Interviewed by Chris MartinĀ (Senior Staff Writer) Myglobalmind Webzine
MGM: So my first question is- what are some of your influences in life, as far as music is concerned?
Matt Marinelli: Well, it started with Van Halen, that was the first kinda, thatās what got me into guitar. And then I started going more into like the 80ās, like Dokken and Winger and Queensryche and White Lion and all those guys. And then my dad actually showed me Stratovarius, Kamelot, and Gamma Ray, and I was like man this is the 80ās but like modern. And I remember when I first started listening to Evergrey, and Evergrey, to me, is like my #1 thing, so this tour was perfect for us. So it would be, for me it would be Evergrey, Nocturnal Rites, Kamelot, this band called Seventh Wonder, which blew me away. And even bands like Scar Symmetry, Soilwork, Amorphis, and all those bands likeā¦Iām such a big metal fan in general that I have such a huge catalog that I love, but Evergrey, for me, was the best of everything because they were heavy, but theyāre very melodic which is something that, forĀ BorealisĀ is very important to me where I wanna be. I like catchy, melodic so Evergrey I would say would be our #1.
MGM: I can tell. Thereās definitely a huge Evergrey influence in there.
MM: There is. And sometimes we donāt mean to be in some aspects so Evergrey, but I think it is an easy thing because my voice is lower, similar to Evergrey. We do thatā¦sections where itā almost like a breakdown where itās chugging, and to me thatās like the Evergrey sound. And I even told Tom that itās like theyāve almost created a genre where theyāve taken the Power Metal scene and turned it into this heavy kinda like chugging thing, but with the lower vocals. And I think itās easy for people to compare us to them because of that aspect.
MGM: You see, I think itās interesting you bring that up because you know you fall into the Power Metal world, and just like Evergrey, but itās totally different than most of your stereotypical Power Metal bands.
MM: It is! And I think itās because we donāt really have a fantasy element, we donāt sing about the dragon and wizard kind of thing, which is great, I love all those, even like the fantasy element I love, but for us we kind of like more of the real topics I guess you can say, and Evergrey is very dark. Their concept, darker than we are, even though weāve been considered kind of like the dark melodic metal, itās tough to portray that because when weāre on stage we have so much fun that we canāt (laughing) give that dark element because weāre so happy and just so pumped to be playing in general.
MGM: When I talked to the guys in Evergrey earlier I told them itās like the music is dark, the lyrics are kind of dark, but thereās always a sense of hope, and itās more of a positive sound than it is negative. And I got the same vibe off of you guys too, listening to your music.
MM: And thatās what we, weāre definitely trying to do that. We, not that we like dark, but itās interesting for us. The elements, letās say with our new albumĀ Purgatory, it is a concept album and itās just something interesting about that dark, not necessarily emo in that genre I guess butā¦I guess itās hard to explain. Itās just one of those things when I see Evergrey it kind of like (makes āhunhā sound) it gives you like that shiver where itās dark and itās, but itās not emo. Itās not likeā¦itās hard to explain. Thatās what I, weāve always been very interested in that. And forĀ PurgatoryĀ thatās kinda where the concept album is very dark, and thatās kind of the idea of what we were trying to come across with.
MGM: So it pretty much was a conscious decision to steer away from the fantasy type Power Metal stuff?
MM: Yeah, I thinkā¦I love it, I love the sound of it, but for me as a writer I just, I canāt relate to it and it just, I think if we did the fantasy element it would be very forced, and we donāt wanna do that. But again, we love it, I listen to it, and Iām a big fan of it, but for us I think it would be embarrassing for us to do that style. (Laughing)
MGM: I also think that sometimes you can be fans of things that you donāt necessarily wanna play.
MM: Oh exactly! Like Iām a fan of so many different styles of guitar players and genres that donāt necessarily relate to what weāre doing, but just from a personal enjoyment I love doing it. I think whereĀ BorealisĀ is a little different is because we are from Canada and the North American scene we have influences we donāt normally listen to, but just because weāve been exposed to it so many times we just give that off and a perfect example is Nickelback. We donāt listen to Nickelback, but people have said you kind of have that soundā¦
MGM: Actually, the band I think, the band that I think you sound more like is if Lillian Axe played metal. Are you familiar with Lillian Axe?
MM: Yes!
MGM: I think that youāve got kind of a similar Lillian Axe groove going for you, but youāre just heavier than they are. Theyāre one of the most underrated bands ever been around from back in the day, they were so talented and never really made it anywhere. Itās nice to hear that kind of sound going on with what you got going on.
MM: Yeah, and I think a lot of that is because I was, and still am, such a big fan of that 80ās sound and, but also the modern metal, but itās always gonna come out, like thereās so many riffs Iāll play that are very 80ās.
MGM: The new album is fantastic. How was it making that?
MM: Thank you so much. It was different for us, and I think thatās why there was such a long delay. We had elements ofā¦well I guess the biggest difference was that our drummer, he did all the engineering and producing, which is excellent for us. But when it comes to a timeframe itās, sometimes itās harder because normally, withĀ Fall From Grace, we booked a studio, we had this much time, we had to get it done. With Shawn Dower, our drummer doing it we didnāt have that end date so like we could go in the studio and write, and that was different because withĀ Fall From GraceĀ we had everything written, we rehearsed it, we knew every song perfectly, but withĀ PurgatoryĀ we wrote as we were in the studio, which was a whole different thing for us. And thatās why when people ask whatās the song that you think is your favorite I would always say āMy Peaceā because that was the song that we were like, this is the sound we want. And that was for us, once āMy Peaceā was written it kind of progressed from there.
MGM: So is that how you think youāll approach recording the next album? Is that, is that, I guess is that the best way so far for making an album forĀ Borealis?
MM: Yesā¦yes and no. The only difference is itās not going to be as long as whatĀ Fall From GraceĀ toĀ PurgatoryĀ was. Weāre already writing for the new album because we really didnāt like having that many years doing nothing. It was hard for us, we were kind of likeā¦I donāt know it was just, we didnāt want to be that forgotten band thatās really easy, especially in this genre to be that, like if you donāt do anything in four years thereās a million other bands (laughing) that are gonna do something so we donāt wanna do that again so thatās why weāre immediately starting to write the new album and the new one will be a lot sooner than the five years, four years that we took.
MGM: I was doing a little research aboutĀ BorealisĀ and apparently when you first started you were going with a female vocalist that was more operatic?
MM: Yeah we had a Nightwish vibe to it because weāre really big fans of Nighwish at the time and it just didnāt work out. Really, that was the only thing, and the only reason why I started singing was we had a show with a band called Sonata Arctica and at the time we didnāt have a singer we had this show booked, and weāre like OK we need a singer really bad. And we had all these auditions and it just wasnāt working out and I was like OK Iāll sing, Iāll sing for the show just so we can do it and continue. So I started to sing for the show, we had a good reaction. It was nothing that I initially wanted to do, sing, but the reaction was so well we said OK letās stick with it.
(Briefly interrupted to do a tour photo)
MGM: Alright, so we left where we were talking about the female in the band. And that you decided to start singing. Did you know- I assume you knew you could sing?
MM: Not metal. When I was real young, the keyboard player he actually played drums and we kinda did like a little band thing and I was the singer, but I would sing like punk kind of music so metal for sure I was never, I never thought I could ever do. I always had influences like, as I started getting into the style of music, I love like Russell Allen, Jorn Lande, Tom Englund, and even Tommy Karevik from Seventh Wonder, I just had, I loved the sound of their voice and I loved that lower register so from that point on I was like OK, if Iām gonna sing, thatās the style I wanna sing like. I wasnāt trying to copy it, that was the influence I had.
MGM: I can definitely hear that in your voiceā¦
MM: Which to me is a compliment. I just love that lower register.
MGM: Actually, itās funny you mentioned Jorn. Years ago when he was briefly with Yngwie Malmsteen they played on the big stage in there (indicating Tremont Music Hall whereĀ BorealisĀ had just performed earlier that evening.)
MM: Really?
MGM: I didnāt know who the hell he was, but when he opened his mouth and started singing, I was just like what the hell, who is this guy?
MM: Heās like a lion! To me he kind of has that look but like, but when he, heāll always start off with like that run, his vocal run, and, I donāt knowā¦
MGM: I knew it wasnāt going to last though because while he was trying to talk and stuff Yngwie would start noodling and shit you could tell he was getting very mad.
MM: Yeah, I think they did one tour.
MGM: And that was probably about a month.
MM: Yeah, I donāt even think it was the full tour (both of us laughing)
MGM: Yeah, but it was an amazing performance. And I can definitely hear the influence in your voice too.
MM: And it is an influence too. I donāt think I have the skill as what they have. Iām still pretty new vocally, but those are definitely influences that I have.
MGM: When you veered away from the female singer, other than just you had to have a singer were you afraid of being pigeonholed into the whole Nightwish, Epica sort of thing?
MM: Yeah, we never really wantedā¦our thing is we donāt wanna be a copy of something. And I think especially in the melodic metal style itās easy to get put in a category of some other band because thereās always, Nightwish operatic, if youāre doing an operatic style youāre immediately categorized as āNightwish.ā And I think because my vocal range I just donāt have a high vocal range, it immediately took us into the Evergrey style even though we had our influences of Nocturnal Rites, even this band called Twilightning, I think theyāve stopped, but Twilightning, and the heavier bands like Soilwork, Scar Symmetry, Eluveitie and even like the folk style music, like we love that, but I think with even the style of my vocal range we immediately get put into the Evergrey, which I am perfectly fine with (Laughs)
MGM: Hey, if youāre gonna be lumped into a categoryā¦
MM: No, I, when you have a band thatās your favorite band and they categorize you as that itās similar to that style I find itās a compliment and to me, to be honest, thereās not a lot of bands like Evergrey. I donāt think, I could be wrong, but I feel itās not like an overdone thing.
MGM: No, it is not. Theyāre very unique.Ā
MM: Itās extremely unique. I think if we had elements of Evergrey, itās not a bad thing.
MGM: Right. My last question is, as a new band. And youāre pretty much getting started even though youāve been out for ten years, in the grand scheme of things itās pretty new.
MM: Oh no, weāre definitely new.
MGM: Are there any suggestions you could make to other bands to kind of try to avoid, they should be trying to do?
MM: I think, like for us, weāre all kind of going into it in our 30ās now and I think the most important step is to continue. I think itās really easy, especially with life in general, you start a family, you, Iām getting married in October, itās easy to say OK, you know what, Iām not gonna do that anymore. I want something thatās more secure, and for us all the members have full time jobs and for us this is a vacation. We get to tourā¦
MGM: And I donāt think a lot of fans pick up on that too, this is vacation time from a real job.
MM: Itās true and I think, and even before we started doing this I was kind of stuck in that illusion. Iād read these magazines and Iād think oh man this band is huge and Iām reading it in this magazine and in reality they all have jobs, they all have other things going on and I learned that real quick because, with this album especially they put us in a lot of magazines and a lot of things weāre kind of that, to someone that doesnāt really understand the industry they think wow theyāre well off, theyāre very successful and in reality itās like itās awesome that weāre in a magazine, like to me itās ideal, itās what Iāve always wanted, but money and everything, you still have to have a job. Itās a tough industry, and we donāt regret it, even doing something like this (indicating Tremont again) is phenomenal for us. I just mark everything down as an experience to tour, to play festivals, and get to hang out with bands that Iāve always looked up to, like to me thatās an experience and no money in the world can match that. So I work at the level I do even if itās on vacation time (laughs.) We love it and weāre gonna continue to do it.
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