Gramma Vedetta Interview

Distinctive, groovy,  enjoyable and storytelling Gramma Vedetta come to mismatch the grey world, forming a Council of Elderly which is about to begin to spread its mighty hands to rule the world in the near future. The stoner grunge alternative rock power trio are here to prove us their undoubtable concept, and to make sure their footprint is solidly marked on your musical map. Beyond that, they were so kind to choose Blessed Altar Zine for a premiere and an exclusive stream in full of their debut EP! My dot com brother Emil/UHF already gave his thoughts on “Proof of Concept” in his expert review, so now please check what Dan has to share with us. And make sure to listen to “Proof of Concept.

– Hello, Gramma Vedetta! It’s my pleasure to welcome to Blessed Altar Zine! How are you?
– Hello there, the pleasure is ours and thank you for having us. We are stoked about the release of our upcoming debut album “Proof of Concept”. It’s a great start, it’s our first milestone. The first of many, of course!

– Exciting times for the band, but please let us first know more about the history of the band. How it was formed and what was your main idea behind?
– After moving to UK I contacted Marco, a friend-bass-player who was already living in London, we drank some beers and we put an advert on Gumtree to find a drummer. Valadis was the first one we auditioned and it was a perfect match. Love at the first sight. The main idea behind the band, which is mutually shared, was to play music inspired by our teenage years in the 90s but also based on the giants of the 70s. The rule is: If we like it, we play it.

– UK is well know with it’s musical diversity and strong heritage. How much Gramma Vedetta fits to this British way of doing music?
– All our musical influences comes from the UK and the USA (let’s say 50/50) so we are already with one foot in the right place. Moving here and being part of London’s music scene gave us a further push to embrace the british philosophy of getting the inspiration from different angles – It’s great to be able to share the stage with so many talented and diverse bands.

– What does Gramma Vedetta means actually?
– Gramma Vedetta is a fictional (or not, who knows) Council of the Elderly which, in a foreseeable future, will control everything and everyone. We know that its members are already between us – hidden ‘Behind the Blinds’. They didn’t plan to create a council yet but they will for sure.

– Your debut album “Proof of concept” will be released on 29 October. I guess you are super excited?
 – Yes, definitely. We can’t wait to release the Kraken. We worked a lot on it and we’re  proud of what we achieved, how it sounds and how the music flows. It was written in the first year as a band and engineered by the talented Will Maya who gave a roaring but clean sound to the record.

– What is the concept and what are you proving with it?
– We’ve got the album title from our technology and research background. The title of this album is a statement that says: “Hey! We are Gramma Vedetta! This is how we sound like, what we created so far, our footprint – there is so much more brewing, have a little taste and come back with thirst ”. It is the Proof of Concept of our artistic vision and music.

– Tell us more about the album, the songs, the recording…Present it to us. Was it hard for you?
– As I mentioned earlier, the album was written on our first year as Gramma Vedetta. Some ideas came from me – Daniele – as acoustic songs like ‘Behind the Blinds’ or `She` and other ideas came from the prolific brain of Marco (which is also an electronic music composer). The songs gained their final form thanks to Valadis and his steady drumming, so we can say – definitely – that the album is the Gramma Vedetta’s sound.
 We had a lot of fun arranging and producing the 7 pieces.
We started the recording in London on August 2017 and finished in Italy on December. I had back surgery in between so I had to rest for some time!
Will Maya completed the mix in February 2018 and we started releasing singles in March.

– Your music is a very interesting mix of styles…Are you trying to revive some forgotten genres and emotions, or it’s just your way of expression?
– I think it’s just the way we express ourselves. Our musical DNA is rock and metal but it gets contaminated easily because we are avid listeners of different types of music (blues, electronic, pop, musicals, psychedelia).
Another reason for it is that we get bored easily so we try to avoid repeating ourselves – LOL.

– What can we discover in “Proof of concept”?
– You will discover that we believe in our music, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Like everyone else we enjoy life’s highs and lows  and we try to express our feelings through notes, rhythm and words.

– Address unknown, behind the blinds, the other side…lots of mystery. What are we going to find there?
– Some of the lyrics are quite straightforward  – Address Unknown, for example – some others are just allegories that I like to use when I don’t want to be direct or when I feel that a specific emotion can be generalized and it’s not tied up to a particular scenario. Some other lyrics are just funny and sound exotic – like Taranto Train to Toronto Town.
In the end you will find your own meaning.

– Which song from the album describes best the band and why?
– We all agree that Address Unknown is the one. It’s  epic, groovy, it has a psychedelic twist in the middle, evocative vocal melodies and lyrics.

– Is this song your favourite one to listen to and to perform?
– It’s one of our favourites, but each of us has its own I guess.
Me and Marco love performing Taranto Train to Toronto Town because of its punk style while Valadis hates it because it’s too fast ahha.
I think that the song we all like to playing the most is ‘Behind the Blinds’.

– Where does all your influences come from? What are your favorite bands and styles?
– We started playing in the middle of the grunge era and when metal attitude and heavy guitars became mainstream – thanks to Metallica’s Black Album.
Our parents were in their 20s during the seventies, which means that each one of us was born with a collection of vinyls at home. We were like sponges, we were infused with this music mix and grew passionate about it all – and we still are.
To name a few, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Monster Magnet – It is a far too long list. I love Rush, Megadeth and Queen – Marco is mad for early years Muse. Valadis digs Slayer and Testament. It’s such a pleasant mess.

– Anything else which inspires you to write and record music?
 – Everyday life, I guess, and our passions besides music for sure. Science and technology inspire our lyrics and function as a solid framework.
But we must admit that we create music for the sake of creating it. Everytime we complete a song we feel fulfilled as individuals.
We also enjoy writing music outside Gramma Vedetta using differents instruments (synths, banjo, tape recorders, cigar boxes), it helps to get the some steam out.

– Are you more melancholic or more joyful individuals then?
– Definitely joyful, but life can put you in the corner sometimes. During the writing and recording of this albums I had health issues and I lost my dad. He taught me the love for music and to enjoy life, but unfortunately it’s not always easy.

– So what are your plans after releasing the album? Are you planning a tour?
– We are in touch with different promoters for gigs and festivals in 2019, some are already confirmed.  If someone amongst your readers is interested, give us a shout!
We are also writing a new album and we are planning to get into the studio by the end of next year.

– With which bands you would like to share stage with or be on tour with? Any band…
– Monster Magnet would be one of our favourites. They seem like nice guys – other than that it’s because we love them. I personally would like to tour with Alice Cooper, I love the theatrical shows he puts on.

– Is there anything else you would like to share with us and our readers? Did we miss something important here?
– Just one thing! We would like everyone to know that we like to interact with people so we invite you and your readers to get in touch through twitter, facebook, instagram or to join our mailing list – we give away freebies from time to time!
And if you come to see us live, we’ll be happy to have a chat and a beer together.

– Thank you very much for your time and this interview. I wish you many success with “Proof of Concept” and all your future plans! We’ll be watching closely on you and keep in touch of course!
– Thanks to you guys for the space you gave us. We will keep you posted about our next moves.

Interview by Count Vlad

Big thanks to Gramma Vedetta for providing exclusive stream of “Proof of Concept” for Blessed Altar Zine, prior to the release date of the album! Check it out here:

 

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