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Interviews Fogalord

Interview with vocalist/keyboardist Daniele Bisi

Interview conducted by MetalMike

Date online: April 6, 2013


MetalMike: Hails, Dany! Thanks for taking some time to give The Metal Crypt readers some insight into your band, Fogalord. Can you start us out with a history of how the band came into existence and the origin of the band's name?

Dany: Hail Mike! Well, the idea of a band called Fogalord was born in my mind long ago. It was at the end of the '90s when I started to write a story inspired by an old Lombard king who founded Carpi, the town where I live, in the 8th century. The name of the band is a wordplay based, obviously, on the words "fog" and "lord," but we added the letter 'A' between them because in Italian language the word "Foga" means something like "to do a thing with power and passion"!

MetalMike: What events in your life inspired you to become a musician and did you study music in school?

Dany: My passion for music probably started when I saw the movie Amadeus, which tells the story of W.A.Mozart. I was eleven and from that day on I began to study music (piano and composition). Now, I'm about to end my studies at the music conservatory. My passion, outside Metal, is classical music, especially Richard Wagner.

MetalMike: Your bio reveals that you composed all the music and orchestrated the choirs, things that might be found on a Classical composer's resume. What made you decide to play Symphonic/Power Metal? Was there a show or an album that was a turning point or was it a gradual evolution?

Dany: Yes, I'm also a Classical composer, but I began very early to play and listen to metal music, too. I was fifteen years old and when I heard my first Power metal album, in 1997, I felt the same strong passion that I felt listening to classical composers! And that album was Stratovarius' Episode!

MetalMike: Power Metal is a fairly saturated genre of Heavy Metal these days. How do you separate Fogalord from the crowd?

Dany: Well I don't really know because I'm not the right person to ask this :). I'm too much involved in the project so I can't give you a good answer. But maybe one musical thing that makes Fogalord different from other bands is the use of themes that return during the album like a movie soundtrack or a Wagner opera. For example, there is the "fog theme" that returns when fog has an important role at that moment.

MetalMike: What would you say are your biggest influences, both musically and lyrically? Would it be safe to assume you listen to a wide variety of music and not just Heavy/Power Metal?

Dany: Yes, it's true, because I listen to classical music but also a lot of epic/fantasy soundtracks and, of course, I like different kinds of Metal, like old school Black Metal and a lot of Viking stuff!

MetalMike: Limb Music has a reputation for working with talented bands. What led to you signing with them and how have they treated Fogalord?

Dany: They offered us the best deal so we decided to sign with them, but I cannot hide that we were very happy to sign with the Rhapsody's first label!

MetalMike: Has Fogalord played live much? If so, where have been your favorite places to play?

Dany: Well Fogalord was born as a studio side-project but then things changed and now we are a real band, so we hope to play a lot of live shows! I think that the best place to play a show would be an epic location, like a castle and we hope to have the chance to do it soon!

MetalMike: If you could tour anywhere and with any other band/bands, where would that be and with who?

Dany: Maybe in Germany with Manowar!!! But I would also like to play in Scandinavia with some Viking Metal bands!

MetalMike: With the Internet so intertwined in life these days, I was surprised that I wasn't able to find a home page for Fogalord. The band does have a presence on ReverbNation and Facebook. Is a Fogalord website something you plan for the future or do you think social networks, Youtube, etc. are better for reaching your audience?

Dany: Did you really miss Fogalord's homepage? It's strange because we have it, in addition to pages in almost every social network. Anyway these are the links for you and all the readers who want to follow us: our website is www.fogalord.com , then you can also follow us on www.facebook.com/fogalord , www.twitter.com/fogalord , www.reverbnation.com/fogalord ...and I hope they work!

MetalMike: I know you spent a great deal of time writing A Legend to Believe In. How has the response been? Did you use all the material from the two years you spent writing for the album or are you well on the way toward writing the follow up?

Dany: Yes it's true, but they were more than two years! Some melodies were written in the late'90s, but I only gathered all the ideas in 2006, filling in the missing parts with new music. At that time the story and the concept were already complete, but it took over two years to finish the album. It was a lot of work, but we are very satisfied with it, and I hope that listeners can feel the same passion and energy that I felt when I composed the album! Concerning the new one, I'm working on it. One song comes from the A Legend to Believe In sessions, but it was not included on the album because it was not at its best and we had no more time to work on it. It's an acoustic ballad and it will be on the new album for sure!

MetalMike: Is there a time, in the history of Heavy Metal, or in music in general, you'd like to go back and visit?

Dany: I would like very much to go back to the middle 80s and see a Helloween show with Kiske and Hansen ;-)

MetalMike: Thanks again for taking some time out of your schedule to answer a few questions, Dany. What else would you like our readers to know about Fogalord and A Legend to Believe In that we didn't cover?

Dany: Yes I would like to underline that lyrics are very important and not only because it's a concept album. Lyrics and music are very strongly connected and it is very important to me that people take an hour to listen to the entire album and follow the story in the booklet. This is the way I hoped people would listen when I made it the album. I hope you agree!

MetalMike: Good luck and hope to see you on tour in the U.S. soon. Any last words to close out the interview?

Dany: Thank you very much Mike for your attention and time!! And we hope to see you in a U.S. tour, too! Stay Epic and FOLLOW THE FOG!

Other information about Fogalord on this site
Review: A Legend to Believe In




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