M.S: Hi guys, thank you for spending some time with us today. How are you doing?.
Dani: Not bad at all, thank you. Looking forward to starting this tour.
M.S: Why don’t you introduce yourself to our readers so they can get to know you better?..Tell us something about the origins of SHADOWSIDE, influences, band members, etc..
Dani: We are a band that’s there to entertain people and bring them fun, excitement and an escape from a hard reality. We don’t care about anything else other than give people a 1 or 2 hours long vacation. Whether they want to celebrate an accomplishment, a happy moment or just get their frustration, anxiety or sadness out of their system, then Shadowside is for them. It’s hard to say what influences us directly since we like a lot of different stuff, from Deep Purple, Judas Priest to Disturbed and stuff that isn’t Rock or Metal at all like Tears for Fears. Fabio is the typical Thrash Metal guy, he loves drumming to the sound of Slayer. But if you listen to Shadowside, we don’t sound like any of those bands. I would say we are a mix of everything we listen to combined with our own personalities. There’s a lot of energy, intensity and melody going on when we play.
M.S: How has the band evolved in these last 8 years?
Dani: Let’s say it has been a rollercoaster ride and we haven’t stopped to think about it until now. We love what we do so we didn’t feel like taking a break at all. We still don’t, we are in a great moment in our careers so this is definitely not time to think about resting, we just want to work even harder to maintain everything we have achieved, keep touring internationally and release albums and explore higher grounds. During these 8 years, sometimes it felt like things were going slow because we were working hard each day, it’s like when you are growing your hair… you only notice how long it is when you take a picture. Well, we took a picture now (laughs). We went from releasing an independent demo EP in 2001 to supporting several bands like Nightwish, Helloween, touring our home country Brazil and US extensively and headlining Indianapolis Metal Fest together with Kittie and Divine Heresy during our last tour through the States. A lot of hard work has paid off but this is only the beginning. We still have a long journey ahead of us and a lot of growing to do.
M.S: We are introducing you to our readers because unfortunately your albums are not yet distributed in Europe. Haven’t you had the chance to do it, or are you waiting for a good offer?..please tell us…
Dani: We did have European distribution for our debut Theatre of Shadows, however it didn’t work out as we thought it would. Only recently we started finding the album in stores, surprisingly in Sweden where Raphael and I recently visited on a promo tour. So we decided that for Dare to Dream, we would release it only through our label in Brazil and do the rest ourselves everywhere else. LCM/Radar Records is one of the most important labels in Brazil and they are doing an awesome job there. We feel it simply makes no sense to get signed somewhere else unless it comes to add something. Lots of bands just want a label to say they are signed and then when they do get signed, the label doesn’t care about them or they expect too much from the record company. Lots of bands think they just have to play and leave the rest to the label and it doesn’t work like that. Some labels have approached us but we want to make sure that when we do get signed, it’s going to be something helpful for both parts. We aren’t sending any demos but are still open and shopping. We are selling well and expanding our fanbase on our own, so an European deal is definitely something we aim for but it’s an important decision and it won’t be rushed.
M.S: What song would you recommend to someone who hasn’t heard about SHADOWSIDE?
Dani: I love them all so my opinion could be biased (laughs). I’d say Highlight from our debut Theatre of Shadows and Baby in the Dark, Hideaway, In the Night and Memories from our new album Dare to Dream. Those are the songs that our fans have been voting as their favorites and there’s nothing better than a fan recommendation as to what song a potential new fan should hear.
M.S: What’s the best concert you’ve ever played and why?. Which of the groups you have played with has made you feel better and more comfortable?..
Dani: It’s very hard to pick the best show we’ve ever played because we haven’t played any bad ones! That may sound cliché and that I wanna kiss our fans’ asses, but it’s really true. I’ve never left the stage thinking “tonight sucked”. I suppose every time we play a different country for the first time is special, because we never know what to expect. Also the first time we headlined a festival in the US – Flight of the Valkyries festival – was a night to remember. Our first big crowd in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for 7000 people, was also a memorable show. I don’t know, I feel unfair picking one (laughs). We felt really comfortable with most of the bands we’ve played with or supported but we get along especially well with all the Brazilian musicians we’ve shared the stage with like Andre Matos and his band, the guys from Helloween were really nice and made our lives extremely easy when we supported them. We don’t have anything bad to say about the bands we’ve had the honour to to play with, we either got along great or didn’t have a chance to talk because of crazy schedules and that kind of thing. We’re easy to deal with so I guess they think “yeah, those kids are alright, let’s be nice to them” (laughs).
M.S: It’s been a while since the last time you came to Spain on tour, what are your memories of those concerts?
Dani: The best possible! We had a fantastic time in Spain, the Spanish crowd was so warm and welcoming that it felt like home during our short stay there. I was thrilled to find some of the craziest Metal fans I’ve ever seen and that’s a very good thing. It felt great playing there.
M.S: For those who have not seen you live yet, what can someone find in a SHADOWSIDE concert?… and for those who have seen you before, what will they find different this time?..
Dani: For those who have seen us before, we haven’t changed anything in particular but now Dare to Dream is out so you guys can actually bang your heads to the new songs and sing along to them as you know them! We will also play one or two songs we haven’t played last time. For all of those who haven’t seen us live before, get ready to rock. It will be like riding a hurricane! We are coming even more intense than last time, it will be a Heavy Metal party for everyone to let it all out. We don’t simply play a show, our hearts are on every stage.
M.S: What if someone wants to get your albums, where can they buy them?..
Dani: We always have CDs and T-shirts available at the concerts and organize meet-and-greets with the fans after the shows so you can get your stuff autographed. But just in case someone misses it, Shadowside albums are available at shop.shadowside.ws
M.S: You are coming back to Spain without having any new material edited here, Why are you coming back to Spain and why don’t you extend the tour through Europe? Don’t you think it’s kind of risky doing so?.
Dani: We aren’t afraid to try and dare, that’s true, but I wouldn’t say we take crazy risks. We are coming back to Spain because not only people welcomed us and told us they liked what they saw, but we were also asked to come back by both fans and promoters. As a band, we don’t get to decide where we play so we are happy that we got asked to come back to Spain since we love it there. I don’t think it’s extremely necessary nowadays to have an album released in an specific country before touring there, because we have the Internet. We wanted to expand the tour a little bit, we had plans of touring nearby countries like Portugal and France, maybe even going on a longer tour including the whole continent. We receive daily requests on MySpace for appearances in Italy, UK, Germany and Belgium, to name a few. However this time this won’t be possible because before our agency in Spain booked the shows, we were already scheduled to be one of the headliners of Araraquara Rock in Brazil, which happens in July 11. It’s a very important festival and 5000-10000 people are expected at that show. That made it impossible for us to consider touring Europe this time, but it’s definitely in our plans for next year.
M.S: Once the Spanish and Brazilian tours are over, Where are you going next?.
Dani: We have a few dates in Brazil lined up, including one with Sepultura in August, then we head back to the US for a 3-week run in September. After that, we plan on going on a Latin American tour so we are looking at a very busy 2009. Hopefully we’ll come back to Europe next year before going back to the studio for a new album. Right now we are 100% focused on Dare to Dream and headbanging night after night with our fans on this tour.
M.S: It’s all for now…Thanks again for your time. Is there anything else you would like to add? …thanks for everything and good luck.
Dani: Thanks for the support, we can’t wait to be back there, check out our new album Dare to Dream and if you like it, come rock with us live. If you hate it, come anyway because we will change your mind (laughs). Dare to Dream is a very intense album, very melodic yet heavy at the same time. We kept it raw, straight to the point, which is having fun and getting everything that bothers you off your chest. Horns up, I will see you all in a few days!
David Aresté
