FRANCESCO MARRAS IN ROCK:
TYGERS OF PAN TANG THE NEW
GUITARIST CHALLENGE
Ironically, the
big leap comes when you least
expect it, in the midst of a
pandemic, where music was
probably the most decayed and
extremely mortified artistic
form in its true dimension, the
"live" one of concerts. The one
that today awaits better times,
with the hope - never tame - of
rising from the rubble of the
annus horribilis and waiting for
the invisible enemy to finally
give respite, to begin to resume
the natural course of things:
that of oceanic crowds, of
sharing and of the party.
Years of apprenticeship, tours,
records, dedication and a lot of
passion. This is the story of
Francesco Marras guitarist and
composer from Sassari, leader of
the Screaming Shadows band
dedicated to melodic heavy metal
with whom he performed several
concerts in Sardinia, Italy and
abroad, as headliner and
shoulder to artists such as
Labyrinth and Piero Pelù,
participating in Rock Tv
broadcasts (from Database to On
the road and Salaprove). And
then many collaborations with
musicians of the Italian scene:
from Mattia Stancioiu
(ex-Labyrinth), Alessandro Del
Vecchio, Pier Gonella. There
would be enough for his
ambitions but obviously fate had
foreseen another adventure
called Tygers of pan Tang.
Hi Francesco, well
found! Let's start immediately
from the news and tell us about
your recent entry into the
legendary Tygers of Pan Tang,
heroes of Heavy metal and
veterans of the NWOBHM of the
Eighties.
It is a great honour for me to
be part of this band that has
written the musical genre that I
have always loved. I received a
warm welcome and can't wait to
share the stage with them, I'm
ready to give my best and to
bring a little bit of Sardinia
around Europe.
How did you get in touch with
the band?
I was warned by a friend.
The band had in fact published a
post on the official page in
which they explained that they
were looking for a new
guitarist. The videos of two
tracks taken from the Spellbound
album were requested (Hellbound
and Don’t stop by, ed). In those
days, however, I was recording
the guitars for a record
produced by Alessandro Del
Vecchio that will be released by
Frontiers (well-known Italian
record company in the sector,
ed) in the summer and I was
quite busy. In a hurry, I
prepared the songs and sent the
videos. I haven't heard from
them for months, and I didn't
think I got the job; then one
day I received a phone call from
Iacopo ...
And if I'm not mistaken, the
singer is also Italian ...
Yes, right! He is called
Iacopo Meille. I must admit that
it was lucky to have another
compatriot in the band, he
helped me a lot to settle in.
What are you planning with
the Tygers? The "live" situation
seems to be far from returning
to normal.
Unfortunately, most of this
year's concerts have been moved
to 2022, we just have a couple
in September that are still
scheduled. We took the
opportunity to concentrate on
writing the new album whose
release is scheduled for 2022.
It will be preceded by an Ep
containing 3 songs that should
be released at the end of the
summer, it will be the first
work with me on guitar.
I can't help but wonder how
it's going over there with Covid.
I consider myself very lucky
because in the area of Germany
where I live, the Covid
situation is quite contained,
nothing to do with what happened
in Italy.
You also changed your life.
Now you live in Germany ...
Yes, that's right, I live in
a small town near Düsseldorf, 30
minutes from the Dutch border.
Leaving my homeland was a bit of
a painful decision, but in the
end I'm happy with how things
went, in fact after only two
months from my arrival I was
already on tour with the Go
Music project of the bassist of
the Klaus Lage band (a real
institution here ed) Martin
Engelien. In this period I met
and played with many great
musicians.
A great satisfaction. In
short, we "Sardinians Outside"
make ourselves respected. The
Demurtas in Tristania and you
too now take the big leap. We
have rock in our blood
apparently ...
I have always thought that in
Sardinia there are great musical
talents, unfortunately penalized
by logistical problems, but in
our favour, we have a very
determined and tenacious
character. Mariangela and I are
friends and we played together,
I have always respected her and
she was an inspiration for me.
You are tireless! You are
also currently working on a new
album by your band Screaming
Shadows.
The new Screaming Shadows album
is now ready, we are working on
the last details but it will be
released soon. I am also
finishing the production of my
next solo album (the previous
TIME FLIES was released in 2018
and is available from the
website www.francescomarras.com).
This time it will not be
instrumental but sung.
From who?
From me! (laughs)
In recent years I have also
started singing and this first
album will be a step forward.
The genre will also be
different, Hard Rock inspired by
big names like Deep Purple,
Whitesnake, Guns'n'roses.
Twenty years of playing and
animating the local / regional
scene, what do you want to say
to the musicians who are
starting to play, who make so
many sacrifices and who are
confronted with so many
logistical and organizational
problems?
My advice is to move to
study music in northern Italy or
even better abroad, in order to
immediately get in touch with
other musicians, have a title to
work with and enter the music
sector. Also learn to use
programs for audio, video,
photography, graphics
production, be present on the
web and on all major social
networks and speak English.
A memory, a particular
anecdote linked to a concert in
Sardinia?
With Screaming Shadows, we
started playing live in Sardinia
around 2000, over the years I
have collected many memories,
difficult to choose one. I have
seen many clubs close and the
music scene slowly change,
unfortunately the spaces for
making music have diminished.
Thanks for the time you have
dedicated to us, Francesco. See
you soon in front of the stage.
I cannot wait! I greet all
the readers of City & City,
visit my official website and my
social channels, see you soon!
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