Interviews: Wandering Vagrant

In this new occassion we have had the opportunity to interview the  Progressive Metal/Rock band Wandering Vagrant, from Italy. Check out this band and give them a like on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

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

The idea came while I was spending a night with a friend of mine, drinking beers and playing a video game called Risk of Rain: one of the first boss that you could meet during this game is called Wandering Vagrant, and the name really impressed me. Moreover, its meaning always intrigued me, since these two words seem to perfectly summarise the sense of the whole existence. We are here, on this planet, living a life that we do not desire, threw on Earth apparently with no reason at all: so, I’ve always thought that probably the best way to enjoy life is carrying on your personal journey while remaining conscious and coherent with what happens around you, like a poetic image of a vagabond. So, to get this straight, made Wandering Vagrant the best choice for a band name!

2.Why did you want to play this genre?

Nowadays, progressive rock and metal has a lot of respect and attention, as a result of the respect it gained from music fans through the years and the plurality of choice available through internet, while also allowing new genres like djent metal to arise. At the same time, many bands tend to look back to the past, adopting again a kind of sound similar to those of the great prog bands of the past. If you see the whole picture, a piece in the puzzle is missing: bands able to outline new ideas within the progressive scene without being excessively bounded to the roots. Since I’ve always felt comfortable in writing this kind of music, as it leaves my imagination free to express itself, I thought that it would be the right time to create Wandering Vagrant and offer my contribution to the progressive metal scene.

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

No, we didn’t. Francesca and Christian played for many years in a band called In Tenebra, and I was engaged in the recording sessions of the first album of my former band, Desert Rider. We got in touch thanks to a word-of-mouth, since I knew that In Tenebra splitted up while I was leaving Desert Rider due to artistic differences.

To make it short, the core of the band was always the three of us, while Andrea and Niccolò joined the band few weeks ago.

4. Each band member favourite band?

Talking for myself, my favourite band, beyond any doubt, is Riverside: I really love the sound of the band, and Mariusz Duda is a great musical genius in my opinion!

Francesca always had a great admiration for Dream Theater, and Christian favorite band is Toto, of course: how could you blame him? Steve Lukather is probably one of the best guitarist of all times!

Andrea, pretty much like me, is the unique band member listening to old prog bands from 70s: his favorite progressive group from that period is Jethro Tull, although he’s always asserting his preference on Opeth among the modern formations.

Last but not least, Niccolò has always been in love with Porcupine Tree music, since he believes that Gavin Harrison is probably the best drummer of all times.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Since I’m the main composer of the band, I’ve always took inspiration from my everyday life, especially from my experiences during the last 4-5 years: I suffered greatly due to many changes and people who left me and had an important part in my life. Consequently, writing songs about these events that marked me significantly came like a second nature.

6. Where was your last gig?

We haven’t played any gig and we’re planning to go live in september/october of 2018.

7. Where would you like to act?

Actually, it would be great in the next future to play in venues of little/medium size in which I saw many beautiful concerts, where the magic of the moment is not wasted in the confusion generated by being among the crowd.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

There are not so many bands playing our genre in Italy, so this is really a tough question. Looking in our territory, probably it would be great to feature with local acts like Fleshgod Apocalypse or Destrage.

9. Whom not?

Life’s too short to blame any band and to desire to not feature with someone!

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

My best tips are: visualize what do you want to offer to your audience. Be professional don’t take yourself too seriously at the same time. Moreover: it’s not important how many mistakes you could do, it’s important the art and the feelings that you’re going to transmit, so be coherent with your music!

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

As a musician, I’ve always been inspired by the Petrucci of the Kevin Moore-era: his ability to conjugate technique and enthralling melodies was amazing! Moreover, guitarists like Adrian Smith, Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp had a deep influence on me.

Christian started with the guitar playing rock and metal, then he slowly moved to other genres like blues, fusion and (of course!) progressive. He gains great inspiration from awesome musicians like Joe Satriani, Nuno Bettencourt, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Brian May and Joe Bonamassa. Francesca is always digging modern progressive metal bands, and her main influences are keyboardists like Kevin Moore and Derek Sherinian and, similarly to her, our drummer Niccolò has been always a follower of bands like Metallica, Ark, Symphony X, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and Angra.

Andrea is always listening to some old-fashion prog bands like Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Jethro Tull, but he doesn’t despise the actual musical scene: his favourite artists are Opeth, Bathory, Enslaved and Vektor among the many.

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

Nah, no weird things: we’re not Metallica or Iron Maiden, you know.

13. What do you think of your fans?

We’re building our fan base day by day, so I could only make assumptions: actually, it seems to me that our fan base is divided in two parts, the part of those who already listen to prog music, and the other part which is constituted by people having other preferences but at the same time finding something similar to what they already listen to. So, it is probably the reflection of what I said to you before: internet can really help kinds of music like progressive rock to be spread all over the world, and that is what it is happening now with our debut album, Get Lost!

14. What do you think of our site?

A great job, it’s wonderful to see so much support to the underground music! And the site is really well done, trust a computer scientist ahahah.