Prowlers
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Interviews
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78768
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Topic: Prowlers
Posted By: toroddfuglesteg
Subject: Prowlers
Date Posted: June 02 2011 at 13:28
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Prowlers was an Italian prog rock band. this is a short story of our band and our music. thirteen magic year.... In 1985 Laura Mombrini (vocals), Gianni Radici (Guitars) and Roberto Biglioli (drums) met Fabio Dehň (bass) and Alfio Costa (Keyboards) and took the decision to play Great Music !........ After a long break filled with other bands and projects, Prowlers has returned again with a new album. I got in touch with Alfio for the Prowlers story. ################################################################################
Your
biography has been covered in your ProgArchives profile so let's
bypass the biography details. But why did you choose that name and
which bands were you influenced by ?
On
1985 we’re great fans of hard rock and blues bands like Led
Zeppelin, Free, Yardbirds, Cream and some psychedelic monsters like
Pink Floyd, Syd Barret, and Jefferson Airplane. We think in that
music we’ve found our first models and inspirations. The name
Prowlers was chosen by Alfio and Roberto (the first drummer of the
band) one night in a Heavy Metal Pub and was inspired by “Prowler”
an Iron Maiden’s track… maybe we were drunk that night….
How was the music scene in your local area when you started ? It
was a very different scene here, when we started on 1985. Many chance
to play live music (original music and not only cover !!!) in many
places like cities festivals, private parties, music halls, and pubs.
People was very interested in music and especially in original music.
In that period we often play a mix between cover by Led Zep, Clapton,
Doors and our first original songs.  Over to your three first albums. Your debut album was Morgana from 1994. Please tell us more about this album. Oh
… We regret for the sound quality of that album! Morgana ‘s
tracks was good, but we recorded all the album with an old “8
tracks recorder” by Tascam and it had many problems!!!!. Anyway, we
start recording Morgana on 1991 like a demo tape (!!!) for our
friends and fans to sell in our concerts and live performances. We’ve
self produced 300 copies like demo-cassettes and on 1993 we sold all
the demo- cassettes in our concerts. One of these copies has finished
in the hands of a great man and a great friends of Prowlers: Mauro
Moroni of Mellow Records, one of the most important Italian prog
labels. Mauro called the band after some days and take us a
chance to print the Morgana demo as our first official album. So it
was done. The music of Morgana is a mix between psychedelic rock,
hard rock and progressive rock, with some classical influences. The
sound quality was no good, but we think that was our most “honest
album”….. the album was sold out and today it’s very difficult
to find one copy for sale.  Your second album was Mother & Fairy from 1995. Please tell us more about this album. As
Morgana, Mother and Fairy, our double album, was conceived as two
demo tapes. At that time we was very inspired by fantasy books themes
and we wrote many tracks about fairy, kings, witches, gnomes etc …
too many !!!! J
… so
in the end, on 1994, we had about 25 songs composed and arranged and
we had recorded two demo tapes to send to Mr Moroni at Mellow
Records, to chose some tracks for our second album. Mauro was very
enthusiastic about our works and he propose to the band to release a
double album with all the entire material of the two demos. We wasn’t
agree his decision, ‘cause we was just a little italian prog band
and a double album wasn’t a good commercial idea for us…. We’re
not Pink Floyd !!!! In the end Alfio Costa (composer and
keyboardist)and Giovanni Vezzoli (drummer) went to Sanremo in
the Mellow Records Studios with mr Ciro Perrino (a great and famous
italian musician of progressive rock) to get a new mix of the two
albums. The music of that works was more progressive than Morgana’s
music. Many long tracks and change of time and atmospheres with the
fantastic female voice of Laura Mombrini were the characteristic of
“Mother and Fairy”. Artwork and cover (painting by Alfio’s
mother) was superb. The band in that period had two guitarists:
Flavio Costa (just seventeen, the young Alfio’s brother) was the
second guitar of Prowlers.  Your third album was Sweet Metamorfosi from 1997. Please tell us more about this album. On
1995 Alfio and Stefano Piazzi (guitarist) start to compose the new
album: a concept album. They wrote some ideas for the music and Alfio
some new lyrics for some new song. After some months Stefano left the
band ‘cause some personal trouble. So Alfio, Laura, Flavio and
Giovanni, with the new bassist Alan Ghirardelli, start to work
together the new album. After one year we went to a professional
studio (finally!!!!), the Sonica Studios of mr Marco Olivotto to
release a track for the progressive Italian tribute by Mellow called
“Zarathustra’s Revenge” and to produce our new album: Sweet
Metamorfosi. That was a great experience for us!!! Marco’s a
great guy and an excellent sound engineer. We‘ve worked very well
together and in the end we’ve realized our masterpiece: Sweet
Metamorfosi. The music of that album is a fantastic combination
between our first influences and our psychedelic and prog sounds.
Arrangements, sounds, melodies, was simply perfect! In the end we’ve
released a 67 minutes long prog rock suite!!!! We were many
satisfied, but Alan left the band just some weeks after, out of the
studio… something wasn’t so good…. Anyway, Sweet Metamorfosi
was a great success and was sold out within’ some time and we start
to play live our new album with another young bassist, mr Roberto
Aiolfi….
And then the band split up and it seems like Prowlers was history. Your first three albums is very difficult to find too. Why did you split up, what were you up to during these 13 years and why did you come back again ? After
our first live performances to support the new album, Laura and
Giovanni told us that they wasn’t so happy to continue to play
progressive music. Today, we think they was simply tired. We’ve
started to work to Sweet Metamorfosi on 1995 and released it two
years after on 1997. On 1998 we went to play live a 67 minutes long
suite, but maybe we’d must take a little break ….. So they left
the band and Alfio, Flavio and Roberto take the decision that
Prowlers without Giovanni and Laura wasn’t the same band, so born
Tilion.
Prowlers
is, before all, a group of Great Friends. In this 13 years we have
talking many times to come back together to play our music. Alfio,
Stefano and Laura released a track for the King Crimson Tribute
released by Mellow on 2003, Alfio play live some gigs with Reoplano
big band, the blues band of Giovanni Vezzoli. And yes, Flavio, Alfio
and Bobo come together on 1998 in a new, important prog band called
Tilion. On 2008 after the Alfio’s marriage party, Flavio, Giovanni,
Alfio and Laura taken the decision to come back together to release a
new album. We talk about it with Roberto and Stefano, and they agree
our decision…. But just for an album….(?)  Your brand new album is named Sogni in una goccia di Cristallo. Please tell us more about this album. Sogni
in una goccia di Cristallo was composed by Alfio and Laura on 2009.
It’s a concept album inspired by Laura’s dreams. Thanks to the
new digital technology, we recorded and mixed the album in the TL
studios, the new Alfio’s home recording studio. The music is
another step more “original” and it’s the worthy successor of
Sweet Metamorfosi. Entirely sung in Italian the album is full of all
our influences and sound’s really f**king great, thanks to
legendary instruments like Hammond organ, Mellotron, Minimoog etc.
We’re really proud of this new album and we’re sure that our fans
will be satisfied! For the release we’ve called Mr Moroni and his
label Mellow Records to continue our friendship and to celebrate 17
years of collaborations. As all the Prowlers’ albums, also for
Sogni in una goccia di cristallo, the cover is still painted by Mrs.
Mariella Marino (Alfio’s mother).
For
those of us unknown with your music; how would you describe you music
and which bands would you compare yourself with ?
Our
music is simply the music of our dreams. Psychedelic, Folk,
progressive rock….? We think that it’s just a mix of our
experience from blues to classical music. We play honest music,
‘cause we think we haven’t a specified model to follow. We don’t
like to resume the glory of the past of the prog rock…. We would to
walk in the future of the rock music…..
You
are involved in a serious of bands, including Daal. Where does
Prowlers fit into your life, music and plans for this year and the
next years ?
Prowlers
isn’t just a rock band. Prowlers it was my life, my friends, my
family for many years and it’s still today! My brother Flavio, my
great friends Giovanni, Laura, Stefano and Roberto are parts of my
life. We starting Prowlers on 1985 … 26 years ago!!... so you can
understand what I’m happy to be here again today to talk with you
about a new album of Prowlers. All the other projects are very
important for me, but Prowlers…. Is really my life.
We
haven’t so many plans to play live our music, ‘cause the musical
scenes here in Italy is very different from 13 years ago. We’de
like to come back together to play our music live….. and we hope
so….
To
wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this
interview ?
I
thank you and http://progarchives.com/" rel="nofollow -
for this interview. I hope all the good and unknown music, not just
progressive rock, could have always a chance in the music history ….
It will mean that we’re still free… Thank you to Alfio for this interview Their PA profile is http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1217" rel="nofollow - and their homepage's http://www.myspace.com/prowlersprog" rel="nofollow - |
Replies:
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: June 03 2011 at 15:29
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Great so see you all back, Alfio. The new album looks great, hope to hear it. I only have Mother and Fairy but I enjoy it very much.
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Posted By: ProwlersKeys
Date Posted: October 15 2014 at 15:28
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Ok Guys! This is our FB page: https://www.facebook.com/PROWLERSPROG You can find all the news about our band! I hope someone can also refresh our page in progarchives!  Many thanks! Alfio Costa |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: December 06 2014 at 10:45
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Ciao Alfio....I updated your Bio just briefly at the end, I don't have time to write an actual one. If you want to send me a new band bio in English I'd be happy to post it. I updated your band photo, the weblink to your Bandcamp, and added 3 new videos. ------------- |
Posted By: ProwlersKeys
Date Posted: December 06 2014 at 12:05
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Many Many thanks!
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Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: December 06 2014 at 18:28
Most welcome  ------------- |