Interview with MARIO RISO: “I dreamed of a beautiful life, and I find myself to live it even more beautiful!”

MARIO RISO is an Italian composer and drummer, creator and director of musical-social project “Rezophonic”. He has collaborated with many artists of the Italian rock scenes and he is a major contributor to projects of Rock TV… just before leaving to Heineken Jammin Festival, I “stole” Mario for this Marathon interview …

Hi Mario, I’m Tarja. Welcome to Metal Shock Finland! How’re you today?

Thank you Tarja, I’m great as always! And I always say with great respect: I dreamed of a beautiful life, and I find myself to live it even more beautiful! so I cannot feel else than good!

You’ve just finished a huge work, you’ve listened to more than 3000 songs for selection to “Heineken Jamming Festival Contest”. What  is your program in these upcoming  days?

In these moments I’m leaving for the Heineken, where I’ll stay the next 3 days. After I selected the bands, I brought them to Milan to perform and to upload their songs in the Heineken website, and now it has come the most important moment, especially for the bands, and for the contest … 15 bands will have the chance to go on second stage, which is the platform for emerging bands, and 4 of them will have the opportunity to realize their dream and get on stage with the greatest Italian and international artists.

You are … a drummer, composer, producer, TV Rock School Teacher, Ambassador for AMREF … just to mention a few … but let’s start talking about you as a drummer and musician. When and how did you find the music and the battery?

haha I always say that it’s the battery that found me … I actually started my artistic life at 6 years, playing and studying the classical piano, because my parents thought that the music could be a good way to grow. But with good reasons the parents are living the instrument with a different passion from the life of a kid, and they try to guess what might be the passion or the best thing possible for their child. In fact, after three years of classical studies, I had to admit “out loud” that the piano was not really my instrument. I’ve never loved it, and studying it became a real weigh for me, and any passion or hobby shouldn’t be so! Then growing up, I discovered the music in a somewhat more important way, and with the birth of metal in the ’80s, I realized I want to play the drums because I felt that in there is my vocation. From there it all started.

What are the bands that have influenced in your life?

When I was a kid, I passed a lot of time in my parents’ company, where the older guys had the chance to listen to music, and you know, I was very lucky because they loved to listen to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Yes, Deep Purple, so I didn’t grow up like many other kids, who listened to songs and tales of Pinocchio, but I grew up with heavier rock. and then of course I listened a lot to the true rock of the ’70s. I admit that when the metal came out in the ’80s, right from the first album of Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Saxon I was impressed because I heard for the first time just what I wanted to hear. Then were born bands like Metallica, Slayer, and many others who were called “new wave” and British Heavy Metal. And I loved them all. I think I have approx. 1000 records of that era.

Who’s your favorite drummer/s, that is, who gave you the initial push for this instrument?

To be honest, the drummer who inspired me to learn his drum parts, was Clive Burr from Iron Maiden, just because I liked the band, and Clive was the drummer that I listened to, with the desire to want to redo his covers. But my real teachers were in rock, like John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Neil Peart of Rush, and Stewart Copeland… although I really loved metal in those years, but I admit that the sound of Stewart Copeland of The Police sounded really original, new and unique, and when I listened to his way of playing the drums, I remained spellbound. These 3 drummers I always quote to those to whom I’m the most grateful. But of course there are still many other drummers who have influenced me a lot. I like to be instinctive as these drummers that I have mentioned before, playing my music, but I like to study the language and grammar of the battery, as I’ve always done.

Tell me about your project Rezophonic and your collaboration with AMREF’s water project in Africa … of which You are also the honorary member.

Rezophonic initially was meant to be my solo album as Mario Riso, but having to give the start-up to a television channel, TV Rock, I couldn’t do anymore the full-time musician. Then I had an opportunity to be aggregated in an expedition to Africa, where I experienced the reality of AMREF, and had a chance to meet the director of the association, Icio de Romedis… after discovering the priorities of life, that first of all, you have to eat and drink, and everything else is a side dish, I decided that Rezophhonic has to become something more useful, and not just an entertainment. So, with that idea I started to write songs, I called my friends who had collaborated with me over for 20 years. So the record of Mario Riso, became Rezophonic.

What do you do exactly?

I’ve had the honor and pleasure to be nominated as honorary member and the Ambassador for AMFER, this association has given me an assignment as a spokesman, and the album of Rezophonic has been patronized by the Public Service Progress, for which it’s recognized at the national level by all the Italian supreme institutions.
We deal in this case to espouse the water project, while AMFER, in general, deals with the problem at 360 degrees, from the health situations, water projects, education and everything that is important to lead a normal life for all days. Every year we go to Africa to inspect and supervise all the done work. We deal to buy the machineries that is, the waterbombs to bring the water to the surface, and the bumps it selves are dug and built by the locals persons. So we go there, have meetings with the villages within 3-4 miles, and then we plan the construction, the timelines etc… so the villagers learn to do maintenance so the bumps become a lifetime. Every bump brings the artist’s or the donor’s name, you know, there are no streets, so a bump becomes also a reference point. Thanks to the sale of Rezophonic albums, and the sensitization that we do around Italy, organizing concerts and etc (asking only for reimbursement of expenses includes the cost of travel, meals and lodging), and also thanks to donations that are made on behalf of Rezophonic, we’ve been able to built, so far, 106 water bumps which means approx. 50 000 people who now can have their daily water.
Then we’ve managed to build 3 schools, thanks to Negrita, an Italian pop music band, who espoused the cause, they’ve founded a fan club with the staff to raise funds. Besides this, we’ve contributed 9 tanks for rain water, so when it rains the water is collected in these containers. That’s exactly what we do. For more information, I invite everyone to visit our website: http://www.rezophonic.com.

The video “Ci vuole un Fiore” was released only a few weeks ago, and already in this short time it has been viewed more than 9000 times (7 June). Congratulations! Please tell me about the video…

… one day in the car, Olli, the lead singer of The Fire and the former lead singer of Shandon, made me listen to a specimen of his idea that he had done many years ago for an acronym. I said: “Hey, this is too good! It’s just that I wanted for the Rezophonic project.” …and I began to think how it could be used in the best possible way. Soon after I got the idea of a punk version… and who would be better to it than the founder of Italian punk!!! So I called Enrico Ruggieri. Then I called The Bastard Sons of Dionysos, even if it’s not really punk, but they’re playing alternative rock and they are young guys, so they seemed an appropriate balance for the idea. This time I wanted to talk also to children with this video. You know, adults are as concrete, but children are as clay, and I thought it’s worth talking to those you need yet to be formed with the principles. As a video slogan, I invented a phrase:
“to make a bump it takes a heart.” I wanted to make a video, who speaks to children and entertain the adults, that’s why I chose the characters of fairy tales and comic strips (see the cast list after the interview), I was the only character out of fairy tales, as SuperMario .
When I was thinking the video and how I want it to be, I immediately thought the director Saverio Luzzo, because he’s been the only person, I must say, that has always worked for the videos of Rezophonic, in an absolutely free and clean way, because he’s never asked for anything for his work. Luckily my wife is a costume designer for Sky Sports so thanks to her, we found a shop where we could choose the clothes for the characters. The video was shot inside the studio Telelombardia and Antenna3.
One more thing, this video will be revived, because I plan to involve still other persons into it, with new characters… there will be e.g. Javier Zanetti (Inter’s captain), then Pino Scotto will make Pinocchio you know, his character binds particularly his next single he has done which is called “Pino Occhio”. Then for sure, there will be Little Red Riding Hood interpreted by Alteria … add new shots will be added, time to time, to refresh the video.

You’ve also played with R.A.F. (Royal Air Force), what are your best memories of that time?

aaah, the memories with R.A.F. are perhaps my purest  musical memories, the dreams that came true, with RAF there were magical moments. The first magical moment was the first record ever made. To a man and musician it’s like a first child. Immediately after the release we opened the first real Italian Monster of Rock, with Iron Maiden, Kiss, Anthrax, Helloween, etc.. and two days after the festival we went to a European tour with Metallica… and then there’re other crazy memories while touring with Manowar in Italy and Europe.
Then of course there were the shows with Motörhead, just to name a few … haha and then a beautiful thing was the appreciation of the people, in the years 1988-89 and 90, we won all the “Italian Favorite Band”- referendums, on various magazines, including Metal Shock by the way. We were the most popular Italian metal band and there was even a band who made a tribute for us.

You formed MOVIDA in ’94, releasing 2 albums, but then you suspended the band in 2002 … Would you like to tell me more about it?

Yes of course .. R.A.F. was the first band, and from its ashes was born Movida. The guitarist is the same guy, Gianluca Battaglion, who played already in RAF, and with him we decided to set up this band, and began to play, breathing new waves of grunge music, and especially we had lived the metal, so we started to do the genre that was a merger of these two worlds. With Movida we found a producer Max Lepore, who was a great producer in those years, he had a studio in Milan, which was competitive on the international level. He really had all the instrumentation that allowed to create albums with a real American sound. So we entered the studio and recorded two albums, two masters simultaneously, one in Italian and one in English, with different lyrics, with different metrics, as well as the arrangements were different. With this band we did 115 concerts a year, 15 000 copies sold, with a
small independent label, then we found the chance to make a quantum leap, going to end up in a record label, RTI Music.
At that point we were contacted by Franz Di Cioccio, the historical drummer of PFM, and an important figure of Italian rock scenes, which brought us to this record label, and from there the troubles began… … You know, the second album is very delicate to an artist, and it’s even more so, when you create expectations, to reach more important results of the previous album. At that point the music counts less, but all is based for something else… and all the conditions, when you go to the rehearsal room, when you go around to play, and everything that you should share, all those assumptions are lacking.  So your passion becomes a form of anger, a form of negativity, then you find yourself having to answer to people you don’t even know, who have invested money on you, and they expect to have their say on you.  … said this, since the music was born as a form of expression, not as a form of paid bills, I decided to stop doing this as work, and I built up the Rock TV and devoted my time to the television channel.
We stopped to record albums, but Movida still exist, as friends, we play time to time, offering our old repertoire. And each time, before the last song, I say to the public: “Guys, you have just witnessed a concert of 5 friends who play around Italy, for sake of sharing with you historical moments of its existence, and we continue to do so. I like to say that we have nothing to sell, but we’ve played tonight without a second purpose, we just wanted to experience a moment of joy with you. “

… you, as a composer and producer … What can you tell me about it?

Before I composed and wrote for Movida, and now I do it for Rezophonic. I like the idea of writing songs, then share them with other Italian artists, sometimes I share the lyrics and melody lines, but most of the time I compose all the music and do all the arrangements. Then, I repeat, the result of Rezophonic is the possibility of using the soul of many different musicians, willy-nilly, they let the song breathe in their own way. I’m the producer for Rezophonic but I like to share this with the other artists.

You’ve co-operated and played with many artists of the Italian rock scenes, as Jovanotti and Pino Scotto, just to name a few … Which “act” has remained particularly in your mind, and why?

Look, if I have to talk about an album, those of Movida are definitely the ones that re-present me the most, at the level of drums and of composition. So “Frammenti Simili” (1998) and “Contro Ogni Tempo” (1995) are my identity card. Then if I talk about the albums of the other artists, I must mention “La Fabbrica di Plastica” (1995) of Gianluca Grignani which is one of the 10 best albums ever released in Italy for its artistic features. I invite everyone to listen to that album, is a small masterpiece.

You’re the co-founder of Rock TV and the issuer for the various projects. This question is vast, but trying to give a brief summary, tell me about your activities in Rock TV …

Rock on TV has four partners, and each of us has chosen to cover a role… Max Brigante, is responsible for Artistic Director’s duties. Tommy Massara (guitarist of Extrema) takes care of all the live events. Then Gianluca Galliani is in charge of the format and all that’s editorial stuff. And then there’s me, I am in charge of broadcasting, the managing, I’m one of the talents of the channel, and the one who brings the guests, and that deals with the relationships between our artists and our other talents, which are Pino Scotto, Alteria… and then at this period I also lead the transmission called “Morning Glory”.

You’re also the teacher of the Rock TV School … What kind of school is it, and how can you get in?

It’s a traditional school, accessible to anyone on whatever level, from beginners to professionals. The teachers are musicians that you can see live on stage and in concerts, so our teachers are not teaching only for work. This is the idea of Rock TV School which came to my mind … you know I’ve attended many courses, I’ve made a lot of seminars, both as a teacher and as a participant, and I realized that most of the times,  the demand and the supply does not meet. That is, the new generation of musicians who want to study rock music, found themselves to deal with teachers who do not know rock and do not practice it. There was always this problem at the source, which forced musicians to decide to translate the language, that was taught them, in their own language. You know, it’s as if you wanted to study Italian, but your teacher taught you the dialect of Apulia… this was what happened usually, before the Rock TV School. Teachers are e.g me, Steve Angarthal, William Nicastro, Diego Galeri, Masha, and many others. So it’s a school where the supply and the demand meet well each other. In our flyer, there is a little man-figure that splits a guitar, with the slogan: “We do not teach only music” … and I think that says well what is the sense of the school.

And now, if you don’t mind, let’s talk about Heineken … I understand that you can not go into details, but what awaits us at the Festival this year?

I personally can tell you about the emerging world. Heineken Jamming Festival is one thing, and Heineken Jamming Festival Contest is another thing. They are two separate worlds, but Heineken strongly wanted to give to emerging artists the opportunity to take advantage of a large audience, and I have all the necessary information on what concerns the underground world. I know very well Negramaro, we are close friends, I know quite well the world of Vasco (Rossi), and Coldplay, at a personal level I mean. So I can talk about things that are closer to me. For the rest, Heineken does not need to be presented, it’s definitely an event that moves an army of people that usually suggests the bands and divide the public. But Heineken is undoubtedly among the most beautiful event which is organized in Italy.

I know you’ve Inter (Italian Football team) in your heart … tell me about this passion…

hahahah I’d say that the battery and football chose me, you know we can say it’s official … for a period of life I have pretended that football doesn’t interest me, because I wanted to do just the drummer. And then about at 30 years, I “fall sick” for the real football, not only for fate but also the played one, I love football and I feel like I was a football player borrowed for music.

Everything we’ve talked about so far, I understand that you have a very active life … but when you can relax, what do you prefer to do?

… play the drums and “Forza Inter”! You know, I’m one of the greatest collectors of Italian football shirts, and today I have them 1200 pcs, used in the field by the Italian players. and since I also organize beneficial exhibitions, with free admission and with the possibility to make an offer, with the last exhibition that we did in Sabaudia, we were able to buy an ambulance from the obtained proceeds.

Mario, now I’d want to talk about underground bands in Italy, who play for years, but for some reasons fail to be noticed by the general public … what is your advice for them to make a quantum leap?

Unfortunately or fortunately I have a very personal vision about the music. I live music as a need, such as drinking and eating. I do not live it as something that was born to give me the opportunity to make a living. My invitation to all bands and artists, is to not take themselves too seriously, but to play for real passion. For me, music is an expression of art form, it is a necessity. Each time I meet a great musician, I know to have before my eyes, an extremely selfish person. That’s because, to become a good at playing the instrument of life, he must spend a lot of time alone in his rehearsal room, and to be a self-sufficient. So, of all the things that life offers, to have a courage to give up everything, because  the artist is comfortable only with his instrument in his studio or in his rehearsal room. And usually when you study, you can not have people around, because you have to stay focused. So I advice that you shouldn’t put expectations on music, but simply enjoy it, and enjoy the happiness of that moment when we fell in love with an instrument. So just take only the positive aspects. Because if we put expectations into something that is the way we pull out what we have inside, we’d only ruin our great vocation. In my opinion, it is absolutely decent to play in a band believing in it, and then do the daily job. I find much less decent the fact that a band, to pay for food, choose to play whatever music genre which is not their own or in some cases is directly detested by the band itself. So I always say to my students, that in life it is important to make a question to ourselves: “Who am I? Am I an artist or instrumentalist?” Because the answer we give to this question will affect all our present and our future. The artist and the instrumentalist are two musicians from different backgrounds. The instrumentalist is one who, while playing their instrument, is ready to do everything. So, honestly, all or nothing for him is the same thing, what counts is just playing. Instead, the artist is someone who loves to play his instrument, but to play what he really likes. At that point you cannot behave like an instrumentalist if you’re an artist, because you would live badly your reality … but you just have to pull off what you have inside, close your eyes and let your mind go. This is how I live the music, I close my eyes and play. You cannot condition a state of mind, that would not be right.

And the studying serves, just for one thing, not to humiliate the others, or to prove something to the others, but the studying gives you the correct information to be able to bring out the best what you have inside. The music is not a race, who goes faster or who is more technical is not a winner, but it is simply a form of expression. The more you know how to do, the more you’re able to pull out what you have to say.
We talked about football, we talk about music, and I close the topic, I love football, which is the sport in general, and I love music… in these two you have two conduct rules and the teaching method which are completely different, because in football or in sport you exercise in your best way, every day, to go and beat somebody, because you go to the field to win… … but in art, in music, you get better to be able to share with others what you have learned. That’s why, between the player and the musician I have in me, I finally chose to make the musician, because I have in my DNA the requirement to share and not to fight.

And now, the last question … what are your greetings to our readers

Look, I always say one thing, I am a very lucky guy, I dreamed of a wonderful life when I was a little kid, and when I fell in love with music, I realized that I am living the life that is even more beautiful than I had dreamed of. So people like me, that have had the opportunity and the chance to live their dream, they must spend the rest of their days to return what they have got. And that’s why I never turn my back when I’m called for any kind of thing where my help is needed, because my mission of life is to continue to give back. I do it with music, I do with teaching, I do it with Rock TV giving spaces without asking anything. I do it with contest, listening to the emerging bands, who hope to have a chance, or at least a minimal satisfaction in the life, and of course I do it with charity, trying to take care of those who are less fortunate. I think all of us who have been given a lot, we must remember that what we have is not so obvious or granted.

Mario, Thank you so much for this chat. Wish you all the best and good in everything you do and I hope to see you soon around.

Interview by Tarja Virmakari – Photos: http://www.marioriso.com

REZOPHONIC – CI VUOLE UN FIORE , CAST

Starring: MARIO RISO * ENRICO RUGGERI * CRISTINA SCABBIA & ANDREA FERRO (Lacuna Coil) * OMAR PEDRINI * PIER FERRANTINI (Velvet) * ELENA DI CIOCCIO * MAX BRIGANTE * ANDREA ROCK (Virgin Radio) * JACOPO BROSEGHINI + MICHELE VICENTINI + FEDERICO SASSUDELLI (The Bastard Sons of Dioniso) * MARCO TRENTACOSTE * GIANLUCA BATTAGLION (Movida) * MAX ZANOTTI * KETTY PASSA * MARCO “GARRINCHA” CASTELLANI (Octopus) * Dj ALADYN (Radio DeeJay) * TOMMY MASSARA (Extrema) *

director: SAVERIO LUZZO * d.o.p: MIRKO SAIDO MIMI * colorist: VINCENZO CATIZZONE * costumes: ANNA CHINI * scenography: ANGELIKA K CZURYSZKIEWICZ & PAOLO MAURO * sfx: GIULIO FIORITO * d.o.p. assistant: ROCCO CIRIFFINO * production manager: MORIS MAZZONE * make-up: BEATRICE RUSSO & VALENTINA MARZORA * electrician: ROBERTO SALA * prod. assistant: ALAN MERIGO & FABRIZIO BATTAFARANO * costume assistant: ANTONELLA MAZZULI & LUDOVICA STANCHI * set photographer: STEFANIA D’AMBROSIO & ANDREA DEGRADA

For more information, please visit: http://www.marioriso.com – http://www.rezophonic.com/main.htm

Ci vuole un fiore