1. Thank you very much for your time! Before we introduce your new release to our readers – what kind of drink would you recommend to zip on while they listen to your new music?
Hey everybody! Well, I’ve been sober for many years now, so I would personally enjoy this with an alcohol free beer (I still enjoy the taste and prefer it over fizzy drinks filled with sugar). We’ve got a good one in Italy called Forst, from South Tirol (but I also like others, this one has a delicate and smooth taste, which would work perfectly with my song “Northern Lights”!). Otherwise, I like Ginger Ale (Canada Dry, the best ginger ale out there!). But I think you can sip whatever you want as long as it makes you feel good! Get something to drink, turn the volume knob to the max and blast yourself and your neighbours with the songs from my upcoming album “Life Burns”!
2. Please give us an update about – new single, new album, tour dates, new videos?!
I’ve just released two songs from “Life Burns”, my fourth studio album, coming out on March 1st via SBÄM Records, Sell The Heart Records, Epidemic Records, Motorcity Produzioni and Overdrive Records. They are called “Off My Chest” and “Northern Lights”. They are quite different from one another and this should give you a perspective on the depth of the album in terms of sounds. You can find both songs as music videos on Youtube. I’ve got another single coming out in February and then it’s time to release “Life Burns”. After that: I’ve got my release party with the full band line up on March 9th in Montichiari and then it’s time to play shows to promote the album… and I can’t wait for that!
3. We live in times of many conspiracy theories. Which, harmless, theory would you wish were true? (For example Dinos living inside Earth or E.T. living in a home in California)
This is probably one of the best questions I’ve ever got in years of interviews! Great stuff!
Hear me out. I was talking about the “Whamageddon” game with some friends of mine (basically, you win if you survive the time that leads to Christmas without hearing Wham’s “Last Christmas” – which is tougher than it sounds!). We were joking and I came up with this great conspiracy theory – which I wish was true!
Here it is: Whamageddon was invented and spread across the internet by Mariah Carey, her publishers and her management, to push shops not to play “Last Christmas”, which would be (somehow unconsciously) perceived by customers as something they want to avoid, something that would lead them away from those shops who play the song.
This would inevitably favor the competing Christmas songs and to be more specific, the top leading Christmas song, “All I Want For Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey… which would get rid of an uncomfortable competitor such as “Last Christmas” and would reign supreme for all the Christmases to come… forever… and ever!
4. What fashion style or brand would best describe your music?
This is a tough one! It’s hard to tell, but if I learned something… I guess if you wear a pair of jeans, sneakers, a checked shirt (or a hoodie) and a denim jacket, you could easily be in the audience of one of my shows ahah! But still, everybody is welcome, as long as they are there to have a good time and make sure everyone is having a good time!
5. Tell us more about your songs! Topics! Message!?
The songs in “Life Burns” are the most sincere, honest and unfiltered songs I’ve ever written. Some of them are very personal and I just wanted to let them out. I’ve been through a rough patch in the last few years and this album is what came out of it. I wouldn’t call it a “message”, but an “intent”: this album serves as a reminder: life is short, it burns fast, sometimes it burns you and it hurts you. This is what sparked the idea behind the title. All the songs have a layer of truth somewhere, some more, some less. But even those who are inspired by stories I’ve heard or stories I’ve invented, have a certain degree of truth that makes them authentic and honest.
6. Beside music, do you have any special talents?
I’m not sure if I can call it a talent, but I speak three languages: Italian, English and Spanish. I wish I could speak German, I promised myself I was going to learn it. Now that I’m working with SBÄM Records, which is based in Austria and has a big following in Germany, it would be nice and polite to learn some basic German at least.
My closer friends know this very well: I create characters and make impressions.
7. Name 5 things we all should know about you as an artist?!
One: I am Italian but I don’t listen to much Italian music somehow.
Two: I am left-handed but I play guitar as a right handed.
Three: I always work on my own artworks, merch designs, tour posters.
Four: I run a label called Epidemic Records.
Five: I used to play in a hardcore punk band.
8. How did you learn to sing/ to write/ to play??
I studied piano when I was a kid. That’s when I started training my musical brain. When I was a teenager I found out about punk music and I wanted to play it, so I taught myself how the play the guitar (and you can tell I’m self taught by the way I play it!). I started writing punk songs for my highschool band, which eventually became my hardcore punk band later. Then I started writing acoustic folk-punk songs because I wanted to try something different. And here we are!
9. A question you’d like to answer, but never been asked in an interview before?! + Answer pls
What is your quiet place?
My quite place is a bench at the limit of the woods in Ponte Di Legno, in the Italian Alps.
When I sit there everything slows down, I can think and reflect on life and take the beauty of the place in and realize how lucky I am to be alive, healthy and able to enjoy such magnificent view. Everyone should find a place like that in their life!
Your Instagram: @gabdelavegaxvx