Behind the Music with Marco Spatuzzi
Carolina Di Gregorio | vocals
Marco Spatuzzi | guitars
Alessandro Bianconi| keyboards
Gianfranco Vigneri | bass
Federico Berchi | drums
Interview with Marco Spatuzzi
Interviewed August 2007
Q: Where did the idea come from to base this project on the movie Blade Runner?
A: We can start by saying that for us, as of course for many people around the world, BR is not just a movie. We are not trying to give any new explanation of the story. It's just the fact that this masterpiece, in our opinion, can be seen from many different points of view without losing anything as long as you preserve the essence of the movie, which is the "emotional power" given by the characters, the atmospheres, the music and the plot itself. We think that this "power" is so strong because the movie recalls, in a supreme creative way, archetypes stored somewhere in our human subconscious. But this is another story. Our work is just a different point of view of the movie. We don't provide any answers. We sing and play throughout the scenes as the story goes along. Alessandro and Gianfranco, and I had the idea to base the project on Blade Runner after seeing a work based on the movie Nosferatu made by Daniele Pomo and his band Le Rane Strane. They are all good musicians. We took the idea to create a show around a movie from them. During the gig Daniele plays the drum and sings at the same time. He is amazing! Their music is pretty different from ours. I would say it has more of an "Italian style" flavour to it. But, that is just my opinion. I find it a really great show. I have seen them many times without ever getting tired of it. I believe they are actually working on another movie, "The Shining" by S.Kubrik.
Q: Who are the big Blade Runner fans?
A: I'm the #1 fan of the movie, and a great fan of Vangelis, of course.
Q: Tell me about the process of how you created the compositions. You selected scenes, and themes? I imagine you must of had several other songs that you maybe tossed aside? Or is what you wrote what you worked on? How did the process come about?
A: As you can image, we really had a hard time writing the music and songs and making them fit in the scenes; getting the pauses at the right time; playing the dialogues from the movie in and out. The composing process evolved every time we discovered a better way to proceed. To give you an idea, we used to watch the scene many times, trying to get the mood of it, the rhythm of the scene, pretending there was a metronome clicking above the images. This was very useful in respect to the movie rhythm and letting the music grow with it. We had to decide if the scene should be a "song" or an instrumental. Scenes have different durations and this meant that the harmonic structure of a song had to be adapted to this duration. So, the original music idea created by one of us, most of the time, was really transformed to fit in the scene. There are so many ideas, songs, and themes that we tossed aside and often we were like: "The music is great! But, doesn't match the movie! Pris is not saying this or that". Or, "Deckard is running and hunting, the music must be more intense here". Something like that. The lyrics (not the vocal notes) were written at the end to give a better understanding of the story and to fit the words with the dialogues from the movie. When we play live we have the metronome click in our ear-monitors. The click is synchronized with the movie so we know how to play, and when to play, as the movie progresses. We have to stay focused the entire 2 hours! We knew that performing our music around this movie would be a big challenge. During the composition we were worried about it. We decided to create everything as a tribute to the movie, not to give our personal view of it.
Q: Memoria seems like they caught the true essence of the film. You focus on the story and the characters' relationships and thoughts. With light of the "Final Cut", are new songs being considered? Or will you stick with the version of the film you have? Would you consider doing a song about the look and mood of the film ( like the rain, neon lit streets, and gray sky) ?
A: Good question. We're actually using the Director's Cut. We'll see what happens after we view the Final Cut. About the mood...I can say that we tried to give every song, and especially every instrumental song, the taste of it. Above all, on the 1st half of the movie, we do end with Zhora's death. This part of the movie has a slower rhythm. We tried to do what Vangelis did over the long scenes without any dialogue.
Q: Were the composition of the songs a collective effort?
A: I did the main work around the scenes. The real collective effort was the arrangement of the songs during practice. It required over a year, beside the work at home, around the scenes. We spent every single weekend in our practice room in Federico's house (the drummer) in Calvi, a small town in the country east of Rome.
Q: The group seems real tight. It is my understanding that a few of you collaborated before (Berchi, Spatuzzi, and Vigneri). As a group how long have you been performing together?
A: We have been playing togheter since early 90's the new entry is the singer Carolina Di Gregorio. She gave us great motivation with her energy since she started working with us. She also did a great job, together with me, with the lyrics. Also Federico wrote some lyrics in some songs, and Gianfranco too.
Q: Have considered getting copyright permission to release your performance on DVD?
A: We have not planned to release a DVD. This is mainly a live show. We asked permission to play the movie during the concert. We mute all the music and most of the dialogue. But the movie remains the essence of the show. Those who come to the show are expected to watch the screen and follow the movie by listening to our music and lyrics. But, this kind of show is new, and people sometimes don't know what to do. We initially had the screen off to the side of the stage. But, this seemed to confuse some people as to our methodology. So, as a result, we decided to put the screen at the center of the stage after realizing that people felt like they were at a tennis match!
Q: Do you have any plans tour the UK or the US?
A: We really would like to play in other countries, but we need someone promoting the show locally. And we have to translate the lyrics to English. And then we will for sure!
Q: I'm sure you heard the news of the release of Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Have you found yourself caught up in the excitement?
A: Excitement and fear!! Do we need to change everything? Do we have to start again from the beginning and synchronize all the music to this new version? :)
Q: Have any of you made plans to attend the screening of The Final Cut in Venice, September 1st(2007)?
A: I think we will wait and go to the cinema all together.
Q: Have any of you read the book by Philip K. Dick, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
A: Federico, Gianfranco, and I have. The reading of the book was really helpful to give realism to the lyrics, and to get into characters' thoughts. There are no plans of releasing a CD at this time. If something develops, I'll be sure to pass on the info. In the meantime, you can visit their website and listen and watch their music.
I'd like to thank Marco for this opportunity and for taking the time to answer my questions. I hope that Memoria do take the show on the road and tour the UK and the US. There are a whole lot of other Blade Runner enthusiasts yet to be exposed to their project. I wish them all the success in the world!
For the original interview I translated a couple of the song lyrics so the English speaking community could get a better feel of this production. Marco was impressed and asked if I'd like to translate ALL the lyrics. I was humbled and honoured beyond belief by his request. As I received the rest of the songs... one by one... (with both the Italian and the English translations) I found that the songs could tell a much better story than what was presented to me. Without resistance, I was given full reign to re-write the lyrics. And so I did, over the next four months, re-write the lyrics and sent them to Marco for his and the group's approval. Carolina, the vocalist for Memoria, would sing them and then send them back to me for further critiquing and modifications.
Since then, we went back and forth with various plans as to how we should present this production to the English speaking world. In the meantime, they had recorded eleven of the twenty-five songs, in their original Italian lyrics, in the studio for their shows in Italy.
Although time had elapsed, I never stopped thinking about this music and how to get this music out to the world, whilst sticking to the qualifications of each of our personal standards. This project was something I would not let die, never to be heard by no more than a select few, as was it's fate had I not persisted.
In October 2008, I conducted a sample test of one of the songs. I brought the tracks of "Merchants of Souls" down to Derek Studios in Dalton, Massachusetts to be mixed. Greg Steele mixed the song with his magic touch. The result can be heard on our ReverbNation player. It was then that both Marco and I knew that we could release a decent CD. This performance was "created" to be performed live. A "studio" recording takes away from the mystique. Capturing the energy and dynamics of the musician's performance can only be caught live.
However, after work on the second track, I decided to use another studio--Skyboro Sound Recording Studio. But then, only a couple months into production, the studio closed its doors.
The members of Memoria had since moved on to pursue other music endeavours, leaving Marco and I the task of presenting our collaborative efforts. This is not to say this production would never see a live performance again. Under the right circumstances this could be achieved.
Working on this project has been a dream for me. Not only was I able to pay tribute to this classic movie, contributing to the ever-growing fandom of Blade Runner. But, I was blessed to have worked with a group of extrememely talented musicians. For that I am grateful. I cannot express my gratitude enough.
