SIMONE FIORLETTA INTERVIEW

2nd September 2009

Simone Fiorletta is already a known name in his native Italy, and thanks to 2 albums with progressive metallers Moonlight Comedy as well as a trio of solo albums he is a name that is becoming more known elsewhere in the world.  We caught up with Simone to discuss his third and latest solo album "When Reality Is Nothing" (Lion Music), how he approaches the guitar and also what the current state of play is with Moonlight Comedy.

Congratulations on your third solo album "When Reality Is Nothing", it is a very refreshing instrumental album, with a lot of melody and thought into the backing textures. What led to you making an album that is not 100% shred to the wall?
To be honest with you, I don’t intend to create an album which is exclusively shred to the wall. Personally I prefer melodic tracks, which tend towards the expression accompanied, when possible, by virtuosity and so on. My intention is to make people understand the reason of my choice of title, by simply listening to the track.

I stated in the review that is fits in nicely with the progression of sound heard across your previous 2 solo albums, do you see your solo albums as an evolving story?
Yes, in a way, from the moment in which  all of my works are inspired by my own life and everything that goes on around me. And so, as each of my works reflects a certain period of my life, I can say that all of my albums mark different phases of my own evolution. At this point I’d like to say about the sound of this work, that it is the first of my albums that I have ever personally mixed and mastered in my own studio.

How do you normally go about writing a song and did you follow your normal path for the new album?
Usually, my songs take life from improvisation. I often compose the rhythmic parts for guitar, bass and drum programming, first. After this I begin to play over it. Then I start to coordinate the parts and memorize them only when I think to be on the right way… I adopted the same method for the composition of all of my albums, and I’ll continue this way for all of my future projects.

Where did the inspiration for the music on the album come from?
I prefer to choose a subject and set it to music. Referring to “When Reality is Nothing”, for example, the track titled “Thanks” is to express my gratitude to my parents; “My Brother”, as you can easily guess, was inspired by my brother; “Dance In The City” was composed thinking of all of the times you go out purely for enjoyment; “I Believe In You” was written while my girlfriend was preparing for her thesis and I wanted to show her my support; Her life inspired me for another song, named “Loneliness In Your Eyes”: I wrote this track when she was having a bad time due to a bereavement.  “Laura”… Well, in this song I imagine what my girlfriend would be like if she was a song; “Oh No, Once Again?” is the follow up of “Brawl in A Saloon” (My Secret Diary), you know the typical saloon fights you see in the comical movies, don’t you!? “Ehy…What’s Up?” is composed thinking of the times you see one of your friend particularly happy and instinctively say “Hey! What have you been up to?”; Finally, I wrote the song titled “Like a Bird” referring to the birds’ flight, which is liberating from everything and everyone, as if in that moment you’re living and directing you own dream.

What do you want to achieve with this album and do you feel you accomplished it?
Honestly,  the most important thing to me is to communicate through my music. This means that if just one person experiences emotions by listening to my music, this is enough to make me feel fulfilled, no matter if I won’t sell one million copies of my album.

You have a good cast of supporting musicians on the album, how did you get involved with them and what did they add to the album?
In 2008 I’ve been playing for a few gigs in a Joe Satriani tribute band, called “Surfing with Joe”, and thanks to  this experience I shared the stage with two guys, who, although in their early twenties, are very skilled: Marco Aiello on the drums and Matteo Raggi as a bass player. And we immediately clicked, musically speaking.   So I had the inspiration to compose new material and to work on it with those good musicians for this new album… and we did. Obviously, I’d like to mention the presence of my good friend Andrea De Paoli in this work. Each one of them carried his own influences into my music.

This point I’d like to introduce also the other  important guests playing an active role in my album: the renowed American guitar hero Neil Zaza, Mistheria (an Italian keyboardist who collaborated with many musicians such as the same Neil Zaza and Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden), Armando Pizzuti and Valerio D’Anna from Moonlight Comedy, and Fabrizio Auri.

Do you have any favourite tracks on the album, and if so why?
Not really, because I feel attached to all of my compositions.

How long have you been playing guitar and who were your primary influences when starting out?
I started playing the piano when I was 7. Four years later I started playing the guitar, so I’ve been playing guitar for fifteen years. Well, my primary influences were bands like Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer etcetera. As time went by I begun listening also to guitar heroes as Satriani, Steve Vai, Malmsteen and others.

Do any of those early influences still hold a place in your inspiration?
Satriani has been very important to my career and he still is, then also Neil Zaza joined him, so you can perfectly understand that it has been a true honor for me, to have him as a guest on this album.

There is a nice selection of guitar tones on the album, what equipment did you use and what would you say is the key piece of gear that helps gets the Fiorletta tone?
Apart from the fact that, as I previously mentioned, I’ve been working on every aspect of this album in my own study (That means that I’ve been able to spend upon it all the time I needed), my sound comes out simply combining a “Rash” guitar (www.rashguitar.it), “D’Orazio” strings (www.doraziostrings.it) and a very good “Brunetti” amp (www.brunetti.it).I have the pleasure of being endorser of all of those products, which characterize the 100% of my own sound. I would take this opportunity to mention that I also am endorser of “InTune Guitar Picks” (www.itunegp.com)

What do you look for in a guitar or amp when buying a new one?
I am not obsessed with certain characteristics, I just go and try the amp, and take it if I find it satisfying.

Do you do other session work in Italy or any private tuition?
My recording studio is opened to everyone for the production of demos or albums, so I work a lot with it. Apart from this, I co-founded the “Music Station” school, the music school I opened with some musician/friends near my birthplace, and I also teach guitar here.  Occasionally, and in the very little free time I have, I also work as a session in different music styles.

What’s the current state of play in Moonlight Comedy?
About Moonlight Comedy I can say that we’re writing new material and we’ve almost finished, we’ll start the recordings in a few months time, between November and December, so to publish the new album in 2010.

What do you have planned for the rest of 2009 and beyond?
First of all, I want to bring my new album “When Reality is Nothing” on stage. And, as I previously said, I’m still working with Moonlight comedy to complete our new work. At the same time I’m also working for another Prog. Metal project. By the beginning of the new year I intend to start working on my new solo disc and bit by bit I’m writing a guitar tutor

Simone, many thanks for your time
Thank you, and many thanks to your readers, for dedicating some of your time to me, and, hoping  you’ll also find the time to listen to my album, I invite you to visit my website www.simonefiorletta.it or my official  myspace page www.myspace.com/simonefiorletta, by which you can let me know your opinion about my songs.