What’s the story for AT THE MAGIC DOOR ?
“I moved to Finland back in 2012 because I wanted to make metal music; a few months later I wrote the lyrics for Lilith. It was the start of a long process: inside, I searched for my personal technique, in order to really be able to sing my songs the way I wanted, while outside I searched for the right people to work with. When I finally met Pete and Joni I couldn’t believe how smooth the whole process became; I think especially Pete was as well trying to find the right people, to finally do something concrete and bring his songs to the world. At the Magic Door is ‹‹a beast finally released››, in tarot terms: the child of The Devil and The Temperance.”
Who composes ?...How does it work in the band ?
”It's a collaboration between Delia and me, even though we do our parts separately. I make instrumental demos of the songs that I present to the band. Usually at this point the songs are already rather complete, arrangement and structure wise. Then Delia writes the vocal melodies and the lyrics.”
“And then I hit the drums!”
Who writes the texts ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?
“Guilty! It’s me. I’m a voracious reader, so quite often I talk about mythology, novels, ethic and philosophic matters, but never as a mere list of quotes: my thoughts and my way to process things are always there, very strongly. Despite being an exhibitionist, I try to stay away from showing off for the sake of showing off. Pete sends me his demoes, I listen to them and see which words are they calling for.”
Why the name STREGA ?
“The day I showed Ike Vil (Babylon Whores, Sleep of Monsters) the tattoo on my thigh with the words from Horses of the Sun, he was surprised finding out that I knew the Theban alphabet; he called me ‹‹strega››. It’s interesting: it’s the word for ‹‹witch›› in my native language, but he called me that while we were speaking English, therefore the word sparkled in that moment in all its power: it’s an insult or the greatest compliment. Which goes quite well with the funny way Ike and I admire but can’t stand each other. I thought in that moment that it would have been a great name for a band, full of the dual energy I love in music.”
What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?
“Bands like Sentenced, Nightwish, Iron Maiden and Satyricon got me into listening metal music, when I was a teen ager. I started playing drums right after that. Well, first I tried to play guitar, but drums were easier for me, cos I like to hit. So I started to play drums.”
"AC/CD, Kiss, Van Halen, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath got me into listening heavier music. I started playing guitar after seeing an AC/DC concert in Helsinki, when I was 13 or 14 years old. Some other bands that have influenced me and being a source of inspiration at some point are: Anthrax (and other thrash bands as well), King Diamond, Faith No More, Pantera, Dream Theater, Slipknot, Machine Head, Korn and Tool to name a few. After hearing the first Korn album, I started to tune my guitar down and eventually ended up playing a 7-string guitar."
“As a singer, my absolute idol is the legendary Mina Mazzini, who has nothing to do with metal music, but so it is. Karyn Crisis is the artist who really made me want to try growl vocals. I think that my style in writing lyrics has been greatly influenced by HIM and Cradle of Filth; I lost count of how many books and writers they made me discover when I was a teenager. As for my taste in music, my collection includes almost anything, starting with chants from Babylon played with a reproduction of the Golden Lyre of Ur, ending with Billie Eilish. Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Tiziano Ferro, Lady GaGa, Dean Martin, The Rokes, Bluvertigo, Metallica, Myrkur, Gossip, Amy Winehouse… It just has to talk to my heart.”
In studio, what was the atmosphere for your album ?...etc.…
“We recorded in a small studio. In my opinion it was guide relaxing sessions.”
"We recorded the album in a small studio and we had flexible hours, so the atmosphere was quite relaxed in my opinion as well. The bad thing about not having tight schedules was that the recording took much longer that we thought it would. We were also recording in the summertime and our engineer had other commitments, so there were quite long breaks between sessions."
How does it work for the design of the CD ? and why this title ?
“I think that if there is an idea which is part of all the songs of this album, that’s the concept of being in between. Between desires and what is rational, between black magic and a higher spirituality, between what was and what is about to come. Many believe that spirits appear at the gates of doors, just the same way they believe them to appear at crossroads, maybe because life is “becoming”. Our song Bleed for Love (At the Magic Door) refers to the Porta Alchemica, in Rome, a “door” which actually nobody can pass through, as fascinating and as mysterious as life itself. The cover I painted just means to give this same sense of transversal reality, through different dimensions of life and death; it portrays a human figure in front of the Alchemical Door, but funnily enough different people perceive differently the position and posture of this figure.
How was the shooting of the clip 13 CHILDREN’S TONGUES ? and why this choice ?
"It was very fun. Thanks to Delia, who planned whole thing. I did not have any strong opinions about the single, cos I usually think about whole albums, not a single tracks. And because I’m blind, I did not have anything to say about the video too. But yep, making it was a lot of fun.”
“Yes, It was fun. Somewhat chaotic, even though we were well prepared. Thanks to Delia, who masterminded to whole thing. But sometimes thing just don't go as planned. It turned out fine anyway. 13 Children's Tongues was quite unanimous choice for the single and video, if I remember correctly. It's catchy, straight forward and not too long. I think the other option that we thought about was Claws, that would have worked as well."
“Well, I’m glad to hear it was fun. I was afraid the guys would never speak to me again! Ahahahahah! I was very thankful for the trust they had in me: it’s just weird when you have everything in your mind and can’t really show it to others; luckily they trusted my vision. Simply, I think that 13 Children’s Tongues is the one song in the album which can give the most accurate picture of the band, and as for the video, what can I say? I love grotesqueness, and we got some very strong reactions.”
With Management and booking, how do you work ? And with whom ?
“We do it all by ourselves. Everyone does market the band and try to get gigs”.
“Yes, we don't really have specific roles within the band."
What do you expect from the future ?
"First and foremost I hope that we can start rehearsing again after this unfortunate corona situation. Then I hope that we find a new bass player soon (our previous bass player left the band two months ago). Then I hope that we get more - and better - gigs. A lot more. A new album or some other release would ne nice to do sooner than later. We have new some songs ready and some more in the making.”
“Yes, let’s see, how far we can go.”
Website to remember
"We are on Facebook, Instagram and on Youtube."
“There is also a page entirely dedicated to Strega on my personal website: http://www.deliatannino.com/strega
I think probably I’ll soon add all our lyrics, so that people can growl along!”
What would you like to say to the readers ?
“Stay safe and keep on headbanging!”
"Stay safe and enjoy music/arts while at it."
“There’s a lot of new great music and great art out there; big companies have just lost the interest bringing it to us, since they realised that anything can be sold, if just advertised enough. This doesn’t say anything about the level of art, but it just means that we’ll have to dig deeper to find what’s going to give us goosebumps. Don’t give up!”
