L’Arena Article
December 10,2009
English Translation
Sonohra, from the Arena on course towards Sanremo
Already winners in 2008, and after the triumph at MTV Latin Awards, they are on course for the 60th edition. The song is “top secret”.
More than 300 fans scattered in the deserted Arena: it’s the sound of success of Sonohra, the pop-rock duo from Verona who yesterday, under the guidance of the director Gaetano Morbioli, recorded the music video of “Seguimi o uccidimi”, the new single, which will be promoted through the web in the coming weeks.
We have found them to talk about this song “inspired by vampires”, of the lack of concert in Bra for the end of the year, of a Japanese song translated in Italian and of their participation in the next Festival of Sanremo.
Are you deluded by the choice of the city that preferred Ricchi & Poveri for the New Year’s Eve concert?
Yes, we had hoped, as Veronese, to be able to play in our own city, seeing as how our colleagues will exhibit in their “house” (Lost will play at Vicenza, on the stage in the central piazza the 31st of December). We don’t want to make a fuss: there will be other opportunities. But it left us with a bad taste in our mouth. Also because Ricchi & Poveri have already played in Verona this year, at Ca’ degli Oppi on the 29th of June… We have be in tour in Central and South America, in the United States and in Japan. In Lost Angeles in the middle of October we were awarded at MTV Latin Awards as Best Breakthrough Band.
And you’ve sung in Japanese….
No, in reality we translated into Italian the song “Yuki no hana” by Mika Nakashima, a Japanese popstar. It has become an acoustic ballad, with guitars and a string quartet, with the title “Fiore di Neve” and it is a part of our debut album in the Land of the Rising Sun, with the title “L’Amore”, an alternative title to “Liberi da Sempre”. It will be all in Italian with a few singles in English. Like with “Libres”, the Spanish version of the disc, there our songs in our own language.
The CD of 2010 will be in English, right?
Yes, we will promote it in the European market as well.
Also because of the Award from MTV Latin it has projected you into an international dimension. Before you, the Germans Tokio Hotel also won this award…
We still haven’t realized the importance of this award. We were very sorry not to be present at the ceremony in Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles. We were in London, recording the new album.
At Abbey Road Studios, “house” of the Beatles…
In reality we recorded in room 3 which wasn’t the one used by Lennon, McCartney and the rest. But still other artists of the caliber of Michael Jackson and Bryan Adams were there. It was a pivotal experience.
And did you cross the crosswalk of Abbey Road, the one on the disc of the Beatles from 40 years ago?
Yes, two or three times a day, amazing isn’t it?
Is it true that you have a song in the running for Sanremo 2010?
Yes, we’ve proposed a song to the committee of the 60th edition. The title is top secret, in accordance with the rules. We have to wait a bit for a response and we hope it will be good. The song reflects more the sound of the new album, even though it remains a melodic song. At Sanremo you can go now with any genre, as long as you are yourself. We believe that our proposal, a rock ballad, reflects in full our style and sound. For the new disc we listened closely to the albums of the Foo Fighters and have studied their rock sound. We’ve returned to our origins: in the 2010 album you’ll hear rock and also the blues. It will be heard more than in “Liberi da Sempre”. It will reflect that which we’ll put out in concerts, with electric guitars emphasized. The arrangements will reveal our current influences but also our time spent overseas, traveling, listening to everything.
At Sanremo you’ll find yourselves in competition against the stars of talent shows like Marco, the winner of “X Factor” and perhaps Alessandra Amoroso, winner of “Amici”.
We’re not worried: we come from a completely different context. Maybe we’re the last young pop group to not come from a reality or talent show. We’re proud of this. And anyways, Sanremo or no Sanremo, our disc will come out the same in the middle of February. The single “Seguimi o uccidimi” will be published before the Festival, but only through the internet. We believe a lot in the possibilities from the internet. The web is the best way for music to spread. Independent of anything else, what interests us the most is to play as much as possible, to go overseas and take our music far from Italy. It’s there, on the stage, where you have to play for real. You can go on whatever reality show and be voted for, but if you don’t know how to play…
So in full New Moon Mania you’ve written a song that talks about vampires…
We haven’t read any of the books from the saga, but the vampire theme is present. “Seguimi o uccidimi” is a metaphor for our life: we’re always running in circles with love, a relationship true and personal which can become truly impossible just like the love between a vampire and a girl.