Interviews: Harpazo

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Power Metal/Progressive Metal band Harpazo from the USA. 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?

Marc Centanni: The term Harpazo means “caught up” or “caught away” and Crucible means “a severe test”. The album is a concept album based on people going through a severe test and the end result is they will be saved from a world that is going through massive changes and death.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Gary Wehrkamp: The music needed to be as adventurous and daring as the storyline. I am no stranger to Progressive rock and the opportunities it provides to whimsically jump off into different directions, allowing a story to be told with fewer restrictions.

Marc Centanni: Progressive metal is a genre that allows a lot of flexibility with storytelling. Our album is very much like a musical. On “The Crucible” you are placed in a dystopian world where you follow the characters in our science fiction thriller travel from Rome, D.C., New York, and Jerusalem to name just a few places. A lot of plot points happen during the song and progressive rock/metal allows us to match the emotional delivery of the lyrics without having to create a brand-new song. We can slow down the tempo, add a piano section halfway through the tune, and even have two to three different choruses in just one song.

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

Marc Centanni: Before I met Gary, I was a fan of Shadow Gallery and progressive metal, as well as a self-taught writer and guitarist. I loved writing epic narrative poetry and was searching for a guitar teacher who could also teach me songwriting. By chance, we connected on social media, and I discovered that he lived only about an hour away from me. It was worth the drive to take lessons from one of my heroes. For a few years, I took lessons from him, and eventually, I shared the reason behind my pursuit. He decided to incorporate my goals into our lessons. I brought in riffs, lyrics, story ideas, and specific visions for how I wanted the songs to sound, and he helped bring them to life. Gary is a musical genius, proficient in all the instruments I've seen him play. Our fun recording sessions started to become something special, and Gary offered his services to help me bring "Harpazo" to life.

Gary Wehrkamp: As Marc said, we got to know each other through the study of music. Our common goals allowed us to move forward with this project.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Marc Centanni: This changes on the month but right now I am a very big fan of the progressive metal band “Teramaze” out of Australia. They have incredible guitar playing, clean vocals, and lots of progressive rock/metal roots they pull from. Their hooks are very melodic and both the guitarist and singer can sing incredibly. What’s not to love!

Gary Wehrkamp: That’s always a challenging question to answer because I would rather love 100 bands than have a favorite, but a few that nearly never leave such a list would be Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes, Jellyfish.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Marc Centanni: The biggest inspiration for me to write songs is my love of just trying to figure it all out. I love thinking about where we are going as a society, where is technology taking us, and where will be ten, twenty, or even 100 years from now. I am a father of two children and it’s important I think we keep our heads up and look beyond our feet because our kids are our responsibility to keep safe and feel loved.

Gary Wehrkamp: It takes very little to get me inspired to write. The silence surrounding an instrument is enough to get me into a creative mode.

6. Where was your last gig?

Gary Wehrkamp: I played a charity event for St. Jude Cancer Research in Manhattan a few days back.

7. Where would you like to act?

Marc Centanni: I would love to play at ProgPower USA or Immortalfest. Both festivals feature great bands each year around August/September and a lot of my influences are there.

Gary Wehrkamp: Anywhere I can impact or inspire people in any way.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Marc Centanni: Any progressive metal fan will tell you, the best way to get exposure would be to play with a band that is at the top of their game and that is easily Dream Theater. Dream Theater is an incredible band and, very excitingly, they just got Mike Portnoy back in the band.

9. Whom not?

Marc Centanni: I am not interested in playing with bands with shocking names that are meant to hurt or belittle people. Nothing against those guys but their fans will not dig our music probably too much and neither will they.

Gary Wehrkamp: I try not to think of the “whom nots”

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

Marc Centanni: Practice. Practice on camera watch yourself and do it several times. A wise person told me for each minute of a presentation you should prepare 30 minutes to an hour. If you are going to play live, you need to practice as a band otherwise the show is going to suffer immensely.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Marc Centanni: In the progressive metal and power metal world, it’s hard to ignore the classics like Queensryche, Judas Priest, and Dokken. Those bands led me to progressive metal where I became a huge fan of bands like Kamelot, Ayreon, Seventh Wonder, Sonata Arctica, Blind Guardian, Fates Warning, Vanden Plas, Avanstasia, Jorn, Stratovarius, Theocracy and so many others.

Gary Wehrkamp: For me, it depends on the instrument. Growing up, I was drawn to individual performers more than the band. Neil Peart on drums, Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai on guitars, Chris Squire on Bass. Nuno Bettencourt from Extreme is known for his tremendously good guitar work, but he also gave me confidence as a singer.

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

Gary Wehrkamp: Many years back, I was asked for signed guitar picks. This was before I had any professionally made so I tried to get my name on a pick with a marker. It was not an easy feat.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Gary Wehrkamp: I think of fans as friends. Equals and contemporaries who are able to share inspiring musical moments with.

Marc Centanni: They are the greatest in the world. To support a new band like ourselves and trust us and buy our CDs after only hearing a few clips - how can you not love that? We have fans from all around the world from Japan, from Israel, the UK, and Brazil. Music brought us together and I’m glad to have made so many new friends.

14. What do you think of our site?

Marc Centanni: it is great that you allow bands like us to be featured. While we have a core group of musicians, this was absolutely a passion project and we hope to continue it in the future.

Gary Wehrkamp: I like it. I appreciate any site that promotes music - for obvious reasons.

15. Something to add?

Marc Centanni: We are thrilled to present our latest project, Harpazo's prog metal epic rock opera, "The Crucible." This album has been a labor of love, blending intricate melodies, powerful riffs, and a compelling narrative that we believe will resonate deeply with you. We invite you to listen to "The Crucible" and immerse yourself in the story and music we have created. Your support means the world to us, and we welcome you with open arms to join our musical journey. We want you to explore the depths of this epic tale and experience the raw emotion and creativity that went into its creation. Thank you Breathing The Core for having us and we hope your fans will take a listen to our epic dystopian science-fiction thriller called “the Crucible”.

Gary Wehrkamp: This was a fun album to make. I am glad it's in the hands of the public. I have such gratitude for the fans, the magazines, and all of the positive feedback. I hope you like it even more should you get to a tenth listen.