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Kaledon is a very interesting Power Metal band from Italy, the same land of the pioneers of “cinematic power metal” group Rhapsody of Fire. But, Kaledon goes to a more direct music, with a lot of heavy metal tunes and some good inspirations. We had the opportunity to interview Alex Mele, guitar and the main composer, by e-mail and you can read it now.
GroundCast: To warm up, could you tell a bit of the band’s journey to the people that maybe do not know you?
Alex Mele: Hi there, Thank you for your time, and for this space on your pages. Well… Kaledon was born at the end of 1998. After a very small period of start-up, we made immediately a demo, We started to play everywhere and… in this way the story has begun. We had a lot of lineup changes, and of course the same problems of the other bands but… in this temporal period, we made 9 official albums, one best of album, a live album (only in mp3), we toured a lot across Europe so… All this is Kaledon…
GroundCast: What are your influences?
Alex Mele: From Vivaldi to Slayer ahahahahh No seriously, we listen everything and we have many different influences. I grew up with Queen, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and all the good music. The other guys in the band are maybe a little more heavy but… the final result… of these different influences are our sound
GroundCast: Before Carnagus – Emperor of the Darkness, your previous album, Antillus – The King of the Light, was released in 2014. What did change in the band in this period of 3 years, how would you describe the evolution and progression from the last release to the new one?
Alex Mele: First of all we have two new members in the band! The Singer (Michele Guaitoli) and The Drummer (Manuele Di Ascenzo). The previous singer left the band immediately after the release of Antillius so… we had no tour for that album. In that period (end of 2014 and beginning of 2015) I wrote something like 75% the new album… It was a very big challenge for me I wrote songs without knowing who would sung them… The musical style was very different from the previous things but… at the end the result seems very fantastic so… I am really excited and I can’t wait to back on the road.
GroundCast: Talk a bit about the new release, what the fans can expect with this new release?
Alex Mele: A stone in the face!!! Ahahahahahh No well… the new songs are heavier, strongest, Aggressive. Therefore… expect something fucking metal… I really hope that you guys will like it
GroundCast: You play Power Metal and I do not need to say that one of the most famous band from Italy is Power Metal. How do you try to sound Power Metal, but still step out from the Rhapsody of Fire sphere?
Alex Mele: Well, we always try to do different things. We of course love ROF and we made also an European tour with them in 2012. In this particular moment we are very different. They still play a fantastic and classical power symphonic power metal, and Kaledon right now are more modern and more 2017… I hope you understand what I mean. ROF invented this power metal style in 1997 so… they can do what they want. Kaledon instead are always looking for innovation.
GroundCast: How do you start the process of a new album, do you first think in a story you’d like to tell and then make songs over it or the other way around or even another different way?
Alex Mele: No… All Kaledon’s album are based on a fantasy concept story that I wrote in 1997. I wrote a six chapters romance and… the first six Kaledon’s albums was a chapter of this story! After that I started to tell the same story but from different point of views. In 2013 we made an album about Altor, the king’s blacksmith, in 2014 an album about Antillius, the king of Kaledon… and now an album about Carnagus. Same story… Different point of views.
GroundCast: At least to me I normally connect power metal with roleplaying games (table top and electronic) and books, are your fans of something like this (I personally played Dungeons & Dragons for many years)?
Alex Mele: I NEVER played role games ahahahahh Sorry about that 🙂
GroundCast: I believe that the cover art is something extremely important for the band, do you have a favorite artist to make the album covers or each album has the touch of a different artist?
Alex Mele: We had many cover artist in the past but… Jean Pascal Fournier is the best cover artist ever! He does exactly what I have in my mind. The perfect cover… I simply send to him a short description of the scene that I want on the cover and… he did it ehehehh
GroundCast: The band has almost 20 years of existence, what keeps you on the road for so long (seeing that 3 members are in the band since 98)?
Alex Mele: What can I say… Love… Passion… Willpower… For sure not the money ahahahahahh
GroundCast: How do you see the band’s evolution since the beginning ‘till now?
Alex Mele: I see a wonderful baby who has become a strong and mature adult… I really see that 🙂
GroundCast: We are in the internet era and you know how easy it is to download something. Even countries like Germany – that is strict with downloading – lots of people make it (and lots of get a punishment for this too). What do you think about it, this “free” share that the internet became and about the streaming services like Spotify?
Alex Mele: It is the death of the music… If is true that in this way you are more popular, the other side is that you don’t sell records so… this kills everything. With low sales there are low tour request and will be worse year after year. People have lost interest in music and in the physical formats. I really can’t imagine an album without the cd booklet or the vinyl inlay… I mean… for me are still collection items… But unfortunately the young generations are different… they lives in the web era. I really hope that all this will change in the near future or maybe there wont be any future for us….
GroundCast: How is the metal scene in Italy?
Alex Mele: The scene in Italy is fantastic! A lot of great bands and musicians… Nothing less of Europe of other countries… We rocks…
GroundCast: What are the plans for the band’s future?
Alex Mele: We’ll try to play more shows as possible… Of course new music will arrive in the future but… in this moment the priority is to come back on the road so… see you there… ,,/
GroundCast: Thank you so much for the interview. Now you can say something to our readers.
Alex Mele: Well… thank you again for this opportunity and, I hope to see you guys on the road. The important message that I want to send is: Please… BUY the music (digital or physical) and don’t use illegal file sharing way… this will save our beloved music…
Ciao
Alex Mele
Related Links
http://www.facebook.com/kaledonofficial