Interview: Kryuhm talk of life after debut album release

There’s always a local band close to you that needs support and can benefit if you spread the word about them: and this is definitely Kryuhm‘s case. I chatted with the whole band about music, songs to sing in the shower and, of course, feminism.

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Hello Daniele, Andrea, Francesco and Luca! How are you doing at the moment?

Good, very good, because the album came out. We have had some good reviews so far. We are happy; there are some good dates ahead.

We’re taking a lot of satisfaction from everyone on a personal level as well; in short, it’s going very well, and we hope it will continue the period.

Well, all is well; let’s say that since our first concert of some depth which was at Isola Rock, where you first saw us, a year has passed. In a year, a lot of things have come out, we recorded the album, and we made the video of the only Italian song featuring the singer of “L’Impero Delle Ombre,” a friendly group of ours that we esteem a lot. The track is called “Danze Macabre Tra I Fuochi,” in short, things are going quite well, and it’s going on like that. We will have two important concerts in April, one in Genoa with Vanexa, a historical Italian group, and one at the Lugagnano garden here in Verona with “Il segno del Comando,” another outstanding group.

Let’s say we’re throwing out ideas now, so our job is to stay on track. So we’re doing some new pieces, getting ready for these two dates, and definitely, more will come out. Let’s see. Now it’s a composition phase.

Your debut album, “Only In My Mind“, was released a couple of months ago, and with each listens, you increasingly appreciate it. How did you guys feel after the release?

It was very satisfying. I think for Daniele even more so because it was a dream he had in his drawer, but also for me. I didn’t even have it in my mind because, by then, I thought finding people with the will to do that was difficult. When I was contacted, I was in the right place at the right time. And then all four of us hit it off. The next album will be even better than this one; you always hope to do better. We are very happy with it. It is a satisfaction when you see what you have on your hands. I made this one!

We have clear ideas about what we need to do, then at least I’m speaking for myself, the maturity that a person over the age of forty finds, musically speaking, is different than when you are twenty or thirty. In the sense that while in your twenties or thirties, you think about doing a thousand concerts in the local clubs, in your forties, you are interested in something else. You want to leave a mark: to make an impact, you have to make records, you have to make songs, and above all, you have to make songs that people remember. From pre-covid, when we first made contact via Facebook (because the current lineup was born during covid anyway), we found ourselves in a couple of years signing autographs, getting into national magazines and various webzines. It makes you realize how much difference there is if, at some point, you decide to believe in it, and of course, you have to have the material and skills to do that as well. So many young guys should think that continuing to be a cover band or tribute band will never satisfy you on a physical level in playing at that moment there. But it’s not like making art; for me making art is something else, and making music is making art. And if everybody does cover bands, we will always make bad copies of somebody else.

If you were to introduce Kryuhm to someone who doesn’t know them yet, which track from “Only In My Mind” would you choose?

I would play “In The Nightmare” because it’s a song that was developed among the four current members, and everyone put something of their own, some more and some less.

“Only In My Mind,” then it’s difficult because I also like “The Evolution” a lot, although the one I put the most into is “Danze Macabre Tra I Fuochi.”

I’m the newest member, so let’s say I found everything almost done except for two or three tracks to finish. But let’s say they were all re-arranged because every drummer has their own style, genre and skills. I’m not a technical drummer, I’m self-taught, and I make do with what I’ve learned on my own. I am more related to the old productions that Daniele did with the others because, anyway, over the years, we got to play together a few times. Then, since we have known each other for 30 years, I have also seen them playing live. I am very attached to “The Evolution” because that was the song that really represented Kryuhm to me. That song always struck me because it was varied and simple, which is the characteristic of this group.

How do you decide which of the children is the best? Doing it live, the one that gives me the most energy when I play it is “Only In My Mind,” just because I feel that at any time we did it, whether we were tired or in suboptimal conditions (even stage-wise, maybe with problems) it always comes out on top. That’s the one that gives me the most energy.

What is the downside of being an artist?

In my opinion, there is no such thing. The burden of being an artist is that your life is part of a challenge. The artist’s challenge is not to please others but to make others like your art. The moment someone (who is not your friend, of course) compliments you because you made a good song, and gave them feelings, then there is the moment when the artist is rewarded. The worst side in my case is that it took 20 years. It took a lot of perseverance, but that is due to many, many factors: life itself, children, mortgages, work, and above all, the biggest problem of all bands, not just this one, is finding the right people and the right chemistry to make this become a band. The problem is finding the right people and that they all row on the same side. The moment one person in the band is rowing against it, eventually, the chemistry breaks down. Everyone has their part in the band, so there has to be an overall harmony from the singer to the drummer to the bass player… We have set up Kryuhm as a family, and in a short time, we have repeatedly proven that. You can argue, and you can realize that sometimes you’re mistaken. But in the end, the secret of being a band is this. If the band becomes someone’s toy, changing characters is easier, but you’re not a band.

I have a hard time answering this.

I am not an artist!

You ripped off my answer. If you evaluate it, as in our case, it’s because you are carrying on in something you believe in. Then, art is varied. We who are in it know that. I don’t find any downside for the simple fact that I like what I do. You have to have something to propose, though; you don’t have to be a copy of anybody.

I’m booking for the definitive answer. The problem with being an artist is having to go to work. That is really the cross.

If I think about it, the problem for an artist is when he has a block. When he has a period that he can’t create. The moment you have to create something, you can’t do so is a problem. Fortunately, it has never happened to me.

Tonight we were rehearsing a new piece. There is a passage between rounds that we were not coming up with. We were there for 15-20 minutes; the hook wasn’t going well. At one point, I try to do a gable climb. Song ended.

This piece will be part of an LP, our first release after the album in 2023.

Do you have any rituals before going on stage?

We don’t have any rituals; however, we discussed that when you go on stage, it has to be 100%. A beer before the concert is allowed; after that, it’s enough. When it is over, you can do whatever you want; there is no problem. Because even if there is only one person in the audience, that person there came for you, and you have to give the same as if there were ten thousand.

Luca did the ritual only once at the first concert, he had gathered us all around and said, “Tonight, we are going to have the best concert of our lives.”

It was a way to hype us because we were all agitated. Maybe he was the least nervous, though.

But you have to know that that night for Francesco was his absolute debut on stage.

Francesco debuted on a stage with a sound engineer.

I mean, there was a lot of tension.

I didn’t play for a long while: I just played acoustic. I didn’t even know what my genre was with the electric guitar.

Tell us one of your unpopular opinions.

Mine is really a fight against tribute bands.

The excessive do-goodism that is rampant nowadays. You always have to be careful to speak your mind by being careful not to annoy someone. Now you can’t say anything anymore. You can no longer make a joke in certain terms; you must always be cautious about offending someone. You don’t have to offend anyone, but we’re heading toward the ridiculous.

I do not tolerate deaths at work because last year, it was three a day on average; this year, it will probably be four. In the company where I work, I am also a union delegate, and I can’t tolerate a person waking up early in the morning, leaving for work and not coming home. He may have children, a family, etc. Not only from the companies, we see that most of the problems are caused by the workers.

Going to certain bars and drinking shitty wine. The first thing they tell us and everyone if we want to play music is, “But do you bring people?” We propose our music; it’s logical that we have a following. However, it’s not necessarily that everyone will come, or just ten people will come.

Do you sing in the shower? If so, what?

Any song that I like. I don’t speak English very well; [I conducted the interview in Italian, ed.] however, if I have to sing an Italian song, I sing it. Sometimes I do the verses as if I’m playing, I pretend because I don’t have my guitar in the bathroom. I usually only shower with music; the music will always be on in the shower.

I sing a song I composed for my wife.

I don’t sing in the shower; I curse because I have hair knots to untie.

And I mostly listen to music instead, the music that I like or gets me. Maybe two seconds, I sing it.

Still today, unfortunately, women are victims of discrimination, especially in the music industry. In your opinion, is it more difficult to be a female artist in the metal world?

In my opinion, times have changed a lot. It’s not that difficult. Maybe me being a man, I don’t realize, but I see so much more female presence than I used to. I see an improvement a lot.

I went to see Lacuna Coil, which for me, was one of the most important Italian bands. There is more presence on the vocals as a female person than in the instrument. Then there are also those who play; I remember White Zombie had a female bassist, and even Kryuhm had a female bassist.

It’s a discussion with less presence but less interest because rock and metal have always been quite male genres. My wife discovered metal when she met me; otherwise, she didn’t know anything. So I mean, it’s already a matter of taste.

It’s a tricky question because it’s not just about metal talk but about it in general. Men themselves, in reverse parts, are in situations where they still experience what women can experience. Heavy metal was born with male bands with a certain style. I remember when I saw Tommy Lee for the first time, I said, “And who is this?” The woman, by fault or luck, I don’t know, of that movement that was there has always been seen as the object of desire of rock stars. To the detriment of so many female artists because then there are so many who exploited that and others who focused on their quality. What makes me wonder is that I cannot find an ugly singer in metal.

It doesn’t mean anything.

In my opinion, this argument is wrong. It is also wrong for a woman to ask me whether or not I think a woman is discriminated against in the metal world because, in my opinion, art has no gender. Art then has to be liked because art is not equal for everyone. What is beautiful for me is not beautiful for you. Maybe even the man himself, you may like a type of man that another person may not like. There are and have been so many female artists: let’s talk about Italian music. First of all, Doris Norton, in the 1970s, brought everything electronic to Italy. She is not Italian, but she married an Italian to give you an example. How many women are really good drummers, how many bassists, how many keyboardists? So many. Art, in my opinion, has no gender. Certainly, metal was born differently. But like all art forms, women also approached it. Women have also experienced what it is like to attend a metal concert. Not all, but not all men either. So many men to us metalheads even now look at us strangely. We were a minority back then, too.

Artemisia Gentileschi lived in Botticelli’s period. And she was a painter who was so better than him that you couldn’t even imagine. But I’m not just saying this: go and see her works. She did a painting similar to Botticelli. You go and see Artemisia’s. Discrimination has always been there because when you talk about artists of those years, there were so many women artists, and you don’t even know who they are. The only one that made a stir was this one. In 1991, when we had recorded the Dark Ages album “Saturnalia,” the producer at the time had told us, “If you want to go to Sanremo, there’s a chance,” looking at us men. Also, because the singer was underage at the time.

Let’s play a little game: you have the opportunity to spend a day with an artist (living or dead) and ask them what you want. Who do you choose?

Candlemass.

Ronnie James Dio and Lucio Dalla.

I would have a day with my idol, Marty Friedman. And King Diamond.

I would have seven or eight beers with Cliff Burton if I could.

Thank you, guys, so much for taking the time for this interview! Would you like to add anything else to our readers?

We thank you for the opportunity you gave us. Greetings to all the female readers. Kryuhm love women; we invite you to follow us. We anticipate that we are already working on going into the studio before the end of the year for the second album. There will be a female singer guest on a Kryuhm song on the new album. And I have a message for all young people coming into the music world: make your own songs, try to make art, there is a need for it.

Come and see us! Support local artists.

Always believe, never say never in life, because anything can happen, and dreams come that maybe you didn’t even expect.

Be consistent in whatever you do because there you can see the difference between people. Even in our industry, it makes a difference, and it’s something that serves the community because no one is consistent anymore.