by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
If there’s something truly fascinating about humanity, it’s the universality of our experience. What seems to be just a thing of the past or a yellowish page out of a history book for some – may in fact become a never-ending source of timeless inspiration for a creative mind. Two most recent albums by the Italian four-piece Edge of Forever, fronted by the renowned multi-instrumentalist and producer Alessandro Del Vecchio and released on Frontiers Music SRL – titled Native Soul and Seminole, respectively – are a clear example of that. As a songwriter, Alessandro once again uses the theme of the Native Americans’ struggle and resilience to shed more light on way more contemporary problems. Hardrock Haven’s Alexandra Mrozowska caught up with Edge of Forever’s mastermind to discuss the parallel drawn between the Seminole warrior and a modern-day human being – and much more.
Hardrock Haven: The last two years saw a literal explosion of new music, its magnitude being for obvious reasons. Was the process of making new Edge of Forever album Seminole impacted anyhow by the uncertainty of the world we live in today?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, obviously the pandemic had great downsides, but also had great upsides (laughs) and the upside was that we had more time to just sit down and write more. But basically the process of writing an Edge of Forever album didn’t change that much because we live in the same region… I mean, we weren’t affected by the restrictions and we could see each other and work in the studio together. So, it was business as usual for us – but just with the luxury of having more time and concentrating even more on writing and the creative process.
Hardrock Haven: When we talked about Seminole almost a year ago, you’ve said the album will be about “the world today through the Native lens” in reference to the title. Now that it’s out, can you elaborate on this idea?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Yes, the album is exactly about the struggle of anybody that’s just facing adversities today – but through the lens of a Seminole warrior. And before making the analogy, I have to go back to why it’s a Seminole warrior. The Seminole as a Native nation were some of the proudest and strongest [nations] to face the invasion of Europeans, but while they were struggling to save their culture, their nation and their lands, they also rescued, saved and sheltered the slaves from the North. So to me, that is the greatest lesson that we could learn from the past – that the Seminole could teach us – that in times of division and adversities, war and depression, you can always find strength to save yourself and by saving yourself, also save other people. And I saw the world today fall apart during the pandemic because we’re all divided between, you know, all kinds of sides. Everything has become “I am one of these” or “I am one of the others”, I am [in] one team or I am against that team. And in my opinion, it’s a weakness for the world and we didn’t learn any lesson from the past. So I hope that by writing an album against this whole situation and giving a positive outlet for all this rage, anxiety, sadness and depression, we can make the world a better place.
Hardrock Haven: Certainly. Some reviewers named Seminole a concept album. Would you agree, to some extent at least, with this one theme the songs revolve around?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Yes, surely. The album is basically telling the same story in different stages about this person – it can be a group or a single person, or a nation, or just a humankind overall – that’s fighting against diversities. And it gives different outputs to different situations. And yes, the album can be considered to be a concept album because everything can be summed up in the final mini suite, which is the combination of the story and the overall concept is rounded up lyrically.
Hardrock Haven: There’s some heavier vibe to Seminole here and there, which is a development of sorts but also takes us back to the first album [Feeding the Fire, 2004] sound-wise. Is this reference deliberate, so as to incorporate Edge of Forever’s past into the present?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, it wasn’t done intentionally, but basically we wanted a heavier version of Native Soul – but with even more melody too. So we wanted to go beyond our limits and be able as a band to do an album that’s heavier, but it’s got songs that are more memorable and anthemic and that can reflect who we are today. And the full circle, going back to the first album… basically it’s simply because we give more space to the guitars and a heavier concept for drums and bass. And it’s an album that’s been written and recorded without any boundary. It’s not just a Hard Rock record, not just an AOR record, not just a Melodic Metal record… it’s got elements of this and that, which is what Edge of Forever was basically formed for. And we had more melodic moments, like the second [Let the Demon Rock’n’Roll, 2005] and the third album [Another Paradise, 2010], but then we went back to the original formula, which in my opinion is what made Edge of Forever a band that could stand on its own compared to the other bands around.
Hardrock Haven: Definitely! Can you take us through Seminole track by track?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Yes, sure – here we go! “Get Up On Your Feet Again” is a song that’s basically put the foundation down for the album. That was the first song that I wrote and it’s a kind of number one song for the story on the album because it was the first one that was written and it’s setting up the pace for the album with heavier guitars, heavier rhythm section and a great chorus that’s anthemic and melodic, but also very uplifting.
Then we go into “On The Other Side Of Pain,” because that song is about going through pain and knowing that the pain is not something that’s remaining there all the time and is always the same. And there’s always hope and there’s always salvation – on the other side of pain. It’s basically a heavy song, with intricate guitars and bass lines, and it’s the only song that’s featuring a keyboard solo per se… and it’s one of my favorite songs. Even if it’s more obscure and it’s more on the heavier, darker side of the album, it’s still one of my favorites.
“Made It Through” is basically what happens when you go through pain – you’re on the other side of pain and you can finally say, “Well, we made it through,” because we can always make through something. It takes lots of work, a lot of manpower and confidence… you gotta be resilient and strong and pure in your soul to make it through. In my opinion, it’s one of our best songs even because it’s very melodic, but it’s got a melancholic side to it that we’ve never had. I love the guitar work on this – I think Aldo [Lonobile, Edge of Forever’s guitarist, known also from Secret Sphere and Archon Angel] really raised the bar very high on this album, but even more on this song.
Then we go into “Shift The Paradigm” which is our most melodic song on the album and it’s got a great, positive, uplifting chorus. The song itself is about changing the paradigm of being so used to make the wrong decisions and do the wrong things and take the wrong turns… and learning as a human community to make the right decisions for all. And not just concentrating on the good of very few elements, but trying to shift this paradigm of doing wrong.
Then we have “Another Salvation”, which is a song about seeing the good in the bad. If something goes the wrong way, it’s not the end until it’s the end. We’re always renewed after defeat. So even if it’s negative and it looks like it’s negative, it’s always a brand new start. Once you hit rock bottom, there’s only a way up and it’s the way to salvation – to become a symbol of salvation, the better human beings.
“Breath of Life” is basically the only real ballad that we have on the album. It’s a song that I wrote on my piano and it’s fragile but strong… And in my opinion, that is my best vocal performance of all, because it shows the different sides of what I want to be and what I want to express as a singer – to be soft, almost fragile and almost broken, but then to strengthen all that sadness into liberation towards art and message to the Universe and to the world. And as a messenger for what I think is the right message that music should have – which has to be about beauty, about peace, about love, about positivity… about empowering humankind, “Breath of Life” is one of my best performances in my opinion.
“Wrong Dimension” is where things start to go Prog. It’s a heavy, epic song that’s got elements of Rainbow and DIO and Led Zeppelin… You normally don’t hear a song like that on modern Hard Rock records, and we wanted to go long, epic and powerful, wide and deep…
We turn to “Our Battle Rages On”, another heavy song which has got an almost Heavy Metal or Melodic Metal guitar riff. It’s powerful, it’s melodic, it’s anthem-ic but very deep and it’s got a sadness to it and a cry to the Universe that I really love. And it’s about the concept of always being at war, but in a good sense. Be at war against diversities, against discrimination, against what’s wrong in the world and what we can better in our lives and in our existence. So basically every morning when we wake up, we gotta hear the battle rage and follow the cry to the call of making this world a better place.
Then we go into the “Seminole” which is basically the final chapter of the story that talks about that Seminole warrior that in “In the Land of the Seminole” realizes that his life is taking a distance towards what’s in the world right now. And then in the second part, which is called “Mistaken Reality,” it talks about how we can misunderstand reality and take the wrong for good and the good for wrong… especially nowadays, with all those social media BS. We almost feel like we’re tricking ourselves into following the wrong idols, basically. And then it goes into “Rewrite The Story,” which is the third part of the mini-suite and is about changing what we see. If we realize what is right and what is wrong, what is vital and what is not, what is full and what is empty – we can basically rewrite the story, starting from ourselves. How many times we feel like we’re too little to change the course of time and things…? But it’s not true, ‘cause we have to start from somewhere, and that “somewhere,” that place, is ourselves. And we can only rewrite the story if we realize what’s right and wrong. And then we go into the final part and it’s called “The End’s Starting To Begin”, because when you realize that you can detach [yourself] from evil, from what’s wrong and what you don’t like – ‘cause you’re not forced to follow any of that – the end or what seems the end to something in reality starts to reveal the beginning. Because we can only be human beings with the right morals and the right values when we detach ourselves from what is wrong.
Hardrock Haven: You’ve also been mentioning here and there that Seminole is more of a group effort than Native Soul was. What kind of impact did it have on the music and would you like Edge of Forever to be even more of a collaborative unit in the future?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Yeah, totally yes. I would love to see Edge of Forever grow in confidence in this even more. Because the big difference that I hear as a producer and as a band member of Edge of Forever between Native Soul and Seminole is that musically Aldo, Marco Di Salvia [Edge of Forever’s drummer, also of Hardline] and Nik [Mazzucconi, Edge of Forever’s bassist, also of Labyrinth] are more free to be themselves in the songs. And that mirrors exactly a better result – there’s more energy, there’s more fire, there’s more depth and, in my opinion, the album is just stronger overall. It’s more “alive” in a way and it sounds even more like a band.
Hardrock Haven: And speaking about you as a producer of Edge of Forever – years ago, we talked the differences between writing for your own band and other artists, bands and projects. But how does your attitude as a producer change when it comes to Edge of Forever? Would you say you enjoy working on your band’s albums more for whatever reasons, or maybe it’s just simply a whole different process?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, the only big difference is that if I work on my music and I am the singer and the songwriter, it’s a little more intimidating because you want to be perfect [laughs]. And as a singer, there’s a syndrome of never feeling like you had the right take. But knowing that, I decided to go the other way this time and to enjoy the process and just sing freely, compose freely, record freely and mix freely… We didn’t have any comparisons. We just did what we wanted to do and it’s been more fun and more productive in my opinion. It’s got a sonic result that’s reflecting the joy and the energy that we could release during the process because we were free. Obviously, as a producer I’m trying to take the tide and the leash is in my hands, but not too much. You know, I wanted to enjoy it and to have fun, and just make it a great experience for us as a band, first of all. And you see what happens when you do that, and in my opinion, it changes the final result of the recordings completely.
Hardrock Haven: Because of Edge of Forever’s history, the name of Marcel Jacob continues to resurface in our conversations over the years. However, there’s an aspect of this early collaboration we haven’t discussed so far – what did he teach you when it comes to music production, the process of overseeing the album and perhaps songwriting as well?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, Marcel was basically my main and only mentor when it comes to production. What I’ve learnt from him is the absolute commitment to [achieving] a result that’s just great – to making music that’s just standing the test of time, [changes] of taste, language and any other barrier… Basically Marcel taught me that music has to be a reflection of beauty and creation, so there’s no Heavy Metal, no Rock, no Pop, no Dance, no this or that… Music is music and it’s a universal language. And this search for beauty is something that should be common to all forms of art, but we’re so into dividing music and any other form of art and [putting] it into drawers that we forget that music is the universal language. It’s the most universal language that we have on Earth, ‘cause you can play a song that’s in Japanese and you don’t understand a word, but you can still relate to that song and it can change your life and it can become a soundtrack to your life. And this is what happens – all around the world with songs that are in different languages or with English songs that are [listened by] other people than native English speakers… Still, these are the songs that made history and changed people’s lives.
Hardrock Haven: Right, I think both of us know a little bit about it [laughs].
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Yes [laughs]
Hardrock Haven: An back to Seminole, we can’t forget there’s been no way you could have promoted its predecessor back in 2020. Do you plan to tour both albums at the same time, so as to make up for what’s been missed with Native Soul?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Totally yes and I hope we can do it soon, because you know, these songs are meant to be played live and that’s what we wanna do. And what’s where we excel the most – it’s onstage. That’s where we can show this rage and urgency and importance that we have in our message. That’s where we can shine – it’s only onstage.
Hardrock Haven: Right, speaking about Edge of Forever’s concerts, now that you have five albums to choose from, do you plan to occasionally include the early songs in the live sets? Do you feel they still represent Edge of Forever as it is today, even though so much has changed within the band?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: You know, going back to songs that are twenty years old is always some kind of jump into the past, but you gotta respect the fact that for a band, albums are part of the journey… And in my opinion, even if I did something different today, I accept that it’s in the past and it is what it is. And I just enjoy walking the memory lane and playing songs that I wrote when I was twenty years younger and twenty years less experienced, but still gave it a hundred percent like if I wrote it today. And that, in my opinion, is a big difference between being passively playing your repertoire and really taking a side of your repertoire and playing a new kind of song that’s in the past in a way you would write it today, giving it the importance and the depth like you wrote it today.
Hardrock Haven: Apart from Edge of Forever, you also participated many, many other albums, including the new Star One album Revel In Time and what is actually interesting about it is that it includes two CDs with the same set of songs but sung by different singers, so it’s you and Joe Lynn Turner singing “The Year of ‘41” on two parts of the album, respectively. Before we get lucky to talk with Arjen Lucassen – which we hope we will – can you reveal anything about the idea behind these double takes?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, I cannot speak for my friend Arjen, but in my opinion, a person like Arjen always has more singers because everybody wants to work with him and basically everybody wants to be on an Ayreon album or a Star One album. So I guess he simply decided to give the songs different spins. Because, obviously, what Joe Lynn Turner’s done on the track is different than what I’ve done on the track, and what Jens Johansson [Stratovarius, Rainbow – he plays a keyboard solo in a version of “The Year of ‘41” sung by JLT] has done on keyboards is completely different than what I’ve done on keyboards. So the same song doesn’t become just “Okay, that’s another version of the song.” It’s more like another vision of the song. I’ve been friends with Arjen for years and I finally can say with pride that I’m on a Star One album. It still feels strange, because I’m probably the biggest Star One and Ayreon fan ever, but that feels very good and I was honored and I had so much fun doing that.
Hardrock Haven: When you shared Arjen’s post about Revel In Time on your social media, someone commented they’re proud seeing an Italian name among all the tremendous artists involved in Star One’s new album. Do you feel your success can inspire others – in general, people who struggle to follow their dreams for whatever reason?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: I hope it does, and it’s my main focus when I’m putting myself out there. No matter how little or big the extent of somebody else’s success can be, I want to see people being inspired by positive references. Obviously, my whatever-you-wanna-call it… success, happiness… journey… can really light up some fire, because I’ve done things and I’ve played with people that I’ve never thought I could play [with]. I’ve recorded hundreds of albums and I’ve played with the greatest musicians of all. But still I’m the guy coming out of nowhere from the countryside of Italy with no formal music education and no relation to somebody famous… I had to work hard and I really hope that my journey and my whatever goals that I can achieve are passing that message: Just work hard, hard work will always pay off. Challenge yourself, but never forget that’s repetition and time that will reveal the path. It’s not one take. Life is not just one shot. It’s not just “Okay, let me try to become a musician” and then, after a few weeks, you fail and surrender. It takes a whole life, especially when the goals are big, the work, the commitment and – oh my God [laughs] – the focus is a daily or even hourly practice… up to seconds. If the goal is big, you have to have a warrior mind – or the athlete mind… An athlete that wants to take part in the Olympics trains their whole life for that and their journey is never over. And the same goes for music. No matter the genre, the place you’re coming from… if your story’s big and true and there’s hard work, somebody will hear that story. Somebody will want to hear that story and I hope that I’m always sending a positive message in this world of bullies and influencers and this and that… I hope that a true story from a simple guy coming from the countryside can inspire another regular person from somewhere and some other nation’s countryside to fight for their dream and work hard and create a habit of channeling the creation of art every day… every minute, every second… and literally walk the talk for all their life.
Hardrock Haven: And speaking about the greats you’ve been working with, recently you’ve also posted a photo of you and Jorn Lande, naming him your “favorite artist to work with.” Collaborating with so many different people, what makes them easy or difficult to work with?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, Jorn is Jorn. First of all, Jorn is one of my best friends and it’s a person I enjoy and absolutely love working with. But the great thing about the artists that I work with is that it’s not just the voice, it’s not just the guitar, it’s not just the music. It’s the “why” – who they are – that’s really inspiring. And even if there’s differences and angles that we have to struggle with and we fight over details, I always respect why they’re there. And to me, that is inspiring – to see and read the soul of the musician. Because you know, sometimes from the outside it seems like musicians are on autopilot. But it’s not [like that]. You’re not in this game because of the business, because of the money or because of the fame, but because there’s a primal call for art and for music. And when I’m in the studio with, I don’t know… George Lynch, or Johnny Gioeli, or Jeff Scott Soto… these fantastic musicians… what I’m attracted to is not their skills. Because it’s obvious that they’re good. But when they become music and they start playing and they start singing, their whole life kind of reveals upon my eyes and I can see and I can feel why they’re there, why they’re who they are, why they play or sing like that… and what music means to them. And that is the most encouraging and inspiring place for me to be, because I’m avid fan of music. And when I see people like that, that’s where I go, “I want to become that connected with music,” or “I want to become even more connected with music.”
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely, and when it comes to interviewing these musicians, the impression is exactly the same… And another piece of news that caught everyone’s attention recently was that of Deen Castronovo, announcing that the fourth Revolution Saints album is in the works. And when it comes to this kind of project, is there still some space for experimentation and development or maybe it’s rather strict continuation of the previous albums?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, we always try to make a step further… that’s our mission. Obviously, the genre imposes some sort of free limitation – that’s the way I like to talk about it – but our mission is to write our best songs and try to push the boundary and go beyond what we’ve already done. We don’t wanna just stick to the formula or to the past simply because it worked and then it’s gonna work [again]. We want to be better, for sure.
Hardrock Haven: And as you’re always up to your ears with studio work – what other projects are you currently involved in and what albums are you working on now?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: The albums I can talk about are… [laughs] basically Jorn and the new Sunstorm album that we’ve just almost finished working on and I’m very excited to do another album with Ronnie Romero who’s a blessing to work with. Then we have Revolution Saints, and there’s a new Black Swan album coming out, and the new Jeff Scott Soto album coming out which is one of Jeff’s best works and we’re very proud of this new album that hopefully we’ll reveal [something about] in a few days. And then there’s lots of new music that we’re working on and… it’s gonna be a great year. Honestly, it’s gonna be a great year. We’ve already had the records like the new Giant and… oh my God, it’s incredible [laughs]
Hardrock Haven: There are projects and bands you continue to work with over the years, but there’s a handful of newcomers each year too. Is it any easier to work with artists you’ve known already for years as musicians and people, opposed to those you just got to know? Is establishing a certain kind of chemistry always easy?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: It’s got pros and cons on both sides. Working with somebody that you know, you have a different target because it’s a common target. And working with somebody new is different because it’s working from scratch but on the other hand, it’s working with a map – with a target. But I love both situations. Sometimes it’s more interesting and refreshing to work with somebody that you’ve never worked with because you have to somehow challenge yourself to accomplish what they hear and what they want to hear from you. And then you gotta pass the new name to the audience, so you have more responsibility… But then, on the other hand, when somebody’s known, you have to put up with the legacy – which is another job [laughs]. But I like both these situations and to me, both are inspiring because you’re basically challenging what’s people already know from an established artists and what people want to hear from the new artists. So to me, it’s different kinds of responsibility but it’s the same [in the] sense of research and creation, basically.
Hardrock Haven: Having worked on so many projects, you see some continued and others shelved – sometimes never resurfacing again. If you could resurrect now one of these shelved projects you took part in that ended after one album only, what would it be?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, you know… the one that I miss the most is Three Lions with Vinny Burns, Nigel Bailey and Greg Morgan…
Hardrock Haven: Oh yeah. A magnificent one.
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Yeah, that was a fantastic album and a great experience of working with these guys… It was incredible, [with] the great chemistry and we loved it. It was amazing. And I hope we can have another one – at least another one – because that’s the only one that I really miss the most because of the great musicians and the great people and… oh my God, the talent that was on that record was impressive…
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely… It was really an incredible one, yeah. Still, there are bands and projects you tour with, including Hardline for example, and more and more of those that remain studio projects exclusively. As live setting’s perhaps the only appropriate environment for music to thrive – something we’ve been painfully reminded of by the pandemic – what do you think about the concept of a studio project itself?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, to me both situations can simply live together. We’ve seen bands that suddenly stopped touring – and I’m not making any comparisons, I still stay humble – but it’s like the Beatles stopped touring when they realized that the music was too complicated and too intricate to be played live, or Steely Dan, or other bands that simply enjoyed staying in the studio. And there’s a different nature of a band like Hardline – one that really thrives onstage. Hardline is a different beast onstage, because we write and we work for that. We work for our music to be brought onstage. But then there are bands that are just recording in the studio. That’s their nature and you just gotta accept it. It is what it is. It’s not that if a band doesn’t go on tour, it’s bad – or the other way around. To me, it’s all about accepting what it is. And for example, Revolution Saints… I would love to tour with them. But it’s very tough to put all the schedules together – we tried it and it didn’t work. We had basically one show and it was amazing, but I gotta accept and know that Revolution Saints is just a studio thing and that’s its dimension – as simple as that.
Hardrock Haven: We’ve just mentioned Hardline, and obviously only recently you’ve managed to play a handful of gigs – I believe, in the UK mostly. What was the feeling of returning to live stage after such a long time like? Was the reaction from the audience any different, maybe stronger, than before?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: For sure, we’ve almost cried as a band [laughs] because we couldn’t believe that we could play again after two years… But we’ve also had a show in Italy, which was different because Italy has basically just returned very recently to the live shows, so people were just eager to see a show. In England, we have a fantastic fanbase that’s always noisy and they participate in the show and they love it, but the UK had way fewer restrictions in terms of shows. So I would say there were more emotions in Italy – and I would it was less emotional in the UK, but it’s been a blast anyway and it was amazing to be on stage again and I really hope that we go back into being grateful for playing shows… Because you know, sometimes we complain about the travelling, and the backstages, and ticket sales, and this and that… but my God, we did miss that!
Hardrock Haven: Yes, sometimes we take things for granted and complain, as you say, but then we learn we need all that when we lose them… And as you’ve already mentioned at least some projects and albums we look forward to in 2022, what are your plans as a touring musician?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: With Edge of Forever, we’re working hard on taking the band on the road. We’re hoping that we can save some shows from the tour that was just cancelled because of COVID. Hopefully, we’ll get all the gigs back when the world is ready for tours and shows… But that is our definite goal, to bring the band back onstage and promote the albums with the right respect and conditions. And Hardline is already planning gigs – we’ve just moved our shows in Europe again from March and April to something like May and June… We’ll see what happens, but definitely Hardline, Edge of Forever and Jorn are bands that are working hard on being there because we would’ve toured right when the pandemic hit. So it’s almost two years and we miss that.
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely, so fingers crossed for everything to work out fine.
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Thank you very much.
Hardrock Haven: Is there anything you’d like to add in the end?
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, first of all, thank you for the never-ending support for me and my music, and Edge of Forever especially. And I really hope that Edge of Forever gets the chance to cut through these million songs that are released every day and that and that we can reach people because I really think we’re more than the average hard rock band that you have out there [laughs]. We’ve really worked hard on the album and we bring a message that’s different, and we play music that’s different… And I hope your readers and our fans will understand what we’re doing, will take our side and will walk into the future with us… and see us flourish and prosper thanks to their support – taking a long journey into the future with Edge of Forever and our music.
Photo credits: Alessandro Quadrelli
Visit Edge of Forever online: Facebook | Instagram
Visit Alessandro Del Vecchio online: Facebook | Instagram
Watch the new video to the eponymous mini-suite “Seminole Part 1-4” off Edge of Forever’s new album:
