, in an important club called Hippodrome in Leicester Square, in the middle of the evening the video of this song was being screened like in a cinema, it was crazy, and from that moment I always wanted to cover that fabulous song with my band
MM: Tell us why we should check out your Band
Obvious ... Because it's us! It's our great band! (laughing). I'm kidding! I believe that within our works it is not only the music itself that is important. The lyrics and the concept behind each album have as their common denominator the philosophical thought of the Enlightenment. We believe this is the mind-set that today's humanity needs. We see in the world a great need to go back to believing in themselves and in the extraordinary potential inherent in the human race. A great need, for each individual, to develop their own critical and independent thinking based on objective knowledge and culture in general. What we try to get from our work is the union between energy and this kind of philosophy. The energy resides in the sound of the band which, although influenced by other less extreme genres, always remains energetic, compact and granite. Philosophical thought, on the other hand, resides in the concept underlying each album and permeates through the lyrics of the songs which, often, are intentionally hermetic or written in a metaphorical key to leave to the attentive listeners the possibility, through listening, of to be able to see new food for thought and therefore take on new points of view.
MM: Four words to describe
STRONG, DREAMER, PHILOSOPHICAL AND SENSIBLE
MM: 5 Questions:
1. Small intimate gig or festival
Festival
2. Vampires or Werewolves
Werewolves
3. Juventus or AC Milan
AC Milan
4. Jack Daniels or Beer
Beer
5. Pasta or Alcohol
Pasta!!
MM: Final Words for your fans and our readers
If you love the mix of hard rock metal and philosophy, then you can't miss our new album The Spectator, you will certainly be satisfied
