The Mad Shepherd

Hi, how’s it going? To start off with then, could you tell us a little about The Mad Shepherd; where you’re from, how long you’ve been together, who’s in the band etc? 

Hi Rob, this is Salvatore (guitar) and...I’m not too bad! For those who don’t know us yet, we are The Mad Shepherd, a new young band from Rome, Italy. We formed just one year ago when Pierluca (voice) and Isabel (drums) joined me and Ciccio (bass & back vocals) that already played together. 

So, your first release is the 5 track EP ‘DEMOlition’... how did you find the recording of the EP? Were the featured tracks songs that you’d been playing for a while, or written for the CD itself? 

Well, we started the recording just five months after our formation because the tracks you can hear on the EP were ready before as demos. Ciccio and I had already got the bass and guitar lines so it was easy enough to turn these ideas into real songs. We spent the five months before recording in this process, trying to “give a sense” to all passages. Obviously we can’t say we had no problems, while the recording was going on we modified some things especially about arranging words and melodies. We had a lot of fun recording this CD and I think it made us grow as a band. 

How would you describe your band, in terms of influences, style and so on? 

We like to say we play basically rock but I know this is a complicated definition nowadays! I can say that our style falls within hard rock, grunge and metal that represent the music we grew up with. Maybe the main influences are recognizable in bands such as Alice In Chains, Black Label Society, Led Zeppelin or Metallica but the list could be infinite! Anyway consider that our main features consist of heavy riffage and psychotic bass lines with good melodies on. But I suggest you all to visit our myspace and take a listen to our tracks, I think it’s the best way to understand what i’m talking about! 

Since coming together as The Mad Shepherd, you’ve played a number of shows around Rome’s rock venues... how have the live shows been so far? 

The first adjective that comes to mind is... exciting of course! You know, there is nothing better for an artist than playing live the songs he creates, so for us was really important to put them on stage and see what people think about. I think we have a good energy on live shows even if we play with just one guitar and not all guitar lines can be played. We had some shows around Rome and I’m very happy to play every time we can but I’d like to open for a famous band to get more visibility and play in front of a different audience. 

What’s the rock and heavy music scene like in the Rome area? Are there any local bands, or great Italian bands, that we might not know about over here and should be checking out? 

Yeah! I think we have a strong rock/metal scene in Italy but it is not supported by media and music business in general because of the pop culture that owns the main attention. So it’s very difficult here to reach a certain level of fame when radio and television play shitty music all day long. I like a very high number of Italian bands, but I want you to pay attention to these three acts: Adimiron, who play a very good modern thrash metal, Mens Phrenetica, a kind of schizo-rock band we played with, and an interesting stoner rock band from south Italy called Miss Fraulein. Check them out! 

Can we expect new material at any time in the near future? Are there plans for a full length album on the horizon? 

Our idea is to get a bigger number of new songs (actually we are working on two new ones...), maybe another 5/6, and go recording a full length, re-arranging the tracks that feature on DEMOlition. We also would like to record a cover we used to play live, it’s a song of one of the most important rock bands of all time, but I don’t want tell you more! Just take present it’s by an English act ;) 

Where would you like the band to go in the future, for example international touring, albums and so on? Or is that not something that you’re thinking about at the moment? 

Well, I think the first most important thing for us is to play a bigger number of songs and to play them as much as we possibly can. We know we need more time to face an international tour, but I think this could be the right year to take the experience for playing around the world. It’s because of that we rent a garage to play several times and become stronger. And don’t forget we are still looking for a label who might believe in us... 

Are there any bands that you’d particularly like to share the stage with at some point in the future, as likely or unlikely as you want? 

The list could be infinite! I think every musician’s dream is to share the stage with his idols. In my personal case, I could tell you Metallica, Alice In Chains, Stone temple pilots, Queens of the stone age, Foo Fighters, Down, ecc... but realistically I’d like to play with new young acts such as Black Stone Cherry or Wolfmother....mmmm maybe it’s a little bit hard the same! Anyway, we’d like to play with all those bands who play good rock music, who they are doesn’t matter so much in the end! 

I want to thank you Rob for this interview and say to all Rockpulse readers to come visiting us on myspace! See ya soon!