Fede of Destrage Interview
5th January 2017Destrage are a band that are currently going from strength to strength. Fede took time from his Xmas dinner to answer a few questions.
You guys have just released your new album ‘A Mean To No End’ which was released at the end of October, how has this been received by your fans?
Well, it’s been a good vibe so far. It started from the release of the first single “Symphony Of The Ego” in the end of August, and exploded at the release party we had in our hometown Milan a few days after the release of the full album. We had such a blast, the energy was incredible, so intense.
Since the album is quite different from the previous one, on both songwriting and overall sound, we expected people to need a little time to digest it and enjoy it. There’s been a good diversity of reactions, but fortunately the big part of them were good. Then you’ll always find the fan who will always prefer your first record but, you know, you can’t make everyone happy. At least we can’t.
Not even the Beatles could. Actually not even Jesus Chris could.
How did the recording go for this album?
This has been by far the most intense, tight and long teamwork we’ve ever done. To be honest, in the end we were all completely exhausted and couldn’t wait for it to be finished. The recording itself ran out very smoothly, this is because of the work that’s been done previously; everything was recorded in about a month. It took about one year and half from the first composition session to the final master tho. We had a super tight schedule of jams/writing session, arrangements, writing each instrument part, writing lyrics, recording preproduction, fix structures and then enter the studio.
What is your favorite track off the album?
This is a very tough question. It’s like asking a father who’s his favorite son.
I like many songs for many different reasons, but if I really had to choose one, I would say Abandon To Random (I’m sure some of my band mates wouldn’t agree). It has a different vibe from the others, it’s darker, and it’s a trip that takes its time to carry you around.
How would you say your music has evolved since you first started out?
This year will be 10 years with this line-up. Many things have changed, we as persons first. That’s what our music reflects the most.
I think with this record we all wanted to try to deliver emotions instead of attempting to impress someone; which is something that we’ve already done, and we don’t like to repeat ourselves. Plus we’re all in our 30s now, and this changes the way we live music a lot too.
Also the writing process has evolved a lot from the beginning, when everything was written by one sole person. Time by time we started working together and eventually we wrote this last record all together in the same room, playing the songs; it’s an old school approach, but I think it makes a great difference emotionally speaking.
If you had a 30 second slot on prime time TV to say whatever you wanted to the public about the music industry, what would you say?
“It’s fucked, and there’s nothing you can do. It’s too late, sorry”
How often do you sit and listen to your own music?
Rarely. Most of the time it’s because some student ask me to explain him how to play some part of a song.
Would you change anything at all about the band if you had to do it all over?
I would change nothing about the band itself and the people in it. I would just change “where” and “when” Destrage were born as a band…US early ‘90s could be a good option, but we could consider many other good ones.
What has been your main drive which has pushed you forward to continue doing what you do?
Passion. That’s the only true answer. Passion has made our friendship stronger too, but also love for music, traveling and hanging with people. Need for expression and need for fun. That’s what is all about being in a band; eventually if everything works out the money will come.
How would you describe your music to fans who hadn’t heard your music before?
That’s the toughest question. We don’t really know how to describe our music properly. it’s a metal/rock-based thing, with a bunch of different influences that go from grunge to pop, electronic, cross over, experimental…
Basically we do what we would like to listen to, without thinking about a specific style.
What can we expect from you guys in the new year?
We have a few shows scheduled, and we hope some more will come out for the summer. Basically we’re finishing the Italian tour from the end of Jan to mid March, and then we have this European tour with Periphery and The Contortionist, which is going to be a blast. Hopefully we’ll manage to play in the US too, sooner or later!
Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?
You know we love you, but don’t get angry if we don’t play in your city!
Cheers Fede for your time, have a great Christmas and we look forward to catching up with you guys in the new year!
