Can you tell us about the origins of Dark Quarteter and how the band got started?
GIANNI NEPI – Dark Quarterer was born in 1980 with this name but me, Paolo Ninci and Fulberto Serena played together since 1974. We played covers of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, Michael Schenker, Grand Funk Railroad, Cream, Mountain. We were just over 20. Our name was “Omega R”.only after 1980 we started to create our own compositions and we changed the name of the group but the line-up remained the same until 1988.
Your album, Ithaca, is inspired by the journey of Ulysses and Kostantinos Kavafis. How did you come up with the concept for this album and what was the creative process like?
GIANNI NEPI – The ODYSSEY has always fascinated us. Since childhood we loved the deeds of Ulysses without ever really understanding the meaning.having wanted to deepen the story has allowed us to analyze many aspects of the story and, during the research, the poetry of Kavafis has impressed us a lot because, in our opinion, it was the best metaphor that Homer himself could conceive as the meaning of his beautiful story.and therefore the journey not for the destination but for the journey itself. approaching this metaphor to that of life that must be lived in every moment and with the right conscience to enjoy at the end of a well-deserved and serene rest.
What was it about Kostantinos Kavafis’ poetry that inspired you to create an entire album around his work?
GIANNI NEPI – in his poem Kavafis talks about many moments of the ‘Odyssey and then the topic is so beautiful, wide and descriptive that we had to dedicate an entire album, not a single song.
Ithaca is a narrative and engaging album. How did you balance the storytelling elements with the musical aspects of the album?
NINCI PAOLO – when we are in the compositional phase we always try to match the text with the music because this makes the final result more alive and real. amplifies the emotions ! For example “Night song” is a lullaby that the mother of Odysseus sings to his son and the atmosphere is heavenly and romantic as it is in “Nostalgia”. Instead in “Rage of Gods” anger and the evocative energy win over everything. Each phrase is carefully matched against the volume and emphasis of the groove. I’ll give another example: in The Path of Life, in the refrain the riff suddenly accelerates, but at a certain point it slows down, the tempo goes in half, the text speaks of love and hate, good and evil and, with this slowdown, the highlighted to then enhance the restart. Yes, we admit it, we are a bit complicated but, the final result generates the image and the plot of a soundtrack.
What was your favorite song to work on from Ithaca and why?
PAOLO NINCI – “Path of life” for the reasons over exposed
After Ithaca you released the album Pompei, what is the concept behind it and how does it reflect the spirit of the Ancient Italy?
PAOLO NINCI – Many people ask us this question and I anticipate that, to make you understand the concept, unfortunately I will dwell on it. I think your judgment is right but on the ‘Pompeii’ project I assure you that the final musical result is the result of a lot of research. From a historical point of view, we concentrated on the book, ‘The last days of Pompeii’ written by Alberto Angela, we downloaded a lot of documentation, especially on the life of the Pompeians, their culture, their main activities, tourism, agriculture , commerce, the second residences of the richest Roman centurions, who returning from the wars, in the conquered territories, found themselves with chests full of gold, diamonds, necklaces, etc. therefore they could enjoy their stay in those beautiful places, having luxurious villas built to spend their old age with the best comforts. In addition, the Roman Empire invested heavily in the school of weapons and gladiators (slaves), were useful for military training and for arena shows. As you can see, the picture was enriched by itself, the tragedy of the eruption completed the job. That’s where the dark sonorities come from, the days of death, the panic, Pliny the Elder, the gladiator, the lovers! Obviously there were many rehearsals where each of us made choices on rhythms, poignant harmonies, epic melodies, the result could only bring out the best epic, progressive rock, doom atmospheres and dramatic lyrics. Ps: we have undertaken this process since ‘War Tears’ and we have never abandoned this way of composition, it is for this reason that our productions are so different from each other.”
Your upcoming concert in Athens at the Up The Hammers Festival is highly anticipated. Can you tell us what fans can expect from your performance?
GIANNI NEPI – We’ll play songs from 1st and 2nd album. 1 hour of music from 1987/1989 we hope fans love our songs as they have always shown us every time we came to play in Athens
How has the pandemic affected the band’s ability to perform live and create new music?
GIANNI NEPI – the pandemic prevented us from playing live. we were stopped 2 years !! but we got to compose the tracks for the next album that we hope will be released in 2024. It will be a concept album again but I can’t anticipate the subject. Sorry…
You’ve been active in the music industry for many years. What has been the biggest challenge the band has faced and how did you overcome it?
GIANNI NEPI – when in 1989 Fulberto Serena left the group we felt lost. it was he who composed the songs and gave the idea of the subject to talk about. I wrote the lyrics, it’s true, but it was Fulberto who told me what to talk about. each of us contributed to the arrangement of the song but 60% of the work was by Fulberto. For this reason to find without him was at first a real tragedy. but we got strong and after several auditions looking for a new guitarist we wanted with us Sandro Tersetti. A blues spirit that has changed does not lay the basis of our compositions giving us the strength to try to move forward. we did the right thing !!
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians who hope to achieve success in the music industry?
GIANNI NEPI – you have to study your instrument and work a lot. listen to each musical style and try to extract from each style something original to propose in your reading key. It takes years to understand what your style will be but with patience, passion, perseverance and practice you will succeed.
What’s next for Dark Quarteter after the Up The Hammers Festival?
GIANNI NEPI – we will complete the compositions for the new album waiting for new possibilities to play. we feel the absolute necessity after 2 years of stop.
Finally, what do you hope Greek fans take away from Ithaca and your music as a whole?
GIANNI NEPI – when we composed Ithaca we did not do it to please the Greek audience but only because the subject was extraordinarily fascinating and very suitable to be put in epic and progressive metal music. With this spirit of research and passing we have always worked. We have freely chosen how and what to play our music. Freely. And maybe it’s this desire for freedom that shines through our compositions. maybe that’s why those who learn to love them will love them forever.
