[Photo by @eduardovictory]
Excitedly head banging my way to the Fonda Theatre, the night ahead was a mesmerizing blur. I had never interviewed a band, or anyone, for that matter. And there I was, cruising to meet with GOBLIN, a progressive rock group from Italy whose legendary music accompanies some of the most beloved horror movies in the history of film. Upon my arrival at the venue, Goblin was in the midst of sound checking. The entrancing sounds filling the space conquered me completely; I was instantly transported from an overwhelming reality to a tranquil dream. At the conclusion of the pre-show rundown, my mind gradually entered recovery mode. I soon found myself in the beautifully furnished basement of the theatre, being greeted by the incredibly gentle, friendly face of keyboardist Maurizio Guarini. Maurizio eagerly sat down with me so I could get to know him a little better. Fabio Pignatelli, the bassist, joined our conversation, and Agostino Marangolo, the drummer, cut in later to introduce himself.
V: First, I’d love to find out where your genius melodies stem from. Do you ever look to horror movies or other visuals for inspiration?
M: Yeah, each of us always has an inspiration, internally. Not something specifically, but maybe we can pick up something from here, something from there. I think music is always an evolution of something that we saw before individually. Not something in particular.
F: Maybe the fact that we are Italian, and Italy is where melody started centuries ago. That might help. In our DNA, maybe we have some more facility for melodies.
V: So, is it more musically inspired than visual?
M: It depends. It’s one whole process. When we write music for movies, we cannot separate. Actually the idea would be seeing everything in the same unique entity, music and visual.
V: Does the music usually flow out of you naturally, or is there a lot of brainstorming required prior to composing?
M: Normally, I think, instinctively in the beginning, it starts from ourselves. And then, there is a rationalization of what to do. It’s a normal process of composition. And then when we have the melody that we like, of course we have to work in some way to adjust and to make it functional for the movie.
V: Do you ever experience writer’s block?
M: I don’t think so because normally we are left pretty free to do what we do. So if somebody will call us, it is because of our sound. So, we are normally kept with enough freedom to not have problems with that.
V: Are there any assignments that were particularly challenging for you?
M: Maybe SUSPIRIA because SUSPIRIA started in a different way than the others. Initially, it was made before the movie. And the movie was one of a kind, totally different from the others. So, we couldn’t follow the standard that we normally follow. Personally, I was part of the very beginning of development, and the rest of the band did the continuation. It was a totally uncommon way to work on a movie. You always have challenges, but challenges always result in something creative at the end. So challenge is not a problem. Actually, it’s something to go ahead to do better things with sometimes.
V: Which one has been most rewarding for you?
M: Personally, I like something that we did with a symphonic orchestra. It’s not a very famous work, Mt. St. Helen: Killer Volcano in 1980. That’s rewarding because listening to your music played by the symphonic orchestra when you are 22 or 23 is something really touching.
V: Do you prefer scoring soundtracks or writing exclusively for Goblin?
M: There’s no better or worse. I think there are totally different processes to approaching the music. With a movie, you already have a plot, you have something to follow with somebody asking for something in particular. Of course you need to be creative, but there is less additional work. The movie is already advertised, you just add something to something existent. If you have to do your album, it’s a totally complicated process because not only do you have to define your line of production, what you want to do, what you like, but you have to think about enriching the sound and finding something new. It’s more rewarding when you do an album, musically speaking. But movies are more rewarding, in terms of popularity, because a famous movie has a possibility to be seen by hundreds of millions of people. It’s a different thing. I wouldn’t say better or worse. They’re two totally different things.
V: Is it more liberating writing for yourself?
F: When we make music for a movie, in any case, we think of something to see.
M: Of course we imagine that a movie exists anyway, even if you cannot see it. You imagine the music in your mind. You have to think of something. You may even think of a song without a movie like there was a virtual movie in your brain. You have a model, you follow something inside you.
F: For me, it’s more simple to write music on a movie. But if there isn’t a movie, sometimes I look to movies for inspiration.
V: I know you have a new album coming out. Are there any other projects or collaborations we can look forward to?
M: This album is what we will be focusing on in two days, at the end of this tour. So, since it’s almost finished, I hope in a couple of months it will be ready. And then, we have ideas, but we don’t have an exact plan yet. For sure, you’ll hear from us in a few months because something new is going to happen. We have ideas, but we don’t want to reveal this on top of the album.
V: Do you have any particular memories or influences from childhood that continue to shape your music today?
M: I think everything that we listened to when we were kids is part of what we are. Especially music. I follow different things from my life. At the beginning, I was listening to very simple music from my parents. And then, I started listening to rock, and then a little bit more jazz rock, and then I switched to progressive rock. Music is an evolution. In each of us, it’s an inspiration. Everything that we do is such signification of what we are and what we listened to before. In the case of a band, it’s a collaboration, so it’s even more complicated. We put our experience into the music. I think this is valid for everything and everybody.
F: The first concert I attended. Jethro Tull, Yes. Family, an English group, killed me when I was 19 or 20. It was like a shock.
V: It appears you’ve been having a lot of fun on tour. What’s your favorite state or country that you’ve visited so far?
M: We’ve gone to so many places. Every place is good. Playing live gives us a reason to visit different countries. I’ve been to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Europe. The response in the US is incredible. I never expected the huge amount of fans and response. We were really not expecting that.
V: Do you perform any rituals prior to going on stage? Do you have any superstitions?
M: Maybe each of us has something, a half a glass of wine. I don’t know. It’s not really a requirement. If it’s not available, that’s it. Maybe we should. You gave us a good idea. I’ll try to suggest to the other guys to do something.
V: Tomorrow you’ll have your last show of the tour. Do you plan on hitting the road again soon? Is there anything about traveling you’re going to miss, or are you mostly excited to return home?
M: Not soon in the US because we maybe stayed too much. In the last seven months, we did three tours. We will wait one year and come back, of course. We’re really focusing on the album. By the end of the summer, we might end up doing some festivals here in North America. We’re working on that. Or maybe some horror events. I know people in the horror industry want us, but we never try to push anybody to make it happen. We will try to attend these kinds of things. I’m pretty sure people will be happy if we do that.
After the interview, I experienced an immense feeling of happiness and a strong sense of comfort. Perhaps the familiarity of Italian accents contributed to my contentment, but the men of Goblin emit the rare kind of warmth that you can only typically obtain from family or close friends. Since I caught them at the tail end of their tour, the guys could have understandably been impatient tackling yet ANOTHER question-and-answer session. However, they were actively engaged and enthusiastic throughout the duration of it. My sky-high elation to see them perform reached even greater heights following our encounter. The commencement of the show rapidly brought about a massive wave of enchantment, the unparalleled talent nearly paralyzing audience members (and me, once again). The shower of red, blue, and green light, in addition to the backdrop montage of scenes from masterpieces like SUSPIRIA and DAWN OF THE DEAD, produced a magnificently intoxicating atmosphere. The contagious energy bursting powerfully from Goblin and guest keyboardist Steve Moore (Zombi) made the event all the more blissfully surreal.
Special thanks to @GoblinBand and @ColinJMcCracken for making a dream come true!
