- Hi and welcome to this interview. Tell us about your latest release
Hello and many thanks for this opportunity, I'm Andrea Bartolini, bass player and singer for Blue Drama, from Florence, Italy.
"la Giostra" is our debut album, it contains 10 originals plus one cover. Our interpretation of a classic of the Italian pop catalog of the 60's, "Mi sono innamorato di te" written and sung by the late Luigi Tenco. The entire record is sung in Italian, we selected the track list from 15 tracks we recorded on various sessions during the lockdown in 2020 and 2021. The album has been recorded and mixed by Fabrizio Simoncioni that also play all the keyboard parts.
Recording this album was the final chapter of a work schedule that took more than 3 years in writing and rehearsing the songs. We took all the time we needed and we never tried to speed up the process.
- How would you describe your sound?
Well probably I would say that it can be put under that Classic Rock etiquette, we are all coming from the hard & heavy scene, we played and recorded with many metal band in the past, so hard rock is in our dna as well as rock'n'roll and even pop rock, we like The Beatles as well as Judas Priest and Kiss, just to make an example, I also like punk rock and a lot of different stuff. I think what came out is solid rock with a melodic vibe and an attitude for catchy choruses.
- What do you write about?
We are not willing to send any specific message and "La Giostra" is not a concept album. The three of us, including our former drummer Massimo D'Amico that recorded the album just before to leave the band, wrote about personal stories and feelings about love, life, music and friends. It's about us but it can also be about anyone else.
- What do you listen to when you are home?
I pesonally listen to a lot of different things, from Power Pop to Metal including Southern Rock, Prog, Electronic, Punk and New Wave.
- Your favourite live performance so far?
Everytime we walk the stage is our favourite gig, cause every time we have the chance to play aour music, that is a great day, so maybe the next one will be our fave one.
- Tell us a funny story that happened in studio or on stage.
Recording our album has been a very funny and passionate experience. We were so happy for finally being in the studio to record all our songs. No particular episodes to mention apart of some luxurious lunch breaks and a very touching moment during the recording of "Spacca il tempo" that song contains many reference to our fave bands, Eddy Van Halen passed away just a couple of days earlier so we put at the last minute also a little tribute to his music. That was a huge loss for us.
- Your favourite albums?
It would be a never ending list, let's say everything by The Beatles and the first Ramones album that literally changed my life.
- A musician you would like to meet for a beer?
Geezer Butler, I have some questions for him.
- What would you ask for backstage, if you were the most important band on earth?
A ping pong table apart from the usual amount of food and beverage.
- What are your plans for the near future?
Playing live as much as we can.