Interview withMike Kadmon (Guitarist of Neon Synthesis)
With their debut album ‘Our Empty Rooms’ (2006) which was self-produced and released,the Italian band gained some positive critics in the press and from the audience leading to the band signing a record deal with Killer Pool Records in 2007 and started producing their first “official” full length ‘Alchemy of Rebirth’ which came out recently. Guitarist of the band Mike Kadmon answered us a few questions regarding the album and about the band itself.
Mike Kadmon (MK): Hello! Well, we got to know each other during our teen years, because we’re from the same town and we used to go to the same clubs and bars. Common friends introduced us to each other, and we discovered that we shared a great passion for music and almost the same musical tastes. We were learning to play our instruments back then, so it was quite natural for us to join forces and start a band to improve together.
RoD: Who came up with the band name NEON SYNTHESIS and what’s the deeper meaning behind it?
MK: It was my idea, but there isn’t a deep meaning behind it. We were proposing many different names for the band, and I suggested “Neon Synthesis”. Everyone immediately liked how it sounded, and it was chosen with no hesitation. Back in those days we were fascinated by electronic music, cyber attitude, urban landscapes, so we thought that it could also be well related to this imagery.
RoD: In April 2006, you’ve already self-released a debut album titled ‘Our Empty Rooms’. Will there ever be any official label release of that debut album or aren’t you planning any official release at all?
MK: I really can’t tell now. Of course there are some songs on ‘Our Empty Rooms’ that we really love and play at every concert, but at present there are no plans of making a re-release. However, if we will in the future, we can’t simply release the same album, because it was self-produced and lacked the audio quality of a full studio product. So it would be nice to make new recordings of the old songs to improve them.
RoD: Now let’s get to your first official album ‘Alchemy of Rebirth’. It’s already on the market for quite some time. How are the overall reactions so far?
MK: We are very satisfied of our debut. The reviews have been really positive, and we got important press coverage on magazines and webzines, also receiving a great feedback from old and new fans. It’s something that we could only dream of some years ago, and all the nice comments are a constant spur to dedication and improvement.
RoD: Is ‘Alchemy of Rebirth’ a conceptual work and the title therefore a textual embodiment of it or is it rather that every song tells its own story throughout the disc?
MK: I’d say that each song can be taken out of the album and listened alone, but they can be also put together and inserted within a common concept. The basic idea is that of a metaphorical journey representing the human nature: we are bound to chaos and violence, but we endeavour to control these instincts. Alchemy represents this path of inner transformation that can lead to the catharsis, a full self-consciousness and a metaphorical rebirth. The first half of the album is entitled ‘Through Chaos’, the second one ‘To Light’, to represent the stages of this journey; the lyrics of each section are also reflecting these themes.
RoD: The very artistic cover of the album has been created by Seth Siro Anton who’s already crafted artworks for PARADISE LOST. Why did you choose him to create the artwork for the album?
MK: We saw some samples of his works on his website and we were immediately spellbound by his style. We thought that he could visually embody what we were expressing through our music, and we were right. When we got in touch, I only needed to explain the basic concept behind Alchemy of Rebirth and make him listen to some samples of the songs. We were really satisfied of colours, shading and textures, and the result is imagery that I define dark, mysterious and spiritual at the same time.
RoD: Already on the album opener ‘Nihil’ you’re working with different vocal styles. To show to the listener’s the respective emotional condition’s you or the protagonists of the song are going through?
MK: The many diverse vocal styles have always been a trademark of our singer Johnny Thyper, since our first experiments in 2004. With ‘Alchemy of Rebirth’ there is still this trend, and as you suggested it can suit well the feelings and the stages created by the album concept. I think that Nihil is great as an intro, it makes clear what Neon Synthesis is about: powerful guitar chords, leading synthesizer lines, deep vocals during the verses; then they become angry and epic, enhancing the chorus and melting perfectly with the instrumental parts.
RoD: On the other hand a song like ‘Solitude Fear’ is much more spherical and drenched in melancholy and shows a different facet of your work. Was that an important thing for you to do, I mean showing how many carrying styles you’re mingling in your music?
MK: Indeed. In ‘Alchemy of Rebirth’ there are many elements that make almost every song different from the others. But at the same time, in each track there is always something that identifies them as Neon Synthesis and makes them immediately recognizable. This is not the result of a planning; we only write songs that come from inspiration, so it’s just natural for us to mingle many styles in our music. We have melancholic, intense songs - like ‘Solitude+Fear’ or ‘Catharsis’ - some that are fast and heavy - like ‘Artificial Paradise’ or ‘VII’ - some other with a strong industrial-dance floor feel - like ‘Through The Looking Glass’ or ‘Visions From Above’.
RoD: Can we expect you to tour live in the near future?
MK: We are moving in this direction and starting planning concerts in Europe; we have already discussed this matter with our record label. We already played abroad in the past, but since the release of this album we only played live in Italy, so it’s time to think about foreign countries too. Being this our debut album, I think that the right choice is to play as an opening act for more famous and established bands, and we already taking contacts with this purpose. We hope to be able to define this matter soon!
RoD: That’s already the end if you have any message for our readers or something to add you’re welcome to do that now
MK: Of course thank you for this chance to discuss together ‘Alchemy of Rebirth’. I hope your readers will take some time to check us out and discover our universe. We are constantly evolving and searching for new ways of expressing our ideas, so keep an eye on us in the future!
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