Oxido- Hi Betty, it's a pleasure to make this interview with you. We recently discovered CARDIAC, and feel very impressed for the band, and specially for your marvellous voice. Please, tell us when was CARDIAC born, and who are the band's members.
Betty- Thank you....I'm happy you like our music. The band was born in 2007: Bob Stoner (bass guitar) Marc Berry (guitars) and I (voice) are the founders...shortly after Min o))) (drums) joined the group and now we are like a family.
Oxido- CARDIAC's sounds is very special. How could you describe the mixture of styles that you play?
Betty- The band style is strongly marked by the presence of noisy guitars (Sonic Youth and Norma Jean sound), pulsing rhytmics (Killing Joke). The songs are a prog style scheme from both the past and the future, from King Crimson to Porcupine Tree and Opeth, with an Isis impact and a new wave/post punk atmosphere created by the ethereal, melodic use of the voice (sometimes inspired to celtic melodies)
Oxido- CARDIAC has a first EP called "Contro l'astuta sublime mancanza di verità". What can you tell us about it?
Betty- Yes,“contro l'astuta sublime mancanza di verità” is our first ep for bubble blood record, a wonderful brand which gave us the freedom to express ourselves totally.
Actually before this we self-producted 2 ep. In this album we reached a good rhytmic coesion with a stronger progressive sound; the quality of thr recording gave me the opportunity to experience more with my voice, at certain points there are 3 or 4 different voices together. We are very proud of it, eventhough we have to say that on stage we aren't as easy to be listened as on cd, where the listener has more time to enjoy the introspective and sofisticaed atmosphere (less metal) we create.
Oxido- Who write the music and lyrics, and which are the concepts of the songs?
Betty- The bassist Bob Stoner and I take care of the lyrics whereas the music composition is the result of the group sharing ideas, we're a very democratic band! Our lyrics talk about spirituality, freedom from this material world's slavery and rebellion against the mass controlling system we live in. We are involved with christian core and celtic christianism but we don't want to teach anythnig to anybody, we just want people to refelect and get their own conclusions.
Oxido- We can listen you singing in your natal language on the most part of the EP, mixed with several other languages. Why did you decided to do this?
Betty- The idea of using different languages (English, Italian, French and “Tzimbar”-Ancient german language typical of mountains areas in Veneto) was natural for us, whereas the use of a new language (we call it the Elfic) was aimed to improve and give no boundaries to my vocal experiences, getting free from the phonetical limitations of our own language.
Oxido- Which are your personal influences, and favourite singers?
Betty- This is a good question! My personal influences are linked mostly to “Dead can dance” experimantal approach and my best vocalist chart involves Lisa Gerrad, Siouxie, Elisabeth Frazer (Cocteau Twins), Loreena McKennit and last but not least Dolores O'Riordan (Cranberries). As you can see there are no Metal female voices in my background, I'm the electronic-ambient soul of the band; Marc Berry and Bob Stoner are the Hard rock side since they are fan of grindcore, black metal and stoner, postcore, noise and heavy psichedelia, besides celtic folk music. We don't like boundaries!
Betty- Yes, we all come from Verona. The rock scene in here is very active but full of different tastes. There are many alternative bands and some of them have reached good feedback but there is no real cohoperation amongst the bands and this is in a way blocking any kind of developmnet of the situation. Electronic, Hip-pop- Punk and rock'n'roll are the styles more appreciated here...we are trying to be original anyway!
Oxido- There's a videoclip for the song "Tre Ore Come Lei". Please, tell us about it.
Betty- The video has been made by video maker M.L. Pieropan, a friend of our who also worked for other bands. We like it because is obscure and direct at the same time, it is low cost and for us was the first time, it's not so easy to be interesting in front of the camera...we're already thinking about a new one for the upcoming full lenght.
Oxido- Which had been the best and the worst moment of the band, till now?
Betty- As I was telling you before, the band, with Min o))) joining us, became a sort of family and after a long time together the high and low moments don't matter anymore...Maybe the releasing of our cd and the signing with Bubble blood Records gave us a new strenght and we can say this is actually our best moment wich is materialising in the new album making.
Oxido- Had you played out of Italy?
Betty- no, we haven't had this opportunity yet, we'd like it, maybe in the future...we'll see.
Oxido- Which are CARDIAC's plans for the rest of the year?
Betty- As said before, we're preparing a new video in collaboration with a modern classic dancer for a new electric album which we're going to start recording in October and will be released next year; in the meantime a new ep containing some of our songs rearranged in an acustic version will be released next september. This is the outcoming of a series of sessions we played along with poetry pieces (Baudelaire, Rimbaud...) read by actors on stage. The cd will be released under Bubble Blood Records and will showcase our introspective and progressive soul mixed with a celtic and vaguely spanish sound....melody and technique together...what an experience!
Betty- Thank you for the opportunity and I suggest you to keep on following us becasue you'll be surely surprised by our music. We leave you with our mantra: Money is not our god! Stay wide, stay clean, do it yourself! Cheers!
Interview: Javier Parente, for OXIDO.-
Answered: Betty.-
