{"id":69250,"date":"2021-02-11T03:58:50","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T08:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=69250"},"modified":"2021-02-11T04:01:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T09:01:57","slug":"interview-with-marco-pastorino-of-temperance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2021\/interview-with-marco-pastorino-of-temperance\/","title":{"rendered":"Marco Pastorino of Temperance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Alexandra Mrozowska
\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, we talked about the terms such as \u201cquarantine jam\u201d becoming a part of our journalistic jargon. This year it seems we\u2019ll be talking about a \u201clockdown effect\u201d in music, this being a huge upsurge in artistic creativity among musicians and songwriters since touring and music festivals were abruptly put to a halt worldwide. Forced to postpone and cancel their concert plans for longer than anyone could have expected, almost all artists turned to writing and recording. That made 2021 an avalanche of new music releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some artists decided to approach their music from a different angle this time around, too, and one of the more interesting cases was the Italian Symphonic Metal band Temperance. After their last studio album Viridian <\/em>was released in January 2020 \u2013 perhaps the least fortunate moment to release an album in history \u2013 they revisited the material with the old adage of \u201csomething old, something new\u201d in mind. The result was something you don\u2019t come across every day when it comes to Symphonic Metal. Melodies Of Green And Blue <\/em>is an acoustic EP which includes two new songs as well as six reworked ones from Viridian<\/em>. We caught up with Temperance\u2019s leader Marco Pastorino to discuss the details of the new release, the diversity of influences within the band and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hardrock Haven: Temperance\u2019s upcoming EP Melodies Of Green And Blue<\/em> is described as a \u201cgift to the fans.\u201d Were your fans indeed an inspiration behind recording and releasing this EP?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: It was an idea that started during the first lockdown, after the first days of the pandemic. We were on tour with Tarja at the time, but after a couple of weeks we totally understood that what\u2019s happening is a very long stop for the band in general. So we decided to do something just to give something new to the fans, of course. And also, it was to promote Viridian <\/em>a little bit more because we released that album just a couple of months before the pandemic \u2013 in January \u2013 and we had no chance to promote it with touring. We were supposed to be on tour for a very long time in 2020, but of course, as we all know it wasn\u2019t possible. So, with Napalm [Records, the band\u2019s label], we decided to do something new. And during the promotion of Viridian<\/em>, we shot an acoustic video and did an acoustic session in a studio and we received a really great feedback about it. That\u2019s why we decided to re-record some tracks from Viridian<\/em> but also, to inject some new blood (laughs) into an EP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And where does the idea of playing acoustic come from, since it\u2019s not a style usually associated with Symphonic Metal or Power Metal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: We decided to do it, because as I told you before, when we shared some acoustic version of one of our songs, we received a great feedback and a lot of people asked us to release this song digitally, on Spotify or Apple Music. And basically, again it was a good way to promote Viridian<\/em>, because as you know, there are as many as six tracks [on the EP] that are taken from the album in totally new versions. But it\u2019s also because for us \u2013 especially Michele [Guaitoli, Temperance\u2019s vocalist, also of Visions of Atlantis] and me \u2013 it was a sort of a dream because since the band\u2019s early days we\u2019ve been thinking about releasing something acoustic as to try to do something different.\u00a0 It\u2019s also because every time we write a new song, we begin to work [on it] with an acoustic guitar or a piano, so it\u2019s not anything new for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Funnily enough, I was just about to mention that many Rock or Metal bands actually claim exactly the same \u2013 to use acoustic guitars while writing \u2013 so do you think it\u2019s why the whole \u201cunplugged\u201d thing works so well in general as well as in your case?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: Of course \u2013 but as you can imagine, with some of our songs it\u2019s not possible (laughs) and for some it just wouldn\u2019t work very well. For example, for the opening track which is called \u201cMission Impossible\u201d \u2013 a very groovy and very modern song. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s possible to do it in an acoustic way. But with other stuff, we tried and I think the final result is not so bad (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely, it\u2019s awesome. So, were the two new songs on the EP written just for the occasion, or were they outtakes from the previous Temperance albums?

Marco Pastorino: To be honest with you, \u201cEvelyn\u201d is a song I wrote for Viridian<\/em>, but at the end of the [album making] process we decided not to include this song on the album because of its mood. It was totally different than the other songs \u2013 a melancholic ballad which we\u2019ve never done before. It\u2019s different than the stuff we did before also because of the lyrics… Usually we use some positive vibes and we wanna give some positive emotion to people. But this song is a totally different thing \u2018cause that story is a little bit sad. It was not the right song for Viridian<\/em> and we decided not to use it. But when it comes to the acoustic EP, it fits perfectly. So we decided to push this sad, melancholic mood a little bit here. As for \u201cPaint The World,\u201d Michele wrote this song just for the EP. We decided to put one song written by me and one written by him, so that\u2019s what we came up with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Do you always divide songwriting duties in Temperance like this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: Usually, when it comes to songwriting, it\u2019s ninety per cent done by me. But me and Michele spend a lot of time together to arrange the stuff and discuss the new albums, the new songs, the arrangements, the way to record the songs… Usually that\u2019s the way. Of course, when we have some songs we wanna share with the other guys, we do that and we\u2019re a band, so we\u2019re open to hear a feedback from everyone else. But basically the songwriting part is done by me and Michele.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: As we\u2019ve already mentioned, you chose as many as six songs of Viridian<\/em> to present on the EP these new acoustic versions. Was it an easy choice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: Basically we decided to record the singles \u2013 \u201cStart Another Round\u201d and \u201cI Am The Fire\u201d \u2013 and a couple of ballads. But during the recording session we decided to add some more tracks, because we recorded everything very fast (laughs) and we had more time, so we decided to give fans something more. As I said in another interview a couple of days ago, it\u2019s not a real EP and it\u2019s more similar to a full-length album because there are eight tracks on it…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Right, it\u2019s pretty long for an EP… And what kind of experience was that to rework these songs, especially that they\u2019re relatively new also in their original arrangement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: It was a very cool one \u2018cause we only decided to record four songs in the first recording session. After the first lockdown \u2013 in July, I think \u2013 we met each other in the studio, me, Michele, Alessia [Scolletti, vocals] and Luca [Negro, bass]… unfortunately, without Alfonso [Mocerino, drums] \u2018cause he was not able to reach us in the north of Italy. But right there in the studio we decided how to record and arrange things \u2013 and we spend a week together just thinking about the ways to do it and it was very cool… especially after long months [of being] totally alone and with no chance to see each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Must have been. The last reworked song on an EP, \u201cGaia\u201d, seems to be addressed to our planet, or nature on our planet. How much of a concern environmental issues are for you and do you think artists should focus more on these problems?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: On Viridian<\/em>, we\u2019ve written about this problem a lot. It\u2019s not a concept album at all, but we decided to put some questions here and there in some tracks \u2013 of course in \u201cGaia\u201d, but also in \u201cScent Of Dye\u201d and \u201cViridian.\u201d But, as we did before with Temperance, in a positive way. I think on the next albums we\u2019ll try to continue talking about these problems too… We as a band prefer not to talk too much about politics, for example, in our music \u2018cause we always prefer to give some good feelings and positivity. I know it\u2019s a very hard period not only for Europe, but for the world in general, and I think this pandemic caused many problems not only for now, but also for the next years. And we have to wait for some years just to come back to real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: We\u2019ve already mentioned the previous album Viridian<\/em>. What kind of experience was making this one and are you happy with the result a year later?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: In terms of writing, it was very cool, \u2018cause I spent a lot of months just thinking about the album and writing one note after another. With \u2013 I think \u2013 sixteen songs, I met Michele in a very cool place in the northeast of Italy, close to the mountains, and then we spent over a week just listening to the songs, talking about the recording session and discussing the details of the album. We\u2019ve had a great time. Also, we wrote the last track on the album \u2013 \u201cCatch The Dream\u201d \u2013 during this meeting in the mountains. It was very cool. About the feedback on Viridian<\/em>, we\u2019re really satisfied with it because it\u2019s our first album on Napalm [Records] and we received amazing feedback from every part of the world. But as you can imagine, it was very unfortunate because we released this album at the end of January and just a month later it wasn\u2019t possible to promote the album at all… No tour, no shows, no way to meet the rest of the band… So it was a problem with timing. But I think it was the same for every band which released an album during the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Unfortunately. It was a crazy year for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: Right, also for people like you and every website and every magazine…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Everyone\u2019s suffered from what was going on… Anyway, back to Viridian<\/em>, there was a bonus track on the album called \u201cLost In The Christmas Dream\u201d. Have you ever considered releasing a full length Christmas album with songs in the band\u2019s usual style?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: Honestly, I haven\u2019t. At the time we only wanted to release a Christmas song in a Metal style, the Avantasia style, \u2018cause I love the Christmas vibe. But to release the entire album would be [too much] \u2013 also, Majestica has just done a Christmas album [A Christmas Carol<\/em>, 2020] and I think it\u2019s enough (laughs). I love their album though!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: It\u2019s definitely special. Anyway, Temperance has three vocalists \u2013 is it any kind of challenge to balance the vocals in each song and leave the space for one another?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: No, we have no rules in general of how to divide the parts and which voice is right to choose for a song… We just try to follow the flow in every song. For one song, we might need to work only with Alessia\u2019s voice whereas for another we might need voices of everyone in the band. So we just need to follow the flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: All band members have a lot of experience in different bands and projects, past and present. How do you think it contributes to what you present as a band?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: I think so, \u2018cause from every kind of experience we\u2019ve had comes something new to use for Temperance now. For example, Michele\u2019s involvement in Visions Of Atlantis \u2013 we got a chance to tour to every almost part of the world with this band and we\u2019ve seen how hard he\u2019s working with it… and of course, now Michele has more power in his voice but also is a better singer than he was before. The same thing [goes] for me \u2013 I work for a lot of projects as a songwriter, producer or singer and now maybe I have more skills to use for Temperance. But that\u2019s how it goes for every single member of the band. I think side projects or other bands in general are a good thing for a musician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely. And speaking of different influences, there\u2019s plenty in Temperance, from Metal to electronic music to folk music. Where does this diversity come from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: A good thing in Temperance is that every member of the band has different influences. Alessia is, for example, totally into Rock music but also electronic stuff a little bit \u2013 whereas Michele and me are the metalheads (laughs), but we\u2019re totally into Rock and Pop music too… I\u2019m a lot into musicals too. And the same goes for Luca and Alfonso. They\u2019re totally into extreme stuff, Progressive stuff, Jazz, Fusion… so I think every kind of music we listen to is a good thing to take as an influence and try to create something new from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Blending electronic music and Metal is something that seems to be quite popular now, so why do you think it works so well for bands like yours?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: Oh yeah. I think nowadays it\u2019s not a new thing anymore because, as you say, there are a lot of bands that try to go that way \u2013 like Metalite and especially the biggest band who plays this type of music, Amaranthe. So in general, I think, we\u2019re trying to create something new \u2013 especially using our three vocals, harmonies and things like that. We try to add some electronic stuff as well, but also orchestral stuff. In general, we have no limits, so maybe for the next album we\u2019ll push a little bit more towards the orchestrations and less electronics. But that depends on each song of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. Temperance is usually classified as Symphonic Metal and this one seems to be quite popular a genre among Italian bands. Why do you think it is so?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: I think we have a lot of amazing bands in Italy and a lot of great singers in them \u2013 especially for melodic music genres such as Symphonic Metal. I think this is the reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And in general, what is the situation of Rock and Metal bands in Italy when it comes to things like promotion or media support?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: It\u2019s totally different than in other European countries like Germany or the UK, because the support of media is basically ninety percent totally underground. We have only a couple of medium radio stations in Italy which support Italian music well and a couple of magazines, luckily… (laughs) But in general, the big support comes from the underground magazines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Having discussed all the things that didn\u2019t work for Temperance in 2020, and the postponed tour in particular, what are the band\u2019s plans for the future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: Right now, after the release of Melodies Of Green And Blue<\/em>, we\u2019re supposed to go on tour in October and November \u2013 I cross my fingers (laughs) \u2013 with Leaves\u2019 Eyes and after that, again we will try to go on tour with Tarja next year (February and March). We have a lot of plans, a lot of gigs and a lot of tours and we really hope it will happen. Let\u2019s see \u2013 we have a lot of ideas right now, but everything can change every single day. We\u2019ll have to see what will happen in the next weeks and the next months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! So just fingers crossed everything works out well in the end. Any last words?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Pastorino: Of course \u2013 thanks for your time and I really hope to see you on our concerts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credits: Ermes Buttolo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit Temperance online<\/a> and on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014 In 2020, we talked about the terms such as \u201cquarantine jam\u201d becoming a part of our journalistic jargon. This year it seems we\u2019ll be talking about a \u201clockdown effect\u201d […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":69252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[15321,15324,1100,15323],"class_list":{"0":"post-69250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interviews-recent","8":"tag-marco-pastorino","9":"tag-melodies-of-green-and-blue","10":"tag-symphonic-metal","11":"tag-viridian"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}