Helfir Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and musical project?
The name HELFIR is the summary of artistic life of Luca Mazzotta. The project stems from the need to undertake a delicate trip in the ego that acts as a real catharsis for the artist.

2.In April you have a new album  coming out, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
The sound of "Still Bleeding" is rock, metal but with influences of dark music, celtic and electronic music. The melody in the whole album has a fundamental role and every sound was chosen very carefully.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your solo material?
The lyrics express anger, resentment and draw pictures of old memories, in short, a bit 'of my life. Also in the lyrics, there is a lot of symbolism which is the continuum of the entire album.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Helfir'?
HELFIR the name comes from a series of concepts that are derived from the culture of northern Europe. Generally does not reveal why the full meaning, but I leave the listener to understand the use of the imagination, through music, what lies behind this name.

5.With this project you record mostly everything by yourself, how would you compare this to working with a full band?
Working with a full band is very difficult, you have to find people who enter into the mood of the compositions. For this reason, I prefer to always look very professional people that can easily reproduce what I have recorded in the studio.
Fortunately I have several years of experience with the bands so do not think it will be difficult to play live the album.

6.Have you done any live shows with your solo project?
Yes, I have already made several live, for example with Antimatter band, playing in acoustic set, some songs. Of course I had to rearrange the guitar sounds by electricity, the drums; all sounded very intimate.

7.On a worldwide level how have your fans reacted to your solo material that have heard it so far?
I can say that for now the answers were always very positive, genre liked and all this made me very happy. Many people have enjoyed the search of the sounds and the melody of the songs.

8.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that you are a part off?
I play with NID, a band in which propose neofolk music; they are great friends so they are realizing that to me is a time of hard work. In all this, however, have not missed all the commitments of this band. I always try to work better with everyone.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
I hope I can play around a lot, bring my music to as many people as possible. I'm a musician now for about twenty years and this work always makes me so emotional. A musician has always given me a lot of satisfaction and I hope therefore to continue to write music and play live anywhere in the world.

10.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?
This is really a good question, very difficult to summarize. I listen to all the music, without exclusion. My favorite genres, the ones that I feel very close to me are the rock, metal and celtic music (played on acoustic guitar). Currently I'm listening to a lot of metal bands (Opeth, Katatonia, Dark Tranquillity, and many records of Doc Watson (a talented musician of bluegrass music).

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
I am a PhD student in Ecology and Climate Change. Besides the music I really love nature, I like to study it and to contribute to help in scientific research. I like then study science, but I really love traveling also. Each trip is for me a huge growth as a human being.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
I wish to thank those who have believed in me, in my music, my friends who have given me so much more strength to go on. I hope that my first album can be a good start for this trip with HELFIR. I would also like to thank the label My Kingdom Music with whom now work, who believed in me and that always shows an incredible professionalism.

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