Giorgia Gueglio - MasterCastle
Interview By Ed MacLaren
Featuring wicked guitar runs, a furiously driving rhythm section and the powerhouse vocals of Giorgia Gueglio, Italian power metal quartet Mastercastle have again impressed with their hard-hitting sophomore release, "Last Desire". After the overwhelming success its debut, "The Phoenix", Mastercastle jacked up the hard rock factor and came up with their second fantastic releases in as many years. Femme Metal got a chance to chat with Giorgia about the new album, the nature of desire and the benefits of trying to sing like a dude.
Welcome to Femme Metal and congratulations on "Last Desire". It’s another excellent album from a band to watch.
And many thanks for this interview. I’m happy that you liked our album.
"Last Desire" is a concept album dealing with the many natures of desire. What got you thinking about its different perceptions and expressions?
Apparently, "desire" seems a simple concept but it’s very complex. It’s the engine of all our thoughts and all our actions. When I wrote the lyrics for "Last Desire", I decided to tell about desire as a passion that lights up between two individuals. Then I wrote "Event Horizon" telling about the general relativity, where the event horizon is a boundary in space beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer. I found within this concept a good representation of the man who "desires" to know everything about himself. And so on, in each song I tell about the meaning of a different desire.
Desire can originate from an unconscious place deep inside our minds or it can manifest as a conscious and thought-out decision. Rational and irrational. Physical and mental. What does desire mean to you?
I think that the desire is inside everyone; it’s part of our nature so it’s unconscious. During our life the desires of many things (passion, possession of something or someone) exit outside us, become conscious, real, for its obtaining.
When composing your lyrics, did you reflect on your own personal desires or write from the perspective of people in general? What ideas were you trying to bring across on the album?
Sometimes I get inspiration from my personal experiences and sometimes observing other people. I also love to travel to open my mind to any new situation or experience. I just "live" and anything interesting that happens to me can become an idea for lyrics.
What is the "last desire"?
Everyone has his own last desire. My personal desire is to continue to live extracting passion and love for anything I live. In the song "Last Desire" I leave free the interpretation, anyone listening to the track can think of his last desire.
Does the nature of the lyrical content make it more of a personal album for you?
My lyrics come from what I feel and think every day. So I think that if a singer is free to tell what he feels without any restriction his lyrics make the album more personal.
"Last Desire" is a straight-ahead power metal album. You’ve toned down the neo-classical influences highlighted on "The Phoenix". What took you in that direction?
There was nothing programmed in this direction. In particular, Pier Gonella had some different ideas during the composing – a more "hard rock" sound. You can hear this on the songs "Away", "Cat-House" or "Toxie Radd". And also my melodies were different. Our only plan was to not stay in the same style of the previous album but try to expand our compositions without change our "trademark". I’m happy of this direction because I find it more "modern".
It’s been barely a year since the release of "The Phoenix". You could have toured and promoted it for at least another 12 months. Why did you go back into the studio so quickly?
We did a couple of gigs around Italy, we played also on the Italian TV channel Rock TV and we had acoustic showcases in some Italian FNAC stores. But as "The Phoenix" was released we received a lot of very good reviews and feedback all around the world. The album had very good visibility, more than we expected. This gave us more "energy" and we started immediately writing new stuff because with two albums we will have many more chances to play live and much more visibility.
Mastercastle has a strong sense of melody and song structure. Was it like this from the beginning or did your sound take time to evolve?
This is our trademark from the beginning. Mastercastle’s first song was "Words are Swords" (the opening track of "The Phoenix" album). I had many collaboration with Pier Gonella in the past but we never tried to concentrate all our forces in one project. So during a pause with his other bands, Pier gave me the structure of the song. It was particular because he wrote some power metal riffs using a guitar tuned very down (typical in other kinds of music like nu metal). He wanted to try female vocals on it. We were both impressed by the mix and Mastercastle became immediately our main project.
Both "The Phoenix" and "Last Desire" are both strong albums showcasing exceptional song craft. Are you going through an intense creative phase right now?
I’m really happy that you think so! You know that behind an album there is always hard work for arranging and recording the songs in the best way. We never "force" ourselves in composing but I think we will soon start producing new stuff. All the band members work great together and any idea is enhanced by the other band members. This gives us great confidence and enthusiasm.
You have one of the most natural sounding voices in metal today. Your voice soars on tracks like "Event Horizon" and "Great Heaven’s Climb" and can still draw every iota of emotion from a heartfelt song like "Jade Star". You make it sound so easy – what’s your secret?
Thank you very much for those kind words. I’m sorry but there is no any secret! If there is a secret on this it’s simply to "be ourselves" and to have no limitation or restrictions. Many singers and many bands start singing imitations of some famous artist but it’s not the right way. My background can be another root of my style. I’ve been listening to hard rock music since I was a child. Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Whitesnake were my favourite bands. So I’ve been listening to male voices (David Coverdale, Ian Gillan, Robert Plant and more). In a natural way, I started singing combining the power and energy of a male voice with the melody of my female voice.
The instrumental tracks on "Last Desire" are incredible. Did they come from a "desire" of guitarist Pier Gonella’s to create something reflecting the theme of the album but in an instrumental manner?
Pier Gonella is a great guitarist and composer. Only a few guitarists can play a lot of guitar solos and never bore the listener and Pier is one of them. I don’t know if he created the instrumental tracks thinking about the Desire theme, but those compositions communicate a great emotion and are perfectly insertable into the lyrical context.
With two albums in two years you’re setting quite a pace for yourselves. When should we expect the new album next year?
Why not! Of course, we now want to play live a lot of the time but if nothing changes I think that in a year and a half we could release another album. When we have many ideas for composing we will work on them and I think that in the music business of today many close releases give a better visibility for a band.
Mastercastle has made a significant impact in just a short period of time. When you and Pier started Mastercastle in 2008, did you expect the band to accomplish so much so fast?
Of course, no. Everything happened really fast. But also the label, Lion Music, with their great work, gave us more energy.
How would you describe the musical chemistry between you, Pier, bassist Steve Vawamas and drummer Alessandro Bissa?
Unlike many bands where there is a "leader", in Mastercastle there is no leader. Pier Gonella is the main composer of the music, for example, but because it’s natural for the entire band. Anyone in the band has discovered his roles automatically. This is our chemistry. I feel really good in this band because the guys give me freedom in my expression.
How does each of your personalities contribute to the overall character of the band?
Every member is important in this band. After two albums our harmony is very heavy. Generally, we write songs starting from Pier’s riffs. I write for them some lyrics and melody and we arrange them together. Then Steve and Bissa wrote their arrangements. Only after this point the song becomes a Mastercastle song, not before.
You’ve been working with Lion Music on an album-to-album basis. It’s about time for a long term contract isn’t it?
We are currently working album to album. It’s the best way for us and for the label. Usually, when we are in a good point writing new stuff, we plan with Lion Music the period of release and we sign the contract. We are very proud of how Lion Music works. They are very honest people and they work hard to promote all their bands.
The sheer power of Mastercastle’s music makes for a killer live show. What steps do you take to make sure that what the listener hears on the album makes it to the stage?
We always need more practice for live shows. On the album there are a lot of guitar, vocals and keyboard tracks and for the live show we need to rearrange some of them. Many bands have two guitarists or guitarist and keyboard player etc., because they have the obsession that on the stage during the guitar solo, for example, there is no rhythm guitar. We don’t think of it like a problem because in the show there is the visual aspect. This compensates for each track missing something.
What are your tour plans to promote "Last Desire"? Will you be venturing outside Europe?
We hope. Of course, we will make many gigs around Italy but we are working on planning gigs outside Italy and outside Europe.
(Famous) Last words?
People have to be themselves. All musicians have to be themselves. Let your mind be free! Thanks a lot for this interview!
Latest Multimedia
Links
Giorgia Gueglio Official Profile
Please retweet and share this article if you found it interesting