Hi! Tell me about your band and what kind of previous experience do you have as musicians?
Sinezamia is an Italian rock band, founded in 2004 in the province of Mantua, a small and fascinating city in northern Italy. We have always distinguished ourselves from other local bands as we have always sung in Italian from the very beginning, using sounds linked to the dark and new wave vein, while maintaining a rock footprint. The first phase, the most decadent one, is represented by our first two self-produced EPs, Fronde (2007) and Sacralità (2009), of which, however, at the moment we no longer perform any piece. After some line-up changes, with the release of the single “Ombra” in 2011 and our first album “La fuga” in 2012, our sound becomes more mature and robust, embracing more metal and hard rock sounds, while maintaining a certain dark atmosphere. The album gets numerous reviews both in Italy and abroad, leading us to do many concerts in different Italian cities and to participate in 2013 in the prestigious “Masters of rock” in the Czech Republic. In the same year the single “Senza fiato” is released , followed by numerous other reviews, a revised version of “Warsaw” by Joy Division for an Italian compilation and many concerts throughout 2014. The last of these concerts is immortalized on record and is published in 2015 with the title “Decadanza ”, a record that celebrates the first 10 years of the band’s activity with 10 live recorded tracks, including an unpublished one. In 2016 the band decides to stop with the live activity, to dedicate itself to composing and writing the new record. In April 2017, on the occasion of Record Store Day, the unpublished single “Nel blu” is released. In 2018 the recordings of the new album of unreleased tracks begin and in 2019 the band signs the first recording contract with the label Sliptrick records for the publication of the new album.
Only Marco Grazzi on vocals and Carlo Enrico Scaietta on keyboards remain of the original line-up. On the bass we find Marco Beccari, in the band for over 10 years from the time of our second EP “Sacralità, Stefano Morbini joined the drums at the time of the single “Ombra” and on the guitar the new entry Alessandro Conte, who joined the band in early 2019 and replaced the previous guitarist, got out from the band once the recordings were completed.
Apart from Marco Grazzi, who has never had previous experiences, everyone has had bands with which they started playing. Now Stefano, the drummer, plays in several local tributes and the guitarist Alessandro has had several projects both of unpublished and cover songs.
But for everyone, Sinezamia project remains the most concrete and most relevant project.
Why did you pick your band name? How did you form? Why did you decide to play the genre or genres you do?
Sinezamia is the union of two Latin words, “sine” and “zamia”, and it means “without prejudice”. It sounded good and contains a very deep meaning, in which we reflect a lot.
We formed in 2004 from the usual group of friends united by a passion for music. We spent our days listening to music and often participated in the concerts of our favorite artists. We then started playing and trying out some covers but right away we started writing and composing our own pieces, and then completely abandoning the inclusion of cover songs in our playlists. And so it is now.
We listened to a lot of new wave, dark, so it is certain that at the beginning we were influenced by those sounds and we tried to bring them back into our sound. Then the influences changed, some components changed and the cards mixed up. But the background of each one of us is quite different, it emerges without overwhelming that of the others and blends in our sound.
What can you tell us about your latest record?
“Fingere di essere” is our latest record. It was a very hurt record, with a long gestation and composition. Many pieces have been discarded and they have not found the definitive dress to enter the album. He was born at a time when we decided not to play live to find the right concentration to create new material. Some tracks then underwent several changes, so the times have expanded and certain internal contrasts have certainly not helped everything. There was a bit of a crisis, let’s say.
In fact at the end of the recordings, our historical guitarist with whom we had been playing for 10 years decided to leave the band. We then waited to insert a new guitarist and take back all the material in rehearsal room and then decide to publish the album.
However, there will be 10 songs that will bring a breath of newness to our sound, reinvigorated and strengthened compared to the past, with more open mind and less gloomy lyrics, without forgetting more robust and dreamlike plots.
What the kind of album feedbacks are you waiting for?
We hope that the record can be received by the most heterogeneous audience possible. We never made music for just one type of audience. All lovers of rock, metal, dark, will find tracks and sounds in this record that will surely involve them.
We hope it can find a good approval of public and critics and give us the chance to play as much as possible in new places.
Are you gonna to make some world tour in the future? Do you think this is available for everybody option to tour around the globe? What do you think band have to do to get such opportunity?
It would be a dream. We really hope one day we can do a tour of different dates outside our borders.
We have what it takes to do it, both for the type of tracks proposed, for stage presence and experience gained both live and in studio. Surely it is an opportunity that not everyone can have and we have never had it before. We hope that someone can offer us this chance, we are sure that we could exploit it in the best way.
The fact of having self-produced everything in these years has definitely limited us both in distribution and promotion. We therefore hope that with the distribution and promotion of Sliptrick records, this dream can come true.
Do you believe in heavy music scene without money?
Money? We have always seen few of them … so it is a subject of which we can say little.
What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Online music is certainly one of the new frontiers of music making.
It fully represents the aspect of this society, daughter of fast consumerism and without analysis.
People then buy or download music to listen to it quickly, with little attention … or even don’t buy it anymore but prefer to create playlists on Spotify or watch video clips on Youtube. Liquid music is something that in our opinion does not remain, it passes and goes, like the best fashions.
A physical record instead remains, it is tangible, you can touch it, observe it, admire it. The cover and the artwork have their meanings. All aspects are united with one another.
Fortunately, there is a return to vinyl, we hope it is not just an aspect linked to the “vintage” phenomenon but is something more concrete and cultural.
Who are your musical influences? Have you ever think your band could be so famous as your favorites?
As mentioned, the influences have been many over the years, then changed over the years and different for each component. I can tell you that in the early days the major influences were linked to bands like Litfiba, Timoria, Joy Division, Bauhaus, Editors, Franz Ferdinand etc. But then you grow, you free yourself from certain loves, assimilate everything and try not to carry more labels. We are now all we have assimilated in 15 years. But we are not those of the beginnings, this must be clear. But in Italy it is very hard to make it understood, although the current prominent Italian bands are for the most part a remake of pop sounds at least 35 years ago. And nobody says anything.
To be as famous as our favorite band? Perhaps if we were born at the same time, we would surely have had some satisfaction.
Do you have a formal music education? Do you think it’s a Kind of important thing?
Inside the band there are different levels of musical preparation. A theoretical preparation is certainly an added value as regards the composition and the execution of the songs, it allows you to better control the direction of the song. on the other hand, without passion, fueled only by the practical aspect, the road would be even more difficult.
Art cannot be restricted into definitions and fitted into a box, but rules must be followed. As in life, balance brings results.
How do you balance your music with other obligations – mate, children, job?
We all have a major job that engages us most of the day. Then we have a home and a family to dedicate the rest of our time to. So over the years, music has had to be resized within our lives. It is not just a case that we have not played live in the last 3 years. But now we are loaded for the release of the new record, we know how to make the most of the time we have available and we will certainly throw away less than in the past. Less rehearsals but more determination and concentration.
How do you handle mistakes during a performance? Or you can assure there are no any mistakes during your gigs? Do you get nervous before a performance or a competition?
Any executive errors we have always tried to mask them with ease.
When you play original pieces, we say that the public is not always prepared for what they hear, let alone not know the pieces. So if you miss an attack, a sentence in the text, a note … you can play it well. The important thing is not to panic.
Usually we are always calm before a performance, anyway now we know that on stage the sounds will always be different from the soundcheck done a few hours before and we are ready for every new adventure.
What’s next? Thank you!
Buy the album, listen to it and enjoy it!