Todd talks to Teo Bollicini from Italian metalcore act Upon The Dawning.
ToddStar: Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule for The Rockpit.
Teo: Thank you guys for giving us this chance!
ToddStar: If it is okay, I would love to jump right into discussing your newest song, “Of Human Action.” I find myself keeping it in my normal rotation of songs I am listening to ever since I first heard it. What can you briefly tell us about that song, that most people may not know on the surface?
Teo: Thank you, it’s always awesome to know that people love our music. “Of Human Action” is basically a song about friendship/brotherhood. We love to write about this kind of thing. We really believe in our friendship and the message we’d like to share is that friends are everything and you can face anything with them. We have a few other songs about friendship, and we decided to repeat the verse “stay close to all your friends” also in another song. That verse means a lot to us.
ToddStar: How do you see the rest of the album you are preparing sounding as compared to the lead song?
Teo: The album is quite varied; we have a few songs that sound like “Of Human Action.” A couple of songs are less heavy and the others are definitely heavier than “Of Human Action.” We worked very hard to write this album, we wanted to do something that sounds fresh and we’re so proud of the way it sounds! Can’t wait for you to hear it!
ToddStar: What types of writing, production, and studio experiences that you learned while making previous discs did you know you wanted to carry over to this disc? Which did you know to scrap and move on?
Teo: Actually this is our first album we’ve done with a producer and we’re glad we had the ability to record it in the US. We wrote the entire album here in Italy, and then we re-worked a few songs and recorded the album with our producer Drew Fulk (For All Those Sleeping, At The Skylines…). Working with a producer can be a very cool experience especially when you feel in tune with this person, and you can learn so many new things about composing and recording.
ToddStar: Regarding the new album you are recording, were any of the songs easier to write than others? You often hear about an artist that sat down to write a song and that essentially the song wrote itself. Were any of the songs difficult to get out? If so, which?
Teo: The writing process can be very stressful sometimes. We usually work on a song till we’re 100% convinced, which means that we took a very long time to write some of the new songs. A few songs came up immediately in a night though. It always depends on the mood you are when you write music. Sometimes you’re very inspired, sometimes not at all ha-ha.
ToddStar: Having been at this for six years, do you feel and hear the growth in this band?
Teo: Three of us have been in the band since the beginning, so yeah, I think we’ve definitely felt the growth over the years. We’re still working on it though because you’ll never stop growing as a band, you always have something that can be better.
ToddStar: If you had to describe the sound of Upon This Dawning to someone who had never heard of you, how would you do that?
Teo: 6 Italian guys playing awesome heavy music ha-ha.
ToddStar: You have toured extensively – when will the United States get a taste of what Upon This Dawning can do live? Are there any other countries you would like to tour and make aware of the band?
Teo: We’re planning to tour the states this fall and we definitely can’t wait for that! It’s very rare for an Italian band to sign with an American label and tour the states. We’re super stoked about that. We’d love the opportunity to tour Australia and Japan.
ToddStar: When performing live, do you find that you mix the material evenly from your various releases, or do you tend to play more of the newer material? Are there any songs from your earlier releases that you feel will always be a part of your live show?
Teo: We’re not going to play our old songs live, we had a different lineup with different singers when we wrote those songs so they don’t sound like what we are right now. This new album is like a new beginning for us so we’ll be playing only the new songs. I think “Of Human Action” could be one of the songs that will always be a part of the show. The album is full of hits though! Ha-ha.
ToddStar: If you had to pick possible pairings for an ideal tour, what other bands would you like to see Upon This Dawning out on the road with?
Teo: Well, one of our favorite bands is definitely Motionless In White! It’d be awesome to share the stage with them. Other bands we’d like to tour with are We Came As Romans, Sleeping With Sirens, The Word Alive, Of Mice & Men… they all seem to be very nice people.
ToddStar: What is next for Upon This Dawning? Is there going to be a big tour cycle surrounding the new album?
Teo: As we said before, we’re planning to tour the states this fall to support our album. We really can’t wait for that and we really hope to play as much as possible over there and meet a lot of people! We love to hang out and party with our fans.
ToddStar: Do you find any of the other arts affect your music or the way you approach writing, recording, or playing live with Upon This Dawning?
Teo: We find a lot of inspiration for our lyrics in our friendships and in our personal life experiences. We also listen to a lot of music genres to compose something that sounds fresh and original.
ToddStar: Are there any bands that are currently releasing music or touring that influence you personally or professionally? What is the last CD/mp3 album you listened to?
Teo: Lately we’ve been listening to a lot of different music, not only our scene music. We listen to a lot of hip hop, 80’s rock and also country music 🙂 ha-ha. We’re waiting for all the new albums that are coming out this summer though. Pretty excited for the new Motionless In White album.
ToddStar: If there were one piece of music in the history of time that you wish you had written, what would it be and why?
Teo: The most fascinating music period is obviously the 80’s. It’s pretty difficult to choose a song we wish we had written though, because we all have different music backgrounds so I think everyone would answer this question with a different song ha-ha.
ToddStar: What is the meaning of life?
Teo: Life is having a dream and fighting as much as you can to make it come true. Never stop dreaming because dreams keep you alive.
ToddStar: Other than making sure everyone checks out your website and facebook, are there any other current projects or sites you would like to promote?
Teo: Sure, you can follow us on Twitter & Instagram @UponThisDawning. Check out also our personal twitter & instagram accounts. There’s some very fun stuff. Keep spreading the word about us and tell all your friends to become our Facebook fans 😉
ToddStar: Thanks again for taking the time and we look forward to 2012 and more Upon This Dawning!!!
Teo: Thank you so much for this interview and thanks to all of our awesome fans that make it happen! Can’t wait to see all of your pretty faces on tour! Love y’all!