By: Aaron Pickford
Today I speak with Arcana
13, a band who do not sound track Disney, but instead embrace two
things that I hold dear, old horror movies, specifically the visionary directors
of Italia Cult Horror, Lucio Fulci
and Darion Argento, and heavy metal
music. Arcana 13
have taken the imagery of Italian Horror and infused these influences with
their love of heavy music, and in the process of have released one of best occult
infused doom album so far this year, in the form of “Danza Macabra”.
Not only have they released one of the best sounding
records, “Danza Macabra” is also one of the best looking, due in no
small part to the artwork for the album, which was created by legendary artist Enzo Sciotti, who during his 50 year career has illustrated more than
3000 movie posters, including cult horror masterpieces like Lucio Fulci’s death trilogy “The Beyond”,
“City of the Living Dead” and “The House by the Cemetery”; Dario Argento’s “Phenomena”; Sam Raimi’s “Army of Darkness” and “Evil
Dead”; Joe D’Amato’s “Antropophagus”;
Lamberto Bava’s “Demoni”; Stephen King’s “Maximum Overdrive”.
So, please welcome Simone Bertozzi from Arcana 13, who was kind enough to talk
to us about the inception of the band, the magic of the “Suspiria” sound
track, his inspirations as an aspiring guitarist and everything else in
between, oh and let us not forget, nerding the fuck out about gear. Check it out.
SL) Can
you give us a brief history of your playing career?
Simone: Have you
ever wondered how could have been a Lucio Fulci cult movie with a Black Sabbath
soundtrack? This is Arcana 13.
The
band was summoned in the winter of 2013, as a bunch of good old friends jamming
on Black
Sabbath tunes in a stinking rehearsal room, cracking beers open and
busting the amps at ear-shattering volumes. Here and there we were laying down
some new riffs and recording some stuff on a tape recorder like it was 1974
again. However the magic started when I started to improvise the theme from Goblin’s
“Suspiria” in the rehearsals… Being
fanatics of the legendary Italian Horror movies of Argento, Fulci, Bava as much
as we’re addicted to Black Sabbath and Pentagram the step was really
short.
From
that “Suspiria” cover we couldn’t
help ourselves, we put an old TV screen with a rusty VHS player in the
rehearsals and basically jammed while watching those Horror masterpieces, such
crazy fun times. Sometimes a specific scene inspired us riffs some others we
had a specific atmosphere in mind from a song and we searched for the best film
to picture it.
SL) Can you remember who or what inspired you to pick up the guitar? Are
there any bands, guitarists, currently on the scene that continue to inspire
you and push you to try new things?
Simone: I can honestly tell you that my very first
inspiration to play guitar was George Harrison, my dad has always been a Beatles fanatic and used to play me all those
legendary tunes I’ve grown so fond of. From then on my tastes turned into the
heavy side: Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth
and Pantera were the driving force to
get better at the instrument.
Things went totally upside down when the “Lord of Riff” shed light on me: Tony Iommi. I understood that heaviness is not in shred playing, quite the opposite. Iommi knows and will tell you everything about it, even with two fingers less. When I jam onto those classic Black Sabbath tunes I always find some new nuances in the way he plays a riff, the fingering, the resonating strings, the placement on the neck, its magic!
Speaking of contemporary
guitar players, one that absolutely changed the game for me is without doubt
Mikael Ã…kerfeldt from Opeth. His
melodic playing and progressive-laden riffs are top notch, and he got
unbelievable pipes as well making him close to god-like.
SL) Whilst we’re on the subject of inspiration or
heroes for example, do you have 5
records that stand out as favourites, what influence did they have upon you and
what is it about those record that particular resonates amongst others?
Simone: Hardest question ever. Let’s go, in random order, first three classics:
• Black Sabbath
– “Master Of Reality”
None heavier. 34 minutes of madness that revolutionized heavy metal as we know it. Riffs, riffs, riffs, riffs and more riffs. Tune down, bust up, sabb off!
None heavier. 34 minutes of madness that revolutionized heavy metal as we know it. Riffs, riffs, riffs, riffs and more riffs. Tune down, bust up, sabb off!
• Pantera
– “Vulgar Display Of Power”
None tighter. There won’t be another guitar god like Dimebag, shred chops from the heart you can singalong with.
None tighter. There won’t be another guitar god like Dimebag, shred chops from the heart you can singalong with.
• Opeth – “
Finest extreme metal prog ever, I have many favourite Opeth albums but this is the one that sparked the plug.
Then two newer ones:
• Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – “Blood Lust”
Black Sabbath meets The Beatles and I’m sold. Hard to get off my
stereo in 2011 and so forth, fantastic record!
• Witchcraft – “Legend”
This is the album that kicked Uncle Acid off the stereo the year after. I absolutely consumed it to the point I was getting nauseous. Magnus Pelander’s voice is legendary and the production of this record is simply amazing, modern and powerful yet organic.
SL)
Can remember your first electric guitar, bass?
Simone: Sure thing. It was a Ferrari red Japanese Fender
Stratocaster my dad bought me when I was 12. Quite a lot of guitars
followed, sold all of them ‘cause I don’t like stacking up guitars I don’t
play, but this one is a keeper. Recently refurbished by my dad and I, changed
to color to black with cream pickguard: Blackmore style!
SL) What
guitar(s) bass (s) are you using today and how did you gravitate towards the
guitar you currently use?
Simone: I use a 2013 Gibson USA SG,
ebony. ‘Cause Iommi rules. Don’t need anything else that this axe. I’ve looked
for something else to spice up the sound but the SG
is such a versatile and comfortable guitar to play with, it’s the DOOM machine.
SL)
What do you like about the guitars you currently use and has there been any
specific modifications to it?
Simone: None, Gibson USA guitars
comes from the factory ready to play and that’s the beauty of it.
SL)
What amps and pedals do you currently use?
Do you use a combination of amps, or a full half stack? Talk us through
your set up both in the studio and in the live environment?
Simone: “Danza Macabra” was recorded with Andrea’s ’78 Orange Overdrive on a Orange 4x12, with a Maxon OD808 in front of it.
Although I love that vintage sound I recently got an Orange OR100 and I love it! Vintage style with modern features, so versatile: crunch channel is perfect as it is, clean channel has a lot of clarity and headroom, if you plug a fuzz onto it you’re in Electric Wizard territory with a blink of an eye and an hit from a bong haha!
SL) What
one pedal could not live without and why?
Simone: I couldn’t live without the OD808
but the Orange OR100 is so good
sounding as it that I plug it just on solos, and the Proco Ratt for heavier fuzzy parts. So my pedal-to-die-for
is the MXR Carbon Copy because it’s
so organic, straightforward and cuts through the sound like heaven. You can go
from spacey parts to bucket style havoc!
SL) What are your amp/ pedal settings?
Simone: I’d say pretty much flat eq, rolling down the highs and cranking up the
bass, ‘cause doom you that’s why!
SL)
What tunings do you use and why, and as a result is there a specific brand /
gauge of string you prefer ?
Simone: We tune to standard C# (“Master of Reality” anyone?) and drop B.
For that I use D’Addario nickels
11-56. Recently I’ve been trying D’Addario NYXL,
I dig the added clarity and brightness!
SL). Do you have any advice for up and coming guitars players, bands?
SL). Do you have any advice for up and coming guitars players, bands?
Simone: I’m the last in line but truth has to be told. Switch off those
computers, build up your chops on those goddamn records and play as much as
possible, focus on writing good songs for yourself to be happy and for the
audience to entertain. Doesn’t matter if it’s gonna take one year or two, or
three, you need to be 100% confident in it!
SL) Do
feel there are deeply help misconceptions about being in a band?
Simone: The biggest misconception is the amount of work involved beside writing
and playing music. So much stuff to take care of and focus on to get your
message through. But the feedback of your listeners will repay every second of
it!
SL) Moving on a little then, what can you tell us about any of your current
projects, tours, cds, etc you’re currently promoting, completed and anything
else band related we should know about?
Simone: “Danza Macabra” is about the turn 3 months old, we already
reprinted it once and this is huge for a small band like ourselves. We’re
promoting it live as much as possible but we don’t want to oversaturate people
that are already subjected to so many musical inputs nowadays and we’re also
selecting the best venues to take our live show in.
Our “Danza Macabra” show is featuring all the
Italian Horror movies used in the album, with visual videos put together by
ourselves, it’s a tribute to the golden age of Italian cinematography, that
goes so well with old school doom, innit?
Currently we’re working an European tour for the next fall, can’t wait
to take our doomy horror visions out there! Blood will flow.
SL) What springs to mind when you think about the completion of your
new/current record and how is the mood in the camp at present?
Simone: The mood is obviously as high as the feedbacks we’re receiving so
far, but we’re staying focused and also starting to make up our minds on the
next steps. “Danza Macabra” took 3 years to be completed, ‘cause at the
end of the day what matters the most is the record you’ll hold in your hands,
that’s your legacy for the future generations. The bar has been set so high by
all the bands before us; it’s our duty to deliver the best.
SL) What are your favourite songs to play live? What is
it about them that makes them so good to play live, crowd reaction, etc? Anything from your catalogue that you
wouldn’t play and why?
Simone: So far the “Danza Macabra” show is comprised of the
whole album from start to finish, hard to pick one’s favorite but I’d say that
my personal favorite remains ‘Hell
Behind You’. It’s the song that closes the album and the show, it’s epic,
moving and written on one of my favorite movie ever, ‘Inferno’ by Dario Argento, whose soundtrack was written by a
musical genius that recently left: Keith Emerson. RIP.
SL) What can fans look forward to from you over the next 12 months? How is your schedule shaping up?
Simone: We’re gonna promote “Danza Macabra” throughout Italy for the
whole summer then European tour next fall and we’ll see! Things develop fast in
the Arcana 13 HQ.
SL) Finally, do you have any final comments/word of wisdom you’d like to bestow upon us?
SL) Finally, do you have any final comments/word of wisdom you’d like to bestow upon us?
Simone: Thanks for the nice
interview, loved the gear part as every guitar nerd out there! For the readers:
crank up “DANZA MACABRA” with a nice
beer and some old school Italian horror on your TV and trip with our doom
tunes! Hail horror, doom on!
Transmission Ends