Impellitteri
When Two Worlds Collide
오래전에 진행된 인터뷰인지라 페이지도 사라져 원본 소스를 찾기가 쉽진 않네요. 다소 어렵게 구한 인터뷰 소스
입니다. "Pedal To The Metal" 앨범 발매 이듬해인 2005년에 러시아 웹진, "Darkside"가 크리스 임펠리테리와 가진
인터뷰 입니다. "Pedal To The Metal" 앨범 관련 이야기 뿐만아니라 다양하고 흥미로운 이야기들을 나눕니다.
LA guitar virtuoso Chris Impellitteri is regarded by many as master of the neoclassical metal sound. But over the past few years Chris has been doing his best to destroy this stereotype, and his new record "Pedal To The Metal" is another step in this direction. Yes, it does feature Impellitteri's supersonic guitar solos, but it also has a lot to do with new tendencies in metal originating from both the U.S. and Sweden. Such an interesting combination was more than a sufficient reason for us to contact Chris, and even though this interview was not an easy matter (as the U.S. changes to daylight savings time one week later than Europe, Chris called me 1.5 hours later than I was expecting it), it turned out very interesting…
Your latest album "Pedal To The Metal" comes out in Europe a year after it was released in Japan. We're used to the fact that your records are always a little late in the rest of the world because you have contractual obligations to Japan, but this time the wait was especially long. What was the reason?
That is correct, it was contractual in Japan. I needed to make certain that Japan had enough of their meantime to release their version. On the Japanese version the song order is completely different, and they wanted to have enough time for their market to be able to sell their record effectively and arrange a tour, so we had to wait.
If we look back a bit, your album "Crunch" (2000) was very heavy, but the next one, "System X" (2002), was in a more traditional metal vein. And now you come up with probably your heaviest record so far. What is behind such dramatic musical changes?
Passion. (laughs) I've got many styles of music and I wanted to pay tribute to three generations of rock music. The idea of "Pedal To The Metal" was to pay tribute to American metal, the Swedish metal scene, all of Europe, and different generations from modern metal all the way to the trad metal. "Pedal To The Metal" is very heavy and very different.
I guess everybody is asking you about the new singer, Curtis Skelton. But first of all, why didn't you continue with Graham Bonnet, who sang on "System X"?
I love Graham Bonnet, he's a wonderful great singer and a really great man. However, the record was only to be a reunion record. I really felt that it would be really difficult to continue, because of our age difference. Graham is obviously quite a bit older than I am, and I felt that it would be nice to have someone I could play within the band that is close to my age. Curtis is in his late 20s, and I am just a few years older than he is, so it makes for a very good camaraderie. I love Graham Bonnet, but I just felt there was too much of a difference.
Would it be right to say that when you found Curtis, did you specifically look for someone from a younger generation?
Yeah. And not out of prejudice. I wanted to find a singer that I could relate to mentally and emotionally, someone closer to my age, so that was the idea.
Did you arrange some kind of audition for Curtis, or did you already know him before he was invited to join Impellitteri?
I auditioned him. I had many singers, and I thought that Curtis seemed to fit the best. He was very different, he was from a very popular American metal band called Speak No Evil, they were kind of an MTV-generation metal band. He had a passion for lots of different sounds of music, and we thought it would be a very good relationship. So he auditioned and he got the part.
You said that when you had Rob Rock in the band, you could write any kind of music and let Rob work on it. When you worked with Graham Bonnet, you wrote a lot of music specifically for his voice. What was the case with Curtis?
Curtis is closer to Rob. Curtis is very versatile, many different styles. If you listen to songs like "The Kingdom Of Titus", a kind of tribute to the Swedish metal scene, you hear Curtis have his voice sound very cool and very aggressive and very melodic, but then you can have Curtis also sound like modern American metal on a song like "Crushing Daze". He's able to change his voice. There's even one song that's kind of tribute to the Ozzy Osbourne and Yngwie Malmsteen era, which is the song "Destruction", where you have Curtis change his voice once again. Thus, with him I can write music in different styles.
Curtis is also responsible for most of the lyrics. Did you give him any kind of guidelines or was he free to write about whatever he wants?
He could write whatever he wanted to, no guidelines.
The European version of the album doesn't include the lyrics to the song "The Kingdom Of Titus". What is this song about?
The song "Kingdom Of Titus" lyrically is about the fall of Titus, a great emperor who had everything except he was kind of a dictator, and eventually his world collapsed.
Another very interesting song is "The Iceman Cometh". Do the lyrics have to do anything with the recent cases of school shooting and violence in America?
Yes. The song is based around the Columbine shooting in America. It was a tragedy, there were two high school students, 17 years old, who were very frustrated and angered by their peers and their fellow students. They had been picked on for many years, and they had lost their will to live, so they made the choice to destroy many kids at that school in retaliation to have been victims for many years. It happens a lot in America, it's very sad. Guns are very bad.
A lot of people believe that one of the main reasons for such things happening is very easy access to guns in America. Would you agree with that?
Yes. America has many problems. (laughs)
Just like every country, I guess.
Right, except America lies about it. (laughs)
Russia is no paradise either, believe me. But we have yet one more song to discuss - what inspired you to come up with "Punk"? For an American musician, it must be a very brave thing to make fun about Eminem and other rap stars…
(laughs) Yes, it's a joke. The whole song is a joke, and it's not serious Impellitteri music, but it makes a statement, it's a voice for all of the rock fans, all the kids who love heavy metal music, it's their voice. It's picking out in the frustration against all of the famous rap stars who receive all of the glory, take all of the money, all of the fame and fortune, while heavy metal bands are treated like dogs, animals. In response, I wanted to have courage and send the message to the world (laughs) that heavy metal is back.
How did the people in Japan receive this song? They don't seem to like rap metal that much over there…
Oh, they hated it. They didn't understand that it was a joke. (laughs) They were afraid that Impellitteri was going to become a rap rock band, though it was meant to be funny, not serious.
And in general, how much are you influenced by the opinion of outsiders? Whose opinion do you take into account when you're putting an album together?
Well, I honestly am a fan of many bands. So when I put a record together, I want to make music that pleases me first, because I have to enjoy what I do. And then I also have to please the kids who support us, who buy our records. So I try to please both worlds.
You toured Japan for the first time with Curtis last year. What kind of setlist did you have at those shows? Did you rely mostly on new songs, or did you perform a best-of set?
It was a best-of. We have to do our classic Impellitteri music, we always play all of the classic songs, as well as the brand-new songs. We usually play for 2.5 hours, maybe less, but we try to play as many songs as possible.
Though your shows are so long, none of your records is longer than 45 minutes. Is that a kind of policy for you, is it a rule you always stick to, or is it just happening every time?
I really try to make the record enjoyable. I think it is very difficult to listen to a record that is an hour and 20 minutes long. I think it's too long. I want people to enjoy the music and listen again, and if you make too many songs and too much music, the listener becomes bored and tired of you.
But nowadays a lot of bands are putting together a regular album of 10 tracks, three pr four bonus tracks and a couple of remixes and calling it "value for money"…
(cracks) Yes, that's true! Is it really value?
Well, it depends on the band, but in most cases I don't think so. (everybody laughs) OK, we've been talking about Japan, but what are your plans concerning tours in Europe or America?
We're trying now, we're releasing "Pedal To The Metal" on April 26 in America, so we want to do tours in America. We also wanna shoot a video for "The Iceman Cometh" or "The Kingdom Of Titus", and we also want to do the European tour, hopefully in summertime. That's our idea and our hope.
In general, how often do you play live?
Maybe a few times during the year in America, but not Europe. In fact, I have never toured Europe.
You mentioned your plans to shoot a video for the new album. What's gonna be in it?
I think it will be a performance video, just to allow the audience to see the band.
And where will it be possible to see it?
I hope that MTV2, Headbangers' Ball and shows that specialize in hard rock music will play the video. To be honest with you, we're still trying to decide which song is best. We don't know. Some people love our music, some people hate our music, so it's very difficult to find an opinion that tells us which song we should use. Another option was the song "Hurricane". And many American people have told us that we should do a video for "Punk". That could be big in America. (laughs)
Yeah, but a lot of people will confuse you with a younger generation of bands!
Yes, I know. (laughs) But what is very funny about Impellitteri is that my band is still very young. I started Impellitteri when I was 15 years old, so I'm now basically of the same age as new bands like Disturbed. A lot of the modern metal bands are very close to my age, so it's funny that fans don't realize that my band is actually quite younger than they believe. (laughs)
How did you get interested in this new generation of bands like Slipknot or Disturbed? What was the band that made you listen to this music?
I am a victim of radio, I have to listen to American radio in the car. So eventually after I hear the music enough, I am forced to adapt and to like the music. Over time I found certain bands that I really like a lot - Disturbed is one of my favorites, I really enjoy a lot of the new Swedish metal bands as well.
But do you still listen to traditional hard rock or heavy metal?
Of course! My favorites are the first two Ozzy Osbourne records with Randy Rhoads, I also love the first two Van Halen records.
In your opinion, is the current wave of nu metal bands such as Slipknot or Killswitch Engage a real revival of heavy metal in America?
Not a revival, no. I think it's a new form of metal, but not a revival. I think that you can't live in the past, the past is gone, there's always going to be new music and new bands. If you want to succeed and continue to evolve in the future, you must adapt to change. You must take a longer path, but modify it, so it is current, and the new generation can also enjoy the music.
But you see, I do have a couple of questions about your past, if you don't mind.
OK.
You're about to release a compilation of your earlier material called "The Holy Grail" in America. What will it contain?
If it is released, we would release songs like "Victim Of The System", "Rat Race", the instrumental song "Spanish Fire", a lot of the core guitar music that a lot of the Japanese audience really love. Basically it will be the best from each of our records.
When I first heard the name of the compilation I was a bit confused, because the name "Holy Grail" is often used in reference to the demos that you did in 1990…
I've heard that, but the truth is that it's just the rumor, it's not true. I've heard many people talk about "these famous old demos", but they don't exist. I've always done demos throughout my career, but many people see it as a real body of work, and it's not. Half of it is just junkie ideas that we never wanted anybody to hear. That's how this is about.
Shortly after you recorded "System X", you said in an interview that you were never satisfied with your previous album with Graham Bonnet, "Stand In Line" (1988). In your opinion, what is the problem with this release?
I was very young, I was basically partying, doing a lot of drugs and alcohol, and I was not trying to be an excellent guitar player and a great musician. I was more concerned about going in Los Angeles and Hollywood and partying every night, and I lost focus. I didn't feel that "Stand In Line" was a good representation of me.
Have you ever considered re-recording some of the older material with the present-day sound and the new vocalist?
No, because it's the past. (laughs)
Back in the 1980s, you did a guest appearance on the album "Sahara" by the band House Of Lords. Is that correct?
I've heard that. I think I may have done a guest appearance. I don't know why SPV in Europe have that on their website, it was such a silly thing. I spent one hour as a favor for a friend and never heard about that afterwards, that's all that is, there's nothing special.
How do you react when fans or critics call you the fastest guitarist in the world? Do you consider it a compliment or do you get mad about it?
Both. (laughs) It's a blessing and a curse. I think it's evident that I can play very fast, but I also try to make certain that I play good songs and good music with the technical guitar playing. I'm not trying to be Yngwie Malmsteen or Steve Vai, I'm trying to be more like a very good guitar player in a good rock band.
Are there any younger guitarists that have attracted your attention lately?
Yes, there are. I've heard some bands, for instance, All That Remains. I don't know the guitarist's name, but he sounds very good. Alex of Children Of Bodom, I've heard some of his music and I like his playing. I like Killswitch Engage a lot, their sound is very big and powerful.
"Pedal To The Metal" was recorded quite a long time ago. When can we expect an absolutely new studio album from Impellitteri?
(laughs) First, I must tour with "Pedal To The Metal" and do all the promotion. We have already started writing and recording some new music, but I cannot tell you when it will be released. Our focus is on "Pedal To The Metal".
You've said many times that making your last name the name of the band was a very bad idea. But who originally came up with this idea?
The record company and myself. When I did the first record, I had my own recording contract as a solo recording artist, and I didn't have an official band yet. I couldn't really call a band name without a band. (laughs) So I was stuck with my last name, which is very difficult to say. However, for some lucky reason over time, it's been accepted by some people, so I just continue to use it.
But how would you like your band to be called?
(laughs) Well, Crunch is one of my favorite names. Star. There's many other names we've thought about changing into, but usually the record companies don't want us to change, because some people know who Impellitteri are as an artist, and it may confuse some people.
Well, Chris, that's it, thank you very much for calling!
Thank you for your time, I greatly appreciate it. Oh, may I ask you - where are you?
In Moscow.
Oh, you are in Moscow? Very nice! My grandmother raised me, and my grandparents are actually immigrants, and my grandmother is an immigrant from Russia.
Oh really?
Yeah, so a big part of me is actually Russian! My grandmother's last name was Buchka. Many people think I'm only Italian, but that's not true, I'm actually equal Russian. (laughs)
Impellitteri on the Internet: http://www.rapture.net/impellitteri
Special thanks to Maxim Bylkin (Soyuz Music) for arranging this interview
Roman Patrashov
April 1, 2005
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