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Joined: March 04 2008
Location: Retirement Home
Status: Offline
Points: 3658
Topic: Jacula Posted: November 07 2011 at 14:36
Antonio Bartoccetti is a living legend in the Italian and world wide prog rock scene. His two musical outlets Jacula and Antonius Rex has both been the pioneers and the giants in the darker progressive rock scene.
Let me see; you started up Jacula as a youth mistake according to your own
words (according to Wikipedia) and released your first album in 1969. Why did
you start up Jacula and what was your visions with this band ?
First of all, thank you for your interest in my project, I love
your site as a reference for worldwide prog lovers, it's a pleasure to answer
your questions. I never said Jacula was a youth mistake... my words referred
to Dietro Noi Deserto, a project born through the friendship with Alvin Lee.
“Dentro me” was too commercial and, when Decca organized a tour, I stopped
everything because I didn't like the musical direction ... instead Jacula was
born as a serious project with no mistakes!!
Let' move onto the
two first Jacula albums. Please tell us more about.....
”In Cauda
Semper Stat Venenum” (1969) is my first album as a result of all my esotheric
experiences I had with Wizard Franz Parthenzy. This is an important album both
for lyrics and music innovation. I was a beginner with my Gibson SG but I had
already my style. I recorded 'Triumphatus Sad' by a Gibson SG Standard and a Vox
AC-30 put in a metallic box and a microphone lodged on a perforation on the box
... Doris Norton Hammond was fantastic and is incredible how this record began a
cult .
"Tardo Pede in Magiam Versus" is an album less instinctive, more
deeply composed ... best parts are Charles Tiring church organ, Doris Norton
Minimoog, the 'U.F.D.E.M.' voice and the song Jacula Valzer is a real prog
symbol of Jacula music. In this album people wanted to see the evil presence ...
I see a white presence instead opposed to the black presence in the eternal
struggle between good and evil...
After that, Jacula went into
a very deep sleep and the band/project Antonius Rex came into being. Why did you
abandon Jacula and set up Antonius Rex as your creative vehicle ?
In
1972 we had some contrasts with organist Charles Tiring, then I preferred to
move interest on Antonius Rex project because it permitted to express myself in
a wide range of musical genres spacing from classical sound, progressive music,
hard rock and recently heavy metal and doom metal too. So in 1974, with drummer
Albert Goodman, we realised the first work of Antonius Rex called "Semper Neque
Arcum Tendit Rex" (The King does not always use his bow ........... for a time
the King will not kill you).
A lot of albums followed. Please tell us more about.......
Neque Semper Arcum Tendit Rex
(1974):
I was young and I wanted to dominate the world. We worked strong to
realise this album ... we were in London and Albert Goodman was sure to
introduce easily the band to Vertigo Label to obtain an agreement ... but things
went really different and the album was released on the small record label of
Albert who was not able to support the planned promotions ...
Zora (1977): I
don't like this album. My son Anthony was born and I was not really concentrated
in this project. "Zora" does'nt give off a pervading mood ...... anyway it
become a cult album. I like the reissue 2009 (on Black Widow label) beacause it
features a very good CD booklet and, above all, the unreleased track
'Monastery' .
Anno Demoni (1979): I like it even if is too much electronic
... 'Gloria Manus' is my preferred track.
Ralefun (1979): I love
compositions, above all “Magic Sadness” and “Incubus” but we realised this album
too fast only thinking to money the producer paid for ... We recorded it in
Germany ... I think would be better with a different mixing ... Also for this
album I like the great Black Widow reissue featuring the unreleased track
'Proxima Luna' (from 1980).
Praeternatural (1980): I love this album, we
made it free from any imposition or bad influence ... we simply recorded as we
felt and all is spontaneous ... I love the result ...I love the concept and
philosophy of this album... in this world ”everything is false” better living
for a 'praeternatural' world.
Magic Ritual (2005): this album was issued
after the release of the DVD “Magic Ritual”.. Black Widow issued only vinyl
version with 2 long suites ... Magic Ritual and Fairy Vision ... I'm not 100%
satisfied by the video, but I love the soundtrack ! I received thousands of
emails from all over the world, and particulary from Brasil, USA, Colombia,
Chile, North Europe, Romania (where my friend wizard Monika Tasnad lives). I
think my progressive vein was at his top in this album!
Switch on Dark
(2006): I think the audience feel big emotions listening to this album. I guess
is one of the best I realised ever... I'm sure it is ...
Per Viam (2009): the
concept of this album work around the song Woman of the King...his message and
ideology is not easy to understand...I wrote the following words before to
compose the music of this song (as usually I do): Despite the objective
presence of unseen forces of terror meanwhile he goes for endless moments in the
terrifying mountain path that leads to his home, the memory of an occult,
strange and terrible beauty of that magic girl with big eyes had entered in the
darkest area of the mind and she repeatedly asked him, as woman of the King, to
be killed, and she endlessly repeating the phrase 'I am yours'... People love
the revisited version of U.F.D.E.M., a really heavy cover version with the
original vocals.
Then you returned with a new Jacula album
this year called Pre Viam. Please tell us more about this album, the return to
Jacula and where this leave Antonius Rex.
Pre Viam...(anagram of
Vampire) move the concept to sadness, melancholy and suicidal tendencies of the
main character I describe in 7 musical frames. I introduced the concept of
“Perseverant music”...I put some symbolic and emotional phrases repeated with
psychic obsession. Pre Viam is an opera where Prog, Rock, Folk and Gothic
elements come together in a Medieval setting of great emotional impact. I think
that I was able to join the musical history of Jacula with an emotional musical
dimension suitable to the present day, a perfect fusion creating a unique
atmosphere: I'm really satisfied about the final product.
You
have had a lot of help from other members of Antonius Rex and Jacula in creating
your albums. Please tell us how you recruited these members and where they are
now.
Charles Tiring was the first organist...a very fine musicians. I
went to his house with my acoustic guitar and we wrote music for organ together.
He was a 68 years old man with a very very young and beautiful wife.... Albert
Goodman was a poor drummer but promised us an agreement with Vertigo...both of
them I met in strange circumstances.... I worked with flute player Hugo
Heredia, drummer Tullio De Piscopo, Bass player Marco Ratti. Over the years me
and Doris started working by ourselves. In 2009 my son Rexanthony, a creative
keyboard player replaced Doris giving a new imprinting to my compositions. He
played all keyboards, synth, piano parts in Pre Viam. In this last album we had
two female voices, Blacklady from Norway and Katia Stazio who play Pre Viam and
Deviens Folle...two different personalities who interpreted at the best the
concept of Pre Viam... We are evaluating the voice of a further singer, Eleonore
X. ..... she were singing in a bad piano bar ......
There is
one common theme which runs through Jacula and Antonius Rex and that is
occultism. Or friendship with the devil, the fallen angel. Please tell us more
about the imagery you project and the occultism you project. Please explain to
us your philosophy and outlook on life.
Well...first of all...Devil
exists and he created the Church fortune. No one choose to born, however, as my
message told in Pre Viam (look at 18 veritates video), the human being has to
get rid of guilt. I always declared; Christian? YES, Catholic? NO...Christianity
leave me free to have a direct contact with God, instead Catholic church is
based on men's laws, power, money. To be free from the earthly laws, based on
sex and gold, we strongly need to enter in the praeternatural and then to the
trascendental, communicate with the spirits to realize the other reality. Life
is violent for people born unlucky...we strongly need to love ourselves, respect
ourselves in order to be in harmony with the other.
Inbetween
the Jacula and the Antonius Rex albums; what have you been up to and what is
your other occupations in life ?
Jacula is a mystic band: Antonius
Rex is more representative of my own for his energy and possibility to move into
different musical languages and styles...my life..is really “busy”, I'm not a
mere mortal...a mere mortal has a good job, with a good remuneration, an
unwanted child, a good car, false friends..... I live with knowledge without
look to gold or falsehood of business. My knowledge permit me to compose my
music and in my mystic research...I often share my nights with 3 schizophrenic
patients...I attend two cloistered nuns too and recently I met Sandra W., a
really mysterious medium...I love to sleep in the crypts and to listen music
there with one of my cats...I also usually attend wizard Monika Tasnad, she
knows how to summon spirits and demons...I always support the fight for the
environment and against pedophilia...
What is the future plans
for both Antonius Rex and Jacula ?
The next Jacula, scheduled for
2013 is just recorded and mixed...is called Mystic Voices. The next Antonius Rex
is called H.D. 2012 (it doesn't mean High Definition... of course) is a Heavy
album, extreme for music and contents...I started working on C.M. too...a future
Antonius Rex project that I started in May 2011 after a talking with the Dark
Lady. To wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add
to this interview ?
People say our music unveils latent inconscious
images. Our music has been and will be an esoteric symbol that expresses the
lost advantage that gives the cultural function of the mystery, the charming and
narrow margin of his spiritual escape. In our works music impressions describe
the indescribable, we tried to give a further chance to assume its
application...
Joined: October 12 2011
Location: Melb, Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 7951
Posted: November 07 2011 at 15:10
Jacula's first album `In Cauda Semper Stat Venenum' is one of my all-time favourites - Hypnotic, unnerving, repetative, overwhelming, fascinating.
I just got the vinyl reissue of `Ralefun', and it's wonderful!! Sounds a little more like PFM/Pink Floyd, a few parts remind me of Solaris's `The Martian Chronicles' too, but that was years later!
Thank you, Antonio Bartoccetti, all the vinyl reissues have been beautiful. I missed out on the `Zora' reissue LP, now even that reissue seems to go for quite a bit of money!
Very interesting interview! Well done, Toroddfuglesteg! :)
Joined: March 12 2005
Location: Neurotica
Status: Offline
Points: 166183
Posted: November 07 2011 at 16:07
Good interview!
An enjoyable read. I'll have to look for this new Jacula as their first two are pretty excellent all around.
Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
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