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New Heavy Sounds is very proud to bring you ‘Moongazer’, the second album by the four-piece stoner rock powerhouse from Italy, TENEBRA. The band had already made waves on the scene with their debut album ‘Gen Nero’ before delivering ‘What We Do is Sacred’ their debut EP for New Heavy Sounds last year, 3 killer tracks that were but a taster of things to come. ‘Moongazer’ is set to land later this month and the band – Claudio Troise (bass) Emilio Toreggiani (guitar) Silvia Fennino (vocals) and Claudio Collina (drums) – were on the other end of the line to fill in the blanks on our introduction to TENEBRA.
What are the origins of TENEBRA, how long have you been playing together?
Emilio: Tenebra was born in late 2017. Me, Claudio, and Mesca come from the hardcore punk scene. Silvia, on the other hand, joined the band through an ad on a message board.
What should people expect when they check the band out? How would you describe TENEBRA?
Silvia: We like to simply define ourselves as a heavy rock band. Sure, the inspiration of the 60s and 70s hard rock I think is quite evident, but we don’t limit ourselves to the revival and I believe this is just as important in our songs.
How did you feel performing your first gig as a band, and how was it?!
Mesca: Our first gig was in a club in Bologna that no longer exists. We played as the opening act for Lord Vicar, a great band from Finland and UK. The volume, however, must have been very loud because the police interrupted the concert and fined the venue … LOL
The new album ‘Moongazer’ is set to land on April 29th, the cover art is stunning; who created it?
Claudio: The cover illustration is by Marcello Crescenzi (riseabove.it) who has been a friend of ours for several years and has become one of the most important contemporary Italian illustrators. In addition to technical skill, Marcello studies a lot on his subjects and through this research, he is able to give further depth to his work. The knight is taken from the alchemical iconography of the Aurora Consurgens, which depicts the union between the sun and the moon (light and darkness, male and female), the black sphere, which has instead of the head, depicts the Moon on the dark side. The cover depicts the victory of this knight, the moon, over the sun, which in alchemy is something that never happens because perfection is the balance between the two. It’s a depiction of the band’s name: Tenebra, which means “darkness”.
What has the gestation period of the album been like? Had the songs been brewing for a while before going into the studio?
Emilio: The Moongazer demos were mixed during the first lockdown! Then we wrote the last three songs in the middle of the pandemic and the recordings also happened by dodging quarantines and restrictions. It was a rather tortuous journey, but the breaks allowed us to think carefully about the arrangements and to have some friends for some feat. In “Winds Of Change”, there is Frabbo the lead singer of Chow, a great band from Bologna, who sings the backing vocals, In “Space Child” the sax of Giorgio Trombino of Assumption / Bottomless / Becerus, in “Dark and Distant Sky”, Bruno Germano (Arto, IoSonoUnCane), who also mixed the record, played slides and mellotron and on Moon Maiden, the final track of the LP, there is a wonderful guitar solo by Gary Lee Conner of the Screaming Trees.
You mentioned Gary Lee Conner of Screaming Trees, where does the connection with Gary come from?
Emilio: The Screaming Trees are one of my favorite bands since I first heard them in a Santa Cruz Wheels video called “Speed Freaks” back in 1989, I was 10 years old. Santa Cruz had a deal with SST records and in its videos, at least until the early 90s, it was full of bands from their catalog. That’s how I also discovered Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Meat Puppets, Bl’ast, Dinosaur Jr., and many others.
Anyway, there was this song of which I was not particularly convinced of the solo I was playing, one evening, at the pub, I said to Marco Gargiulo (our Italian promoter): “It would be cool for this guitar part to be played by Gary Lee Conner!” and Marco, within a few days, thanks to the guys from Vincebus Eruptum, the Italian label that prints Gary’s solo records, got me his email. I handed him ‘Moon Maiden’ and he answered me with the track of the solo outright and, despite my insistence, he didn’t want anything in return! A real gentleman! It’s an honor to have Gary Lee on the record, I consider him a great guitarist and songwriter.
‘Moon Maiden’ is the first single to be lifted from the album, what was it about this one that made it the obvious choice as the lead single?
Claudio: It’s a song we like and we think it’s particularly representative of the band. There are many of our influences: psychedelia, rhythm and blues, heavy assaults, odd time signatures, melody … We think that by listening to this song you can get a good idea of the band.
What track on ‘Moongazer’ should people particularly look out for?
Silvia: I really don’t know, I love every track on this album. Too difficult to choose.
In what ways has the band developed since the debut album ‘Gen Nero’?
Mesca: ‘Gen Nero’, like all first works, collected more immature songs in a rather messy way. In my opinion, it’s a good record, but ‘Moongazer’ has more cohesive writing and is definitely more focused on songs, with less room for jam and improvisation.
In terms of a similar audience, which band out there at the minute do you feel that TENEBRA would be best suited to open for?
Claudio: Hellacopters
Mesca: Uncle Acid
Silvia: Earthless
Emilio: We will play with Messa at the end of May! I think it will be pretty Cool!
Excluding yourself, which new band would you like to see break out and become a success?
Claudio: I think there are a lot of very cool and unique Italian bands which deserve more attention: Messa are already pretty big, Marnero, Stefano Pilia, Chow, Horror Vacui, Hyperwülff, Lleroy, Collars, Hyle, Eye Of The Golem, Marthe, Hemp, Dievel, and I certainly forget a few!
How are things in Italy? Is live music coming back?
Mesca: It can be said that, from 2022, things have returned more or less to normal as far as concerts are concerned, except for a small phase in which you could play in theaters, but not in clubs. Magic of Italian politics. Now then, with the arrival of summer, there will be several outdoor festivals, which are pretty safe for covid contagion. Let’s hope this horrible war in Ukraine brings no more surprises…
What are your own first musical memories? And what was the lightbulb moment that made you go “I want to do that”?
Emilio: Nirvana made me realize that you didn’t need to be Steve Vai to write good songs. ‘Something In The Way’ is made up of two chords, when I found out how to play it with the guitar it was an epiphany. I was 12 at the time.
What was the last gig that you attended as a fan?
Mesca: I went to see Marnero with Cayman The Animal, two great Italian bands, at Circolo Dev, the club where, on April the 30th, there will be the Moongazer’s release party.
What current social issue are you particularly passionate about?
Emilio: I think this war worries everyone. The thing that makes me think the most is how certain right-wing propaganda that led to disastrous events like Brexit or Donald Trump’s presidency was directly supported by Putin’s party…
The album that you have in your album collection/Spotify playlist that would surprise most people?
Claudio: I like old crooner stuff, like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nicola Arigliano…
Mesca: I like Toto and Pooh, a very famous Italian pop band from the sixties (but they had a prog phase during the seventies).
Emilio: I like old rap bands, like De La Soul, Nwa, Digable Planets, UMC’s.
Silvia: Nothing in particular. I stick with rock and roll!
Although 2021 was another year to forget, there were some amazing new albums released, what would be your album of last year?
Emilio: “The Burden of Restlessness” by King Buffalo was a great record, IoSonoUnCane’s “Ira” was great too, I liked the new Quicksand too!
What does 2022 hold for TENEBRA?
Silvia: we would like to play more live, then we are writing new stuff…
‘Moongazer’ is available April 29th, pre-order link – https://cargorecordsdirect.co.uk/products/tenebra-moongazer
Connect with TENEBRA, here.
Photo credit – Davide Savaidis
