interview with Zephiro
How is it that you started playing music? I started playing music when I won a guitar at a neighborhood lottery, I was 14 years old. It was destiny but also my passion for rock transmitted by my neighbor and great friend Fernando Regaldo who taught me the first chords.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Claudio Desideri - bass and vocal - 33, Leonardo Sentinelli - drums - 24, Claudio Todesco - guitar - 45
Have you had other previous members? we had various line up changes and then reach the current one. This is the third in chronological order among the most important.
Did you make music even when you were young? I had a band in high school with classmates, we did cover. I also loved improvising instrumental tracks with a dear bassist friend of mine. Somewhere I still have recordings of our jam.
Where are you from?
every band member comes from Rome
and we are all from the same neighborhood.
What year did the band form? in the 2002.
What's your style of genre? italian new wave, but we have a lot of personal influences. These influences are very hidden in the tracks but there are.
What inspires you? the moods, the atmospheres but also the objectives and the energy that is created around a project.
How often and where do you reherse? in this period 2 times a month. Fortunately we have a rehearsal room, it's important to be not in a rush and to find the right atmosphere.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? Yes, i love to go to art exhibitions and to travel everywhere to know different cultures and practicing other languages.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? For the moment we are managing it by ourselves but we need an official booking agency specialized in new wave events
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? This is an hard moment for the labels everywhere, the mechanisms are changing because the business is more around the live events then the sale of CDs.
What made you decide to make this music? Because it's inside of my DNA, i lived in the 80s but in that period i hated that music. I rediscovered it at the end of the 90s and I have not left her anymore. Naturally we influence it with new sounds and contaminations.
What are your songs about? The topics are sometimes intimate and sometimes they analyze historical situations often with double reading. Or at least we try. Always the atmosphere of music suggests the subject.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Me who are the guitarist and the singer often write the lirycs together, one completes the verses of the other and vice versa.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? We always start from the music that is often the result of a jam in the rehearsal studio, but once we have composed the lyrics of Cristiano Godano by Marlene Kuntz and we were enthusiastic about it. it was an interesting exercise.
Have you done any covers live? Not recently.
What language do you sing in? in italian language. I think that Italian mixed with a British sound is a wonderful sound opportunity for the listener.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? it will be on 16th march at Wishlist in Rome as opening act of Neon.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? every ages, maybe not teenager.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? Often almost the same because we are playing our upcoming album. it is titled "Baikonur".
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? We hope to come in Japan again for the fifth Japan tour.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We start to sell about 12 years ago during the promotion of our first album "Immagina un giorno". We can sell T-shirt, stickers and pins.
Where can people buy your merchandise? By our website by a private message or during our concert.
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? I think they lose the sound quality, the wav audio wins on the mp3 audio. This is an absurd regress.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? Every space of expression of one's own art helps to share human and work emotions and opportunities.
Do you have any role models or idols? no.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? It's easier from older because it is physiological about our age.
What have been your biggest obstacles? To find right label.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? To play what makes you happy. If you are happy you will be credible.
Do you have any new material? We have an unpublished ready album. We are focused to enhance it.
What are your web sites?
[www.zephiro.org]www.zephiro.org
https://instagram.com/zephiro_official
What are your plans for the future? Promote our new album everywhere and play it abroad.
