Heavy friggin metal! Easier said than done in our days, huh?! How can this music gain its lost glory? Are there bands out there that still serve Heavy Metal music and they feel relief for doing so or is it all for the money? Well, this Italian heavy metal band has been around for more than 30 years and they keep playing and delivering heavy metal… how great is that?! The band’s original member & guitarist, Franco Nipoti spoke to Grande Rock about the band’s past, present, future and their brand new album… check it out below…
Hi Franco… Crying Steel is back after a long hiatus with a powerful & heavy album! How does it feel?
F: Hi Thanos, first of all thanks for the chance you give us to reach the metal kids in your country, we are proud of this album and we feel “armed and ready” to bring our music everywhere!
I think 6 years to be away is a long time. Which were the problems that you faced all this time and they kept you away from music?
F: You are right … it’s a long time , the main problem we have faced was, line-up changes. Our guitarist Alberto began to have huge health problems, we decided to wait and see if there was any chance to solve it, but unfortunately it did not happen ,so we had to find a new guitarist... and then… when we found him (Max Magagni) and we started to write the new songs, the singer decided to stop… so we had to look for a new singer… you know…it took quite a long time. The singer plays a very important role in our music, and more than this, it was no possible go on writing new songs without a singer, I mean, sometimes it happens, of course… a singer comes in a band and he has to work on the songs written before, but in our opinion this is not useful in order to get the best result. All the musicians must be involved in the “creative process”…
How did the vocalist & the guitarist replacement also change the band’s music approach, if they did so?
F: Well, I cannot say it changed our approach to the music, because the new guys have the same music influences as we have ,and our way of writing songs is still the same, I mean…
How hard was it for you to go with a new vocalist & guitarist after so many years? The same goes for your fans as well, huh?
F: Well, as a matter of fact, when we started with the new line up it seemed quite strange to us… you know… after so many years… I mean, we did not feel bad… I cannot say it… just strange… unusual…
Coming to fans, I have to say that just a few were disappointed about this change and it is a quite normal reaction… the fans are always conservative… if you think. To give you an example… when Paul di Anno left Iron Maiden, many fans were sceptical about the future of the band… ehm… I think Iron Maiden did quite a lot good stuff with Bruce Dickinson in the last 30 years… didn’t they? (i.n.: Sometimes a change is for the better…)
So, why “Time Stands Steel”? What’s the hidden message behind the album’s title?
F: We wanted to give this message : Crying Steel is here , after 30 years ,playing heavy metal , and nothing changed in our souls, today we feel the same great feeling we felt so many years ago , music is still a very important part of our lives, so let’s say “time stands still”, and we changed the word “still” with “steel”, as “Crying Steel” same pronunciation.
Do give us a hint about the songs…
F: “Defender”: The fight between a cyborg and his enemies…
“Shut Down”: A common man getting crazy, shooting people around, and then he realizes what he is doing and he gives himself to the Police.
“Lookin’ At”: Hot sex…
“Rockin’ Train”: We imagine a trip on a train full of metal fans, travelling from city to city, rockin’ down all over the world…
“Heavens of Rock”: We dedicate this song to Steve Lee, Gotthard’s singer, who died 3 years ago (we get to know him when we opened for Gotthard show in Rome). Great person and great singer. We imagine he now can rest in peace in his “Heaven of Rock”...
“Crying Steel”: We talk about the beginning of the band, in the ‘80s, very exciting time…
“Metal Way”: Cry of a stressed person… asking for some help…
“Starline”: Business men fighting in stock exchange…
“Riding”: A motorcycle race as a metaphor of the life…
“No Slip”: A “social” song… while there is a so bad situation all over Europe (unemployment, financial crisis), the media try to focus the attention of the common people on useless news…
“Black Eve”: A sex story… sometimes a relationship between a man and a woman becomes a “master & slave” relationship…
“Beverly Kills”: Story of a female serial killer…
Where did the recordings take place and who is responsible for this crackin’ & heavy production? It’s the best production you’d ever had, in my opinion.
F: Thank you, Thanos, we also agree .It’s our best production! it took place at “ HDL “ studio, near Bologna (Italy, of course)… we were lucky to find Luca Gomedi, sound engineer at HDL, because he is specialised in rock and heavy productions, so he understood immediately the sound we wanted to get… it has been nice working with him…
Can we expect any video in the next weeks or so? A video for “Defender” would have been super I think!
F: Well… a video is in our plans… we are still deciding the song… thank you for the suggestion!!!
What are the band’s touring plans for the next months?
F: We just started to work with Marco Verucchi, our new manager, we are doing some “warmup gig” before the summer, then we hope to increase the number of dates in autumn and winter… outside Italy too…
Generally, what are your expectations from “Time Stands Steel”?
F: We want to bring our music to as more people as possible…
Which was the hardest and the best time period for the band? When you broke up in 1990? When you returned in early 00s or now that you are back with two new members and a new fresh album after 6 years?
F: I’m 100 % sure… the best period of the band is now! We are full of ideas, energy and especially all of us are focused on our target. As for the worst period, you are right, it has been in 1990, when we broke up… we could not see any chances to go on…
How much has music changed since the early 80s when you were active as well? Or nothing has really changed since then?
F: Well, the improvement of the recording technology and internet changed everything. Now is much easier to do a low budget record and get a good quality sound… but the market is invaded by millions of songs… the teens are not used to pay for listening music… there is less money around and this is a problem for all music business… (i.n.: The situation can be described as “dramatic”!)
Even though you’re from the 80s you do no try to sound like a “retro band” as most of the new bands are trying to sound nowadays. Why’s that? Why is there so much psychosis with the 80s (and the 70s) in music in our time?
F: Yes , we started writing songs in the 80s, and more than this, all we have strong musical influences from the 70s, but you can not say our sound is close to bands as “Rival Sons” (just to give you an example)!!! It’s difficult to say why. We have always tried to write songs as we felt. We never wrote a song thinking “ok, now let’s write a song in Priest mood, or in Saxon mood”. These days there is a real psychosis with 80s and 70s, because maybe a lot of people realize these were very creative and electrifying decades... very difficult to find so many good and creative bands in the following decades…
F: Hi Thanos, first of all thanks for the chance you give us to reach the metal kids in your country, we are proud of this album and we feel “armed and ready” to bring our music everywhere!
I think 6 years to be away is a long time. Which were the problems that you faced all this time and they kept you away from music?
F: You are right … it’s a long time , the main problem we have faced was, line-up changes. Our guitarist Alberto began to have huge health problems, we decided to wait and see if there was any chance to solve it, but unfortunately it did not happen ,so we had to find a new guitarist... and then… when we found him (Max Magagni) and we started to write the new songs, the singer decided to stop… so we had to look for a new singer… you know…it took quite a long time. The singer plays a very important role in our music, and more than this, it was no possible go on writing new songs without a singer, I mean, sometimes it happens, of course… a singer comes in a band and he has to work on the songs written before, but in our opinion this is not useful in order to get the best result. All the musicians must be involved in the “creative process”…
How did the vocalist & the guitarist replacement also change the band’s music approach, if they did so?
F: Well, I cannot say it changed our approach to the music, because the new guys have the same music influences as we have ,and our way of writing songs is still the same, I mean…
How hard was it for you to go with a new vocalist & guitarist after so many years? The same goes for your fans as well, huh?
F: Well, as a matter of fact, when we started with the new line up it seemed quite strange to us… you know… after so many years… I mean, we did not feel bad… I cannot say it… just strange… unusual…
Coming to fans, I have to say that just a few were disappointed about this change and it is a quite normal reaction… the fans are always conservative… if you think. To give you an example… when Paul di Anno left Iron Maiden, many fans were sceptical about the future of the band… ehm… I think Iron Maiden did quite a lot good stuff with Bruce Dickinson in the last 30 years… didn’t they? (i.n.: Sometimes a change is for the better…)
So, why “Time Stands Steel”? What’s the hidden message behind the album’s title?
F: We wanted to give this message : Crying Steel is here , after 30 years ,playing heavy metal , and nothing changed in our souls, today we feel the same great feeling we felt so many years ago , music is still a very important part of our lives, so let’s say “time stands still”, and we changed the word “still” with “steel”, as “Crying Steel” same pronunciation.
Do give us a hint about the songs…
F: “Defender”: The fight between a cyborg and his enemies…
“Shut Down”: A common man getting crazy, shooting people around, and then he realizes what he is doing and he gives himself to the Police.
“Lookin’ At”: Hot sex…
“Rockin’ Train”: We imagine a trip on a train full of metal fans, travelling from city to city, rockin’ down all over the world…
“Heavens of Rock”: We dedicate this song to Steve Lee, Gotthard’s singer, who died 3 years ago (we get to know him when we opened for Gotthard show in Rome). Great person and great singer. We imagine he now can rest in peace in his “Heaven of Rock”...
“Crying Steel”: We talk about the beginning of the band, in the ‘80s, very exciting time…
“Metal Way”: Cry of a stressed person… asking for some help…
“Starline”: Business men fighting in stock exchange…
“Riding”: A motorcycle race as a metaphor of the life…
“No Slip”: A “social” song… while there is a so bad situation all over Europe (unemployment, financial crisis), the media try to focus the attention of the common people on useless news…
“Black Eve”: A sex story… sometimes a relationship between a man and a woman becomes a “master & slave” relationship…
“Beverly Kills”: Story of a female serial killer…
Where did the recordings take place and who is responsible for this crackin’ & heavy production? It’s the best production you’d ever had, in my opinion.
F: Thank you, Thanos, we also agree .It’s our best production! it took place at “ HDL “ studio, near Bologna (Italy, of course)… we were lucky to find Luca Gomedi, sound engineer at HDL, because he is specialised in rock and heavy productions, so he understood immediately the sound we wanted to get… it has been nice working with him…
Can we expect any video in the next weeks or so? A video for “Defender” would have been super I think!
F: Well… a video is in our plans… we are still deciding the song… thank you for the suggestion!!!
What are the band’s touring plans for the next months?
F: We just started to work with Marco Verucchi, our new manager, we are doing some “warmup gig” before the summer, then we hope to increase the number of dates in autumn and winter… outside Italy too…
Generally, what are your expectations from “Time Stands Steel”?
F: We want to bring our music to as more people as possible…
Which was the hardest and the best time period for the band? When you broke up in 1990? When you returned in early 00s or now that you are back with two new members and a new fresh album after 6 years?
F: I’m 100 % sure… the best period of the band is now! We are full of ideas, energy and especially all of us are focused on our target. As for the worst period, you are right, it has been in 1990, when we broke up… we could not see any chances to go on…
How much has music changed since the early 80s when you were active as well? Or nothing has really changed since then?
F: Well, the improvement of the recording technology and internet changed everything. Now is much easier to do a low budget record and get a good quality sound… but the market is invaded by millions of songs… the teens are not used to pay for listening music… there is less money around and this is a problem for all music business… (i.n.: The situation can be described as “dramatic”!)
Even though you’re from the 80s you do no try to sound like a “retro band” as most of the new bands are trying to sound nowadays. Why’s that? Why is there so much psychosis with the 80s (and the 70s) in music in our time?
F: Yes , we started writing songs in the 80s, and more than this, all we have strong musical influences from the 70s, but you can not say our sound is close to bands as “Rival Sons” (just to give you an example)!!! It’s difficult to say why. We have always tried to write songs as we felt. We never wrote a song thinking “ok, now let’s write a song in Priest mood, or in Saxon mood”. These days there is a real psychosis with 80s and 70s, because maybe a lot of people realize these were very creative and electrifying decades... very difficult to find so many good and creative bands in the following decades…
I’ve noted: “…for me this is the band’s most complete work to date with the best cover artwork too…”. What do you think?
F: Thank you so much, Thanos!! The full artwork comes from an idea of our drummer, Luca Ferri had (he’s also one of the most exciting musicians I’ve played with, he wrote 100% of words on this album too). Well, what can I say? When we finished the studio sessions, our feeling was we recorded an album with both the power of “Steel is Back” and almost the diversity of atmospheres you can find in “On the Prowl”… and this is what actually we are reading now in the first reviews…
What do you think about that digital/downloading trend of our time? What’s there for a band when most people are downloading their albums and not even care to listen to them most of the times? What shall change so as to make it through?
F: Very good question and very difficult to answer. Well as I told you before, it’s 100% sure that the kids are growing and believing that they can listen to music for free… as you can imagine… if you are Metallica or Iron Maiden you can balance the money you can’t earn from the record sales, just by touring and selling merch. But if you are not so important it is getting very difficult. I mean the strategy is the same, but the figures are completely different, of course…
It’s time for the Weird Questions now!!! How did you come up with the name Crying Steel back in the day?
F: We wanted something simple, easy to remember. A name immediately joined to Heavy Metal… and that’s it!!!
What are those things that you do not like in the music industry nowadays?
F: I do not like that… it’s squeezing year after year and it risks to disappear. If we go on in this way we should talk of a hobby and not an industry. It’s getting harder for all the bands, regardless how famous they are or not, to sell their music. The free-download idea has passed trough new generations and it will be really hard to remove it. It’s no more a matter of how much you have to pay for buying music, it’s about the fact of paying it or not. So, as Asia sings “Only time will tell” and, read my lips, we will keep on rocking till the very last day…
Which is the record you wish you had written and why?
F: Today? It seems a joke but it’s not. Music is a state of soul and so it changes day after day linked to your mood. Thus for going back to your question… umh, umh I’ve just listened to last Helloween CD and so I’m in pure HM mood and the winner is “Screaming for Vengeance”. It’s almost the perfect HM album: energy, power, melody… this is my chosen one.
Name 3 top hard rock/metal releases that influenced the whole genre…
F: Honestly there would be so many and it's hard to make a choice. Anyway the first coming to mind are: “The Song Remain the Same”, “Unleashed the East”, “Number of the Beast”.
If music were banned by law (CDs, Vinyl, cassettes, Mp3s everything), which 3 albums would you risk to hide even if it would be a risky thing to do cuz the penalty would be jail?
F: “British Steel” by Judas, Kiss “Alive II”, “Made in Japan” by Deep Purple…
What are your 3 beloved songs of all time regardless of any music genre?
F: Hey man, this is not an interview is more an exam and we are too old for being students
. But we like challenges so: “Defender”, “Shutdown and Looking @”. Ah, ah Ah!!! Ok now I’m serious again so: “Electric Eye”, “Kill the King”, “My Way (the Voice’s one)”…
In which BC era would you choose to travel if you had the chance and why?
F: The Metal Age where Thundergods reigned, of course! I’ve never thought about it even because rock didn’t exist BC... It was a really sad time. Ok even the one we are living now is far away to be exciting but for us WWW means Internet and not World Wide War, that’s a good starting point.
Are religious groups responsible for what humans do to each other and for all that hatred & evil in all historic time periods?
F: Whoa!! That’s a really serious question. We believe that we are doing all the stuff: good and bad. Human beings, of any culture, race, religion, nationality, gender can deliver evil. It’s in our nature. So even religious groups can be responsible for; but in an exclusive way. With this in mind, the answer to your question, in my personal opinion, is yes.
Why is heavy metal better than sex… if it is…
F: In a certain way it’s something comparable. You can enjoy some riff with the same intensity of a good f***. Music, of any kind, for a music-lover can have that affect. Anyway we like doing sex with metal… ladies, girls, chicks... any kind of female metal beings. And in case they do not like at all.... we can have sex anyway… we can forgive them after. (i.n.: hehehe…)
Imagine that your girlfriend/wife/life partner is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react?
F: Do you remember Shining the cult-movie... yeah, something like that. This said I can put my hands on the hottest fire that our life mates shall never do something like that. They love us too much and realize what music means for all of us. On the other hand we gain so much money with our record sales that we cover them with gold… (i.n.: hahhaha that’s the spirit!)
I think we’re done Franco. Close this interview in your own way.... Thx for the music! Take care dude!
F: As said we have just started our European TSS tour and we’re looking forward to touring in Grece too. We never played in your beautiful country... so watch out for the Rockin’ Train.
F: Thank you so much, Thanos!! The full artwork comes from an idea of our drummer, Luca Ferri had (he’s also one of the most exciting musicians I’ve played with, he wrote 100% of words on this album too). Well, what can I say? When we finished the studio sessions, our feeling was we recorded an album with both the power of “Steel is Back” and almost the diversity of atmospheres you can find in “On the Prowl”… and this is what actually we are reading now in the first reviews…
What do you think about that digital/downloading trend of our time? What’s there for a band when most people are downloading their albums and not even care to listen to them most of the times? What shall change so as to make it through?
F: Very good question and very difficult to answer. Well as I told you before, it’s 100% sure that the kids are growing and believing that they can listen to music for free… as you can imagine… if you are Metallica or Iron Maiden you can balance the money you can’t earn from the record sales, just by touring and selling merch. But if you are not so important it is getting very difficult. I mean the strategy is the same, but the figures are completely different, of course…
It’s time for the Weird Questions now!!! How did you come up with the name Crying Steel back in the day?
F: We wanted something simple, easy to remember. A name immediately joined to Heavy Metal… and that’s it!!!
What are those things that you do not like in the music industry nowadays?
F: I do not like that… it’s squeezing year after year and it risks to disappear. If we go on in this way we should talk of a hobby and not an industry. It’s getting harder for all the bands, regardless how famous they are or not, to sell their music. The free-download idea has passed trough new generations and it will be really hard to remove it. It’s no more a matter of how much you have to pay for buying music, it’s about the fact of paying it or not. So, as Asia sings “Only time will tell” and, read my lips, we will keep on rocking till the very last day…
Which is the record you wish you had written and why?
F: Today? It seems a joke but it’s not. Music is a state of soul and so it changes day after day linked to your mood. Thus for going back to your question… umh, umh I’ve just listened to last Helloween CD and so I’m in pure HM mood and the winner is “Screaming for Vengeance”. It’s almost the perfect HM album: energy, power, melody… this is my chosen one.
Name 3 top hard rock/metal releases that influenced the whole genre…
F: Honestly there would be so many and it's hard to make a choice. Anyway the first coming to mind are: “The Song Remain the Same”, “Unleashed the East”, “Number of the Beast”.
If music were banned by law (CDs, Vinyl, cassettes, Mp3s everything), which 3 albums would you risk to hide even if it would be a risky thing to do cuz the penalty would be jail?
F: “British Steel” by Judas, Kiss “Alive II”, “Made in Japan” by Deep Purple…
What are your 3 beloved songs of all time regardless of any music genre?
F: Hey man, this is not an interview is more an exam and we are too old for being students
. But we like challenges so: “Defender”, “Shutdown and Looking @”. Ah, ah Ah!!! Ok now I’m serious again so: “Electric Eye”, “Kill the King”, “My Way (the Voice’s one)”…In which BC era would you choose to travel if you had the chance and why?
F: The Metal Age where Thundergods reigned, of course! I’ve never thought about it even because rock didn’t exist BC... It was a really sad time. Ok even the one we are living now is far away to be exciting but for us WWW means Internet and not World Wide War, that’s a good starting point.
Are religious groups responsible for what humans do to each other and for all that hatred & evil in all historic time periods?
F: Whoa!! That’s a really serious question. We believe that we are doing all the stuff: good and bad. Human beings, of any culture, race, religion, nationality, gender can deliver evil. It’s in our nature. So even religious groups can be responsible for; but in an exclusive way. With this in mind, the answer to your question, in my personal opinion, is yes.
Why is heavy metal better than sex… if it is…
F: In a certain way it’s something comparable. You can enjoy some riff with the same intensity of a good f***. Music, of any kind, for a music-lover can have that affect. Anyway we like doing sex with metal… ladies, girls, chicks... any kind of female metal beings. And in case they do not like at all.... we can have sex anyway… we can forgive them after. (i.n.: hehehe…)
Imagine that your girlfriend/wife/life partner is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react?
F: Do you remember Shining the cult-movie... yeah, something like that. This said I can put my hands on the hottest fire that our life mates shall never do something like that. They love us too much and realize what music means for all of us. On the other hand we gain so much money with our record sales that we cover them with gold… (i.n.: hahhaha that’s the spirit!)
I think we’re done Franco. Close this interview in your own way.... Thx for the music! Take care dude!
F: As said we have just started our European TSS tour and we’re looking forward to touring in Grece too. We never played in your beautiful country... so watch out for the Rockin’ Train.