1. How did the band get together? Brief history
how you got started.
Dr.K-Napo: In 1996, me (Dr. K), Napo and The Eldar,
decided to create an Iron Maiden Tribute Band.
The Bass player Sergio Camassa, substituted in
spring 2000 by Sandro Vincis, and the Singer Fabio
“Bruce” Minchillo completed the line-up
very quickly and efficiently.
During that period in Italy there were few bands
of that kind, so we had the opportunity to play
lots of gigs in our country, having really a lot
of fun!! But, as required by the natural evolution
of a band, after 2 years we started to compose
our own songs…
2. What were some of your influences? What
was the first thing in your life that made you
say “I want to play music”?
Dr.K: As I said on the first answer, the Iron
Maiden influence is clear in our music, but its
not the only one!! We also like the “power”
and the “progressive” side of Heavy
Metal, so we tried to mix them all.
Concerning the second part of your question, I
remember when, in 1983, I discovered a room in
the backstage of a small theater close to my house,
used as recording studio…Nobody was there,
so I sat behind the drums and started playing
a 4/4 tempo…In that moment I realized which
was my natural dowry!! Unfortunately I could buy
my first Drum set only 14 years later!!!!
Napo: My parents always had instruments in our
house.... I've pictures of me sitting at the piano
when i was 3 yrs old...so passion for music grew
up with me....
3. What is some of the music you listen to
now?
Dr.K: I like the last albums of bands like Angra
and Dream Theater, but I often listen to old stuff
from Queensryche, Rush, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden
and many different kinds of music like the first
Genesis, acid jazz and trip hop! Napo: Dream Theater
as well, but also lots of old stuff like Maidens,
Judas Priest, Crimson Glory; I also love Rammstein,
Evanescence and of course The Beatles!
4. Can you tell us about some of your first
musical instruments, gear you started with and
what you play now? Do you have a favorite?
Dr.K: my firs Drum set was a classic piece made
by a very cheap brand with cheap cymbals! Now
my situation got a little better with a Mapex
Drum set (5 tom-toms), Paiste and Sabian Cymbals.
Napo: I started with an Eko M24, country style
guitar...After some changing now I have an AOS,
italian handmade (my favorite) and a Maverick
F3 gloss yellow, not so expensive but really nice
to play.
5. Talk about your newest release, how it
came together musically (writing) as well as how
it was recorded.
Dr.K+Napo: for “Souls Thieves” we've
chosen the 9 best songs we wrote and arranged
from 1998 until today. Drums recordings and final
mixing+mastering have been made into a professional
Studio, while Guitars, Bass, Keys and Vocals have
been recorded in our own studio.
6. Describe a live show, what can someone
expect to experience at your performance? How
do you decide on a setlist?
Dr.K+Napo: Our set list changes depending on the
situations: If we are the only band playing in
the show, we propose the entire “Souls Thieves”
Album songs and add some new song and some Iron
Maiden songs to stay on the stage at least for
2 hours.
Anyway, playing out gigs, we always try to reproduce
as much as we can all the atmospheres and the
tunes we created during recording sessions.
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7. How do you like being on the road touring?
Things you like/ things you don't?
Dr.K+Napo: The thing that I like the most when
we visit a new place for a gig is to meet new
fans. To see how they react during our show, if
they scream, jump and enjoy our music our if they're
boring sitting and drinking a beer!
But we also like the time spent all together
during the trips and in hotels after the show,
remember that, the most important thing is that
we are 5 friends!!
The worst things that a band can find are a stage
too small, a bad acoustic or a bad organization
of the event they've been called to participate!!
Without considering the economic side…Too
often very unsuitable for the bands!
8. Any funny stories or encounters you had
while on tour you can tell us about?
Dr.K+Napo: We remember with pleasure and fun the
first time that, after a show, people came to
us with copies of our Demo CD asking for autographs!!
It is something we'll never forget!!!
Or a guy working in a gas station, who saw the
instruments in the car, recognized us and started
screaming “I know you!! I saw you on a gig!
You are great!!” We took pictures together
and gave him one copy of the new Album…It
was very nice!
9. How do you feel about the current music
scene in America / Europe and elsewhere in the
world?
Dr.K: Well, in this moment Black Music and Hip
Hop are on all the hit parades and you can hear
it on the radios and TVs. Those “artists”
appear and disappear so easily that they can be
considered like something you use and throw away.
But people exchanging music via Internet now
create the most serious problem. This damages
Labels and Underground Bands.
Napo: And talkin’ about the Metal scene,
it seems that only Power or Death Metal will be
the way to go...But we know that there are also
a lot of Classic Metal fans waiting for “old
style” to come out again, of course with
some “restyling” taken from the new
way of playing.
10. What lies in the future for your band?
Dr.K: We are working on new songs, we will record
a new Demo CD to send it to Labels and try to
make some jump to a biggest one!
We've have also added a new element in our Band:
Max plays Keyboards and the official announcement
will be given soon on our Official Web Site.
Napo: Max brought some new idea in our latest
songs and new arrangements for the old ones...Great
things!
11. Is there any thing you'd like to add or
say?
Dr.K+Napo: We just want to say thank you to all
people who supported us until now (MIB Music above
all!!!) and that between our hidden dreams there
is to come in the future to play some gig in the
States!! We will see…
Anyway, our new and old fans can find much more
info about us into our Official Web Site: www.theprowlers.com
12. Thanks again for taking the time to talk
to us and share a little of yourself.
Dr.K: Thanks to you and, as we say in Italy, ARRIVEDERCI!!!!
;-)))
Napo: And a big CIAO!!!
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