IL BALLO DELLE CASTAGNE - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Il Ballo delle Castagne is an Italian band that was formed in 2007 by two musicians coming from different experiences: vocalist and lyricist Vinz, previously brainchild of a "low-fi project" called Calle della Morte and Marco Garegnani, previously with a band called The Green Man, who is the main composer and plays guitars, sitar, keyboards and moog. The line up was completed by Diego Banchero (Malombra, Recondita Stirpe and Egida Aurea) on bass and Jo Jo on drums. The name of the band means "The Chestnuts Ball" and it was inspired by a legend involving the Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) and his luxurious habits: the "Chestnuts Ball" was a kind of "Satanic Sabbath" where naked women used to dance in the light of candelabrums picking chestnuts from the floor with their mouths. The music of Il Ballo delle Castagne is an interesting blend of hard rock, progressive and new wave. Their sound is gothic and dark.

The band has so far released two albums. I got in touch with the band and Vinz Aquarian answered my questions.

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Your biography has been covered in your ProgArchives profile so let's bypass the biography details. But why did you choose that name and which bands were you influenced by ?

„Ballo delle Castagne“ (The Chestnuts Ball) is either a legend or just one of the many events that history forgot. On the 31 October 1501 , the Pope Alexander VI and his daughter; Lucretia , arranged a kind of “satanic sabba” passed to the chronicle as „The Chestnuts Ball“. An orgy planned by Cesare Borgia, during which prostitutes were dancing naked through candelabras, collecting from the floor chestnusts with the mouth...thats from the name is coming from. Fairytales and legends are part of progressive rock background and we thought this was perfectly fit it. We listen a lot of music and its difficult for us explain our influences. Space rock, West coast, Kraut Rock, Italian Prog rock, but also a lot of oriental and electronic music.

Everything comes together in our new album.

Over to your two albums. Your debut album Ballo delle Castagne was released in 2009. Please tell us more about this album.

The first album was still very influenced by new wave and garage music. You get this feeling from songs like „Specchi e Perline colorate“ or „Anthem“. We love and enjoy this influences but this was not the direction we want to follow. Songs like „Sole e Acciaio „ and „Il Pianto di cristo su Gerusalemme“ were naturally close to our pattern: oriental and orchestral with heavy and rock music.

Your second album Kalachakra has just been released. Please tell us more about this album.

Kalachakra is a journey through past life to the current age of Kaliyuga. To understand the nature of our message and the sound of this album, you must stop for a second, breathe and read carefully our texts. This might be your story, my story or everyone else story...

In a few words its the story of mankind since thousands years. This life its just a fragment, we struggling against all evil passions that put man in chains. Kalachakra is a collection of stories with one high moment: the celebration of the Kalachakra ritual. The obsucre moments and melodies are just part of a process that bring the listener to the enlightment ( hopefully!).As we said, there’s no begining and no end. Its just the Wheel of Time !

I would describe your music as a mix of heavy metal, space rock and Rock Progressivo Italiano. But how would you describe you music and which bands would you compare yourself with ?

We love the Italian Prog Rock, its a great background that make us really proud of our country and music. Still, the main influence is on the text and on the way we approach the concept.

I guess, you can collocate us between Kraut Rock and some West Coast

Psychedelia. We love Amon Düül, Can and Popol Vuh, just to mention some of the best german acts of the past. The combination of Sitar and Moog drive our sound to new unexplored land, that’s probably the best and interesting part of our music.

Are you active on the live circuit these days or are your band a studio project only ?

We promote our first release with couple of gigs supporting also some very good acts like White Hills and Radio Moscow. We will not tour this time, as we are allready working on our next album: Gilgamesh. We will then present our trilogy live, probably in early 2012.

What is your plans for this year and beyond ?

As I mentioned before we’re actually working on the third chapter of our trilogy. While on „Kalachakra“ we focus on the liberation/salvation from evil passions, on „Gilgamesh“ we’ll back on earth as new mankind. Walking Gods in the Age of Aquarius !

To wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this interview ?

Liberation through meditation, keep clean your body from meat , alchool and drugs, money are a collective illusion and construction. Amen.

Thank you to Vinz Aquarian for this interview

Their PA profile is here and their homepage's here

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
Nightfly Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 01 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3659	Topic: IL BALLO DELLE CASTAGNE Posted: March 28 2011 at 12:00
	Deffinitely a band i want to check out some more. Good work once again Torodd.

avestin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 18 2005 Status: Offline Points: 12625	Posted: March 20 2011 at 16:59
	Thanks for the interview. I have a promo copy of Kalachakra that I'm reviewing and this interview gives me a glimpse into their world.
	Hanging Sounds PA Index of prog music vendors

seventhsojourn Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: December 11 2009 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 4006	Posted: March 20 2011 at 16:13
	''Space rock, West coast, Kraut Rock, Italian Prog rock, but also a lot of oriental and electronic music''... I like these guys! Love the footage from The Devils too.

toroddfuglesteg Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Retired Joined: March 04 2008 Location: Retirement Home Status: Offline Points: 3658	Posted: March 19 2011 at 13:11
	Il Ballo delle Castagne is an Italian band that was formed in 2007 by two musicians coming from different experiences: vocalist and lyricist Vinz, previously brainchild of a "low-fi project" called Calle della Morte and Marco Garegnani, previously with a band called The Green Man, who is the main composer and plays guitars, sitar, keyboards and moog. The line up was completed by Diego Banchero (Malombra, Recondita Stirpe and Egida Aurea) on bass and Jo Jo on drums. The name of the band means "The Chestnuts Ball" and it was inspired by a legend involving the Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) and his luxurious habits: the "Chestnuts Ball" was a kind of "Satanic Sabbath" where naked women used to dance in the light of candelabrums picking chestnuts from the floor with their mouths. The music of Il Ballo delle Castagne is an interesting blend of hard rock, progressive and new wave. Their sound is gothic and dark. The band has so far released two albums. I got in touch with the band and Vinz Aquarian answered my questions. ################################################################ Your biography has been covered in your ProgArchives profile so let's bypass the biography details. But why did you choose that name and which bands were you influenced by ? „Ballo delle Castagne“ (The Chestnuts Ball) is either a legend or just one of the many events that history forgot. On the 31 October 1501 , the Pope Alexander VI and his daughter; Lucretia , arranged a kind of “satanic sabba” passed to the chronicle as „The Chestnuts Ball“. An orgy planned by Cesare Borgia, during which prostitutes were dancing naked through candelabras, collecting from the floor chestnusts with the mouth...thats from the name is coming from. Fairytales and legends are part of progressive rock background and we thought this was perfectly fit it. We listen a lot of music and its difficult for us explain our influences. Space rock, West coast, Kraut Rock, Italian Prog rock, but also a lot of oriental and electronic music. Everything comes together in our new album. Over to your two albums. Your debut album Ballo delle Castagne was released in 2009. Please tell us more about this album. The first album was still very influenced by new wave and garage music. You get this feeling from songs like „Specchi e Perline colorate“ or „Anthem“. We love and enjoy this influences but this was not the direction we want to follow. Songs like „Sole e Acciaio „ and „Il Pianto di cristo su Gerusalemme“ were naturally close to our pattern: oriental and orchestral with heavy and rock music. Your second album Kalachakra has just been released. Please tell us more about this album. Kalachakra is a journey through past life to the current age of Kaliyuga. To understand the nature of our message and the sound of this album, you must stop for a second, breathe and read carefully our texts. This might be your story, my story or everyone else story... In a few words its the story of mankind since thousands years. This life its just a fragment, we struggling against all evil passions that put man in chains. Kalachakra is a collection of stories with one high moment: the celebration of the Kalachakra ritual. The obsucre moments and melodies are just part of a process that bring the listener to the enlightment ( hopefully!).As we said, there’s no begining and no end. Its just the Wheel of Time ! I would describe your music as a mix of heavy metal, space rock and Rock Progressivo Italiano. But how would you describe you music and which bands would you compare yourself with ? We love the Italian Prog Rock, its a great background that make us really proud of our country and music. Still, the main influence is on the text and on the way we approach the concept. I guess, you can collocate us between Kraut Rock and some West Coast Psychedelia. We love Amon Düül, Can and Popol Vuh, just to mention some of the best german acts of the past. The combination of Sitar and Moog drive our sound to new unexplored land, that’s probably the best and interesting part of our music. Are you active on the live circuit these days or are your band a studio project only ? We promote our first release with couple of gigs supporting also some very good acts like White Hills and Radio Moscow. We will not tour this time, as we are allready working on our next album: Gilgamesh. We will then present our trilogy live, probably in early 2012. What is your plans for this year and beyond ? As I mentioned before we’re actually working on the third chapter of our trilogy. While on „Kalachakra“ we focus on the liberation/salvation from evil passions, on „Gilgamesh“ we’ll back on earth as new mankind. Walking Gods in the Age of Aquarius ! To wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this interview ? Liberation through meditation, keep clean your body from meat , alchool and drugs, money are a collective illusion and construction. Amen. Thank you to Vinz Aquarian for this interview Their PA profile is here and their homepage's here