Interview: Marble

Hi, We’re Eleonora (singer) and Daniel (bass player) of melodic Metal Band MARBLE.

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today? Ele: I've always been a rock enthusiast, but my husband is a great metal lover and introduced me to the never ending multitude of metal genres. I can say I never pictured myself singing it, to be sure! A nice surprise in my life, surely not a conventional choice since my voice is not what you'd normally expect to hear in a metal song. I also have a day job besides music.

Daniel: my father is a rock and blues musician, so I always lived among music. If not into music probably I’ll be some kind of comics artist.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Ele: I’m a theater actress in an amateur local company. It surely helped to build my confidence on a stage!

Daniel: as I said before, I love to draw comics!

How long has your band been around? The first line up was formed in 2004, we held our first show in 2005 at a small festival in our hometown.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

We’re from Mortara, a small town not far from Milan. Being from a small town means you have to look hard for places to play live in the nearby cities and often you have to move to reach all the bandmates to rehearse, when you’re young it's always a struggle. Growing up it becomes easier

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you.

The first ensemble used to rehearse in a marble workshop since the drummer at the time owned it. Being surrounded by marble gravestones made the choice almost mandatory!

Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.

Best show, I can say supporting Elvenking and Domine, the worst was in some kind of hippy camp that we were invited to, to find out we were the only metal band present. It was weird but funny in the end.

Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?

There are tons of places we’d like to play at! Our favorite Venue is yet to be found!

If you could play any show with any lineup who would be on the ticket? Any band member would say something different, let's keep it simple and say we'd all agree on Iron Maiden, everyone loves Iron!

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?

Just have fun and enjoy what you’re doing, because the crowd downstage is watching you, and if you can share your joy in what you’re playing (or acting) they will be part of that. 

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Practice more!

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why? Ele: Timelines, probably, is the one I put more effort in creating the vocal lines. Daniel: it’s difficult, I love all of them, even though I have a preference for At The Gates Of Destruction, from “A.t.G.o.D.”, our first album. I consider “S.A.V.E.” a whole work, not just an ensemble of songs, so I can’t decide!

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most? The favorite song to play I think is “To Feed The Worms” because is the most aggressive. The most requested is yet to find!

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Mainly there’s an idea for the lyrical theme. Maybe just the title or a couple of words for the chorus that starts the whole creating process. Sometimes it's just a good riff or vocal line that is the foundation of everything. It really depends of who comes up with the idea first.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

We’d like people to find out every intention behind what we create, like a game. Take our logo, for example. Turn it around of 180 degrees and see what happens. Also, the double meaning of the album title. The lyrics of “S.A.V.E.” are all written around the various aspects of human souls, they're related to human sins and lack of virtues, which is not always a bad thing. We hope people like it, of course, and maybe take a minute to tell us what they think! It would be awesome.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

No, we just have artistic confrontation on what’s best for the band.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up?

We’re going to release through SliptrickRecords in February our brand new album called “S.A.V.E.” where we combine the concept of sins and virtues with human behaviours. We tried to find our own approach to the subject: not religious, more down-to-earth, probably a bit cynical and dispassionate. It's a theme we found tremendously appealing. There will be the first single with a lyric video, then a Videoclip along with the album. We're really looking forward to having some feedback from the fans!