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Interview with Felipe Andreoli - Angra
I sat down for a phone interview recently with the bass player of Angra, Felipe Andreoli, to discuss the band's new album Temple of Shadows. Unfortunately, when I sat down to transpose the interview I realized that the first 3 minutes or so of the tape was destroyed! So I apologize for the fact that this interview begins in mid-question, but most of the interview was salvaged. Enjoy!
.it was great, it captured this moment into the record, and I think it did it greatly, I love the sound, I love the songs and.I think, for myself, this is the best Angra album.
I agree; it's incredibly diverse compared to the past albums. Did everybody in the band contribute something to the songwriting of the album or was it mainly one or two band members writing?
We had Kiko and Edu start the process, then Rafael joined them. And the songs.they created the songs, then me and Aqualis we joined the process and did arrangements and ideas as well. So everybody contributed very much to this one.uh, much more than Rebirth. And I can hear my ideas in the record all the time, so does Aqualis and everyone in the band, and we really put our best in the music, and you can hear that I think. I think this is the best performance that we achieved in our careers as musicians. And I think I speak for me and the band because we all feel the same. We all love the record; sometimes when I listen to it in some parts I get to think, I'm so glad this got recorded so great, you know? It's a record I've always wanted to record.
I know this is a concept album about an 11th century crusader soldier, but that's all I really know. Could you tell me a little more about the story in Temple of Shadows?
Well actually we make it parallel with the story of holy wars and the wars for territory, and all that stuff that has always happened through human history. But we want to take this history farther and make people think about religion and their beliefs and.what religion is in their lives, like what is their philosophy about life and their respect for each other. So why kill for Jesus, you know? If God is love, why kill for love you know? That was just really strange for us. We don't want people to go against the church, or go against any religion, we just want them to think about it. And I think this story tells well the crusade of this knight and the things that he goes through in his life that makes him change what he thinks about religion and God.and I think it's a process that everyone who thinks about religion goes through in their lives. So many people can relate to this.this concept. And as for myself I can say.we just want people to think about it.
Do you have a favorite track off the album?
Yeah my favorite song is Shadow Hunter, for its progressiveness and its.variety of elements and rhythms and nuances, I think we did a great job with it. But it's hard to tell a favorite song because there's many others that I like, like No Pain for the Dead and Late Redemption and Winds of Destination.I like them all. It's my child (laughs)
(Laughs) I can tell. All of Angra's albums in the past have had at least some Brazilian musical influences on them, but Temple of Shadows seems to have raised the bar. The liner notes of the album mention a Brazilian musician by the name of Milton Nascimento that helped out, and I'm not too familiar with him. Could you tell me a little bit about his status in Brazil and what he added to the album?
He's like.a world class musician, he's like the greatest ethnic musician, but he's not just ethnic, he's everything. He's like a musician that doesn't limit himself with boundaries in music and he wants to take music further, and make people enjoy the music, and make them be happy and make friends and.I don't know, he's just a musician that goes beyond what we know about music and we had a really big influence in him. When he accepted the invitation to sing on this record it was like.very cool for us. And many people didn't believe it at first because it's so hard to get him, you know? He's just a big star in Brazil and outside, and it was just really cool. He's just the greatest singer in Brazil for sure.
I'd like to ask a little bit about the guest musicians on this album (Kai Hansen, Hansi Kursch, & Sabine Edelsbacher). How did you get them to perform on Temple of Shadows, and how was that experience?
Well about Kai, he's a big fan of Angra since the very beginning. He really helped out Angra a lot in the early days, you know, Angel's Cry was recorded in his studio, and he was always a really big friend, you know, a big helper. And you know, he was really happy to help and participate even because when he does appear in other people's records he only plays guitar, and this time he got to sing, so he was really happy to do it. And Hansi, we met each other on tour, and he's really a big friend, and you know we always had a lot of admiration for Blind Guardian, his band, and so we really had a good time with that, a lot of fun, you know? And Sabine was there mainly because we had a real need for a female voice on one of our tracks, and her voice is so beautiful.we decided to have her as well. And Milton because he's who he is.you know, I guess I already talked about him enough. (Laughs).
Now that the album has been released, what are the current plans for Angra? Are you going to be touring soon?
Actually we are on tour in Brazil.and we went to France along with Primal Fear and Rage and these bands. And now we're touring in Brazil; we have plans to go to Europe in February, and we have a big schedule there that's being prepared. And then we go to Japan, and then probably come back to Brazil, and then just probably some festivals in Europe in the summer. That's our plans, just touring so far.
Do you have any plans to play any shows or festivals in America?
Not for the moment, but maybe we have the ProgPower festival in November.we'll have to see what happens.
I know that Temple of Shadows has just recently been released, but does Angra have any plans for your next album?
No, not actually, we're not really ready to go out and record another album. Since Rebirth we had like almost three years for a new record, and we don't want to take that long anymore. So we plan to tour shortly this time, and then start composing again. But we don't have any preconceived ideas about the music.
Along those same lines, do you have any plans to release a new DVD after your current tour is over?
For sure, we'll pick an important show towards the end of the tour and record it and make it just a big concert, and put it on DVD along with some footage from the tour.some backstage scenes and all that kind of stuff.
When you're not playing with Angra what kinds of things do you like to do in your spare time?
Well I like a lot to play tennis, which I really don't have a lot of time to do much these days, and I like to play with other bands. Music has always been my profession and also my hobby as well. So I have other bands with friends and things that I like to play with. And I also like to go to the movies, and just be with my girlfriend. You know, all the kinds of stuff that normal people do I guess.
Ok, well I'd just like to thank you for the interview, and I'd like to wish you and the band the best of luck in the future.
Ok, you too Matthew, very good, it was good to talk to you!
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Written by Matthew - 1/5/2005 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Jorge Castillo (Anonymous) - Wednesday, March 9, 2005 | "We had Kiko and Edu start the process, then Rafael joined them."
Kiko Has always love orchestral music, and as you Know Edu Falashi also loves that kind of Music. Therefore, you can see were they got the idea of making a song like Gate XIII.
Nice.
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| Comment by IzZy Lee Rox (Anonymous) - Wednesday, September 28, 2005 | Really enjoyed the interview, informative and straight to the point... Its a shame about the lost recording.
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