Interviews: Beriedir

We have had the opportunity to interview the  Progressive Metal/Power Metal band Beriedir from Italy. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or come out just like that?

Stefano: I’ve always been fascinated by the figure of a “guardian”, a sentinel watching over something and keeping it safe. “Beriedir” is the Sindarin term for it and when I started the band back then I chose this language because of how important Tolkien was for me growing up.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Stefano: My first approach to metal was through Melodic Death Metal and Progressive/Power Metal, those two genres stuck with me for years and I eventually decided that I wanted to bring my take of those to life through this band. Of course, our sound progressed throughout the years, but our roots still firmly dwell in those waters.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Stefano: The band formed many years ago and changed many members before getting to this stable formation. Ciro was the drummer of a band a former member of Beriedir played with, I met Dan and Francesco in other bands and Simone and UI went to the same university.

4. Each band member's favourite band?

Stefano: It’s really hard to decide on a single one, but I feel like Vision Divine will always hold a special place in my heart because of both their music and their lyrics.

Simone: Despite my love for Melodic Death, Power and Progressive metal, my favourite band is Queen.

Francesco: Difficult to choose, but I’m gonna go with Devin Townsend!

Ciro: Dream Theater would surely hold the first place!

Dan: Definitely Blind Guardian; if we talk about non-metal acts, I think that Queen is my all-time favourite.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Musically speaking, we’d like to quote Maynard James Keenan from TOOL: "The problem is that the music we were listening to didn't quite have the climax right where we wanted, the climax for our own personal masturbation. So what we decided to do is write songs that had the climax in the right positions for us depending on what day we were jerking off." That really sums it up quite well: we gradually gather ideas and build songs that express exactly what we would love to hear from the perspective of listeners of ourselves. Lyrically, we like to explore the matter of introspection and the struggle of dealing with suffering and grief, how to face the tides of our darkest days and not be overwhelmed by them and get sucked again by the undertow.

6. Where was your last gig?

It was at a festival organised by MalaMusica, a local and very active association that has been promoting and organising many gigs lately.

7. Where would you like to act?

More than a desire to act in a specific place, we look forward to sharing the stage with some of the bands we look up to, wherever that takes us. What matters the most to us is the people on top and under the stage, exchanging energy back and forth and having a hell of a time.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

(In a gig) I think opening for our favourite artists would be a dream for us: Dream Theater, Dark Tranquillity, Pain of Salvation, Devin Townsend and so on! Being on the same stage as our sources of inspiration would make us feel like our sweat and blood finally paid back. (In the studio) Other than Ivan of Vision Divine, who lent us his amazing voice on the track “Stormbound”, we have so many plans for featuring our favourite artists on our future songs. Some of them are more likely than others, but we’ll never stop trying to get them on our tracks!

9. Whom not?

(In a gig) I think our musical style would fit well in many lineups, and we wouldn’t really complain in any situation presented to us. We’ve seen gigs with radically different acts sharing the same stage and bringing together a really great show! (In the studio) We really don’t hold any kind of issues with artists. Music is music and whatever brings us energy and a fun experience and the listener is welcomed. We also like to experiment with our music aesthetics, so virtually any artist could bring something new to our sounds if featured in one of our songs.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Stefano: I suffered from severe stage fright for the first years, then I slowly learnt to come to terms with the fact that the people watching me were there to cheer me up and have fun with me, not to judge me. I’ve learnt to just let my music talk and give it all to let my energy reach the audience and get all together for what now feels almost like a tribal or sacred experience. For beginners: it’s normal to get cold feet before a gig, don’t be harsh on yourselves and take all the time you need to get comfortable. The warmth of a cheering crowd after the last chord of the first song you’ll play will quickly make you abandon all fears.

Ciro: Stage fright is comparable to that feeling you get whenever the ice has to be broken in some way: the first talk to the girl you like, the first minutes of an exam when you get out of your comfort zone... But the best part of being on the stage is realising to be filled, since the first beats of the first song, by a strong burning sense of joy and life. Getting to play with your friends, synchronized, harmonized, and making hearts beat to the rhythm of your music (hopefully not the ones on 210 bpm). So my advice for those who suffer from stage fright is to focus on that feeling, let your feelings be carried by the power of vibrations, and not by the fear of playing a wrong note. Nobody will notice. They just want to jump with you. So just give them some energy, which is the thing that will really pass. (And this is valid also for the girl you like. Just do it!)

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Our influences vary widely, and we take a piece from every artist we listen to. For this record, the strongest influences can be found in the bands we listened to the most in the past few years: the synth dominance of Dark Tranquillity and Vision Divine, the vocal harmonies of Leprous, the balanced vocals between clean and gritty of Pain of Salvation and the guitar riffing of prog bands like Dream Theater, all with a little bit of ‘80s New Wave to spice things up.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Stefano: during a show a couple of years ago, a fan asked me to sign each and every cigarette he had in his packet, claiming that he would’ve smoked them on special occasions. Needless to say, I hope he never inhaled the sharpie flavoured smoke of his signed cigs!

13. What do you think of your fans?

It would be surely cheesy to say that we are forever grateful to them, but it’s also important that they know that they give us a great part of the motivation that we need to go on. The sheer joy they show us whenever we release a new song or perform at a gig pays off every drop of sweat we shed on our art. We also deeply appreciate their patience in dealing with our bullshit when we perform, and Stefano speaks utter nonsense between songs...

14. What do you think of our site?

Breathing The Core has such an amazing concept behind it: the idea of such a complete tool to discover new bands and releases is so cool and we’re glad to be part of this. We’ve personally taken a look on the site and found some new interesting releases!

15. Something to add?

We are so grateful to Breathing The Core for this interview and we hope all our fans will enjoy our upcoming album “AQVA”, out on January 21st via Rockshots Records!