Haemophagus Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
We're doing fine. Just returned from our gigs at Inferno fest (Oslo) and IQBAL squat (Bologna). They were both real good in different ways and the people and friends who helped us out were just awesome. Our split 7" with turkish deathgrinders SUBJUGATION has just been released, another split 7" with MAUSOLEUM (USA) is in the works and all songs for our third full-length album have been completed. So, we're waiting to be all in the same town at the same time to rehearse. Same old problem with Haemophagus!

2.Recently you where a part of a split, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
We put two new tracks on the aforementioned split. The first one is called "Hibernated World", it's a mid-tempo number with our friend Sandro (E.T.T.G.S., ex UNDEAD CREEP and OMEGA) joining in on backing vocals. Then we have "Monsters in the Park", a thrash-grind-blues tune actually written no less than 5 or 6 years ago. We always wanted to put this particular one on record as we always play it live and enjoy it a lot. Both songs were recorded during the sessions of our second full-length album "Atrocious".

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
Lyrically speaking, we're going through a sort of change of season. Although we will always be flying like moths around the exquisite corpse of horror and splatter, I've been recently writing lyrics about dystopian societies in far-away times and galaxies, instruments of control and persuasion in common life, issues concerning the limits of verbal language, stories dating back to the life of the hystorical Buddha and, yes, even tales about a man trapped inside a flipper. Most things I read or learn influence me somehow, it's something I can't hold back. After all, necessity is the mother of invention!

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Haemophagus'?
We were still playing under the monicker "Necropenis" when our first and only lead singer Claudio "Pallino" came out with the name Haemophagus in 2004. He was studying biology back then, and had stumbled on this appellation for animals who feed on blood. We all thought it was perfect for what we wanted to do musically, it just conveyed the right message. By the way, there's one thing I'd like to point out to all our friends from abroad: the accent is on the "O", NOT on the last "A"!1

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years  and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Bigger shows for bigger crowds aren't necessarily the best ones, but I do remember a few good shows. Of course things like Obscene Extreme and Bloodshed Fest in Eindhoven were cool, but I recall very good concerts - with the right vibes - in Barcelona (La Papa squat, now cleared out) in 2011; both italian shows with MACHETAZO last year were killer; September to Dismember in Bologna, 2009 at Lazzaretto Occupato with heavyweights like BIRDFLESH and GHOUL; Fast Fest in Modena, 2008, and so on. Generally speaking, a show depends on a thousand variables that usually don't go as expected, but that's life! We make our best to bang our heads to death while still trying to be more or less accurate with our instruments. Also what you eat, drink and smoke on tour is very important, you know, trying not to have too much tasteless, weird-looking shit. In the end, it's all about channeling unknowable energies in the right direction!

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We hope to do much more concerts in the near future. We'll try to get a few gigs in central Europe early this Autumn and of course we are willing to work in between, but bear in mind that we all have several bands and side-projects and they require a lot of time and effort too. That said, Haemophagus is our main band for sure.

7.Over the years you have been a part of plenty of splits,  can you tell us a little bit more about your contributions to these recordings?
We're not AGATHOCLES, with hundreds and hundreds of splits in their discography, but we have done enough of that to tell you that the process is always the same: to use 7" like real records! That means not necessarily putting poorly-recorded, wonky leftovers just to have yet another record out. Splits give us the chance to experiment between full-length albums and, most of all, to share sonic space with other bands with different approaches. That's what they are for, at least in my opinion.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal and grindcore?
We like to think that fans of death metal, grindcore, thrash, doom and horror music worldwide are likely to find something interesting in what we do. We're honored to see people from Argentina, India, Poland or Brazil asking for our music and records, it makes 2us - as an undeground band - very proud of what we do and it keeps us going. However, it's quite normal: distances aren't as wide as they used to be and you can easily get in touch with people from bands you like. Banal but true.

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part off?
David and Gioele are involved in the crust grind act STASIS and also in an extremely promising old school death metal band called GRAVESITE. They have one fantastic tape out and they will record their debut full-length in the following days. Check them out, they are brutal. Me and David are also in MORBO and ASSUMPTION: this is a psychedelic doom death metal project under which we've released a tape EP and a mini LP entitled "The Three Appearances" (out on Terror from Hell records). We're writing a follow-up
album for them too and we've recently played in Brescia with ESOTERIC, FUOCO FATUO and ABYSMAL GRIEF. Also, three of us are planning something very obscure in the realm of horror-soundtrack music, and I hope you'll hear about this other project soon! Personally, I've been involved for years in Palermo, Sicily's stoner rock scene with my bands Sergeant Hamster and Elevators to the Grateful Sky. Lastly, I have absolutely non-metal projects such as The Smuggler Brothers (70's inspired police movie jazz funk; I play flute and guitar for them) and a solo project called Furious Georgie. This one's more in the
psychedelic folk and experimental pop vein: I've just finished mixing the second LP. We're quite busy people indeed.

10.When can we expect another full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
As I told you, we're ready to record this but we're waiting for the right time to meet, practice and book the studio. We hope to record it and release it within 2015 or early 2016. Anyway, the music will be quite daring, it will feature faster songs and the structures are going to be more elliptical. Basically, it will still be death grind but this time we'll try to make things a little more interesting. It will be entitled "Shadowline".

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
We have an interest for the whole spectrum of the music history. It's true. We have crazy playlists and backgrounds: Gioele is a classically trained guitar player, he's played music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Fernando Sor, Heitor Villa-Lobos and many others: that said, he's also a hardcore punk maniac with a perversion for cult bands like ARTICLES OF FAITH, 3SLUGLORDS or NEGATIVE APPROACH. Gaspare has been part of Palermo's hc punk scene since the early 90's with his band 180° IN OPPOSITY and is pretty much into psy-trance and techno. Me and David have attended the same musical university and, although we share mutual love for old school metal and grind, have different views on music. He's the
jurassic grindcore defender in the band, while I'm the one that doesn't mind going from THE 45 KING to GONG or STEVE LACY, BANANALONGA and so on. Our recent material was strongly influenced by VOIVOD, CARBONIZED (Disharmonization era), XYSMA, LIERS IN WAIT, early ATHEIST... you figure it out!

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
The other guys love marijuana and some drugs, while I smoke very very little nowadays. Other than that, we mostly enjoy reading, playing videogames, meditation and sleep.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks a lot for the nice questions. Beware of the blood-eating fiends going around the bend...