Interview
(Progressive Newsletter Nr.27 09/99)
excerpts from an interview with Tom (Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar) and John Galgano (Bass, Guitar)
Tom: I am the vocalist / synth / piano / acoustic guitar player. John Galgano, my brother plays both the bass guitar and electric guitar on the album. John also shares vocal duties with me. Brian Coralian plays electronic and acoustic drums/percussion. Greg DiMicelli plays Acoustic drums and percussion. Our newest addittion, Paul Bremner (Brems) plays electric guitar. To read about our short, yet very interesting history log onto http://izz.webjump.com. It's a very funny version of the story of IZZ. John and I grew up together and have composed and performed music together ever since I can remember. When we were kids we used to put all our stuffed animals up on the bunk-bed and pretend they were our audience. They were a very good listening audience! I met Greg at a pub. The guy who introduced him to me said something like,"Hey Tom, this is Greg, he knows about "Supper's Ready"! Quite an interesting way to intoduce someone huh? Greg is an excellent drummer. I had never met a drummer of his caliber before. I met Brian through Greg. All three of us worked on a musical theatre production a couple summers ago. I had never met such a creative and kooky musician before Brian. Brems... I mean Paul Bremner, is from Scotland. I met him also through Greg. Brems is basically the best guitarist I've ever seen play. Nothing else need be said.
John: I bought my first bass when I was 16 and I was hooked. I learned all the Geddy Lee riffs I could and all the Squire riffs and all the McCartney riffs! The first few months I had my bass were really amazing. I never thought music could be so much fun. Then I joined my first band...within like a month of owning a bass! Of course, we weren't very good, but we certainly had fun. I'll never forget my first band, The Cakeaters...Somewhere there exists a tape with me and my buddies covering Nirvana songs...I have to find that tape...I came of age in the grunge era, so Nirvana and Pearl Jam were big things when I was younger. But the Beatles, Yes, Genesis, ELP, Crimson...they've always been a part of my life. I have influences from every imaginable source...I listen to nearly everything mainly because I don't want to miss out on any great music!
Is there a deeper meaning behind the band’s name or was it just used for sounding interesting?
John: I'm a big Mets fan - the Mets are a baseball team here in the States - and one of their players' name was Jason Isringhausen - Izzy for short - well, I thought Izzy was just the coolest nickname, so I suggested we take it on for our name. It also signifies that no matter who is in the band at anytime, we are always Izz...we just are...the music sometimes takes on a mind of it's own. So, in that way, it makes sense. The music just IS, or...Izz
You play a stilistically very diversified kind of music, therefore you can’t be easy categorized in one musical direction. Do you see this more as a chance to reach a wider audience or is it also a problem that not everyone is willing to accept this diversity?
Tom: I set out to do an album that I would like to listen to. I love different styles on the same album. It keeps the music and the band interesting to my ears. ELP's "Brain salad surgery" and the Beatles "White album" are prime examples. These are albums that cannot be categorized. Great music is great music no matter what the style.
John: I've met so many diverse people who like our music and I really believe that it's because we have something for everyone on this album. Hopefully, this can bring people together. Bridging gaps with people is my wish for our music.
Even though you use a lot of different influences, how would you describe your music?
Tom: Izz plays interesting music. I grew up on "Close to the edge" and "The cinema show" so those influences are going to come through. We're not afraid of them. Like I said, great music is great music, no matter what style. Our style is that we do whatever we want to do - Isn't that what progressive music is all about?
John: If progressive means what it's supposed to mean, breaking new ground and moving forward, then yes, our music is progressive. In it's purest definition, our music is progressive. However, I don't think we can be categorized into one style. I think that we play music for everyone. I want to break down style barriers and just play music that people will enjoy and, if we're lucky, music that will touch people in some way.
Can you tell me a little bit more about the songs of „Sliver of sun“. What are there all about and is there something like a kind of link to the songs on the album?
Tom: There is an obvious link between the first song, "Endless calling" and the last two songs "Razor" and "Where I belong". The CD begins somewhat in dissarray. Heavy distorted electric guitar chords are the fanfare for "Endless calling" which is simply about being buried alive. Quite a heavy subject matter. "Where I Belong" ends the CD in complete peace and tranquility. I like that contrast. Now, the song "Razor" has the line "See the razor moon the sliver of a sun", which is where the album title comes from. Brian Coralian wrote the lyrics to this. It is about a man who has lost his gilrfriend to another man. He winds up accidently murdering this person in a bar-room fight over her. He goes to sleep that night and has an extremely realistic dream that he is actually an Angel from heaven. This of course puts his psyche in a state of delerium for he's just killed someone, yet he's an Angel. That's where the line "I shine so brightly but not brightly enough comes in. The album cover depicts our character falling from heaven, but as he is falling he tries to grab hold of the sun, which of course represents all that is good, and in the process cuts the sun to a sliver with his "ragged claws". Its all quite symbolic and a great concept by Brian.
John: I'll talk about the songs I wrote lyrics for on the album. "I get lost" is simply about loss-whether love, life, or whatever. What can you say when you don't know what to say about something that hurts so much? You get lost in yourself. That's where I was trying to go with that song. "Assurance" is a journey of isolation. If you've ever sat in a room by yourself, not knowing what to think or why you were there, you'll understand what this song's about. We don't want to be alone, but sometimes we are and it's how we deal with that isolation that makes us who we are. Everyone can be nice and normal when other people are around, but what happens when we're by ourselves? How do we deal with that? Some people can't deal with that.
You're playing with two drummers, which is not that usual for a ‚normal‘ line-up. How did it come to this decision and how does this influence your playing?
Tom: Playing with two drummers came about as a result of liking each of their styles so much that I just couldn't picture this band without one of them. I had done some projects with Greg Dimicelli, and I had jammed with Brian Coralian a few times. Each drummer brings a totally different perspective to each song. For instance, "Endless calling" was first worked on with Brian on his electronic kit - no bass drum! The next week we worked on it it with only Greg on his traditional drum kit. The following week the whole band worked on it and the two different drum parts worked out perfectly together.
Did you know about the world-wide underground prog scene when you recorded your album or did you just slip into it by accident?
Tom: I certainly did not know how big the underground prog scene had become. It's a good thing to know that people still want to hear good music.
John: I had some idea of this through Marillion and their mailinglist and all, but I didn't realize how much of a haven the internet was for prog-rockers. I'm very pleased to have found out that all these websites exist...so, Prog-On Baby!
Kristian Selm © Progressive Newsletter 1999