Interview: Stormborn
Stormborn is a five piece London heavy metal group who are about to break into the world of rock. Although they only formed as a band late last year, they have managed to gain great popularity in the music scene, playing at the biggest heavy metal festival this year, Bloodstock. TGN managed to track down band frontman Carl Casagrande for a short interview on his opinion on the sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle, his crazy performance with an empty bin and the ‘power’ of his band.
How did the band form?
Well basically in October 2011, I met Andy, Laurence and Dave, the guitarists and the drummer of Stormborn and they had a few interesting songs and I recorded a pre- production with them. We had an album ready to get into the studio and record after a few weeks time and it was like WOW these guys are like amazing.These were maniacs playing my kind of music and I was like this is my thing! We formed a band at the beginning of November and did one single rehearsal and went straight into the recording studio to record the first album.
Tell us how you got to where you are now.
I started singing about 15 years ago back in Brazil where I was born. I recorded two albums with a Brazilian band and we toured with many big names like Deep Purple. We released albums worldwide and did quite well but it gets to a point where either we try and achieve something in Brazil which is really difficult, or move into Europe or Asia where the big market for having your own music is. But the thing is my band members didn’t want to come so I came to London on my own and met a few guys from Kent and recorded an album with them till I finally found out what I wanted to do which is basically what I’m doing with Stormborn.
How was the process of putting this band together, and in a very short time of 8 months, producing and recording an album?
It was really easy. Andy is 21, David is 23, and Laurence is 21 and they know everything about recordings, digital software and they're really good musicians. The drummer writes lyrics like a fucking pro. We didn’t even have a bass player when we recorded the album. Then we found a bass player and we decided that now we have a band let’s just have one rehearsal to see how it sounds. We went to the studio did one rehearsal and after that we went into the studio to record the actual album!
What are your feelings about playing such a massive festival as Bloodstock (UK’s biggest independent heavy metal festival)?
Bloodstock is a big festival. It’s a great metal festival in England. It's such an honour for us to play. It should be the biggest gig for us. I’ve been in a lot of metal bands but this band is special because this band is doing something really good. There’s quite a lot of industry people so we’re preparing ourselves very well for it. I’m gonna have a laugh definitely!
Tell us a bit about the rock and roll life. Is it really all sex, drugs and rock n roll?
Oh yes absolutely! No, I’m joking. My mum used to think that hairy guys in videos were all into drugs. I’ve met all kinds of people and you don’t need to be a musician to do drugs. When you’re a musician you’re in a party environment, if you want to do that sorta thing then do it. But personally, we look after ourselves. We exercise a lot, we’re quite healthy people. To play the music we play, you have to be fit. It’s impossible to play a worldwide tour and fucking destroy a stage if you’re unfit.
If you could describe your band in three words, what would they be?
Powerful, Powerful, and the future. That’s four words actually (laughs).
What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done on stage?
(laughs) I wouldn’t be allowed to say it. I was playing a very important gig with a German band and I saw one of the crew members holding an empty bin and I was like WOAH and I put it on my head and used it like a helmet. No one else found it interesting but I thought that was pretty cool.
What’s next on your list then?
We’re playing a warm up gig for Bloodstock this Sunday at Nambucca. Then we’re doing Bloodstock festival on Saturday 11th August. Then we’re playing at the The Intrepid Fox in Soho on 16th August and that will be a headlining gig so it’s gonna be really cool. The focus now is to get the album released because we have an offer from a record label. At the moment, we’ve got friends checking it out but we’re looking for partners to actually get the album out.
Natasha Ennakhoui
Find out more on Stormborn’s official website:
http://www.stormborn.co.uk/
Check out their Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/StormbornUK
Want a taster? Have a look at their video below.
