Interview with:Antoinetta Scilipoti
I was curious when I saw that an Italian band should play on the festival 'Music Against Cancer' in The Netherlands. This was a special festival because all the money went to the investigation of better medication against cancer. Even Vast was the opener that night and I had the chance to speak with front woman Antoinetta in their dressing room. It turned out in a very open and nice conversation.
Past
When bands are not so well known I try to learn more about them to look back to the past and understand what the roots are of this band. Anotoinetta is a good storyteller and very open and honest. She even warned me: “It’s a long story. In the beginning me and the guitar player were playing in an other underground band called Chaos and Technocracy and we had a name in the underground, but that was ten years ago. We even played in Germany. Then things started to be a little bit complicated. The drummer wanted to have a family and guitarist lost his energy for playing, so we had to leave everything, but we still wanted to make music. We created a new band and Even Vast which was inspired by doom metal and old stoner rock like Black Sabbath. We had the possibility to record the first album in Holland. We signed a record deal with Black Lotus Records. We had a lot of problems with our distribution and promotion.”
After that the band had some problems with different kind of record companies. After the release of the 'Outsleeping' album (2003) the band introduced a new drummer and made a change to the more electronic side. Antionette explains: “We were not scared to make a real change, because we wanted something fresh and new. Also with the new bass player our sound changed because he’s more from the ’80, so we like to mix those influences to create something special. We had the possibility to write
our own songs, to record and rehearse songs in our own studio. Just sitting there and having a chat is great, so we’re more relaxed and try to make sure that what we hear is what we want.”
At the moment the band has no record deal, Antoinetta sounds a bit said when she explains me why: “We want to discover what’s the best for us. We have some contacts and proposals. You know with the electronic parts it’s not easy in the metal market. Probably they’re afraid: it can be a good thing, but sometimes you have to make some choices. We learned from the past, so we want to make a good decision.”
Feelings
At the moment the band is very busy to make a new album. Antoinetta is very enthusiastic about it, but she also realise that it’s difficult to change this much suddenly: “At the moment we’re recording some new songs and still we use the electronic drums because you can’t have a show with new and old stuff which are too different from each other. The vocals are a bit a different because I have the possibility to correct something I don’t like or try new ways.”
When I wonder if it isn’t hard to find a own sound with all those line-up changes and new influences, she’s silent for one moment: “Well I don’t know, but I think we love what we do and we’re not doing something we don’t like. When you like music you can be open minded to see what’s behind it. We’re not afraid to be melodic or aggressive…why not when it’s something we feel? We simply do this and people see we’re honest. This evening we didn’t move a lot because we were tired, but music puts out all the energy you have inside. On stage you have to be very energetic.”
Antoinetta writes all the lyrics and there’s a reason for it: “When I write, I write directly in English, because it’s something I feel. There’s no necessary to translate words. I also play the keyboards but not live, because people couldn’t see me then. In the lyrics I always talk about myself or people I know. Especially from my job, because I work for old people, handicaped children: the kind of people who have a lot of problems. That’s very difficult but when I see myself in the mirror I learned how to live everyday. It’s what I feel and want to say to people. Nowadays we have so many stupid problems like beauty, weight when there are people I see with problems and a lot of love, pure, only simple living. That’s what I try to catch. In a way it’s the best thing you can have, because you learn how to live. I think there’s something more and music is a good way of express that. I don’t want to talk about politics because people have their own minds. Music is about something you feel.”
The most important thing for Antoinetta is to express her feelings: “We’re different but this is important: to learn from each other. Just some notes on the keyboard and some words, that’s the start. There’s one song what I like very much, we didn’t played it tonight. It’s called “Dawning Gloom” and when you hear the simple sound of the keyboard I had the feeling that I had to write something very deep. It’s about people who look back at the end of their lives and see what they did and what they could have done. In my job I always have to smile and cheer them up and say: why are you crying, you have a good life. That’s hard sometimes, but they believe me. I simply tell them what I think. When I am on stage it’s a challenge, because all the days are the same to me, but different at the same time, because they’re people and no
computers.”
computers.”
Strength
When I talk with her, sitting next to her on a plastic chair, it surprises me that she’s so honest and open about her feelings. In the corner of the room the other band members are relaxing and talk in very fast Italian. Every now and than someone from the Dutch band Van Katoen walks in and things are a bit chaotic. In that environment it’s impressive how this woman can talk so focussed about what she feels and wants to do. She continues her story without any hesitation: “I see a lot of contrasts, a lot of feelings, but I learned a lot. When I am back home and I relax I realise that. I think everybody can make music, but you really have to want it. To be honest I don’t care about lyrics regarding nice things like love and nature. I love nature, but I think I cannot talk about that, because it’s so simple for me to be happy about that. Maybe because I am older and growing, but I need to talk about different things. I think I am open minded to all kind of things, except religion and politics. You have to discover that by yourself.”
Underground
The metal world is totally different in Italy. Antoinetta tells me that she likes the atmosphere of this festival because everyone is relaxed. “In Italy people are close mind, even when we have good reactions. They are surprised and didn’t think that they would like it, so it was strange. The problem is to find the right connections to play somewhere. At the moment we don't have a good promoter, well it’s always the same: when you’re nobody no one cares. When you’re a big name everybody cares about it. It’s been so many years that we are busy with it. We don’t care anymore about how much energy it takes, we drive more than a day to come here, because we like it. The only thing we don’t like is when we have to go back. It’s a kind of nostalgia, because of the good memories. We don’t have so many shows, so it are good memories. For time to time it’s hard, but we try. Tonight it was a good chance for us, maybe a next time when we’re here there’re more people. We are really proud to play for this kind of event. It’s something we really feel that and I told you that people are suffering and I hope people will realise that now.”
Dreams
Except the wish of a good new record company Antoinette has more dreams: “The first thing is to play a lot live. Today was the first gig after one year, or even more. We had a lot of problems with the line-up so we wanted to solve that first. It took so long to prepare everything: the old songs had to be rewritten because of the new electronic parts and grooves. So we needed time to put thing together. You can’t do
things together: or you play live or you stay in the studio. We are happy with it, so tonight we had a lot of fun. I think we played very well for the first time after a while. I felt some chemistry on stage and I think that’s the most important thing for a band. We have the right feeling now and we hope to go on with that. What we want to do is to have more live gigs to show people that it’s no problem to mix different musical styles. Maybe you can just listen to it and you decide whether you like it or not.”
We'd like to thank Antoinetta for the nice interview, but also the rest of the band for their hospitality that day.
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