Gecko's Tear Interview

1.       Why the names Gecko's Tear and Contradiction? How are they relevant to your music?

"Gecko's Tear" is the tear of an unsatisfied animal who cries for a better life. The meaning is closely linked to the feeling of impotency that you get when you try to find a way to save the world’s contradictions today.

My compositions in "Contradiction" are mostly an outlet to this feeling.

2.       Is music your main or only profession? What's your musical background?

Marco Castaldo (dr) and Aldo Ruggiero (bs) study jazz at the Conservatorio (music public university)  here in Naples, but they started their lessons after our recordings. Giovanni Gregorio (key) and I just finished our studies at university and we think music will be our priority, according to our future jobs.

Our influences are different, from progmetal to jazz, from electronic to avant-garde… it is very difficult to find a better description of us J.

3.       This is a long question composed of several smaller questions regarding how your music is received by listeners:

- Do you find it easy for your type of music to be "sold"/presented/reach new crowd in Italy and beyond?

The music situation of non-MTVbands like us is obviously very poor almost everywhere. After 3 years we’re starting to have chances to play more regularly than in the past, we also played in Berlin and Poland, but I have to say that it IS very difficult for everyone to find such opportunities, especially at the beginnings.

- What's the response in Italy and abroad to your music?

It depends on the alcoholic level in the crowd’s veins… hehe, just kidding… The response is mainly good, also from people who are not directly linked to prog or music in general.

Our album so far had good responses in USA, The Netherlands and Germany. We’re not disappointed about our results.

- Does illegal downloading affect the band financially?

I won’t answer this specific question, because it is a part of a more important question about the distribution system of culture and information:

Music is culture.

Culture should be free an independent.

Internet is the perfect place for sharing it.

The problem is "how can musicians live with their music?". Right now producers and editors make this possible through their distribution system, with their investments (and costs).

This system is very old and inefficient, mostly politically dependent. It is trying to save himself by lowering the general artistic and innovation level of his productions, focusing on easy-listenable standards. Standards brake progress.

This system, with its costs an criteria is a danger for culture. It has to be reformed and/or mostly bypassed from internet and the traditional mass media.

4.       Another split question about how your music is perceived by recording companies:

- Have you had difficulties in finding a recording label?

We’ve been lucky to find Marcello Marinone (reviewer for Agarthaprog.com) who helped us in this task, after we sent him our first demo.

We think sending promotional copies to reviewers is very important.

- Is there any interest for your kind of music among record companies?

Concerning majors obviously, sadly not.

It’s a matter of knowing the good people and having the good money. We are simply too risky for such system.

- How well do you sell? What do you or your label does to promote you?

Considering that we are a prog band in a cruel world, we are satisfied of our results, but the promotion could be always better. J

5.       Any plans for a second album? Shows/tours? How and where have been your latest shows?

We have some new songs and we slowly compose on, but now we’re more interested in playing live, which is always our priority.

We played with Daniel Gildenloew from Pain of Salvation, with Tony Levin and California Guitar Trio, Isildur’s Bane, Arti e Mestieri, we gonna open for Osanna and Balletto di Bronzo in Afragola (www.afraka.it), for Giorgio Canali at FarciSentire festival. We played in Italy, Germany and Poland and we are planning more live gigs.

6.       In the next album, do you see yourself going in the same way as the on you took in your album Contradiction? Will there be more change, like the change you had from a more metal band to the current prog-rock band?

I still don’t have a precise plan about it, I’ll be trying to make good music for all kinds of listeners. It’s very difficult to make interesting easy-listenable music... I think this will be my challenge, although the two new compositions aren't very easy-listening... another contradiction here, right?  :)

7.       Do you like the Old Italian (and non-Italian) Prog bands? Are some of them an influence or inspiration to you? Which current bands do you like (in Italy and beyond)?

Yes, we really love Area and Demetrio Stratos, PFM, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Osanna and Balletto di Bronzo, King Crimson, Yes, Van dre Graaf Generator and all these wonderful bands of that era. But we never forget that we’re in the year 2007, and the musical world has changed a lot in the meantime. We also love Ozric Tentacles, Pain of Salvation, Jeff (and Tim) Buckley, jazz-fusion, pop, electronic... and Frank Zappa, whose music is only chronologically old! :)

8.       Do you have any band or musician that you'd like to collaborate with?

mmm… Considering that I guess I got no more chances anymore with Frank Zappa, Stravinsky and Demetrio Stratos ( J ) I’d like to collaborate with a lot of different people. We’d like to produce something visual like a video or a soundtrack… but I have no sharp plan right now. We collaborated with Silvio Talamo (www.silviotalamo.it) which is a very good composer-singer and percussionist. He played in our song "Post" (still unreleased) and we've been his band for 2 gigs.

9.       If you had limitless funding and a permission to record whatever you want with GT, what would it be or sound like?

We are proud to say that we exactly play what we want. I don’t mean that we feel we play the best music ever (we are young and we still must grow), but no one ever really told us what to play. Otherwise I wouldn’t play at all in my band! J

And we perfectly know that we are maybe paying this freedom.

10.   How would you persuade an open minded person to listen to your music? You can also give a short description of your musical style. In other words, promote your band.

Hi! Go on www.myspace.com/geckostear and listen to our music, I'd be honoured by a comment on our music, hope to see you on tour! :)

It’s the best description that I can give: Internet gives the chance to listen to what I'm talking about, so it's better to listen to my music instead of reading my opinion on my music, which is also less embarassing for me ;)

Hope to see you all in tour, feel free to contact us through www.geckostear.com or www.myspace.com/geckostear . Because, believe me, we REALLY like having contacts and responses from everyone!

thanx!

Claudio Mirone and Gecko's Tear

PS= Useful link: Gecko's Tear on Youtube: www.youtube.com/profile_favorites?user=geckostear