Acaba de ser publicada mais uma entrevista minha sobre o Motion e o Almah. Desta vez, os responsáveis pelas perguntas são os gregos do site Metal Kaos. Você pode conferi-la na íntegra no link a seguir ou abaixo.
http://metalkaoz.com/interviews/4264-almah-marcelo-barbosa.html#.TwdTwwH3JTU.twitter
ALMAH's latest album,
"Motion" was more than a pleasant surprise for almost every metalhead, so
METAL KAOZ contacted
Marcelo Barbosa, the band's guitarist, and sent him a bunch of questions.
Marcelo was kind enough to reveal us some of the
ALMAH's future plans, commenting also
Edu's recent statement about the Brazilian Metal scene. So, enough with the small talk, and let's see what he had to say!
Hello from METAL KAOZ and many congrats on “Motion”. What is the feedback you are getting from the day if its release?
Hello. Thank you very much. So far, the feedback of “Motion”
is pretty good. We had awesome sales numbers in Brazil and it’s going
well in all countries it was released. We performed in some cities in
the country and it was great as well. We did a promo trip in Japan and
Europe last year and in 2012 the tour will continue...
How do you feel about the final result of “Motion”? I mean, is there something that you’d like to change if you had the chance?
When you work as a part of a team, everybody always needs to give up about some personal ideas. If “Motion”
was a solo album of any of us, it would be different. Since the record
was made by five people I have nothing to complain about it. I love the
result and if you consider it was written, arranged, recorded and mixed
in less than three months the result is even more impressive. There is
nothing to be changed. I look forward to recording new projects with ALMAH, KHALLICE or whatever appears in 2012...
I
think in this album ALMAH sounds more solid a band and I think heavier.
What are the differences between this album and the previous one from
your point of view? In fact, I found some PANTERA references in “Zombies
Dictator” and even Edu sounds more aggressive.
You’re
right. The whole process of the creation of this album was really
natural and spontaneous. We wrote and recorded what we wanted and what
we felt by the time we were working on it. The main difference is that
during the creation process of “Fragile Equality” we
had a preconception and an idea of what we should do at that time. It
was good, but on the other hand we were stuck into that and somehow we
were limited as artists. I love the “Fragile Equality” album. There are some incredible songs on it, but “Motion”
is far more mature and I know the next one will be even better. This is
a natural process when you try always to innovate, to create something
you have never done before.
What about your guitar work are there any changes there?
As
I said previously, I’m very proud of this work. I think that if we had
more time something would be different, for sure. I don’t know if it
would be better or worse but different. We had about eight days to
create and record all the guitars on this album. It is a short time to
work on it, however I strongly believe we produced a high level of
sophistication when it comes to guitar parts and sound. It was a great
challenge.
If you were to describe your guitar work by mentioning three guitarists, who would those be?
I’m
use to listen to many different musicians and styles. Therefore, it’s
really difficult for me to choose only three guitar players. There are
so many great musicians out there but if I had to pick three right now,
it would be Greg Howe, Steve Vai and Richie Kotzen.
Maybe this is kind of a cliché question but can one really be a self-taught guitarist and reach a high level like yourself?
Yes,
it’s possible. We have some examples but I do believe that if a person
who is self-taught had a good teacher helping him, he would go further
and being even better. Beside that, I don’t understand the concept of
being self-taught anymore. Books and videos are most available at this
time. For example, if I study the ”Speed Picking” book of Frank Gambale,
am I considered a self-taught student? I don’t agree... Another point
is nowadays we can easily find instructions on internet. I personally
feel that there are no many self-taught guitar players like it used to
be back in the days.
Lyrically
where does the new album stands? And in particular, can you shed some
light to “Late Night ‘85” and the ballad “When And Why”?
The
lyrics of this album are most about life itself and facts we went
through during our experience in this world. We choose to talk about
reality, feelings and how we deal with all more them about fantasy. “Late Night” is about an experience in Edu’s life. He lost his father when he was a teenager and this song deals with that particular moment of his life. “When And Why” talks about a heart breaking moment and the hope of a new beginning of a relationship unexpected.
Tell us some things about the way you worked during the composing process of “Motion”. What was your contribution to the album?
The most of the main ideas were brought by Edu. He’s a great composer and normally does nice things really easily. Paulo, Felipe
and I were responsible to increase the instrumental parts and guitar
riffs. When we started to write ideas, I wrote and recorded something
like 25 guitar parts and bring them to the pre-production session. Some
of the riffs you heard along the songs were created by me. Some
harmonies structures as well. “When And Why” is the only track I did by myself with Edu.
I had the intro done and we made the other parts in less than 30
minutes. Everyone helped in the process; it’s really hard to identify
who did what during the creation process. We all participated
effectively.
You are also in KHALLICE, so do you have any news from their side?
I
love that band. It has a special place in my heart because we started
as teenagers and did so many nice things together. We stopped working in
2011 because of ALMAH but we’re trying to do something new in 2012. Probably a new album.
In
a past interview with Edu he told me that ALMAH is a full time band and
not a project; how do you feel about that? Can the schedule with ANGRA
put ALMAH in slower gear?
Yes, it can always happen but now thing are more balanced. We have some plans with ALMAH
and we are planning to do everything accordingly to both schedules. I
have my personal projects as well as my bands and my music institute...
We are always trying to keep ourselves busy with our personal projects.
Recently
Edu expressed some complaints about the Brazilian fans; so, do you
think that is happening only in Brazil? I mean, I don’t see much of a
support in Greece from the Greek metalheads. Maybe this is a global
thing and nowadays everyone is just following the mainstream and already
successful bands. What is your opinion on that matter?
Maybe you’re right. That interview was in a specific moment for Edu
and I do believe he got off things of his chest and spoke from the
heart. The matter wasn’t what he said but how he said it. On the other
hand, if he drew the attention to himself and maybe made some people to
realize what’s going on. Talking about the scene, these things come in
cycles. Nowadays, I’m sure the metalheads aren’t supporting the scene
like some years ago, but I hope soon it will change.
The
music in “Motion” features two guitars so what about the live
performances? Will Edu handle the rhythm guitars where needed? (You have
to excuse me since I haven’t seen ALMAH live).
We have two guitar players in the band. Paulo
is the other one and he is an amazing guitarist. Obviously, when a duet
guitar part comes on, there’s no rhythm guitar. The rhythm in this case
is made by Felipe, the bass player and the keys.
What
is the situation with ALMAH in the US? Is there a chance to book some
live dates there? The US audience is not that “open” to the classic
Heavy Metal even though there is strong progressive Metal scene.
We are near to release
“Motion” in the USA. It will happen on
January 12th and
“Fragile Equality” was released there too. By the way, I’m in currently in the USA right now. I was invited to attend the
NAMM Show by the
Dean Markley strings
who launched last year my signature model strings in Brazil. I’m taking
the opportunity to see friends, meet other musicians and drink some
good Californian wine.
“Motion” already is available at
Amazon.com on a pre-sale campaign.
“Motion” is causing a great rumor among the Metal scene in Los Angeles. The US tour will come up soon.
So, what are the band’s immediate plans?
We
are scheduling some concerts to 2012 and also started to write some new
material. In Brazil, nothing happens before carnival which is in
February, so, I’m pretty sure that in March we will comeback working on
the support of “Motion”.
Marcello, thank you for your time answering to METAL KAOZ questions; please feel free to add something you like.
Thank you Kiriakos
for the interview, too. It’s always a pleasure. I wish to all a happy
new year with lots of success, love and respect. Hope to see you soon on
the road.
