Interviews: Infinite Rising

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Progressive Metal/Progressive Rock band Infinite Rising 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 plan it or come out just like that?

We didn’t think a lot about the band name, it “naturally” came out during a brainstorming session we did during a train voyage and we confirmed it during our first video call about the project. We wanted a band name that could represent the main theme of our project: the wideness of the space mixed with our vision of constantly growing through our music.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

First of all, it's our favorite genre, it's what we've always dreamed of playing. For us it’s something stimulating to play because it requires cure and attention, it is free from any prejudice and it gives us the freedom and the inspiration to compose everything we want without any mental “cage”.

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

Absolutely! We always proudly say that first of all we are friends and then we are a prog-trio. If we weren’t friends this project couldn’t be so inspiring to experience.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Each member’s favorite artists and bands go from metal to jazz, from rock to soundtracks, classical music, funky, and many others. That’s been one of the most important things for our music because, as we have written before, it gave us the right inspiration to compose everything we wanted. We can underline some of Federico's favorite bands and artists: Marty Friedman, Megadeth, Dream Theater, Hans Zimmer, Distant Words. Some of Silvia’s favorite ones are: Dream Theater, Rush, Plini, King Crimson, Elephant Gym, Miles Davis, Weather Report. Alessandro enjoys a lot of bands and artists such as Ne obliviscaris, fallujah, cynic, death, Deep purple, Led Zeppelin, Chick Corea.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

The emotion itself of writing music inspires us! Besides that, we find inspiration from natural and urban landscapes, from the universe (of course ahah), and from everything that could be related to that. Then we add our personal interests, for example, Federico loves horror books, movies, video games, and comics, and Lovecraft and Junji Īto are great examples to mention. Silvia travels a lot and she likes nature, she loves gardening and plants but she’s also a great fan of fantasy and sci-fi novels, movies, and comics. Alessandro loves action movies, video games, wood, drums, and Aliens.

6. Where was your last gig?

We haven’t started to play live yet but we’re booking some shows, tours, and festivals for 2024! You can stay updated on our socials.

7. Where would you like to act?

Everywhere we can find people who want to share live music experiences. Everywhere we could find happiness and enthusiasm and everywhere we could share the stage with talented and great artists, that's our dream.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

There are many artists we would like to feature, there are so many amazing musicians around the world! Some of them we can mention would be for sure Marty Friedman, Plini, John Petrucci, and Jordan Rudess.

9. Whom not?

Anyone who uses music for other interests. Anyone who is a narcissist, seeking attention, who doesn't take part in a live show for the joy of sharing music but only for their personal ego. If there is one thing we don't like it is the ego and we are very careful to collaborate with those who don't represent what we have described. We make music with the opposite of these ideas.

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

Absolutely yes, like anyone who is just starting out or experiencing their first real stress conditions. The bulk of the work is in the studio, studying a lot so what you play has a natural and relaxed feeling and creates a strong anchor with those emotions. Concentrate on how you feel, the music will flow naturally. Everyone makes mistakes, don't worry and move on. The audience is not there to hear a perfect performance but an exciting piece of music! What really matters is to play on time, to keep a groove, to follow the dynamics, and to immerse yourself in the music. That's more important than taking all the sixteenths in a 200 solo. 

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Many bands that we’ve already mentioned inspired us a lot in every process, the most important are for sure Dream Theater, Rush, Yes, Animals as Leaders, Polyphia, Devin Townsend, The Contortionist, Periphery, and King Crimson.

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

We haven't had “weird" requests yet, but sometimes we receive some messages or emails from people who ask us for free album copies. We know that they have no idea about the costs and expenses that a new project must bear. from the production (such as mix, master, video clips, playthroughs, and equipment) to the promotion (like website, e-commerce, and social promo), but also the production of our merchandise. Knowing about all these costs, maybe the request for free copies could be annoying because selling merchandise is the only way a small project could earn money to go on.

13. What do you think of your fans?

After the joy of making music together, they are the main reason why we do this. We really appreciate the quality, the spirit, and the desire to share ideas, they use to send us emails, messages, and comments about our music, it is definitely one of the things that makes us happiest, to be surrounded by people who appreciate what we do and we're amazed by the desire they have to discover new music, without preconceptions or prejudices, giving us the freedom to push our music beyond our expectations.

14. What do you think of our site?

Italy is a very difficult place to make music, both online and live but especially for live music, we're sorry to say that and we hope that this situation will change in the next few years.

It isn't because there is a lack of clubs, locations, or people who have no enthusiasm and competence to organize but it depends first of all on the state because there is a lack of funds and help for art and artists, which is absurd considering that our country was born and raised surrounded by art. Another reason is that the majors promote only “pop” music and talent shows artists and there is no promotion of different genres. 

We think it's another absurdity because, for example, prog music during the '70s was literally born in our country with bands such as PFM, Area, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme, Goblin, and many many others. Nowadays, prog has grown and changed, but there is no media attention about this genre here, there are not enough places to promote it, and not so many webzines or Italian magazines talking about it.

Another example for us is the promotion we did for our first album, Awakening. We receive a lot of pre-orders and orders from literally all over the world, many magazines and webzines interviewed us, reviewed our album, and published articles about our band. All of them were not Italian, our management and all the people who work with us asked to Italian distributions, magazines and webzines a feature and to this day not many responded, almost none of them have responded.

15. Something to add?

Thank you so much for this “space” (ahah) you gave us, we enjoyed all the questions and we’ve been so happy to be able to describe our project. We suggest that all the readers check out our website and social accounts. We've recently added a lot of merchandise, we have new playthroughs, and we're working on new music! Just stay updated and for every question we’re always available. Thanks again, see you soon!