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I guess that there are a lot music fans who haven't heard of Italian guitarist Simone Fiorletta so far, even if he has 4 solo albums released beside his work with Moonlight Comedy. More then enough reasons to learn a bit more about the Italian guitarist!
With When Reality Is Nothing you have your 4th solo album out. Why this title? Any specific event which inspired you?
You know when, listening to tracks you're particularly linked to, and while listening to them you start travelling through memories or unexplored places? Well, that's it! I exactly mean this kind of sensation, the power of music to carry you above the everyday reality...
With Thanx and My Brother you have two songs which are about your family. How important is your family for you? How important have they been for your career?
I can say that everything I built and everything I will do about music has been done and still will be done thanks to my perseverance and the fact that I do my best every single day to go on. Family is very important to me, I get on very well with my relatives and, about my career, I sincerely thank them because they never hindered my choice to go on with music, not even when I was younger.
As guest some of your Moonlight Comedy mates appeared on your new album, how came?
I asked Armando Pizzuti (bass) and Valerio D'Anna (synth), to participate in this project as guests, because before sharing the stage with them in my band, we are very good friends, so it always is a pleasure to involve them in my projects.
You worked with Andrea de Paoli and as far as I know not for the first time... How did you get together?
I've been a great follower of Labyrinth, De Paoli's band, since 1997, and after publishing my second solo work Parallel Worlds, I contacted Andrea told him listen to my music. After obtaining his approval, I suggested that we should work together on a disc, and that's how My Secret Diary came about, followed by When Reality Is Nothing.
Please tell us a bit about Marco Aiello and Matteo Raggi!
Marco and Matteo are two guys who come from my home town. I met them because they were fans of my band Moonlight Comedy. Once I heard them playing in several occasions I decided that they should join in on my album, because I think they're very skilled. In particular Marco Aiello is a great drummer, although he's very young.
I suppose that writing songs for your solo albums differ from the way Moonlight Comedy songs came to life. So, how do you work? Have some inspiration and let it work its way?
I find it is very different, both in the recording studio and on stage. For example, when M.C. and I are composing, we close ourselves in the rehearsal room, and each one of us suggests some riffs or ideas on which we work on together. Most times it is my drummer Andrea Scala and I that work on the musical aspect, and then the track is finally arranged by us all, together. So this is very different from my solo albums, that I compose entirely by myself, alone in my study. During the recording and mixing phases, with M.C. each one of us carefully works on his part under the supervision of the rest of the group; in my solo works, instead, it's me only that oversees every phase in the making of the album, attentively listening and valuating that everything goes the right way. Even more with When Reality Is Nothing I also am my own sound technician, meaning that, with the only exception of the drums, recorded by Sandro Assante at the BlabLab, I recorded all the other instruments in my own studio, personally working also on the mixing and mastering. So with no hesitation I can say that working as a soloist is much harder than working with a band.
To me it seems that you focus more on the songs / melody and not on showing off your technical skills... Don't get me wrong, the technical side shows through at every song. Intentionally going that way?
It is the way I write, my style: I don't program anything, it is just my soul that talks.
Which guitarists influenced you? And which bands / artists do you enjoy these days?
First of all, Satriani, Steve Vai, Neil Zaza. Talking about bands, I really enjoy James Labrie's solo project, Symphony X, Vanden Plas and many others...
You have your own studio and you are involved in a music school... Do you enjoy to share the experience of playing / teaching?
I personally love music in all of its sides, as on stage, also in the music school, from the recording studio to recording bands. I am a very patient person, and also because of this I enjoy teaching... It's very satisfying to see youngsters who learn to play guitar thanks to my lessons. Obviously, my main priority is to go on with my recording projects, followed by the rest.
Beside Moonlight Comedy, are you involved in some other project? Or have some guest appearance?
I am often contacted by bands as a guest, making solos or something similar. Besides Moonlight Comedy, with which we're concluding our new album, I am currently working also on another prog metal disc, shortly I'll be able to tell you more about that!
Talking about Moonlight Comedy... Seems it's time for another album... Can you already tell us something about it?
As I previously mentioned, we're actually concluding the last track, so we probably start the records before the end of this year, so to publish the work in 2010.
What about playing live... Will we see Moonlight Comedy or your solo band live in 2010?
We'll see... I'll leave this matter pending, because although we have a few proposals, I prefer not to talk about them until they're confirmed.
What's on your schedule next?
To finish the new album with Moonlight Comedy, to work on the new prog metal project that I already mentioned about, to go on with my music school and my recording studio, while, little by little I am also writing a guitar tutor.
It looks like Simone Fiorletta is pretty busy, that music really is his life - in many ways. Keep your ears and eyes open and check out the album if you haven't done yet!
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