Interview with Total Recall
What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
(Luca – Bass Guitar) I started to listen to music when I was just a kid, some tunes where transmitting me emotions and I was fascinated by it. The more I grew up the more I checked videoclips and live concerts video, and I noticed that those emotions could be transmitted by the music not only through a vinyl or a cassette but also live. That’s when I decided to try to play an instrument and the rest is history. If I would not had gotten into music I think I would have continued my Basketball career and probably I would be a Coach now.
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
Mostly we hang with friends, simple stuff, we like to gather even though is not always easy considering jobs and families. This improve our bond and this is reflected in the songwriting influencing our creativity and our efficiency as a unit while composing.
How long has your band been around?
Even though we are all veterans of the Metal/Hardcore scene Total Recall is around since only 3 years, and if you consider that 2 of them were the ones with the pandemic we can say that we are relatively a new band.
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
We are based now in Milan, IT but most of us lived outside of the country for many years so we cannot really say that our hometown influenced our style of music in any particular way.
How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?
This band was born to honor the memory of a common friend who passed away 3 years ago. He toured with some of us for more than 20 years and he knew and played with the rest of us for more than 15. One day we were in the studio while finishing the songs of our first album and we were taking a break. While talking about our missing friend his sister told us that the very first movie she saw it was Total Recall and she went together with him to the Cinema. As we were looking for a band name that was related to him, Total Recall immediately sounded right. Also because we are huge fans of the 80’s movies including the Governator’s one. The rest is history.
Tell me about your most memorable shows.
As we previously said we are on the map since 3 years and 2 of them were heavily influenced by the pandemic. This gave us really little room to experience memorable shows, as single band members we have lots of stories to tell about this topic throughout our careers but here we are talking about Total Recall so…
What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?
Well…it’s a difficult question. If we consider the venues we played till now (and we must say we can consider ourselves lucky being on the map for only 3 years) we can surely say that Le Silo in Verneuil sur Avre, FR, the Legend in Milano, IT and the Bloom in Mezzago, IT are our favorites till now. There are not particular places we would like to play, we enjoy every show really….maybe the Innocent in Hengelo, NL the house of Hardcore since 1985, it would be an honor to play there.
If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?
There are way too many bands we would love to play with to answer this question in a fair way. If we could do something like that the numerosity of bands we would write down could be close or higher than the numerosity of bands that Hellfest put on the bill every year which is a huge number.
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?
Play what you like. Don’t focus on create something that can be liked, just like it first yourself. Be true to yourself and give 100% every time you are in the studio or on a stage. There is no money in this music so don’t waste your time in becoming a product, invest your time in your skills and write the best songs you can. These are the same advices we would give to our younger self as well.
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
As a band this would be: “Do exactly everything what you are planning to do. You won’t regret it”
Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
This would be our first Full Length title track Always Together. The song talk about our missing friend Massy and our feelings about him not being with us physically but at the same time being with us always spiritually. Playing it live is therapeutic.
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
We don’t have that many songs up till now as we have released only 1 album. We enjoy to play all of them but if we need to pick some we would say Seas of Illusion, Never Again, Poison Flow (you can also find official videoclips of those) and of course Always Together. Always Together and Poison Flow are the most requested.
What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
The songwriting is a common effort. We usually start from an idea or a single riff and then we gradually add the rest creating a structure that is solid. The end result needs to be ok for all of us, we do not really compromise, if we do not like the song entirely we drop it right away. Only this way we can be 100% sure that we will be able to play it live with the right attitude. We do not have any particular inspiration, it’s a creative process triggered by the bond we have and the meaning of the band in general.
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
We do not use music to express political or ideological messages, but we try to send a message of acceptance through our lyrics. It’s ok to be different (or considered different), but if you feel that you are entering a black hole seek for help, there is no shame in it. Accept yourself for what you are, there is no good or bad, it’s just you.
Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
For sure. Maybe the experience we gathered in all this years of touring and making records helped us to prevent that a disagreement becomes a quarrel. We have always an honest communication and we never do anything in or for the band if we are not ok with it after a common agreement. It can take long sometimes but we always find common ground in the end.
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?
We are going to play a short run in UK in November and another one in mainland Europe in December, this live shows will end the live effort to promote our album Always Together out everywhere via the Australian label 1054 Records after that we will enter the studio to record our new release in January. We still do not have a release date but for sure in early 2023 we will drop new music to the masses.