interview with Roots From Above

Have any of you played in other bands? 
Yes we all come from different projects. Bruno and Giulio (guitars)
have been playing together since 2005, before playing in a progressive
metal band. Duccio (bass) is currently playing on a separate project,
a progressive rock band (Profusion). Alex had previous experience in a
Rock Band
How is it that you started playing music?
beside the fact that there's a noticeable age gap (ranging from 21
to 31), We all started during high school. I think that playing in a
rock band was the main goal for everyone of us during that period in
life.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Alex, 24, vocal. Bruno 30 guitar, Giulio 31 - Guitar, Duccio 21 - guitar
Have you had other previous members? 
Yes, recently our drummer Mattia has left the band. We have found a
new member but we prefer to wait and see if this new lineup works
before unveiling his name
Did you make music even when you were young?
Well, everyone here started playing as a teenager, everybody had
their different projects but there was an entirely different approach
to "making" music, we prefer to let our previous efforts sink into
oblivion heh.
Where are you from? Center of Tuscany, different towns between Siena and Firenze. We
meet for reharsal midway so we can gather easily together
What year did the band form?
end of 2017, we started writing the first track at that time and
then at the beginning of 2018 we went on with the recordings and
performances
What's your style of genre?
Basically we mix some melodic death metal with modern djent riffs
and metalcore
What inspires you?
The opportunity to get people to listen and enjoy our music, that
and meeting new and old friends when performing
How often and where do you reherse? minimun 2 times a week, but often we can meet up to 4-5 times
How have you developed since you started with the music?
We have discarded some tracks because we thought they sounded too
"old school" then we've decided to add some elements influenced by
contemporary "core" genres, merging them with our cold atmospheres but
improving on the rhythmics
Do you have other interests of work outside the band?
We have different jobs and interests. Giulio for example is an
archeologist, Alex studies at the university, Bruno and Duccio aspire
to the upper echelons of Fortnight pro streaming (heh, joking). We
have very different routines but the band comes immediately after the
job for everybody.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that?
At the moment we have a promoter that helps us, we are looking
around, listening to many opinions before choosing our way
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?
Why not? But the most important things to look for are the
contractual conditions and the benefits for the band compared to the
costs. Even if you're getting an offer from a big label be sure to
understand first what you're getting yourself into.
What made you decide to make this music?
Same interests, creating something new that we could appreciate as
well as the broader metal community. That and obviously have fun
touring and playing live gigs
What are your songs about?
Our lyrics encompass a wide range of topics, but the common theme
may be found in the comparison between what defined a not yet
forgotten past and the things that define our generation, and way the
world is constantly changing around us.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? 
Alex writes the lyrics, but for the music everything usually
starts from riffs developed by Duccio or Bruno
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Always music.
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? At the reharsal room
Have you done any covers live? Not yet but we are thinkin of 1-2 songs from the band we take
inspiration from
What language do you sing in? English
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? For the moment we extimate something between 40 to a maximum of 250
What ages are most of your concert attendants? 18-45
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary?
At the moment we have a pretty solid setlist comprising the songs
we feel that our audience is willing to absolutely trash their necks
for!
Do you have a regular place you play live often?
No, it's actually very hard to find a venue nearby, you have to
constantly search for venues in a wider area
What was your first gig like?
It was a contest whose winners would end up playing in support of
a more famous band (Elvenking) in a bigger venue, we were very tense
about it before going onstage, at that time we hadn't played live for
a long time so after the performance we ended up summing all the
things we felt went wrong and eventually we agreed to not let that get
on our nerves for the night and grabbed some beers, enjoying the rest
of the event all blasé about the results since we had practically
accepted that we were not going to even position ourselves nearby the
top. But we were very wrong and overly critic of our show, people
really liked what they heard and after all, despite our pessimistic
view on the matter, we won that contest, heh.
What was your latest gig? An open air festival
Have you had to cancel a gig? Nope
Where have you played live this year? Mainly around Tuscany and nearby regions.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? We would like to play abroad, maybe as an opening act to some
local big names
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We will start in few weeks with tshirts
Where can people buy your merchandise? At the moment directly contacting us on our main facebook page
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?
It's fine, people will always find new ways of doing what they're
passionate about without getting restrained by regulations, if this
helps spreading even more good music around we're fine with it, bands
can reach a wider audience and you can't know how this will turn out
in the future, it may mean less funds for bands that are used to
traditional marketing and promotion of their venues or it could mean a
widespread success for those bands that succeed in adopting more up to
date strategies or a powerful message that speaks to a worldwide
audience.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this?
We think that bands nowadays can't just only make music, people
are not used to listen to a record just for the music anymore, when
was the last time that you've put on a record, relaxed and tried to
direct your attention towards understanding the music?
You just don't
have the time to do that anymore, people's lives are crammed with
gigabytes of junk information and the fact that everything is
available at any time means that:
1 you have to fight for the attention of the listener, and that is why
you have to nail the design of the package you're going to release,
meaning that you have to pick a consistent style (I can't stop
praising bands such as Wind Rose or Brojob for starting niche and
developing some extraordinary and witty content that is both original
and has a large appeal since it's message is very focused - Alex)
2 you have to make your music stand out from the even flow of
soundtrack-like music that merges with the background noise throughout
you day but doesn't really stick with you, you can't just make good
music, you must make music that would make people skip a "top 20 metal
songs of 2018" spotify playlist in order to listen to yours.
What do you think of my work? It's of maximum importance in keeping high the interest in undergroud music!
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business?
We think that the underground community has a peculiar view of
music that acts as a propellant for experimentation and innovation:
most bands in the scene that we know of usually don't expect an
immediate return of investment, they try to build connections and
inspire eachother mostly because they're really passionate about the
ever developing panorama, well don't take that as the rule, some
people in fact tend to see the underground scene as a pit from which
one has to emerge even if it takes talking shit about other bands, but
we prefer to look at the good will of those who are involved in
supporting wholeheartedly the scene, interviews like this for instance
give artists the opportunity to express their insights not only on
music but also on what it means to be part of the community.
Do you have any role models or idols?
We grew up listening to very different music genres but to sum it
up let's say that we were mostly inspired by bands such as Insomnium,
In Flames, Lamb Of God, Architects.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today?
Yes, we look to older bands for their attitude and professionality
but we pay attention to newer band for ideas.
What have been your biggest obstacles?
It's been hard to find the right musicians with the right attitude
for our project, we are very demanding, yes, we're all good companions
who don't miss a chance to have fun and get along with fellow
musicians and supporters but when it comes to work, because this band
is like a second job, we're utterly serious about it, everyone has to
play his part and constantly show his determination, we've had very
talented musicians playing with us that weren't on the other hand so
reliable when it came to manage other parts of this work that don't
actually involve playing but are essential to what we deem our
standards of professionality.
What advice would you give other bands or artists?
Take any chance you get, pay more attention to criticisms than
compliments and don't stop improving, be respectful and professional
to other bands and agencies alike.
How do you get psyched for a gig?
We just rehearse our set until we can shift the focus on the
showmanship and work on our onstage presence
Do you have any new material?
After "The Forest" we're currently writing new songs and recording a
single for another music video.
What are your web sites? You can find Roots From Above on facebook youtube and soundcloud
What are your plans for the future? Live long and prosper \\//
Do you have something to add?
We wish to thank you for the opportunity you gave us to talk about
ourselves and share some of our ideas and thoughts with the

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