1. First of all I would like to thank you for this interview and greet all the readers of your webzine. Well, Yass-Waddah is a musical project who has seen the collaboration of many musicians from different countries go through it, but is currently made up of one person only...that is me. The project started in Italy in 2011, subsequently continued in Canary Islands, (Spain) where I live now.
2.Recently you have released a new album, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
2. The line up of each album has influenced the final result from a stylistic point of view, since each musician has his own way of making music.
Unlike in previous album, I arranged and played the part of all instruments and I also sang all the vocal parts, which I had never done before. This undoubtedly influenced the sound of this new release.
3.From 2012 to 2018 there was no new music being released, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that times span?
3. In 2012 immediately after the recording of the first EP, the project sank so as not to think to a sequel in the future of Yass-Waddah.
In the following years I devoted myself almost exclusively to classical music. I have also a cello degree, then it was my main job.
In 2015 I moved to live in Tenerife, and here I restarted playing the electric guitar again, becoming member of the thrash metal band "Death Above". In 2017 I felt inspired to take over again the Yass-Waddah project and I started composing the album "Lights In The Murk" (later released in 2018) being so lucky to be able to take advantage of the collaboration of great musicians such as Hannes Grossmann on drums, Clemens Wijers on keyboards and Adrienne Cowan on vocals.
4.What are some of the lyrics topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music and also how would you describe your progress as songwriters over the years?
4. About the lyrics I wrote for this album, I can say that trying to understand what really reality is, I have spent the last few years being interested and getting a lot of informations about: quantum physics, math and geometry, biology and evolution of mankind, alien abductions, regressive hypnosis, remains of ancient megalithic constructions by unknown civilizations, origin of all religious beliefs and deities worshiped in the past, esoteric rites, masonic societies, astronomy, history of wars, politics and world economy...as well as martial arts practice.
Combining many common points that I found in all these different things, they led me to understand certain things, which I then concentrated on the lyrics of this album. Anyway, this was the first time in my life that I wrote lyrics for my songs, it was all in all a spontaneous thing since I had to concretize some very precise concepts that I had in mind and adapt them in music.
5.On your first release you also did a concept album based upon the writings of William S. Burroughs, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in his work?
5. Many artists, musicians and writers have become interested in subjects as diverse as alchemy, secret cults, theosophy and anthroposophy, the esoteric currents of the great religions, eastern philosophies, magic, psychedelia, and drug intake, symbols and universal myths, the so-called fourth way of the Armenian mystic Georges Gurdjieff. William Burroughs was a prominent exponent of this line of thought which inevitably leads us to know the darkest and most hidden parts of ourselves. Beginning to read his works, I started to be interested in certain themes which subsequently made me understand many things with respect to my self and the reality in which we are liviliving in.
6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Yass-Waddah'?
6. The band name was taken from the novel "Cities of the red night" written by William Burroughs. Yass-Waddah is the name of a city, is a "female stronghold" where "everything is true and nothing is permitted except to the permitters".
7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
7. Searching for an artist who could create the album cover, I stumbled upon the website of the artist Caio Caldas, who was selling the finished work. As soon as I saw it I realized that it was exactly what I was looking for. I don't know exactly what Caio intended to represent, but for me it represents the "Dark Lord" or "The Great Architect" who is creating this and all the worlds of the multiverse.
8.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
8. The music of Yass-Waddah has never been performed live, the project was conceived in view for recordings only.
9.The new album was released on 'They Live We Sleep Recordings', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
9. 'They Live We Sleep Recordings' was born from my idea of producing a bit of all the extreme metal bands of which I am a member here in Canary Islands (Death Above, Marabunta and Wikedness) giving an economic support to start the production of the phisical copies of the albums. At the moment the label has only three releases (one album of Death Above and two of Y-W), however there will probably new ones soon...The name was taken from the John Carpenter's film "They Live", which represents exactly the society we are living in nowadays.
10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and death metal?
10. I have seen with great pleasure that there are many people in different parts of the world who are shareing Yass-Waddah's music on the web. I am very grateful to all of these who spent time listening to my music and found something interesting in it.
11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
11. Sincerely I don't know about the future in general... I think the apocalypse will come very soon since we are now at the end of Kali Yuga. But it doesn't bother me in the least... So even in a landscape of poverty, war and desolation, perhaps a new Yass-Waddah album will be released if it will be possible, even more inspired by this frame of human annihilation.
12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
12. The bands that have influenced me most for the creation of the music in style of Y-W are certainly some bands that I listened to since the late nineties, such as: Emperor, Oxiplegatz, Burzum, Marduk, Ulver, Immortal, Kvist...
However there are bands of nowdays that I like very much too, for example: Desolate Shrines, The Great Old Ones, Krallice, Nightbringer, Seth, Grifteskymfning, Al-Namrood, Ascension, Cattle Decapitation, ...
13.before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
13. The human mind is the greatest deception that exists. Only by turning off the thought we can get to see the truth that is within us all. And the truth will set us finally free...
.jpg)
