20 Questions with Gabriele Pala - Interview

I recently realised that we haven't conducted any interviews in quite sometime, so I decided to do a series of interviews over the next few days. Today we have with us Gabriele Pala, former guitarist of Karnak and currently playing with Azure Agony. If you don't know who Gabriele is, than just click play on the video below and enjoy the interview. Trust me, you won't regret it. [http://www.gabrielepala.it]

Interview with Gabriele Pala

1. Hey Gabrielle! First off all thanks for being a sport and agreeing for the interview. Now lets start off with the questions. To begin tell us a bit about Karnak and your departure in 2010.

Thank you for gettin in touch with me! I'm really glad to answer your questions! Ahah good one...!! Well, I've been playing with Karnak for about 17 years. We are friends since forever, as far as I remember. Me and Stefano (Karnak drummer) were the only two fixed members of the band throughout the years. We always wanted to mix classical death metal stuff with progressive schizoid things. Lately in the years, however, the band returned back to its original pure brutal death metal style, which is actually more commercial than the ultra-progressive stuff we reached in the meanwhile. Then, life itself brought us on different points of view, as persons. We became different, during time... both musically and personally. So, at a certain point, it's correct to put a stop and think about something new. In the meanwhile I was starting to play with Azure Agony and develop a lot of stuff on my own, completely different from the direction that Karnak wanted. That's it.

2. There are different reasons why each one of us picked up the guitar in the first place, What was yours? and what, or rather who were your early influences who inspired you to reach where you are today?

I always loved music. I always loved writing my own stuff, and never really thought about being a strumentist. My grandfather was a music professor and a organ teacher. He gave me the first inputs when I was about 10 or even younger, I don't remember now :) So, I began playing keyboards. One day, I found an old guitar at home, an old unplayable wreck... then I picked it up, just as a game, and tried to play my music. During time my parents bought me some more decent instrument, seeing that music was a real passion. My father had a lot of vynils albums too: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and so on: he used to spend a lot of time with me listening to those bands. Then, one day I saw Jimi Hendrix and the spark ignited! One other big revolution in my life was the discovery of all the great metal bands: Iron Maiden and Slayer above all the others. Only later I got into the more advanced stuff like Holdsworth or Gambale... I think that my ear followed a gradual evolution. Now I listen to everything... really everything, from classical to crust and beyond.

3. This year you started playing Chapman Sticks! .. What got you into them and How do you find it so far?

I always dreamt about having one, since I've discovered it!! Now I had the chance some money available and bought one! What a big emotion when it arrived! It's the perfect mix between all instruments I play and like: a little bit guitar, a little bit bass, a little bit piano, a little bit drums... all compacted into one minimal object. Its sound is fantastic, never heard something similar, no YouTube video can give the real idea of its sound. I also like to have 6 octaves of extension, and have 10 fingers to use and have the full control of notes without a pick. I'm still in a learning phase... but I'm proceeding well: I'll record a video as soon as possible. This fall, I'm having the first concerts with my new avangard music duo (stick + electroacustic music) with Stefano Mattiussi, a good friend of mine and a great electronic composer.

4. Tell us a bit about your first band?

I began when I was 15 in a band called Fire Dreams. We used to play some Iron Maiden and Metallica covers. We had also some tunes written by us. Then, they fired me because I was too "metal" and wanted to play violent and complicated things... then I joined Karnak :D

5. Coming back to Karnak, I couldn't help but notice that the name of the band was changed a few times. What was the reason?

The first name was Subtraction, but one day we changed to Obscenity (I don't remember the reason at the moment). But, at that time (about 1997) there was another German band named Obscenity that was becoming pretty famous. So we changed to Karnak, because it sounds good and Stefano likes the ancient Egypt a lot. During the years, however, no lyrics was about Egypt :)

6. I've heard that you're also pretty good with the keyboards. Do you still play them?

Sure! I also have a real piano now, in my living room. I played synthesizers and guitars at once with Revoltons some years ago. They were really a good heavy metal band!! At the moment I'm playing keys only at home, but I like them a lot, expecially all those sci-fi effects that some synth are capable of. Furthermore, with a piano or a keyboard, it's very easy for me to write music because you can play melodies and harmonies at once quite effortless. Sure, also on guitar that is possible, but it requires a lot of more concentration on technique for me, instead of focusing on the actual composition.

 

7. Tell us a bit about your signature model guitar?

It's my pride! I found BassLab randomly on the web. I soon fell in love with it, even if most people say that they are...ugly, just because they are completely different from a traditional guitar. So I got in touch with Heiko Hoepfinger, BassLab inventor. He was so kind since the very beginning to follow me in all my requests, and thanks to him I could finally have my perfect instrument. Now it's available in the BassLab custom models and most of people recognize me because of the guitar rather than my face :D !! I also had the chance, this year, to attend at the MusikMesse in Frankfurt (the biggest instrument fair of the world) at the BassLab booth, so I finally met Heiko by person.
The instrument itself is incredible: 7 strings, one piece construction, completely hollow (even the neck)... so the evolution of neckthrough! The guitar is made of a special secret BassLab patented material (Heiko is a doctor in physics, so....). It's headless, with ETS hardware (tuning pegs are on the bridge like the Steinbergers, but you don't need the double ball strings: they are clamped on the end of the neck with endless screws). Fretboard is completely flat and neck is thick as a chunk! 2 Seymour Duncan pickups (Custom + Jazz), and a kill switch embedded in the volume pot. What else? Yeah... my signature just below the bridge and on the top back of the neck!
Its sound is unbelievable: a mix of an archtop and a solid body... but more full, rich and precise. Note attack and definition is from another planet.

8. I believe you are currently playing with Azure Agony. Tell us a bit about the band and your last album Beyond belief .

Yes I'm currently playing with them. The band was born in 2006, Marco (keyboardist) asked me to join in. I gladly accepted, at first just for helping him out with a gig. Then I discovered a great band. We wrote Beyond Belief quite quickly, and decided to not hire a singer because we didn't find anybody good enough for the task. Our big luck is have met Luigi Stefanini, a producer in our area, but very famous in the progressive metal world in Europe. He worked with Labyrinth, Stratovarious, Deep Purple and Rolling Stones members, just to a name a few. We assigned to him the mixing and mastering of Beyond Belief, and the result was incredible: everything became perfect and shining! Few months later we were contacted by SG Records and signed the deal. There was no need to send tons of CDs around before getting a contract. We got about 40 reviews so far, all positive!! I believe that Azure Agony is an amazing band, I'm very proud of them! We are now finishing to write the second album (this time with vocals, we found the right person in the meanwhile) and about to contact mr. Stefanini for recording the second chapter!

9. I'm excited to know a little more about "The GoldenSeed" Project, Tell us a bit about that.

Thank you for your interest about that!! Goldenseed is my one-mand-band, in which I deviate everything not feasible by human beings :) I've been always passionate about technology (which is actually my daily job), and I always hated all that tricks that in the modern studio recordings are used to push a human performance to sheer perfection... so why not using directly machines and exaggerate beyond the limit?? That is the main purpose of Goldenseed. I normally program drums, bass and keyboards (to the most possible high degree of complexity), then play guitars and sing. I made two albums so far: Creatures of the Sea, dated back in 1999, that covers the more black metal and symphonic part of my musical vision (vocals are in growl) and Collector Of Illusions (2006) in which I put clean vocals (also experimenting a lot with them) and moved towards a more prog-thrash-fusion approach. I admin that both works are really overcomplicated and perhaps difficult to understand for most people, but they actually represent my soul at its most. If you are interested both CDs are available at CDBaby on Goldenseed page.

10. You were also involved with Revoltons. How was it like playing the guitar and keyboards for them?

It was really funny!! First of all I had to study what to play (and when) since I have only two hands and guitar and keyboards at once shoud require 4... ahahah! I joined to replace their missing keyboardist, who left the band to play with Raintime, another great band of my area. The main helpful thing was the sustain pedal of my synthesizer!! With that I could held down a chord on keys while playing the guitar. When there was a significant keyboard theme, I tried to play it one-handed and leave a spare hand to just fret notes on guitar without picking... then I had a MIDI pedal to control both keys and guitar sound changes.... well, I was going out mad!!! But Revoltons was a great band, with a great singer and intense and beautiful melodies to play. I suggest everybody to pick their last album "The Underwater Bells".. a great Heavy Metal masterpiece. Since I live quite far from them however, we decided to quit this experience... they needed a closer and more available person than me.

11. Tell us a bit about your last show "Festival dell'Inutilita' part III" in Italy earlier this year. How do you find playing live?

That festival was very interesting! Even if the name is quite strange (in English will sound like "Festival Of The Unuseful Things" :D), is a very well known event in my area which covers the most avantgardistic aspects of music. I played there with the electroacustic duo that I mentioned before in the Chapman Stick question... so no bands, just me with the 8 string guitar and Stefano Mattiussi on the electronic part! I believe a lot in that kind of things... music is a manifestation of culture and human progression and we, as musicians and composers, must use music to improve people and leverage their cultural level by expanding their tastes and ear sensibility. I really love to push compositions beyond the boundaries for this reason. So, live appearances are important for that... in this period, where everything is available for download (even not legally) the only thing that saves music is playing live! Even if it's not easy (because of the daily job and the area where I live) I always try to play live, and it's always a big emotion, even if more than 20 years passed from the first concert!!

12. Besides music, you are also interested in designing websites. You have a great design for your site, have you created it yourself? 

Thank you!! Yes I'm interested in everything that is computer-related... somebody say that I'm the classic NERD :D ahahah.... I designed the website myself and I also sometimes do works for others... so if there is somebody interested who likes my style, please do not hesitate to contact me! Furthermore I use my site to experiment with the latest programming technologies, I constantly work on it (usually once a year I completely change the graphics, while improving contents). I'm going to put some articles in the next future in which I explain a lot of things about my feeling of music, so check it back often!

13. Enchant us a little more about your gear! Guitars, effects, picks, amps , what would we find if we were to walk in to your studio?

Guitars: I have my BassLab signature model 7 strings (which we have seen before) and an Agile Intrepid PRO 828 8 string guitar. You see both of them in my videos on youtube. The Chapman Stick, 12 strings version in rosewood. I sold my latest 6 strings (an Ibanez RG) about ten years ago.... since then, never less than 7 strings!
Keyboards: a Yamaha CS1x synthesizer... really unique sounds, even if it's very old and outdated. A piano.
My main guitar rig is composed of a Genz-Benz El Diablo 100 head... quite unusual, but follows the rest of my strange gear :) ...I really like its sound, and it's also very noiseless (also when pushed to maximum gain), which is unbelievable for a valve head. It's plugged directly in a Peavey 4x12 enclosure with nothing in between. I use a Line6 POD XT Live between the guitar and the amp as a pedalboard: I do not use its distortions or simulations, just the stompboxes and the volume/wah pedal.
I'm very precise about picks: only Gator Dunlop USA 2mm (the dark grey ones with the crocodile). No other kind of pick, absoultely.
My personal studio is very minimal. I mainly use my computer (my DAW is Reaper) with two Yamaha NS-10 monitors and some outboard. I prefer to have less things but know them in depth.

14. Do you also perform studio session recordings? how has it treated you so far?

Yes I do! Mostly I play guitar solos in other bands recordings. The last one was with Gone In April, a symphonic metal band from Knoxville, TN, USA. I must thank Chicco Parisi Lalonde (former Sadist bass player) for involving me in this project. I played two solos for their first upcoming album, that was recorded at the Wavetransform studio of Yanic Bercier (former Quo Vadis drummer), and finally mastered at the legendary Morrisound Recording, a place that everybody listening to classic death metal should know ;) It's a very big honor for me to be chosen for this appearances, there are tons and tons of good players around... and if they call me instead of somebody else... well I'm so excited!
I'm also in contact with different studios in my area and work also with them, when there is the possibility.

15. Without thinking for a second if you had to name your favourite guitar player, who would it be?

It's a big challenge between Allan Holdsworth and Mike Davis (Nocturnus). Beside Allan, I don't like so much all the usual names that you normally read everywhere. The modern "shred wave" is having a lot of incredible guys from a technique standpoint, but they all miss something undefinded.... they all play solos, and very few rhythm parts, and their tunes sound all almost identical to me. The last greatest guys, for me, are Shawn Lane and Jason Becker.

16. How does a normal day in the life of "Gabriele Pala" go?

Well.... about 12 hours per day in front of a computer :S It's a strict daily schedule... in a 24-hours time span I must put: work, housekeeping (I'm living alone since 5 years), studying guitar/piano and stick, write music, manage all my internet contacts... maybe there is some time left for sleeping, but not always :S Sometimes it's stressing, but I like it... all this keeps me alive.

17. Your 5 most favourite movies?

Alien above all!! Then, Star Wars (all 6 movies), Peter Jackson's Braindead, the first Star Trek movie and the first Rambo.

18. Which is the one place where you've always wanted to perform?

Absolutely New York. I've been there in 2002 (not playing), but I would really like to play there one day. But, at the end, every place is good, if I can play my music and express myself. Also a big theater stage with perfect audio and lights is one of my dreams, with all people listening close to every nuance of my playing.

19. You are pretty active on facebook and myspace! how do you find surfing these social networking sites and meeting fellow guitar players?

It's a revolution!! Expecially facebook. MySpace went really bad in this last period. I can meet and talk to all my favorite musicians... it's sci-fi being realized for me! I've grown up when a band needed to send TAPES around, there was paper fanzines, no downloads, no possibility of meeting anybody... having an autograph at a concert was a blessing. Today I open up Facebook and talk to... I don't know... Patrick Mameli of Pestilence, Mike Browning of Nocturnus, Kelly Shaefer of Atheist (I will forever be a death metal guy... sorry :D ). Furthermore, I can share my stuff around, without having anybody between me and the public that decides if my music is good or not. I think this freedom will foster quality and will open the doors to new kind of music from all over the planet! I'm so excited about that!!

20. Any plans for the future?

I'm about to appear on the 4th volume of Shredguy Record's compilation "Shredding Across The World". Thanks to Luigi Coppo I can get in touch with Michael McDowell, the Shredguy boss, and send him some tunes of mine. Mr. McDowell is a really great guy, he is pushing a lot of new great guitar players (check the latest Adrian English album). I'm so happy to be part of that. I'm currently finishing to write a complete album on my own. I will send to McDowell once finished, let's see what he will think about. As usual it will be something completely original and different from the current shred stuff, but it will have a high level guitar content!!!
Finally I would like to thank you for this interview... it was very funny to answer (perhaps one of the longest I did so far), I TRUELY appreciated the focused questions. Normally people have a common interview for everybody and not always the questions fit the case. So again, thank you! And thanks also to everybody who wanted to read everything till the end! You rule!!

That puts this interview to an end. Special thanks to gabriele for being a sport and giving us an interview.And all the best for the next edition of "Shredding Across The World"

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