Here you can read and listen to many of the interviews and reviews of Marcello Zappatore’s work
ACCORDO.IT about Marcello Zappatore
An important Italian guitar website, ACCORDO.IT talks about Marcello Zappatore and his performance at Second Hand Guitars.
Full Article
RADIO VENERE interview with Marcello Zappatore – October 2011
CICCIO RICCIO – RADIAZIONI live interview with Marcello Zappatore
IL CORRIERE SALENTINO interview with Marcello Zappatore
Let’s start with your artistic origins, when did you first become interested in music?
There was already a guitar in my parent’s house since my father liked to accompany his voice with the guitar when he was young, but it had never attracted me that much;
then, suddenly, when I was thirteen, I was lucky enough to see the film of Jimi Hendrix’s performance at Woodstock on television, and I was overwhelmed and dazzled. That day I decided that ‘when I grew up’ I would be a guitarist, like many other children who dream of being a fireman astronaut, or a football player. I’ve never done anything else but play music, and, at the age of thirteen, I started performing in public with a rock’n’roll trio.
Tell us about your artistic journey.
I am self-taught, I initially learned everything by listening to records and to good musicians. I had the luck and honor to play with. I have studied a lot, I have dedicated all my days to music for 20 years now, from when I wake up to when I go to bed. In my spare time, I graduated, in law. Then at a certain point, I felt the need to deal with great musicians and teachers, and I took a series of master classes with world-famous guitarists, including Frank Gambale (1997), Brett Garsed (2003), Massimo Varini (2005), Luca Colombo (2005), Pietro Nobile (2006), Paul Gilbert (2008) and Steve Vai (2009).
What is your greatest strength and worst fault artistically?
The fact that I am self-taught has preserved a certain freshness and originality in the content of my musical ideas, and guarantees me a very energetic and different approach to playing; at the same time, being self-taught makes me not unaffected by some mistakes in execution and some ‘naivety’, which I hope with time to improve. My greatest asset, which is also my greatest flaw, is that I never want to do anything aligned or conventional. I play a lot of ‘conventional’ music on a ‘work’ level, for various live and studio engagements with various ‘other’ music projects, when I write and play music of my own, I think that it has to please me and no one else, and that it should not remind me of any other music I have already heard.
How do you come up with your compositions?
I write music very easily, and in many ways, sitting at the piano, with the guitar, or even all in my head without having instruments at hand. Technically speaking most often what I write is generated from rhythmic cells, although I am a great lover of melody at all costs even in the most crooked pieces. What I write doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’, I’m fine with the fact that it is my own thing, that it is a snapshot of who I am at that moment in my life.
Do you write and play more during the day or at night?
There is no big difference between day and night about writing music or playing it. I always feel like playing all the time. Music has made my life wonderful and boredom-free.
You have attended many major events. Which ones do you remember with satisfaction?
One of the greatest satisfactions was playing in 2007 on the stage in Piazza San Giovanni on 1 May in Rome, with Après La Classe. Apart from sharing the stage with huge artists like Chuck Berry, the idea of going on stage and having seven hundred thousand people in front of you listening to you, and many more listening to you live on TV, is pure adrenalin.
May 2009 saw the release of your solo album ‘LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA’ (published by Note Volanti ), what is the common thread of the songs? Where do you find the inspiration for your songs?
The common thread is me. In ‘LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA’ I didn’t just write everything down, but I also played all the instruments; what joined all the songs is that they are entirely a product of my mind, without conditioning by anything or anyone. I never found the inspiration for my instrumental pieces in real facts or things. I compose instrumental music, the inspiration comes from the music itself and sometimes from the energy that certain people give me.
In October and November of this year you starred in a film about yourself called ‘W ZAPPATORE’ (Apnea Film, directed by Maci Verdesca), what can you tell us in advance?
First of all, we are not yet very certain about the exact release date, I can anticipate that there will be a cast with great actors like Sandra Milo, Guia Jelo, and Monica Nappo, flanked by carefully selected non-professional actors, and above all, I can say that it will be a film in which most of the musicians will find something familiar. There’s a lot of music in the movie, a lot of religious themes, the disruptive energy of metal and rock’n’roll, the eternal subject of the relationship between parents and children, plus it’s a film that will make people laugh a lot – if only for the fact that the lead actor is a NON-ACTOR (i.e. me), a person who can’t act but is probably perfect at playing himself, or rather the ‘himself’ drawn by the very talented director Maci Verdesca.
What should we expect in the future?
I foresee a lot of new white hair and always and forever a lot of music. Concretely speaking, I am working on my next record, in which sensational fellow musicians will participate. I would also like to finish my first comic novel which I started writing many years ago. And then, one day, I would like to sleep eight hours….
We are at the end, thank you for your time. The last word to you…
Thank you for the pleasant time spent chatting and for giving me this space. There is no love without music, and vice versa.
LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA on Italia Di Metallo
Review of LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA by Marcello Zappatore in Italia Di Metallo – by Luca Politanò
http://www.italiadimetallo.it/recensioni/2699/marcello-zappatore/la-ciliegina-sulla-porta
—
voto: 10/10
Here I am to review a CD I bought some time ago. Being an avid devourer of everything or almost everything that the guitar world has to offer, I could not fail to buy Marcello’s wonderful CD.
That’s the premise. Now, let’s understand Marcello Zappatore a little.
Marcello was born in Lecce in 1976 and at the age of thirteen, he picked up our beloved instrument. He started as a self-taught musician until he attended the master classes of some of the world’s most quoted guitarists: Gambale, Garsed, Gilbert, Vai, and our very Italian and talented Colombo, Varini and Nobile.
Marcello Zappatore has played everything: rock, metal, jazz, ska, and is a master of countless techniques (sweep, alternate picking, eight-finger tapping, fingerstyle…), so he is a complete guitar artist (and not, I might add).
His main influence is the never-too-late by Frank Zappa, from whom the good Marcello inherits a passion for humor and double entendres (Nasi Comunicanti, Ghiro d’Italia, some of the song titles), as well as musical genius.
But let’s move on to the album, ‘La Ciliegina sulla Porta’ is a full length of brainy and complicated music, which nonetheless flows well throughout its seventeen tracks, transporting the listener into a world of pressing rhythms, odd tempos, and technical excellence.
Think of all the music you can imagine, mix it and you have only a part of what is on this CD the Lecce-born axeman blends with absolute mastery all that he has heard and played, behaving like a sponge placed on different liquids.
The ‘compositional madness’ has no limits and Zappatore gives us tangible proof it exists. If you love guitar heroes who experiment and put technique at the service of creativity, this disc is for you. To buy with eyes closed and heart and ears wide open!
Luca Politanò
Review on Axe about LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA by Marcello Zappatore
ottobre 2009 – CoolClub interview with Marcello Zappatore
Interview with Marcello Zappatore
The interview was published in www.sulpalco.com
LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA
Marcello Zappatore’s album LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA is reviewed by:
COOLCLUB Review written by Prof. Ferdinando Boero
25 May 2009 Interview for the launch of “La ciliegina sulla porta”
Alle 22:30 il 25 maggio 2009,
Marcello Zappatore è intervistato per presentare il suo disco LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA in diretta su Radiofree e simultaneamente su Radio Melito e Rover Radio
Listen to the full interview.
QUISALENTO (1-15 July 2009)
QUISALENTO published an article on Marcello Zappatore and his record LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA
IL CORSIVO (year XII n. 23 – 27 June 2009)
The newspaper: two pages to Marcello Zappatore and his record LA CILIEGINA SULLA PORTA.
INTERVIEW with Marcello Zappatore published in October 2006
This interview was published on http://blog.libero.it/mondobizarro – http://www.sstt.altervista.org/– http://www.salentoinlinea.it
MARCELLO ZAPPATORE: WHEN THE GUITAR SPEAKS
(The following text is taken from an interview with guitarist Marcello Zappatore before his live performance on 26-10-06)
A polyhedric guitarist, he was born in Lecce in ‘76, but approached music late, it was at the age of 13 that he started playing. It was the Beatles who first influenced his style, and his world, his unconditional love for music exploded in an overbearing and definitive way when he watched the great Hendrix perform at Woodstock in 1969.
Later on, another guitar great, Frank Zappa (if only it weren’t for those four extra letters), also appeared in his influences. These, then, are the three great influences in Marcello’s music. As mentioned earlier, he is a multifaceted guitarist who, thanks to his great technique and an extraordinarily emotive personal touch, manages to range over an incredible number of genres: He moves from metal ( the Kiss of Death experience), to progressive (with Ahriman), but also from different genres (he also plays with Aprés la Classe) to jazz improvisation.
On the evening of 26/10/06, he gave a great demonstration of this, so much so that some of the musicians present commented on his performance with these words: ‘It sounds like the guitar is talking’ – ‘It’s as if there were two or more guitars’ or even ‘It almost sounds like a small orchestra’.
Marcello lives in the function of the music and this can be seen in the great passion he puts into it and transmits to those who listen to him, both on record and even more so live, a continuous flow of emotions, an infinite eruption of notes that profoundly touch those who listen to them, who are practically inundated, overwhelmed, never to leave his mind.
He is one of those musicians who deserve the big audiences, the big arenas, those 50 euro entrance fees for a live show that are instead reserved for obscure pop stars, mysteries of music, enigmas, always and in any case obscure and small stars who cannot stand comparison with so much talent that, at least for now, is not repaid with the big audiences, but and of this we are sure, he is repaid with the passion he puts into his music and what is even greater with the passion he succeeds in transmitting, he is one of those musicians who have the rare ability to move and influence, he is a musician who could influence entire generations by touching the deepest chords of the human soul. ..
…thank you, Marcello…!
by MondoBizarro 27/10/06
MARCELLO ZAPPATORE: A GUITAR THAT MOVES YOU
Technical Sheet
I found myself on 26 October attending an acoustic live performance by one of Italy’s greatest guitarists, Marcello Zappatore. In a few lines, I will try to give you a small technical review of his playing and interpretation of music, which greatly impressed us spectators.
Marcello Zappatore played in a duo with another singing guitarist Oliver; different songs from various genres were remade in an acoustic key with Zappatore’s unquestionable imprint. I was, impressed by his polished touch; I had heard his compositions on electric guitar before, but I doubted he could also play acoustic guitar very well because most rock guitarists are not very fond of acoustic guitar.
After all, the technique changes considerably, as does the difficulty of playing it. This was precisely Marcello Zappatore’s strong point; in some parts of his solos, we could hear the technique of shredding, i.e. that flurry of notes played at incredible speed and which hardly have the right impact in melody and performance with the acoustic guitar, showing all his skill, not only in his technique overriding melody and expressiveness, but in creating a truly unique and unmistakable mix of the three.
A very evocative part of the evening was a small musical interlude by Zappatore who performed several jazz pieces and several improvisations, showing only a small part of his infinite skill also as a jazz musician, since his harmony and melody sounded as complete as that of an orchestra but was, in fact, a unique and inimitable guitar… a guitar that transmitted emotions.’
By Free Steve 27/10/06
CHITARRE (monthly magazine), Year XVIII, no. 209, July 2003
‘[…] Marcello Zappatore, a guitarist coming from Lecce, offers us an unpublished piece and a cover for the Tribute to George Harrison. ‘Chitarre Suite Op.1 For Fool And Orchestra’ is a piece for guitar and orchestra recorded and composed especially for ‘Emergenza Chitarre’.
What can I say? At the end of the five and a half minutes, we were speechless in front of such a work. An articulate composition centered mainly on the guitar and partly on the orchestra, which is very effective in its interventions. It is hard to describe Marcello’s style, no label encapsulates it, and there is no limit to his imagination and creativity, which is why Zappatore is a true Zappiano!
Added to his compositional genius is the remarkable technique with which he performs the various parts of this work. The only flaw is perhaps the overall sound, which does not do full justice to the composition. For the tribute to George Harrison, Marcello has seen fit to cover the song ‘Beware Of Darkness’.
His version is unique, after hearing the previous track we would have expected anything else. The cover starts with a more than metal riff and moves casually to softer or more acidic sounds, creating a cauldron of sounds reminiscent of the work of Mike Patton’s Mr. Bungle. Technically, Marcello’s style is close to that of Steve Vai and Matthias Eklundh, it is nonetheless very personal, as demonstrated by the solo in the song: a melting pot of technique and creativity. We can only congratulate this multifaceted musician.’
Kantieri.it, Interview with Marcello Zappatore published in April 2003
Note from Kantieri.it
We had sent out a barrage of the same questions for all the bands on Kantieri.it.
That bad boy Marcello, being the only single one in the database, reading the ninety percent of questions asked as if it were a band, took it as irony.
Since we were quite amused by this, we publish it as is!
When and how was the group born?
I was born as an individual on 4 May 1976, to witness the first musical events involving myself we had to wait for the first voice-drums duets performed with my trusted gynecologist (he on percussion, consisting of spanking me, and I on vocals, or rather, more than vocals, the heart-rending crying characteristic of birth); I will not explain how I was born because I would be censorious..
What is the meaning of your first name?
The meaning of my surname doesn’t seem to me to need any particular clarification, as far as my name is concerned I would like to emphasize the fact that it is a diminutive of Marco, so it means ‘little Marco’ or if you like ‘Marchino’.
How is the band composed?
Like all human beings, I am made up of various parts: head, legs, arms, feet, and several other accessories whose practical utility sometimes escapes me; the musical training of the individual parts of my body is purely self-taught, apart from an isolated acquaintance with the Australian kangaroo Frank Gambale, who taught me several fundamentals, among which I would mention the art of surviving in the jungle by feeding exclusively on eucalyptus leaves.
What do you do for a living and what are your extramusical passions?
My job consists of responding in an incoherent and unreadable manner to music interviews by randomly tapping the keyboard of my PC using my nasal protuberance. I have many extramusical passions, among which I cannot fail to mention reading (and the use of double negatives), I have a true passion for extraterrestrials: I can’t wait for them to land on Earth and declare war on me with their futuristic water pistols.
What do you think about the Salento music scene?
On the one hand, it is vibrant, as there is an indiscriminate proliferation of bands that boldly and determinedly propose their songs. On the other hand, it tends to be stale because young boy musicians are discouraged from creating their music.
After all, it is much easier to play (with the due consequences in terms of remuneration) by proposing the usual primary school jazz standards or by inventing cover bands and tribute bands that add nothing to what has already been said, or rather perhaps subtract something, if not perform the square root of it; Furthermore, the chronic lack of space and facilities in our land should not be underestimated.
What are your relationships with other bands in the province?
I am part of some of them, some I am not part of, some I would like to be part of, all of them I try to be friends with and support when I see passion.
Do you also have relationships with other artists outside the province?
Definitely yes, especially in the context of Kiss Of Death (of which I am a member). The fact that the band’s radius of action has long been national, it was inevitable to widen its circle of friendships and collaborations with musicians and bands from other parts of our peninsula.
What are your texts about?
My texts do not speak, I write them hoping they will answer me, but so far they have not dignified me with a word.
How do you go about finding spaces and dates for your concerts?
I always move by walking, I don’t like running, and I don’t like sitting down, I must say that lately, I am starting to get into dancing (especially while playing).
How important is the ‘live factor’ for you?
It is important to be alive, I don’t think I could answer this interview with dignity if I were dead.
The live factor is everything for an up-and-coming band, only through it can you establish that drumbeat of rumors and word of mouth that allows a band to increase its share of notoriety.
What is the last CD you bought or listened to?
Now I’m listening to As Time Goes By by Tuck & Patti.
What was the last concert you attended?
I saw Greg Bissonette three days ago, he was astonishing and he sent me into a frenzy when he gave words and notes in favor of Ringo Starr.
Is there any album, or new band, you would like to recommend?
Of course, I would like to recommend Kiss Of Death and Ahriman, the bands with music of which I am a member: new releases are coming out soon, I invite you to stay tuned (I have no idea where you should stay tuned, though… you try the radio or the telegraph, who knows).
Greetings to all the friends of Kantieri.it.
Hello boys, girls, men, women, children, dogs, cats, fish, and pterodactyls, support the Kantieri.it initiative with your clicks because our land from a musical point of view needs someone who attempts, as Kantieri is doing, aggregation and not disintegration.
Metallus.it Web’zine, Giugno 2002
‘[…] a test of remarkable technical skills, such as Marcello’s solo in the central break (very nice and particular), valuable for its workmanship and inspiration’.
Diabolical Web’zine, Giugno 2002
‘[…] a truly enviable speed of execution that showcases the great technical ability of the four members, especially that of Marcello, the lead guitarist, who, towards the end of the piece, launches into an excellent solo’.
HMP.IT Web’zine (February 2005):
‘[…] Zappatore is a well-established guitarist who in this album showcases all his skills, composed not only of technique but also of intelligent and certainly particular ideas. […]’
ROCK HARD magazine (November 2004)
‘[…] On the other hand, the refined guitar work of Marcello Zappatore, an axeman capable of sculpting fine solos even in this context, which is not exactly suitable for a virtuoso, is convincing. […]’
WILDEZINE.IT Web’zine (November 2004)
‘[…] especially in the more strictly solo parts influenced, in this new release, the presence of Marcello Zappatore, a technical guitarist recognized as one of the best in Italy. The virtuosities of the new entry have certainly contributed to enriching Kiss Of Death’s proposal […]’.
