Line UP:
Michele – Guitar + Vocals
Mattia – Bass + Vocals
Ulisse – Drums + Vocals
Additional guitars and Farfisa by Andrea “Mario” Cauduro
Well, friends of the Aristocracy!We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will follow in all their emotions, the hundredth first interview of the Aristocracy. ,but before, in its entirety, the full album or songs from it.Thanks again to the French site Shoot Me Again, awesome site and awesome bands and coverage!
Hi Felipe!Ulisse (drums) and Mattia (bass) don’t follow sports, Michele (guitar+vocals) is a basketball fan but supports Turin Football Club, so definitely NOT Juventus.
A1:Did the songwriting ideas for this album come from a trip taken by the band or from someone in the band on a break? Sworn: We develop all the songs together, usually one of us comes at rehearsal saying stuff like: “what if we write a song about - dinosaurs/egyptians/pirates/samurai/cowboys/space/etc. ?”
A2:All songs made by a band pray to one or more themes. What themes were worked on and brought to Keshan? Sworn:Keshan is mostly about ancient civilizations, their gods and ritual sacrifices.
A3:Analyzing the album cover, one can see a duality addressed by the band. What are the universal dualities that inspired Keshan's compositions? Sworn:We are definitely fascinated by the eternal struggle between gods and men, darkness and light, life and death.
A4:Not that the band didn't do a good job, but I like special appearances. So, tell us how the invitation for Andrea came about? Sworn:Andrea Cauduro is a professional musician: Loris Spanu, who recorded and mixed the record and is a member of our collective/label Dotto, introduced him to us and then we discovered we share a common love for stoner/doom. We recorded Keshan’s guitars with him and now sometimes he performs on stage with us!
A5:What is Rabarama? Sworn:We really love a funny skillfull televendor, Alessandro Orlando, who in one of our favorite episodes showcased artworks by a sculptor named Rabarama. At the fiftieth time we watched that video we decided to write the song.
A6:Quickly returning to Andrea's participation, but asking for a technical explanation. What is a Farfisa and how to play it? Sworn:A Farfisa is an organ-like keyboard.
A7:Is there a sludge vibe in the band? Sworn:Actually no. Some of us like genres you don’t really hear in our music like death metal or folk metal, but none of us really listen to sludge.
A8:How is Sworn different from your previous bands? Sworn:We play in other bands: Mattia comes from punk-rock, Ulisse comes from emo/post-punk, Michele comes from indie/alternative, so Swörn is pretty different from everything we have done, and we love that.
A9:In the third question, I gave a superficial opinion about the album cover. Is my superficial opinion correct? If not, explain why? Sworn:Yes, duality is a theme, but it’s not the main one: STRX, who created the cover as well as the one for our first record, was able to put into images everything we imagined. We wanted to convey the feeling of impending doom in an egyptian setting while keeping our beloved triceratops.
A10:Some literature or films inspire the band? Sworn:Michele and Mattia are really inspired by David Cronenberg’s movies, all of us loved and were inspired by Valhalla Rising by Nicholas Winding Refn, but most of all, one movie we saw while writing the record was so bad we fell in love with it: Aquaman. We were amazed by how poorly made, written, entertaining and yet magnetic it was. We can’t wait for the sequel to be released!
A11:Ferjid as you say is an emperor. Long live him. However, does he only exist in Sworn's sung text or did he exist in the chaotic world we live in? Sworn:In our all-time favorite Alessandro Orlando’s episode he tries selling an “antique” and supposedly precious carpet called Keshan, hence the name of the album. He said that the carpet was made for the sultan Ferjid: we did a research and found out that he may have really existed. We sure hope so.
A12: What kind of subject don´t deserve a Sworn song?
Sworn:We like to write songs about things that fascinate us, and since we’re not a political band but we share common beliefs we’ll never write anything about what we hate: racism, patriarchy, white-supremacy, and shit like that.
A13:This album is conceptual?
Sworn:Yes, as already mentioned it’s a concept album about ancient civilizations and their gods and rituals.
A14:What´s bands influence Sworn? Sworn:Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, We Hunt Buffalo, 1000mods, Truckfighters, Stoned Jesus, Nirvana, Spirit Mother, Messa.
A15:How and when did you meet Dotto & I Dischi Del Minollo? Sworn:We are Dotto’s founding members along with 3 other guys. Dotto was Born in 2014 as a collective of people who shared the urge of producing live concerts in our town and recording music we like. We reached out to Dischi del Minollo, they liked Keshan and decided to participate.
A16:What 2022 Sworn say for 2019 Sworn? Sworn:We would say: “you haven’t found your identity as a band yet, but keep mixing all your influences and you’ll find your way. Oh: buy a lot of fpp2 masks and hand sanitizer”.
A17: Sworn:You might have noticed we don’t really take ourselves seriously. We already talked a lot about Alessandro Orlando and how much he means to us, Athos Faccincani is an italian painter often hosted by Orlando. We have a tradition: after every gig in our hometown we light up a joint, we drink cheap Vodka and watch a 1h episode with Orlando interviewing Faccincani.Thanks Felipe, this really was a great and fun interview! One of the best ever.
Keep up the good work!Cheers,Swörn- Michele, Ulisse, Mattia
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