Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?

Danilo Magni (35) - lead vocals

Angelo Filinesi (37) - guitar, backing vocals

Stefano Tedde (28) - guitar

Francesco Brocca (18) - keyboards, synthesizers

Fernando Iuliucci (49) - bass

Gigi Calvia (45) - drums

Have any of you played in other bands? I guess all of us had some experience in other bands before joining OPERAPIA. I'll tell you the main or most recent ones. Fernando used to play bass with a band called "Prigionieri del Tempo", while Gigi was a member of "Atropos" and "Il Palco della Musica". Angelo used to play guitars with "Talkin' Grey", same for Stefano with "'Till Dawn". As for me, I did play first  guitars and then bass in a band called "The Drop".

How is it that you started playing music? I've always thought music was a lifestyle since I was a child. Being able to understand the music of others, reproducing it by yourself, taking inspiration and then expressing something new, something different. It can be
I can't really answer for all the six of us, but I'm sure it was a necessity for all of us. Something we just felt it was the right thing to do.

Have you had other previous members? Yes, the ones who participated in the EP recordings.

Did you make music even when you were young? Absolutely.

Where are you from? We're from La Maddalena, Italy.

What year did the band form? 2011.

What's your style of genre? Alternative/Progressive Rock.

What inspires you? Good question... I guess all rock music (mostly prog) from the 70s until now.

How often and where do you reherse? Usually some days a week, in our singer's rehearsal room.

How have you developed since you started with the music? To be honest, we like to think we're still developing... You can't really stop evolving when making music. It's a continuous process.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? Aside from our jobs or studies and from OPERAPIA, we all have personal side projects we're working on.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We haven't looked for it yet, but we're thinking about that. It could be interesting.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? For our debut EP we signed with an indie label called TRB Rec. We still have to decide for the next recordings.

What made you decide to make this music? As I said earlier, it wasn't a decision... more like a real necessity. It all came out spontaneously. It surely is something we like to listen to - and play, of course.

What are your songs about? Our lyrical topics are always different, as we don't like to be repetitive. In this EP the most recurring topic is duality, and trying to see everything from more points of view.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? For our debut EP, Angelo did, and the entire band arranged the songs.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Sometimes music, sometimes lyrics. We can't command inspiration. (laughs)

Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Usually at home, but it can happen anywhere. Definitely.

Have you done any covers live? Yes.

What language do you sing in? Mostly Italian.

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? Umm... I guess from a few dozens to 100-something?

What ages are most of your concert attendants? Most of them are 20 to 40 years old, but of course there are also younger and older rockers \m/ ;)

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We usually change some songs after a couple of gigs.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? Not really, we like to change location and play in front of new people.

What was your first gig like? (Angelo): It was a jam session in a club in Costa Smeralda. It's been great. At the end of the gig, the club owner came to us and asked if we could come back another night to play our entire setlist.

What was your latest gig? It was in a local club in September.

Have you had to cancel a gig? Not yet.

Where have you played live this year? Northern Sardinia (where we come from).

Where do you plan to gig the comming year? Possibly in the entire region of Sardinia and maybe in the rest of Italy.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We started one or two months ago. Currently we have a limited number of physical EPs available, but we're planning to put t-shirts on sale soon!

Where can people buy your merchandise? On our official Bandcamp store. You can find it here https://operapia.bandcamp.com/

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? What surely has changed is accessibility, both for listeners and musicians. Everybody can now record an album and produce it decently without huge investments. Some think it's harder to emerge from the enormous mass of indie bands out there trying to find their place in the music industry... But honestly, even if there is more music available then it was back in the last decades, the way major labels sign saleable, appealing music is always the same. Musical habits change and the music industry focuses on them.

One thing is for sure: we like to buy actual CDs. It's cooler and of better quality than common MP3s. We like to have our physical collection.
What do you think of my work? Sincere admiration for all those who promote independent music like you. It's thanks to all of you if new music comes out, gets heard and enters in people's houses. You give musicians huge motivations to never give up and keep on living the dream.

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business?

We're already happy if you, and your blog's readers will listen to our EP. That's all.
Hope you enjoy it!
Do you have any role models or idols? Many! Led Zeppelin, Queen, Deep Purple, Porcupine Tree, Genesis, the Italian prog scene, etc... Too many to write down

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Both!

What have been your biggest obstacles? Finding people who play (and listen to!!!) music with real passion... It's always rarer. Too many people think too much about the finalities and scopes of doing whatever thing, and forgets about the pleasure of actually doing it. This is an obstacle we still find everyday.

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Never doubt about your music. Just play it without asking yourself why. Believe in it, have guts.

How do you get psyched for a gig? We joke and fool around to lighten the mood and... uhm... ease the tension! (laughs)

Do you have any new material? We do. We're working on a new EP.

What are your web sites? How can people reach you?

You can reach us (and write us!!) on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/operapia/

YouTube: http://bit.ly/2HvVJ2t

RockIt: https://www.rockit.it/operapia/

Label: http://trbrec.com/artist/operapia/

e-mail: [email protected]

Be sure to find us in all the major digital stores!

Bandcamp: https://operapia.bandcamp.com/ Amazon: http://amzn.to/2BX1pTc iTunes: https://apple.co/2pfqYcH 

We're also planning to open an Instagram and Twitter page soon.

What are your plans for the future? Keep playing our music, recording our EP and possibly reaching as many people as possible.

Do you have something to add? Big up for all the passionate music-addicts like us, and a huge THANKS to all our followers and supporters, and to all the people who will read this interview. And of course, thank you for giving us this opportunity!!!

Cheers from Francesco & OPERAPIA