webzine

-First of all let me express my sincere thanks for your job. It was hard to find faults...
I saw your valutation....great taste!! ah ah !

-I read there were some problems during the composition and recording of "Violence". Could you be more detailed about them?
Yes, in the beginning, in 1997 we started to think about new compositions. Deep Wake and Black Hole were constructed with the great help of Sandro Tersetti (our guitarist in the "War Tears" album) but unluckily during the composition he decided to leave the band because of family problems. We contacted two other guitarists and some new tracks were realized with them, but one more time we were without the third element!! Only in 1999 we found Francesco... In 2001 the master was ready and it was requested with enthusiastic energy by one of the most important labels in Italy. After having kept the master in their hands for 1 year and a half (without any reason) they informed us that our music was too difficult to understand and not quite commercial for the present market condition !!! So everything had to be started again. Luckily we found Andromeda Relics and Tony Soddu who remixed all the material with a really great result!!

-Was it hard to find someone like Francesco, somebody who could musically and personally tune D.Q.? Was it a decision to find a young musician or just the case?
Francesco is so young (23 years old) and when we contacted him in 2000, only 20!!! He lives in Piombino. His father Gino is a great friend of ours and a musician too (drummer). He proposed his son to us, asking us to listen to him....the alliance was immediate!!

-Why didn't you leave him place in the songwriting?
As I have just explained, when Francesco joined the band all of the tracks were completed.. Obviously his contribution for new arrangements was very important and a great part of our current sound depends on Francesco's sound...but all melodies were already done at that time... I can anticipate you that a new song is just completed and Francesco is the author. A melody...very very melanconic and sweet, surely a wonderful ring in Dark Quarterer's chain.

-Tell us about him and the other novelty, the new label Andromeda Relics.
Francesco started to play guitar very young (abt 14 years old) and immediately studied classic and electric guitar at the LIZARD School in Grosseto. He completed his studies one year ago with the maximum mark and the honours by the great teacher Mr. Giovanni Unterberger! Francesco's sound is full of soul, feelings, strength and great technical skill. We're very glad to play with him.....
Speaking about Andromeda Relics, what can we say?? Gianni Della Cioppa and Max Bettinazzi have an enthusiastic way to live music ..as young boys with htheir first love, so everything passing through their hands becomes rich and full of energy. The label really believes in all true metal and we were lucky to be contacted by them..that's all.

-Is it hard to write a satisfactory song? If you write a good song that sounds far from your style, do you change it into something more 'proper' or do you reject it? How long does it take to write a song? Maybe months?
Oh, yes, it is very very difficult; usually the first idea is a little melody but sometimes a subject for lyrics can be the first spark, then everything depends on our single taste and way to intend that melody or subject.. For example: when I composed "Last Song" I was in the north of Italy (Malcesine) on holiday. The weather was very bad, so we were obliged to stay in the hotel. The melody was the first born. It slid note after note as it was still ready in my mind and in few minutes all the song was composed. A true inspiration!! I always compose using a 12 strings acoustic guitar, so the result was a ballad. After few days I wrote the words. The subject was suicide seen as the last solution to all life problems... When I presented the song to Paolo he inserted a march tempo justifying it as a march, the last walk from life to death; but the song was not completed and Francesco inserted the bridge before the last part with a crescendo and guitar solo...the choral part in the end represents the last souls singing.. All these things and considerations were realised in months of research and failures. Each song needs 3 or 4 months of hard work and the result is OK only if the first flame has been a good flame, otherwise all clouds would be useful!
Markus, you must know that we have never recorded songs if we weren't completely satisfied abt the job made.

-What made you start again after years of disappointements, lies, sudden stabs at your back, the aggravation of the musical business...?
As we explained first, we have never stopped to create music but we cannot complete a job if we don't have a guitar player... in any case market situation isn't interesting for me. We play our music ...the wind could be against or in favour to our course.... we play . it's enough!!

-You've made a very good record. Can we hope this is not the last one we'll hear from you?
We are already working on the new one.. we hope to be in studio for next October and I can anticipate you that we are trying a new music experiment, a new style mix, I may say nothing more....ssh!!!

-If the previous sold 2,560 copies, how many do you expect to sell with this?
1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. it's enough??

-What are your live dates for 2003, and will you be playing at some festivals too?
We were contacted for a Heavy metal festival in July but I don't know the name of the festival nor the place. We are preparing material for a tour with Toni Soddu, and we hope to play all around Italy before summertime... Can you organize a date for us in your town? (I wish I had the time and the money that Hard Stuff has. Sorry, try next year!/Markus's note)

-What do you think of Italian scene and why do you think you have never gained the success that you deserve?
There are several good bands in Italy like Doomsword, Lacuna Coil, Evil Wings, but the other bands who sold a lot of copies play shit music! People like easy things, they don't like to think too much and the music of Dark Quarterer cannot be considered commercial, so people listen to that once, don't understand it and change page... easy, very easy...
People are ignorant and for many young boys Heavy Metal is only fashion: chains, skulls, devils, dragons, a lot of dragons, everywhere!!! how many of them will be here in 3 years??? Very few!!!

-Maybe the live activity wasn't enough?
Yes! We're of one mind and we are trying to remedy it!!!

-How do you compare "Violence" with the past production? To my mind, there's a big difference, rather than between the 1st and 2nd album...
Our opinion is: this last album is different as to the sound, modern is especially the guitar style, some technical experiments too, and some theatrical solutions in the voice interpretation. The atmosphere is very similar to the first album. But the quality of the sound and a different concept of composition matured in 15 years make the difference of course.

-Add something interesting about the lyrics.
Lyrics are a very important section in the songs of Dark Quarterer. I always try to use words and concepts never banal often utilizing similitudes in order to increase the imagination of the listener. "You, you are like a little boat sailing on my course..." in the song "Rape"... for example. The theme of violence has been touched and analized in various different situations. Always with tragical epilogues, except in "Deep Wake", where the subject is the fight against false metal in which we believe strongly, so the conclusion is positive as to our thoughts.

-Future plans for the next 2 years? Any new releases?
We are still preparing new songs for the 5th album and will probably release a live album too. This summer we are preparing a live tour but we are not sure about dates and places.

-What about the distribution abroad?
We are in contact to get a distribution in Greece and Japan with specialized distributors. Regarding the other countries, Pick Up records is working on that.

-Time for a final greeting or message to your fans and thanx for the intie!
Everything has to be done with the force of passion, only in this way all results will reach the soul. A big thank you and a strong embrace to you Markus and to all people who like true metal without any compromise.

MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - 20/2/03

Contacts:
E-mail: waltersu@etruscan.li.it
E-mail: darkquarterer@tin.it

Line-up:
Gianni Nepi, v., b. and 12-string g.
Francesco Sozzi, g.
Paolo Ninci, d.

Discography:
Dark Quarterer (Dark Quarterer - 1987)
The Etruscan Prophecy (Cobra - 1989, re-released on CD with 1 bonus track in May 2002 by Comet Records)
War Tears (Inline Music - 1995)
Violence (Andromeda Relics - 2002)

	Dark Quarterer Hanged, ripped and quartered Answers by Gianni Nepi after the recording of "Violence" .



	-First of all let me express my sincere thanks for your job. It was hard to find faults... I saw your valutation....great taste!! ah ah ! -I read there were some problems during the composition and recording of "Violence". Could you be more detailed about them? Yes, in the beginning, in 1997 we started to think about new compositions. Deep Wake and Black Hole were constructed with the great help of Sandro Tersetti (our guitarist in the "War Tears" album) but unluckily during the composition he decided to leave the band because of family problems. We contacted two other guitarists and some new tracks were realized with them, but one more time we were without the third element!! Only in 1999 we found Francesco... In 2001 the master was ready and it was requested with enthusiastic energy by one of the most important labels in Italy. After having kept the master in their hands for 1 year and a half (without any reason) they informed us that our music was too difficult to understand and not quite commercial for the present market condition !!! So everything had to be started again. Luckily we found Andromeda Relics and Tony Soddu who remixed all the material with a really great result!! -Was it hard to find someone like Francesco, somebody who could musically and personally tune D.Q.? Was it a decision to find a young musician or just the case? Francesco is so young (23 years old) and when we contacted him in 2000, only 20!!! He lives in Piombino. His father Gino is a great friend of ours and a musician too (drummer). He proposed his son to us, asking us to listen to him....the alliance was immediate!! -Why didn't you leave him place in the songwriting? As I have just explained, when Francesco joined the band all of the tracks were completed.. Obviously his contribution for new arrangements was very important and a great part of our current sound depends on Francesco's sound...but all melodies were already done at that time... I can anticipate you that a new song is just completed and Francesco is the author. A melody...very very melanconic and sweet, surely a wonderful ring in Dark Quarterer's chain. -Tell us about him and the other novelty, the new label Andromeda Relics. Francesco started to play guitar very young (abt 14 years old) and immediately studied classic and electric guitar at the LIZARD School in Grosseto. He completed his studies one year ago with the maximum mark and the honours by the great teacher Mr. Giovanni Unterberger! Francesco's sound is full of soul, feelings, strength and great technical skill. We're very glad to play with him..... Speaking about Andromeda Relics, what can we say?? Gianni Della Cioppa and Max Bettinazzi have an enthusiastic way to live music ..as young boys with htheir first love, so everything passing through their hands becomes rich and full of energy. The label really believes in all true metal and we were lucky to be contacted by them..that's all. -Is it hard to write a satisfactory song? If you write a good song that sounds far from your style, do you change it into something more 'proper' or do you reject it? How long does it take to write a song? Maybe months? Oh, yes, it is very very difficult; usually the first idea is a little melody but sometimes a subject for lyrics can be the first spark, then everything depends on our single taste and way to intend that melody or subject.. For example: when I composed "Last Song" I was in the north of Italy (Malcesine) on holiday. The weather was very bad, so we were obliged to stay in the hotel. The melody was the first born. It slid note after note as it was still ready in my mind and in few minutes all the song was composed. A true inspiration!! I always compose using a 12 strings acoustic guitar, so the result was a ballad. After few days I wrote the words. The subject was suicide seen as the last solution to all life problems... When I presented the song to Paolo he inserted a march tempo justifying it as a march, the last walk from life to death; but the song was not completed and Francesco inserted the bridge before the last part with a crescendo and guitar solo...the choral part in the end represents the last souls singing.. All these things and considerations were realised in months of research and failures. Each song needs 3 or 4 months of hard work and the result is OK only if the first flame has been a good flame, otherwise all clouds would be useful! Markus, you must know that we have never recorded songs if we weren't completely satisfied abt the job made. -What made you start again after years of disappointements, lies, sudden stabs at your back, the aggravation of the musical business...? As we explained first, we have never stopped to create music but we cannot complete a job if we don't have a guitar player... in any case market situation isn't interesting for me. We play our music ...the wind could be against or in favour to our course.... we play . it's enough!! -You've made a very good record. Can we hope this is not the last one we'll hear from you? We are already working on the new one.. we hope to be in studio for next October and I can anticipate you that we are trying a new music experiment, a new style mix, I may say nothing more....ssh!!! -If the previous sold 2,560 copies, how many do you expect to sell with this? 1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. it's enough?? -What are your live dates for 2003, and will you be playing at some festivals too? We were contacted for a Heavy metal festival in July but I don't know the name of the festival nor the place. We are preparing material for a tour with Toni Soddu, and we hope to play all around Italy before summertime... Can you organize a date for us in your town? (I wish I had the time and the money that Hard Stuff has. Sorry, try next year!/Markus's note) -What do you think of Italian scene and why do you think you have never gained the success that you deserve? There are several good bands in Italy like Doomsword, Lacuna Coil, Evil Wings, but the other bands who sold a lot of copies play shit music! People like easy things, they don't like to think too much and the music of Dark Quarterer cannot be considered commercial, so people listen to that once, don't understand it and change page... easy, very easy... People are ignorant and for many young boys Heavy Metal is only fashion: chains, skulls, devils, dragons, a lot of dragons, everywhere!!! how many of them will be here in 3 years??? Very few!!! -Maybe the live activity wasn't enough? Yes! We're of one mind and we are trying to remedy it!!! -How do you compare "Violence" with the past production? To my mind, there's a big difference, rather than between the 1st and 2nd album... Our opinion is: this last album is different as to the sound, modern is especially the guitar style, some technical experiments too, and some theatrical solutions in the voice interpretation. The atmosphere is very similar to the first album. But the quality of the sound and a different concept of composition matured in 15 years make the difference of course. -Add something interesting about the lyrics. Lyrics are a very important section in the songs of Dark Quarterer. I always try to use words and concepts never banal often utilizing similitudes in order to increase the imagination of the listener. "You, you are like a little boat sailing on my course..." in the song "Rape"... for example. The theme of violence has been touched and analized in various different situations. Always with tragical epilogues, except in "Deep Wake", where the subject is the fight against false metal in which we believe strongly, so the conclusion is positive as to our thoughts. -Future plans for the next 2 years? Any new releases? We are still preparing new songs for the 5th album and will probably release a live album too. This summer we are preparing a live tour but we are not sure about dates and places. -What about the distribution abroad? We are in contact to get a distribution in Greece and Japan with specialized distributors. Regarding the other countries, Pick Up records is working on that. -Time for a final greeting or message to your fans and thanx for the intie! Everything has to be done with the force of passion, only in this way all results will reach the soul. A big thank you and a strong embrace to you Markus and to all people who like true metal without any compromise. MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - 20/2/03 Contacts: E-mail: waltersu@etruscan.li.it E-mail: darkquarterer@tin.it Line-up: Gianni Nepi, v., b. and 12-string g. Francesco Sozzi, g. Paolo Ninci, d. Discography: Dark Quarterer (Dark Quarterer - 1987) The Etruscan Prophecy (Cobra - 1989, re-released on CD with 1 bonus track in May 2002 by Comet Records) War Tears (Inline Music - 1995) Violence (Andromeda Relics - 2002)