{"id":69304,"date":"2021-03-12T13:22:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T18:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=69304"},"modified":"2021-03-12T13:22:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T18:22:09","slug":"interview-with-alessandro-del-vecchio-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2021\/interview-with-alessandro-del-vecchio-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Alessandro Del Vecchio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

There are few things  less stable in the world of music than the band line-ups. And if there are several who carry on through the years without personnel changes, it\u2019s probably just an exception that proves the rule. Yet, most line-up shifts are followed with pretty strong reactions from the band\u2019s respective fanbase, and they\u2019re not always positive. What many of the fans-turned-complainers tend to forget about, however, is that it\u2019s music that matters the most. And more often than not, it\u2019s also one of the things in this world which is actually greater than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the hallmark projects for the record label Frontiers Music SRL, Sunstorm, has recently been caught in the middle of such controversy since the lead singer change from Joe Lynn Turner to Ronnie Romero (Lords Of Black, Vandenberg, MSG, The Ferrymen) was announced.\u00a0 But as Hardrock Haven caught up with Sunstorm\u2019s songwriter and producer Alessandro Del Vecchio on the eve of the release day of their new album Afterlife<\/em>, there was no dwelling upon that. It was all about the music \u2013 Alessandro\u2019s role in Sunstorm, the project\u2019s current dynamics and his vision of its future beyond Afterlife<\/em>.\u00a0 We\u2019ve also discussed his plans related to Edge Of Forever and Hardline, his past (and not only…) collaborations with Jeff Scott Soto, other future projects… and more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credits: Maurizio Del Piccolo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: We\u2019re here to chat about the new Sunstorm album out on March the 12th<\/sup>. Still, in the light of absolutely thrilling news from the Edge Of Forever camp, can you actually start from revealing anything about the new album that\u2019s in the works? The title itself \u2013 Seminole <\/em>\u2013 has already been revealed. And as it\u2019s a reference to the Native Americans again, can we expect a continuation of Native Soul <\/em>in terms of music and lyrical theme?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Yeah, I guess it\u2019s gonna be the natural development of what Native Soul <\/em>was. The title says it all \u2013 obviously, there\u2019s a reason why I chose the Seminole nation and not any other. I mean, they\u2019re the unsung heroes in terms of the resistance against the occupation of the white people. And there\u2019s a reason for that choice, because the moment we live in and my past year \u2013 and the past year that everybody had \u2013 were mostly a great struggle and it\u2019s still this way. So yeah, the album is gonna talk about the world today through the Native lens. Musically, it\u2019s also gonna be a continuation and an improvement into that direction \u2013 it\u2019s gonna be even more into making Edge Of Forever a band of its own, more epic, more Southern Rock… More Edge Of Forever at full speed, I\u2019d say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So basically how you always wanted it to be. And now onto Sunstorm \u2013 I suppose you might be asked about all the controversy surrounding the change of the lead singer quite a lot, but we\u2019ll refrain from that and focus on the music instead. So, with Ronnie Romero now on board, do you see Afterlife <\/em>as a brand new chapter in the history of the project, or is it more of a continuation of the general idea behind it with a different voice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, I would say both. Obviously, a new singer with such a personality like Ronnie\u2019s, it\u2019s gonna be different because the voice has got a different character. But what we try to do is not to get our feet stuck in the past. We try to move on, we try to make a record of what Sunstorm would be in 2021 and not just the same reference to the past. And honestly, I think we\u2019ve crossed some borders and found ourselves in some new territories without going too far from the Melodic Rock concept. But we try to sound more \u2018us\u2019 and more contemporary, and more Ronnie as well as more me and Simone [Mularoni, Sunstorm\u2019s guitarist and co-writer] compared to just going back to album number one, number two or three or four and kind of repeating the same story. So we try to expand what Sunstorm is, but also pay our dues and tributes to our past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Right, so initially people thought the biggest strength in Sunstorm is its respective members. But with reviews being generally positive now as they are, what do you personally think is the real strength and the magnet that keeps people interested in this project?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, it\u2019s a combination of Ronnie, Simone and I as \u2013 I\u2019d say \u2013 guiding forces behind the project, because of our songwriting and the trademark sound that\u2019s in the voice of the singer. And it\u2019s a combination of what you would expect from the five of us actually… I mean, we want to evolve and we evolved actually into more of a band than just a studio project. We wanna play live and the reviews are revealing that indeed \u2013 it\u2019s pretty evident that we want to sound like a band and we want to sound like nothing else. And you know, especially at this stage of my career and the career of the band, I just don\u2019t wanna repeat myself. What\u2019s already been done, has already been done. The strength of Sunstorm is always focused on the songs, obviously, and we always try to come up with our best songs and to write our best songs yet. But the strength is in this new and unseen combination that still sounds like Sunstorm \u2013 but with a new twist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And I believe you haven\u2019t worked in this capacity with Ronnie before, so what was the experience like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: You have to know that Ronnie and I have been friends in the last years and I wasn\u2019t expecting anything but working with a great professional and having fun actually. Working with Ronnie is like working with the greats \u2013 like with Jeff Scott Soto or Johnny Gioeli \u2013 as he\u2019s a singer in that league. He\u2019s very professional and he takes music really seriously, like we all do, but we also wanna have fun and there\u2019s always the friendship and the fun element behind every message. Even if we talk professional stuff, like music and songs and sound and this and that, there\u2019s always a friendship and a bond that goes beyond that. So I could say that being friends before maybe helped \u2013 but I think it\u2019s more of a nature of Ronnie and I working together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And of course, once the line-up change in Sunstorm was announced, people speculated who the new lead singer might be. And although Ronnie has already quite a back catalog, obviously he\u2019s one of the singers of the younger generation. So do you think it\u2019s actually better that he\u2019ll get even more recognition through Sunstorm instead of someone who\u2019s been around for thirty or forty years and has even more stable position within the music market?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: I\u2019m gonna share with you what\u2019s my idea about that. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s also Frontiers\u2019 or anybody else in the band, but I hope it\u2019s their opinion too (laughs), because I think it\u2019s for the good of the music. So as you know, I\u2019ve been working with the most of the greatest musicians from the past. And I\u2019m grateful for that and I\u2019m always excited to work with musicians that I had posters of on my wall when I was a kid. But having said that, we gotta look into the future \u2013 we gotta create something that\u2019s going to last. And yeah, that\u2019s the new generation in our genre. I mean, Ronnie\u2019s the same age as I, and we\u2019re starting to be the old guys (laughs). We\u2019re starting to be the second or even the third generation, coming from the 2000s, the 2010s and 2020s… So we gotta look into the future. And with all these great singers that we have now in the scene, in this new wave of great singers that we have, why should we always look back when we can push forward and try to build something that can last more than just two or three or four records…? Let\u2019s maybe try to build something that\u2019s gonna last like a career, like ten or fifteen records together… So obviously, if you get a guy from a bigger discography standpoint, maybe he\u2019s in his fifties or maybe sixties and it\u2019s fine, but there\u2019s always that gap of one or two generations and that\u2019s gonna impact the future of the band somehow. You know, a younger singer maybe wants to tour more, maybe still wants to invest into the band\u2019s future and his future… and with the older guys, I don\u2019t wanna say that they\u2019re stuck in their past, but obviously there\u2019s more like the passive income attitude and maybe they don\u2019t wanna tour that much and don\u2019t wanna spend too much time doing those things because they\u2019ve already been there. So at this stage of the band, we just wanna move on and look into the longer future than just one or two records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Very true, absolutely. You\u2019ve already been quoted as saying that \u201cSwan Song\u201d, which was the first single off the new Sunstorm album, is quite special for you. What are the other songs on Afterlife <\/em>inspired by in terms of both music and lyrics?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, you know… the whole album has been written during the first months of the pandemic. Everybody was going slower and going deeper \u2013 more to the core of feelings and life in general. And I was at a point where I was looking at the world and I was looking at myself and I was guessing what this whole situation would do to ourselves. And \u201cSwan Song\u201d, as I\u2019ve already said, it can be anybody\u2019s tale and anybody\u2019s words. And how many couples have you seen destroyed by either the distance or too much of closeness during the pandemic…? I\u2019ve seen friends of mine breaking up just because they couldn\u2019t stand each other for three months within four walls (laughs), or maybe because they were kept at a distance. And one of my favorite songs on Afterlife <\/em>and my favorite lyrics ever is actually \u201cStronger,\u201d out on a release day. \u201cStronger\u201d talks about how to be strong in a tough situation and how can you come out of such challenging times \u2013 such trying times \u2013 as a better person and better in everything you do. And with Afterlife<\/em>, we didn\u2019t expect the pandemic to last such a long time, so I was like, \u201cOkay, maybe when the record comes out, everything will be over and we\u2019ll see an \u2018afterlife\u2019 after that.\u201d But we\u2019re already here… still, there\u2019s hope. So the whole concept of the album is very true and very real, but also very hopeful and very positive. It\u2019s like, \u201cOkay, we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re facing, but that\u2019s nothing different than what happens in life.\u201d I mean, life can give you challenges and you have to adapt and change. And like Bruce Lee used to say, \u201cBe like water.\u201d We have to adapt and we have to change. And maybe we weren\u2019t trained and programmed to change all at the same time \u2013 because from one day to another, the whole world had to change and had to adapt. And the album talks about that in different aspects \u2013 it can be the spiritual aspects or the sentimental, or related to personal life… your heart, your mind, your soul. So it\u2019s taking the whole concept to a broader vision of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: And with the change of the lead singer in Sunstorm, did your approach to songwriting change? Did you try to tailor songs for Ronnie in a different way than you previously did for Joe Lynn Turner?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, actually no. I know that a lot of people would guess I would say yes, but it\u2019s definitely a no. We wrote the songs that we wanted to write. I knew that Ronnie would adapt and sing everything great, so I wouldn\u2019t have had to tame my songwriting when I have one of the best singers on the planet and I know that he could sing also the yellow pages (laughs) and make it sound like a masterpiece! (laughs) So I was like, \u201cLet\u2019s have even more fun!\u201d But I gotta say that with Joe Lynn, it was the same approach. You know, when you have this kind of singers, you can really go wider in your spectrum \u2013 it\u2019s not like, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s just a Blues singer, so we gotta stick to that concept.\u201d So I didn\u2019t tame anything in my songwriting, both with lyrics and vocal lines. I wanted Ronnie to shine, but I knew \u2013 and I know \u2013 that you can be the best singer in the world, but if you don\u2019t have the songs to sing and you don\u2019t have the right melodies, you will never shine. And my aim as a songwriter is always to write the best songs and not to write for the singer \u2013 it\u2019s about the best songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: In the case of both Joe Lynn Turner and Ronnie Romero, were their past works and influences \u2013 and I can\u2019t help thinking about a Rainbow connection right now \u2013 a point of reference for you in terms of writing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Yes and no. It\u2019s hard to say, because it\u2019s pretty evident that the natural element for Sunstorm on the last three records \u2013 when Simone and I got on board \u2013 became more into Deep Purple and more into Rainbow and more into that sort of Hard Rock that nobody does that much anymore instead of going into the Foreigner\/Journey\/Survivor camp, which probably the first albums were more like. And I guess there\u2019s a little Malmsteen here and there, a little Deep Purple here and there and a little Rainbow here and there, without going too much into one element or the other and still maintaining our trademark which I think is pretty evident now, since we\u2019ve done three albums with the same songwriting and arrangement team behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Obviously, Sunstorm we discussed is yet another showcase of your songwriting skills. And as we recently talked with Issa \u2013 talked behind your back, as girls do (laughs) \u2013 she said that she thinks writing with other songwriters is what keeps your approach this flexible and this universal. What kind of influence, if any, do all these collaborations have on your development as a songwriter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, I like both worlds. I like to write on my own and when I hear something, I like to put it down \u2018cause I have the vision… You know, I\u2019m not a writer for who it takes maybe months to write a song. I just hear something and I write a song, and I like that. But I also like it when you\u2019re writing with other songwriters because you don\u2019t know what\u2019s gonna happen. You know, it\u2019s like walking in the dark alone and walking in the dark with another person. Maybe that person has a different night vision and they can see doors that you don\u2019t see and they can see ways that you don\u2019t see, and you never know what\u2019s gonna happen. And I feel very grateful that I can write with other writers \u2013 either it can be Simone or the other writers that I wrote this Sunstorm album with, or ISSA, or other records. Obviously, there are albums that I don\u2019t wanna go out looking for ideas [for] because I wanna keep the trademark. I wanna keep what we need, like in Hardline, Edge Of Forever, JORN somehow also… But those bands and those albums have a trademark in something and if you\u2019re not in the band, you cannot get that from the outside. But I think Sunstorm will evolve into that for the next album, because we want to keep the sound and we see for the singles that it\u2019s always Simone and I… We don\u2019t see the reason for looking for songs with other songwriters, even if they\u2019re directed to sound like Sunstorm, when we can keep it in our camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Issa\u2019s also pointed out that you always try to adapt emotionally to the person you\u2019re writing for. Has it always been this way, or is it something that you had to learn along the way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: No, it\u2019s always been like that, because you know… emotionally, if I\u2019m gonna be a singer of the material, obviously I\u2019m gonna push myself into more of a personal theme, because I am the voice singing those words. But when I\u2019m writing for others, I always try to respect and make it truthful in the mouth and voice of somebody else. Like I wrote for Sunbomb \u2013 for Tracii Guns and Michael Sweet \u2013 and lyrically, that was my first, let\u2019s say, \u2018Christian Metal\u2019 album. And I had to make it right for Mike and everyone else, so I put myself into somebody else\u2019s shoes, which is a requirement that a songwriter has to have sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Definitely. You\u2019ve already mentioned 2020 being this really challenging year for everyone and there came your song \u201cPush Through\u201d recorded by Frontiers All Stars initiative. What kind of message did you want to send to the listeners?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: The message was to create a song that could be as positive and uplifting as possible. I mean, during the pandemic we\u2019ve seen covers all the time \u2013 covers, covers, covers… which is great, but nobody wrote a song and called sixty other artists to be together. So my aim was to create a message of unity \u2013 and you know, also send out a message and an image that musicians are not fighting with each other. We\u2019re friends and if you have the confidence to put yourself between those legacy singers of our genre… I mean, it\u2019s kind of cool to see female and male singers, new generation and old generation, shredders and more Blues-oriented guitarists… it\u2019s a melting pot of what Frontiers is, and we just wanted to keep that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. Looking back on 2020, I can\u2019t omit an album you told me was your lifetime achievement back in November. So knowing your history, I have to ask do you kind of feel you\u2019ve come full circle with your involvement in Jeff Scott Soto\u2019s solo album Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)<\/em> andJeff being involved in the first Edge Of Forever album alongside the late Marcel Jacob?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Yes, definitely. I mean, I\u2019ve been friends with Jeff for twenty years and every time we met \u2013 like, I don\u2019t know, probably fifty or sixty times over these years \u2013 we were always like, \u201cAh, we should do something together. We should do something together.\u201d So finally we did it and I guess all those years of kind of smelling each other from the distance put ourselves in the position energy-wise of going full speed when we started writing together. And that shows \u2013 I mean, the album is one of my best albums ever and I\u2019m super proud of it. And then we wrote for Spektra [a new Brazilian Melodic Hard Rock act consisting of the singer BJ and the drummer Edu Cominato of Tempestt, JSS solo band and SOTO, the guitarist Leo Mancini of Tempestt and JSS solo band, with the addition of Henrique Canale on bass] which is coming out this year. And now we\u2019re jumping into something else together (laughs), so we\u2019re always doing something, Jeff and I. He\u2019s very creative and I\u2019m very creative, so it\u2019s a very natural, great bond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. While being interview for Hardrock Haven, Jeff has pointed out to the fact that Wide Awake (In My Dreamland) <\/em>is musically a cross-section of different things he\u2019s done throughout his career and even his influences, like the Queen vibe on \u201cWithout You\u201d. Was working on this album and putting all these different things together also a learning experience for you as a songwriter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Totally. Obviously, working with a professional who\u2019s been there for almost forty years and who wrote such great songs is something you can only learn [from]. And that\u2019s why I\u2019m always excited because especially with Jeff, it\u2019s not just the voice. I mean, obviously we all know Jeff\u2019s voice and tone and everything, but the way he writes \u2013 man, it\u2019s so cool. I could praise him and his writing forever, because writing with him is like asking yourself, how can he write such cool, memorable things…? It\u2019s always memorable, it\u2019s always anthemic and it\u2019s always amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So that was 2020, and what 2021 holds in store for all of us is a new Hardline album. Guessing by the updates on social media, it\u2019s a wrap already, so is there anything you can actually reveal about this release?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: You\u2019re gonna love it \u2013 a hundred and ten per cent. It\u2019s our best record so far and it\u2019s been an exciting and amazing [experience]. I\u2019m so happy… I couldn\u2019t be happier. It\u2019s a step forward for the band and for me as a producer and as a songwriter. It\u2019s just great and we couldn\u2019t be happier about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: Among all the other projects you\u2019re into right now, are there any you\u2019d like to mention?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, this year\u2019s gonna be kind of interesting because there\u2019s lots of new albums that are coming out. There\u2019s Skills [formerly known as Escape Machine] featuring Renan Zonta [Electric Mob], Billy Sheehan [Mr. Big, Sons Of Apollo etc.], Brad Gillis [Night Ranger] and David Huff [Giant] is coming out. We\u2019re in a mixing mode and it\u2019s incredible \u2013 what a band! Then, I\u2019ve just finished The Grandmaster album, which is the debut of this band that we put together with Nando Fernandes, the incredible singer from Brazil, and Jens Ludwig from Edguy, so it\u2019s gonna be something. Then there\u2019s a new Giant album, and there\u2019s lots of other things. I guess being home and away from touring gave me even more time (laughs) to be creative, so it\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardrock Haven: So we\u2019re looking forward to all of it! And as we\u2019re running out of time at this point, is there anything you\u2019d like to add in the end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Del Vecchio: Well, thank you for interviewing me \u2013 and for the friendship that we have now for more than ten years, and all the support. And I\u2019m really looking forward to see Sunstorm being our fans\u2019 new favorite band and we\u2019re pushing forward and pulling all forces and strength and triggers to be the best we can \u2013 and to deliver the best music we can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit Sunstorm on Facebook<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska\u2014 Senior Columnist \u2014 There are few things  less stable in the world of music than the band line-ups. And if there are several who carry on through the years without personnel changes, […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":69306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[203],"class_list":{"0":"post-69304","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interviews-recent","8":"tag-interview"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69304","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=69304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}