Interview with Andrea Chiodetti - Guitarist of Grimness and ex-guitarist of The Forshadowing

By Ipsissima Verba -

 

   I recently had the honour of getting in touch with Andrea Chiodetti, a guitarist whom I greatly appreciate, for his musical career with the well-known Italian ambient gothic doom project, The Foreshadowing, and the Italian black metal project, Grimness.  Below you can read what was discussed, under the shadow of a thought…



   Ipsissima verba - Shadows : Greetings.  First, I want to thank you for your time. Tell me, in the light that the whole planet seems to be gradually sinking into misery, in what way / level your artistic side has been affected, or, in other words, how have you been fighting against isolation, as a response to a seemingly unprecedented situation?
   Andrea Chiodetti : Hi, thank you. The honour is mine. Surely isolation was one of the main consequence of this pandemic. As everything else in life, you can see in isolation both negative and positive aspects, well, instead of fighting against it, I’d say that I tried to accept it and did my best to come up with something positive from this forced experience. Artistically speaking this last one year and half has been for me really, really prolific and I composed a lot of new material. Humanly speaking, passing all this time in isolation force you to face your inner self, you don’t act anymore in a mechanical way as we unfortunately are used to do in the society, and most luckily this experience will bring out something good if we’d only have the courage to accept ourselves and in particular the things we don’t like of ourselves.             
   Shadows : In 2019, you and your colleagues from The Foreshadowing have decided to go on separate paths. I am very curious to find out the reasons why this breakup took place, insofar as the last album released together, in 2016, Seven Heads Ten Horns was a great success both at the local and European/international level.
   Andrea : Well, the last 10 years have been for me plenty of crucial, important and hard decisions, after several years l found the courage to left a job I was no more happy with, I got married and together with my wife I decided to leave Rome for the better and split up from The Foreshadowing was simply a consequence of those decisions. The Foreshadowing and I started the band in 2005 and after all these years we spent together, you know,  this was not a simple decision to make.    
   Shadows : Linking my words to the previous question, what is the relationship between you and your former colleagues from The Foreshadowing, at the moment?  Is it possible to collaborate again in the future?
   Andrea : The Foreshadowing band mates and I have always been and are in a good relationship, friendship was behind the starting of the band and I won’t exclude the possibility to collaborate again in the future somehow. 
   Shadows : Also, I would like to know, what happens with the Grimness project?  I've heard rumors that new material is being worked on.
   Andrea : Regarding Grimness, I’m sorry to say that at the moment no new material is expected to be released. A lot of time passed since our last rehearsal and other things in our private life took priority.
   Shadows : To the extent that, as an artist, the idea of change and self-improvement consumes the creative spirit, tell me, if you will, what set-up are you currently using?  Did you make any changes/ upgrades during the pandemic?
   Andrea : During the Italian lock-down I was forced to stay in the south of Italy in a very small town in the Apennine mountains, and fortunately I had with me an essential set-up that gave me the possibility to create and record new music. Basically I used a Focusrite 2i4 audio interface, a Macbook Pro, a pair of Audio-technica earphones, a Fractal AX 8 pedal-board, 6 and 7 strings guitars, a bass and a midi keyboard. Actually this is still the set-up I’m currently using.  
   Shadows : You are a guitarist with a lot of experience and a very good technique, from our point of view, a fact that is easy to remember due to songs like N.D.E.  with Grimness in which you practically incinerated the guitar strings, or, Death is our Freedom with The Foreshadowing, including slower, gloomier, and more oppressive sections.  That's why I ask you, do you have any preferences in what you compose / play?
   Andrea: I don’t really have any preferences, I like both musical genres and have fun composing and playing either. I also listen to very different kind of music, far from metal, and sometimes some elements could emerge unconsciously in my works.   
   Shadows : What is the inspirational catalyst when you feel the guitar catching life in your hands?  And if you could make a top 5 bands that have inspired / influenced you over time, what would they be?
   Andrea : The inspirational catalyst could be a particular effect you use, other times a melody you have in your head and you reproduce it on the neck, other times is what happens near you that gives you the inspiration and the desire to grab and play the guitar, actually the pandemic inspired me a lot.  
Regarding the top 5 bands that have influenced me over the years, this is a hard question as there are so many, the first that come in my mind are Death, My Dying Bride, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Paradise Lost.   
   Shadows : Although we are nearing the end of the interview, I would like to ask you: what dreams do you have related to your musical career? Is there a certain band you would like to collaborate with? 
   Andrea : At the moment I would just going on composing music, coming up with something and sharing it with others is one of the main aspect I prefer about music.
 There is no one particular band I would like to collaborate with but I truly love and believe in the collaborations with different artists.  
   Shadows : As a musician myself, I understand the need to be on stage, to feel the frantic madness and love of your fans, so I dare to ask you, is there any chance to see you on stage again, in the near future?  Or what would be, more precisely, your plans, if you could share with our readers.
   Andrea : I miss playing live so much but I don’t think there is a chance to see me on stage again in the near future, at the moment I’m just concentrating entirely on a new studio project that, remaining in the topic of collaborations, will see the participation of truly outstanding and talented artists.   
   Shadows : Once again, thank you for your time.  Would you like to add a few words for your fans and friends here, at the end?
   Andrea : First of all thank you for the interview and congratulations for your beautiful project Cruish-Nir, can’t wait to listen to the whole album and I highly recommend it to everyone.  
To my friends and fans I just wanted to say thank you for supporting me and the bands I’ve played with, it really means a lot to me and please stay in touch as I’ll have very exciting announcements to make. Cheers! 



This concludes my interview with Andrea Chiodetti.

You can follow him and his activity via the following links : 

Grimness band :

The Forshadowing band:




Doom regards,
Ipsissima verba - Shadows
I am one when there are many. Yet I am many when there is none. I am Shadows. Founder/ Lyricist/ Concept writer/ Manager of the international romantic gothic doom band Lord of Shadows. Poet/ Novelist and the sole writer of the independent webzine Ipsissima verba - Shadows.

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