Italy at the moment seems to be a hotbed of rock and metal. So, I went to see Italian Band The LoveCrave in London a wee while back, and they was awesome. They are all totally cool people, that had the time to stop and talk with the fans after the show. The opportunity has now arisen to interview Francesca of the band. So here goes!
Hi Francesca, The LoveCrave has been a fave band of mine for a while now, and it was a real honour to see you guys live. How did the tour go in general, and how have you been received?
Hallo Dave and thank you so much for coming to our show in London! The tour has been kind of strange actually. We played in clubs with a small audience and in clubs that were filled with people…every night the bet was “full or empty?”. We actually expected something strange since the new album was not out yet, promotion had just started and we weren’t around since 2008.
Can you introduce us to the members in the band, and have they been in any past musical projects?
Sure, Tank Palamara is the guitarrist and producer, Simon Dredo is the bass player, Bob Machine is the drummer and I sing. I’ve been playing in all projects with Tank since 1992 when we met in Milan. We founded a new punk band called The Flu, an electronic project called Movies and then The LoveCrave. Before ‘92 I lived in Padova where Simon and Bob live. I played with Simon in a band called Mystery, we were really young but to tell you the truth the demo we recorded still sounds great…don’t ask me how we could do that without experince! Just luck I guess
Regards The Lovecrave itself, how and when was the band conceived?
It was the end of 2004 when all the contracts that me and Tank had signed with Sony expired. We were finally free again! So we started again to write music, just what we liked without any other head between us and the songs. We came up with a few good songs just like “Little Suicide”, “Can You Hear me?” and “The Angel And The Rain” so we called the other guys to form a band.
What made you Francesca go into the music business and what are your influences?
I don’t remember when I decided to try in the business, all I remember is when I first heard rock for the first time. I was about 13 and I listen a KISS song in a classmate’s walkman. Don’t ask me how I felt because I can’t describe it. I suddenly knew what I wanted to do. Then I started writing songs, and after a while I started to sing.
I totally adore your debut release 'The Angel and the Rain', and 'Soul Saliva' is equally as awesome. Where did you record 'Soul Saliva' and what was the studio experience like?
We used 3 studios for this album. Our big problem is that we are never happy with the recordings. If a work is not perfect we’d rather wait then release it with mistakes or errors. For a couple of years we worked at the Pakamada studio, just for the pre production and when we had time, with no rush. We started writing new material and doing the arrangements. Max Cassan, a great electronic producer, joined us in 2009. In December 2009 we went to the Remastered Studio in Vicenza to record the band. We were supposed to mix there but we weren’t happy with the result so we went to the Musicay Studio in Milan for all Jenuary and half February 2010 to finish the work. Fortunately this last studio was for free cause we had finished the money!
For those who maybe unfamiliar with your music, how would you describe it?
We are basically a rock band who loves to write songs. We just meet with an acoustic guitar and jam, this is how most of our songs come up to our brains. When it comes the time to arrange our music though we are not so simple anymore. We like to search for new sounds, explore the styles, find different elements from different times…we like to mix things. This is why our sound is getting more original year after year.
Of the two albums combined, what would you consider to be your favourite tracks on these two cds?
The other guys don’t agree with me but I would pick “Little Suicide” and “Outsider”.
And how has the latest album been received by the media and the music buying public?
I can only tell you something about the first media reactions which are all really good. We yet don’t know if the people out there will be so great to buy our album. We picked some sites where it has already been free downloaded for 400 times… we are really upset for this but I guess that this is how it goes nowadays.
Are you and the band full time in the music profession, or do you still need day jobs to pay those daily household bills?
I almost answered in the previous question. Music is for free in most of the people’s head. And when something is for free you can’t even think of making a job out of it. We all have jobs during the day… of course we are not hired in companies or anything cause we couldn’t tour. We just invent our lives day by day…not easy.
I understand that you are also a Mother. How do you combine being a Mom and being a singer in a top rock band?
Sometimes it’s hard. The moment before I am playing with my kid on the floor and the moment after I am on the phone with a radio or answering to emails at the pc. My whole day goes like this. Tours are the hardest part, I really hope to bring my baby with me in the next future.
When you are chilling out and relaxing, who or what do you listen to?
My favourite relaxing cd is the Blade Runner Soundtrack. I could listen to it 10 times in a row. I also have some classical music cds. I actually play ACDC or Iron Maiden more often but it happens that I turn up the volume with some classical stuff.
And do you have time for any hobbies :)
My biggest hobby was writing, I have so many ideas but no time to write unfortunately at the moment.
And if you was given the choice, who would you/the band like to tour with?
I would love to tour with Linkin Park, 30 Seconds to Mars, Muse…any band? No I guess I would pick Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Def Leppard…
Finally, do you know if there are any further plans to tour the UK?
Not at the moment but it might happen that we will be booked at some festivals, we’ll let you know.
Many thanks Francesca, it has been a real pleasure to first meet you and the band in person and secondly, to conduct this interview with you. Is there anything you would like to say to the visitors of this website?
Well first of all let me say thanks to you for your support and for being such a nice person. We had so much fun in London…as always! And to all your readers I would like to invite them to check our sites and write us, we are really a big family, you won’t find a stucked up group of musicians but just friends. So come and visit us!!! Rock on everybody!!!
Check The Lovecrave out at www.myspace.com/thelovecrave. They are good!
Dave Smith (Jun 20, 2010)