Andy DiGelsomina Rainbow Fanclan Legacy Exclusive Interview 2014 Andy DiGelsomina released in 2010 the excellent Lyraka Vol 1 album that had Graham Bonnet on 4 of the 6 tracks on vocals. It brought back memories to Bonnet's great achievements on Rainbow's "Down To Earth" and Michael Schenker's "Assault Attack". Andy is now working on the follow up, the second volume of his Lyraka Rock Opera. So about time to get to know more about how things develop with Lyraka. We asked Andy to do an interview and he was thrilled to speak about his project with us. In fact he told us he loved the site. He told about the upcoming interview on his Facebook page and told his friends "In the meantime, if you haven't been to this site and you love Rainbow, you are really missing out, all kinds of killer articles and interviews I've poured over for fanatical lengths of time. Be warned: Rainbow and Purple fans could get lost for days on this site!" What a guy! Hi Andy! When did you started playing guitar? First, it is a tremendous honor to do an interview with Rainbow Fanclan. I've spent literal weeks reading the articles and interviews, it's the best site of my favorite band ever! I started playing when I first heard the debut Black Sabbath album. Tony Iommi's tone, writing, lead and rhythm playing... everything completely floored me, and I learned most of the album note for note. Who where the guitar players whom influenced you first? I learned most of the Black Sabbath catalog in my first years of playing, also stuff by Vivian Campbell (the Dio years), Jake E. Lee, Randy Rhoads, Gary Moore, Edward Van Halen, John Sykes. And of course I'd been listening to and loving the music of Blackmore, Roth, and Schenker for many years prior. But two years after I started playing I heard both Rainbow Rising and Michael Schenker Group's Assault Attack for the first time. Those albums were my biggest influences for literally decades, I was a Blackmore obssessive (luckily I found my home on the Rainbow Fanclan lol!). Two decades after hearing those albums I encountered two more extremely significant influences on both my playing and composition: the operas of Richard Wagner and the concept albums and playing of Uli Jon Roth. In the case of Uli, I was there back when Scorpions were releasing stuff like Virgin Killer and Tokyo Tapes, and that music is some of my favorite ever! But when Uli Roth decided to go solo, I foolishly dismissed his albums after because of the vocals. In 2008 I heard Under a Dark Sky and couldn't believe it: Uli was the first composer-guitarist I could actually find inspiration from, and I mean a guitarist who is just as much a composer, a bit like a modern day Chopin. It wasn't like the other neo-classical guitarists, most of whom just blew a four piece up into an orchestra and replaced the viola and/or cello parts with guitar. Uli was arranging, orchestrating everything, and it was high quality composition throughout... this wasn't somebody just doing a "look mom, I can write for an ORCHESTRA!" type of thing (laughing). This was actual Art music. I ended up nabbing two of his vocalists for that album (Liz Vandall and Mark Boals), and then gave his other post-Scorpions material another try. This time I couldn't believe how great those albums were, that I had so stupidly dismissed them. Since that time Uli Roth has been my favorite guitarist and rock composer, period, and his album Beyond the Astral Skies features both my favorite guitar solos and tones of anyone. Who else can you mention as your favorites? Oh I adore the playing of Bernie Torme, Michael Denner/Hank Shermann, classic Jason Becker and Yngwie, Angus Young. More recently I listen to Taz Taylor, Joe Stump, Paul Gilbert, Terrance Hobbs of Suffocation... a little Buckethead. Plus my recently discovered Fusion favorites like Allan Holdsworth and Frank Gambale. I'm still trying to get into players like Jeff Loomis, but I mostly like him when he slows down a little, same with Joe. They're all freaky great musicians, best in the world really. I should mention that I am a huge fan of Manowar, and that the bassist-songwriter of the band Joey DeMaio has been a personal inspiration to me and very encouraging. Did you ever play in any bands? Most of the bands I played in pre-Lyraka were drunken messes with me being a total, dictating jerk. Some might say I'm still a little like that lol (I hope not!). I just couldn't deal with the full band politic thing... I always had a vision of what I wanted to do. In the last sense (among others) I drew a lot of influence from Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and the Michael Schenker Group, where the guitarists were pretty much the bosses. I hire the folks I think will do the job right, and that's it. I tell the other musicians what I want, and expect them to both keep in mind my ideas but also to insert their own personalities as players. The latter really helps things from becoming too much of an "Andy-vacuum", which is what happens a lot when other guitarist-dominated projects refuse to let any other input in. Lyraka is not just an album but seems to a big project. What does it include all? My soulmate Jasmine Lyraka Aliara's story is the impetus behind Lyraka; she came up with all the characters, story, script, graphic novel, everything! We are looking to make a multi-media project out of Lyraka, centering on the protagonist Neires and his magic guitar and the fantasy world he immerses himself in. People ask about my middle name being Neires and whether the character is autobiographical of me, and my answer is only minimally. This is Jasmine's story, and Neires was just a name she happened to like. Besides, Neires is blonde, a heck of a lot better looking and younger than me (laughing). Jasmine currently has in the works a Lyraka graphic novel collaboration with reknown horror-fantasy illustrator Vince Locke (best known for graphic novels Deadworld and A History of Violence, as well as Sandman and of all things the mega-bloody cover art for gore-metallers Cannibal Corpse!). Eventually we'll release both Lyraka cds on the inside cover of the graphic novel, so people can have the full experience as they read. Jasmine also is determined to get her movie made, but that's definitely for the future, as the music is too in demand now for us to fully concentrate on all that. We have to get the album done. Do you know Nikolo Kotzev's Nostradamus (from 2001 that included Joe Lynn Turner, Doogie White and Glenn Hughes on vocals)? I guess the concept is a bit like the Lyraka project. A bit different music style but also a rock opera with a mix of rock and classical too. I like that album. I thought Kotzev showed some welcome imagination in the arrangements, and the playing was very good as well. I also thought Joe Lynn Turner put in one of the best... if not the best, vocal performance of his career, which in my opinion is saying one heck of a lot! You released your first Lyraka album in 2010. When did you first start working on it? Jasmine laid the groundwork back in 2006, which is when I wrote Coronation and Beyond the Palace and the bare bones of Palace Guard. From there we just stayed at it! You choose for the vocals some of your personal favorite singers. How did you persuade Graham Bonnet to sing on your album? I had Graham in mind from the beginning. as both he and Ronnie Dio are my favorite Rock/Metal singers ever. The problem was, back in 2008 it was a bit harder to come in direct contact with such classic metal icons, so I just sent Beyond the Palace to one of Graham's friends, Manfred from the Rockville label in Germany, and he wrote right back and said he'd forward it to Graham if I wanted. Naturally, I was thrilled! Why did you want the other two, Veronica Freeman & Tommy Heart, on the album as well? Originally I was just going to let Graham sing all the parts, which is what King Diamond always did with his metal operas. But as time went on I could see that having other singers brought new dimensions. Plus, Graham probably would have been not so keen on singing Scatherus, which was more like a Kreator-style, thrash metal thing. As you probably remember, he hates singing like that. Veronica not only nailed the parts in Scatherus, she did them all on the same day with Jeff Pilson engineering! I was awed. Tommy Heart had an operatic side to his voice, as evidenced on the Uli Jon Roth album Prologue to the Symphonic Legends, and that was very important to me, in order to delineate the different sides of the character. I really investigated Tommy after hearing him with Uli, and found his performances with the band Fair Warning to be similarly superb, an amazing musician. So, he was a shoe-in for the main Lyraka protagonist, Neires. When was the album finished? We finished up, with me being in probably too much of a hurry, not even two weeks before release in late 2010. Was it easy to get the money together to release the album? We had some help from a patron, but it took all of our savings and more, that's really why it took so long from the time we started. Like most people we had to save every week to actually finish up. We looked at it as being investment in a Rainbow dream come true. Jasmine is a huge fan of Graham as well, and she wanted this just as much as me. The money was worth it. It was all worth it, my friend. There's perhaps no sweeter life than to live your dream... with another. Did it sell good? Actually, we were surprised at the burden, but sales were so strong in the first six or seven months we didn't think about it too much! I mean, it still classifies as somewhat of an "underground" release, but we did way better on sales than we thought we would, especially in America. Looking back on Volume 1 now a few years later, are there things you would or should have done in a different way? a) I would have used a real orchestra instead of plug-ins. b) Although I had an excellent, Deep Purple-esque drummer in Gary Spaulding (I mean he really did a fantastic job overall, especially on the track "Neires"), but I had to modify a couple of things to accomodate his style. If I were to do things differently, I would have a second drummer just for the more extreme, mega-double bass drum work. Again, this is nothing against Gary, a phenomenal musician and person, and he's all over this next album for good reason. It's just that this time he is complemented by a second, more extreme drummer. Ken Kelly, the man who created the famous Rainbow Rising artwork, is responsible for all the artwork. How did you got in touch with him? Ken was easier to "get to", and he was quite amenable to what we were doing. I must say, Ken Kelly to me is the best living fantasy artist in the world today; in fact, I think only Frazetta was his competition, especially when it comes to sword and sorcery Metal art. I mean, Kiss, Manowar, Rainbow, hundred of Conan illustrations...a great flattery to work with such an elite illustrator. How are things with the expected Volume 2? How far are you with the recording of this album? We're recording final backing tracks, and have some vocals coming in from Liz and Mark. We're pretty much set into final production after that. Which singers apart from Graham Bonnet can we expect on Lyraka Volume 2? There were more characters to introduce on this album. Unfortunately, Tommy Heart was unable to continue his role as the Heldentenor in the opera, Neires, so I met Mark Boals (of Yngwie Malmsteen and Uli Jon Roth fame) on Facebook through Liz, and asked if he would step in for him. I say step in for him, because Tommy Heart is a top caliber singer and musician in his own right (most of us here probably already know how great Mark is!). I also needed a second female singer, this time more of an alto, classic rock/hard rock influenced style, so I asked Liz Vandall to sing the part of the desert queen, Lilliput. She ended up being one of the most extreme vocalists on the album, and that's saying a lot! She also was the perfect voice to handle the more dynamic challenges of the Lilliputian role. Both Veronica Freeman and Liz Vandall are right up there with the best vocalists in heavy rock/metal today, and I mean that regardless of their gender. I heard baritone-countertenor Rob Diaz's work with Vastator through Veronica, and his voice perfectly matched the classic King Diamond/Rob Halford sound I was looking for. I also loved that he had a truly superb baritone operatic voice, and both he and Mark do an amazing job with all the more "authentically operatic" vocals on the album. I also liked the fact that Rob was relatively unknown, fresh, and pysched about the music, he was probably the easiest musician to work with I've ever known. Robert Lowe has been a favorite of mine since the first Solitude Aeturnus album came out in the early 90s, he is a real Doom Metal icon who also sang for frontline Sabbatherian disciples, the band Candlemass. Robert was handed a very Master of Reality-meets-Michael Schenker Group influenced track called "Entombed By Choice" and he really nailed it. I think a lot of folks who drop by Rainbow Fan Clan are going to really like that song, and Robert if they haven't heard of him yet. Al Atkins is both the original singer and founder of one of my top four bands, Judas Priest. The man is co-responsible for such immortal Metal classics as Victim of Changes and Dreamer Deceiver, plus he has been hanging in there for Metal all these years. He still knocks out killer music to this very day. I just wanted a totally different personality for the Lyraka character Semmonet, and I mean in regard to tone, everything. Al more than provided that, in fact he gave a truly memorable performance with plenty of personality. To be more succinct, he ended up being even better than what I envisioned. You are crowdfunding the new album. Please tell how fans participate in that? Fans (we usually just call them friends) have basically put this album into final production! I mean, we were at a loss at one point whether this album would ever be released, and were ashamed to ask for help. Our fan/friends ended up making me feel ashamed for being ashamed, as they were more than happy to help! There's nothing like having people believe in what you're doing, and we are deeply grateful to everyone. This is the direct link to donate, it takes all the credit and bank cards, Pay Pal etc. We need help mostly with the actual release now. Even small donations are massively appreciated, and I should let everyone know that with any $25 donation you'll receive both the Lyraka Volume 2 CD and a huge, 24X36 poster of the Lyraka/Ken Kelly print of your choice (there are four, and you can just write me on Facebook if you want more information, and don't worry about bothering I LOVE hearing from you all!). Donations here, thanks so much everyone!! Can you already mention when the album gets an expected release? We're aiming at December 2014 at the very latest, but I want it out way before then. A more hopeful date would be after this Summer...but most of that is dependent on friends helping (to be perfectly honest). Is Vol 2 the final part of Lyraka? Or are there more recording plans for the future? Oh, there is ALOT more Lyraka music already written! I have three songs for Graham Bonnet, one for Robert Lowe, a song for Rob Diaz plus a duet for him and Al Atkins called "Reach into the Black", and one song and a duet for Tony Martin (Black Sabbath fame) and Liz Vandall. And of course Veronica and Mark are everpresent in the Lyraka story, so you'll definitely be hearing a lot more from them! \m/ Recording will begin when Lyraka Volume 2 hits #1 on the Billboard Charts... just kidding. As long as people want to hear the music and we get enough help to produce it there will be new music, and it's music I'm confident people will like. If there's anything "holding us back" it's our insistence on wanting to bring an iconoclastic, Wagnerian art into the world through the guitar-driven heavy metal subgenre. There are portions in Richard Wagner's operas that were way more heavy metal than anything since, including anything in the aforementioned subgenre. We want to introduce new things into the music world, without losing that classic heavy metal drive and edge. . Music has given Jasmine and I so much in our lives, we want to push things out things out there, and not be be tied constantly to a pre-existent template. Too many people are just copying their heros and putting out carbon copy recordings of their favorite songs, with minimal variation. Usually what happens is people listen for a limited time, and then just go back to playing the aforementioned classics and forgetting about the endless wanna bes. Lyraka is meant to be something savored over the years, something that can at times challenge the listener in an ultimately rewarding way. When Jasmine and I write something, we want it to express each of our unique personalities, to represent who we are to others. And there's no other art form that most authentically reproduces that, music is the most efficient, effective, honest transmission of one's self into the world. Listen to John Lennon's debut solo album, or Ludwig Van Beethoven's "Heiliger Dankesang" and hear some of the most pure and powerful examples of the above. That's what Jasmine and I aim for, and that's what we want Lyraka to be, if it isn't already. Whether it is or not is up to history. I probably sound pretentious, but neither Jasmine and I care: we believe we believe we believe! Are there any plans to take this all out on the road? I've got all the singers on board for live dates, we just need people to speak up about seeing us! Ask the people whom run venues in your town, or promoters. We'll have Eric Ragno on board for keyboards, a name that is probably well known here at the Fanclan, and a yet to be announced but extremely well regarded drummer. If there are going to be any concerts how will you going to produce all the extra instruments like saxophones and violins? I'll probably have Eric just try to duplicate that stuff on his keyboard, I imagine he'll come up with something extremely cool. Do you already know in which countries live shows will or could happen? We have requests coming in from your neck of the woods (Netherlands), Japan, Scandinavia... but mostly from the UK and America Do you have the live show (set list) already worked out. Can we expect any surprises? This is until we can get firmer plans and get Rob Diaz, Liz Vandall, and Al Atkins on board (it's geographically more complicated with the last three, but we so hope to have them with us too!), here is a rough set list: 1) Intro (keyboards and guitar) 2) Volcano (Graham Bonnet and Veronica Freeman) 3) Palace Guard (Graham and Mark) 4) Neires (Mark) 6) Coronation (Graham Bonnet) 7) Entombed By Choice (Robert Lowe) 8) Scatherus (Veronica Freeman) 9) Father movt.2 Semmonet (Graham) 10) Father movt. 3 Neire's Ocean Journey (Graham, Mark, Veronica) 11) You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget (Mark) 12) Danger Zone (Graham) 13) Waiting for the Light (Robert, Solitude Aeturnus Cover) 14) Samurai (Graham Bonnet, MSG) 15) Liar (Mark) 16) Hammer of Doom (Robert, Candlemass Cover) 17) Eyes of the World (Graham) 18) Lilliput (Veronica) 19) Beyond the Palace (Graham) 20) Bang! (Veronica Benedictum Cover) 21) In Trance (Robert Scorpions cover) 22) Attack of the Mad Axe Man or Desert Song (Graham, MSG) 23) Catch Your Train (Veronica and Mark) Encore (everyone invited) "Since You Been Gone" Thanks for your time Andy. It was a pleasure talking to you. I can't go without saying that being interviewed on the best site of my favorite ever heavy metal band is a dream come true for me, and I can't thank Frans and Julie and everybody for all their unrelenting support. Knowing that I'm actually going to be on this site is a major thing for me, and you have my greatest thanks and respect. Lyraka Volume 2 is going to make people rock, and very hard! "Past the hardships, to the other side, let Purple Rainbows be our rockin' guide!"- from Lyraka Volume 2's "On Dragon's Wings". © The Rainbow Fanclan Legacy - February 2014