If you've ever seen George Romero's
"Dawn of the Dead" or Dario Argento's
"Deep Red" or
"Suspiria", or the "Alien"-inspired
Italian gorefest
"Contanimation", you have heard
(and probably enjoyed) the music of Goblin and its longtime
member and organ player Maurizio Guarini, whom eSplatter had the opportunity to catch up with.
Guarani and the rest of Goblin have a new album "Back to the Goblin,"
available on CD exclusively at
BacktotheGoblin.com. This
interview was conducted by frequent eSplatter contributor Steve Mason.
What were some of you early musical influences? I understand you
admired the music of the Beatles, for one. (So do I, by the way).
If I go back to figure out what my influences have been, I realize how fast
things where changing in those years, and how quickly my influences changed.
In the late sixties, if you consider the Rolling Stones/Beatles, I've been on the
Beatles side. I was listening to rock bands as well, including Deep Purple
and Huriah Heep. The fact that I was playing the organ moved my taste toward
bands where keyboards played an important role.
In the early seventies, I had the first big change, and I started to
listen to something more sophisticated, like Gentle Giant (maybe my favorite
band ever), Genesis, and basically whatever was released in that period that
can be labeled as "progressive" (Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, etc.).
Around 1972/73 I started listening to some English jazz rock, and I've been
influenced by bands like Soft Machine, Nucleus, and even more experimental
stuff, like Henry Cow and Gong. Jazz/fusion, starting with Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea, and landing to
Weather Report/Joe Zawinul has been the natural evolution of what influenced
me after the mid-seventies. Joe Zawinul is still one of my more inspiring
musicians ever.
Like many classic progressive rock groups (King Crimson, Yes,
ELP/ELPowell/Three, etc.), Goblin has gone through numerous
lineup changes
over the years. Do you think that this helps a band to keep their sound
"fresh" over a group's 30+ years?
I wouldn't say fresh, but with different souls.
I think that even if the components of a band remain the same for decades,
the freshness of their music depends anyway on their personal musical
evolution.
Usually being part of a band means that you are in some way "labeled", and
the fans expect the "sound" of the band. This is not necessarily the sound
of the single musicians, though. It's just the fact that the musicians
reveal the "spirit" that exists only when being part of the band. And when
the lineup changes, the new entries become part of the band, and start
sharing their experience. Everybody becomes richer by this exchange, but the
"sound" of the band is still there.
If you want to go somewhere else, you can, even with the same lineup. For
example, in late seventies the four of us (at that period the Goblin lineup
was Fabio Pignatelli, Maurizio Guarini, Carlo Pennisi, Agostino Marangolo)
played and arranged (not as Goblin) several records of other artists, and
our sound was totally different, closer to jazz-funk. We weren't playing in
the Goblin "spirit", that's it.
In one occasion we did – as Goblin - something with a totally different
sound on purpose, and that was when we released "Volo".
You've worked on numerous projects for Dario Argento,
including "Suspiria" and "Phantom of the Opera." I understand that Dario usually takes
a proactive
role in working with his composers. Can you recall any specific examples
his interaction during the scoring process?
I cannot recall a specific example, but I can give you an idea about how
Dario interacts with the musicians during the scoring process. One thing I
can say for sure is that Dario is very instinctive and the first person he
wants to see emotionally involved is himself. If you play a scary piano
chord when the murderer appears, Dario wants to listen to it loud, because he
needs to scare himself first of all. He is so receptive and so strong that
when you do something that he likes and that he feels involved with, you
don't need to ask him if he likes it: It's there and you both know that.
Actually the only movie where I've worked closely with Dario is "Suspiria,"
but I had occasion to know him very well outside of work, since 1976, and
even recently when my wife Cinzia Cavalieri worked as music supervisor in a
couple of movies with Dario and Asia Argento.
Regarding "Phantom of the Opera," the music is by Ennio Morricone, and my
collaboration is limited to the composition of background music for a single
scene.
The soundtrack to Luigi Cozzi's "Contamination" is one of
Goblin's finest
achievements, in my personal opinion. What are you recollections
of working
on this project?
Thanks. I agree with your opinion and I like "Contamination" as well.
I have no specific recollections, excluding the fact that in that period I
was experimenting new sounds and atmospheres with my new keyboards, and
there is no doubt that the experience of "Contamination" played a big role on
these experiments.
You've also collaborated with composer Fabio Frizzi, including work on
the scores to Lucio Fulci's "Zombi 2" and
"L'Aldila." What were these
projects
like? Did Fulci take an active role in the scoring as Argento does?
Fabio Frizzi and I have been and still are good friends. We worked together
several times and we know each other very well as musicians. When I was
collaborating with him, Fabio always [gave me freedom to do] whatever I
would like to do - after all he liked my sound and my ideas. To be honest, I
don't remember what these projects were like – we are talking about more
than 20 years ago – but I don't think I had enough interaction with Fulci in
these scores in order to answer your question.
"St. Helens" was a change of pace for Goblin, being an
American-produced
film, and a relatively light and melodic score. How did the
group come to
be involved in this project?
I have no idea how and why the band got involved with "St. Helens." Probably
the American production contacted our recording label because they wanted
our music.
For us it was a totally new and exciting experience. We used, for the first
time, the big orchestra, and trust me, having your music played by 60 people
is something that you cannot forget, especially when you are just 25 years
old. That was the first occasion for me to go to the U.S., in order to attend
to the mix and play some additional keyboards.
In addition to "Back to the Goblin," You've also worked on the
non-soundtrack Goblin LP's "Roller" and "Volo." In general, how does the
creative process differ between soundtrack and non-soundtrack efforts?
It's completely different. Of course, there are a lot of limitations of what
you can do when you work on a soundtrack: The director may have a precise
idea, the evolution of the song has to match with the scene, you need to
create emotions at certain points, everything is related to timing. In
non-soundtrack projects you are totally free to do whatever you want, and
this in a certain way is more difficult, because the number of ideas you can
have has no limit. Like going to a grocery shop and having to choose a
product over a million different brands. Either you have a strong idea of
what you want, and the determination to develop it, or you may easily end up
with something you don't really like. In my opinion, being forced to work in
a certain way, like a soundtrack, is not necessarily a limitation. Actually
I find it easier being creative when boundaries are pre-established in some
way - there is still a lot of space for creativity. And you have
immediate feedback, too.
What are some of your personal favorites of the projects
you've been
involved with?
"Roller," "St.Helens," "Contamination," "Volo." And "Back To The Goblin 2005", of
course.
It's been 30 years since you first joined Goblin for the
"Roller" LP.
Are you surprised at the enduring and growing popularity of the group. (I
can personally tell you that the group is more popular in the US now than
they've ever been).
Actually, I am very surprised. I have lived in North America since 1999, and it is
not unusual getting to know 20-year old guys that know us and our old LPs.
The reason might be that we ended up to be included in the sort of living
myths that have been inspiring new bands … scary, isn't? Otherwise I really
don't see any other reason, since our productivity has been very limited in
the past years.
What can fans expect next from yourself and the group? Are any
soundtrack projects or live appearances planned?
As Maurizio Guarini, I've started thinking of releasing a solo Album. This
is something that might happen sometime in the next Year. In the past few
years I've put together enough material, and maybe the right moment has
arrived.
As Goblin, we will work on soundtracks as soon as somebody will ask us to do
that. Recently we decided to run alone, without record labels - our last CD
was released under our independent label - and we are actually taking care
of everything, including marketing. The CD is available for purchase online
only, in our website www.goblinhome.com that I personally built.
About live appearances, we had some offers from the U.S. and U.K., but not enough to
justify a real reunion yet. It's in our plans, though. Even though we all
kept playing live as musicians with different artists for many years, the
reality is that the last live "Goblin" concert was in 1976. ... Time for a new
one, maybe.
