En el Estudio con… Shores Of Null (English version)

En el Estudio con… Shores Of Null (English version)

 
 
Shores of Null are a Doom Metal Italian band with three albums under their wing. “Quiescence” (2014), “Black Drapes for Tomorrow” (2017) and “Beyond the shores (On Death and Dying)” (2020)

 
Album after album they keep showing a very personal approach, strong personality and an admirable capacity to write great songs. Rock on road staff supports the band since we saw them performing at The End of the Third Day, circa 2015. We thought they will make it big then, and although they hadn’t achieved the massive success they deserve, they are in an ascending curve. They’ll make sooner or later, and their progression feels like what we experienced with the rise of Gojira to the metal modern Olympus.

 
Recently, we contact them to chat about their working method at the studio, gear and production around their very interesting “ Beyond the shores (On Death and Dying)».

 
With Gabriele Giarccari we will dissect how the band works from the inside, the exquisite crafting machinery they have assembled and other interesting things. We hope you enjoy the interview as much as we did and we invite you to check Shores of Null universe.
 
Shores of Null are Gabriele Giaccari (guitar and back vocals ), Matteo Capozucca (bass and back vocals), Raffaele Colace (guitars and back vocals ), Emiliano Cantiano (drums) and Davide Straccione (vocals)

First of all, we would like to congratulate you for your last recording «Beyond the shores (On Death and Dying)». It’s a fantastic álbum from the very first minute to the last chord. We attend to your live show with Saturnus, Autumnal, etc a while ago in Madrid, and we loved what we listen that night. Looking forward your next visit…Do you have touring plans for this 2021?

Gab) Hi, thanks a lot for having us and for your words. We are very satisfied with our latest work but the fact that other people like it too is never taken for granted. That show in Madrid was great, by the way. In 2021 we managed to do a live show in a new unplugged version, it was very emotional. But for the next months there is still a lot of uncertainty. We hope to be able to do some shows in Autumn at least in Italy, but the period does not really allow us to make too many plans.

What kind of feedback are you getting from the new Album?

Gab) This was definitely the best album of our career in terms of numbers. And it is a very important result for us because it was the first album where we were able to take care of everything firsthand, and very challenging because the choice of a single funeral doom song is certainly not commercial nowadays.

To my understanding, you recorded and produced all your albums at Kick Recording Studio since 2013. For the last entry in your catalogue, you have worked with Bloom Recording Studios. What did you like better in each of these studios you have worked with?

Gab) This is not 100% correct. For this album we used both studios, as the recording rooms and microphones at Bloom are absolutely the best, especially for vocals and drums recording, but Kick Studio is perfect for bass and guitars. Although in the end the important thing is always who is behind the console and uses the equipment.

Marco Mastrobuono (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour of Penance, etc) was on deck at Bloom Recording Studios. Who was your sound engineer at Kick Recording studio?

Gab) That’s exactly what I was telling you. Why changing producer if you have the best one around? Of course Marco was our producer for these new (actually 2) albums as usual. He wanted us to go to Bloom for some recording sessions as I said and we agreed. He’s been the man behind the desk as usual, together with the supervision of Fabrizio Ludovici, an expert in audio recordings and miking.

Do you have a daily routine at the studio while Shores of Null is recording?

Gab) I’m usually the one taking care of preproductions and most of the tech details, so I’m used to staying in the studio during all the recording sessions, and most of the time during mixing and editing too. Usually each day starts around 10 with a Ginseng at the bar in front of the studio, then I sit behind Marco with my Mac with all the notes and the pre-production demo open on Logic Pro X. During bass and guitars recording we usually have all the musical scores opened on GuitarPro to help our memory.

How far do you get involved in the mixing and mastering? Do you have a favourite technical task…if any…

Gab) I’m more on planning the work and checking that everything goes as we imagined. We bring Marco some ideas about the sound, some recent album we really liked and would take as inspiration, but he is the mastermind behind mixing, mastering and sound in general, and really there’s no need for us to do anything. Of course we listen to the several mix attempts a million times and on different devices, to check for errors and give him general feedback.

Do you remember the equipment used for the «Beyond the Shores…» recording? Were those sessions harder or more complicated than the «Black Drapes of Tomorrow» sessions?

Gab) I can say these sessions have been harder than the previous one, for several reasons. First of all, we did 2 albums simultaneously. And it was totally unexpected, we decided to do it while the recording of the first album had already started. This means around 1 hour and a half of music to record, not so usual, at least for us. 

Secondly we used 2 different studios, one for drums, piano and voices, Bloom Recording Studio, and one for bass, guitars and the rest of the production, Kick Recording Studio. Last but not least, we had many guests this time, 2 of them coming from a different country, Mikko and Thomas. The choice of letting them come and not having a simple track sent via the internet was the only option we gave ourselves. In fact, we wanted to arrange and work with them in the studio, as well as to have the pleasure of spending some funny days together in Rome. However, the organization has obviously become more complex, adding the travel management and the synchronization between many people with very full lives.

About the equipment, we used mainly the Mesaboogie and Diezel guitar head available in the vast collection at Kick Recording Studio, an Aguilar with a split signal to one 5150 for bass, a Neumann U67 for all the clean vocals and a Shure sm7B for growls.

The fact of just having one lengthy track in the album probably requires a different approach. How did you put all these ideas together in one piece?

Gab) To be honest, it was easier, in a way. The idea of this song came to us all of a sudden, and for a particularly uncomfortable situation. And immediately it exploded, we wrote all the music within a few days in July 2019. We considered this as a ‘regular’ song, with its verses and choruses, even if very long and with different moods. Not a suite of several songs, I mean.

What could you tell us about the artists featured in the album, Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow The Sun), Thomas A.G. Jensen (Saturnus) and Elisabetta Marchetti (Inno)? Did you meet at the studio, or did they send their contributions?

Gab) I anticipated your question. We spent some days together with all of them, and I feel this can be heard in the recordings, as their performances are great and very heartfelt. We knew Thomas years ago, playing together with Saturnus in some shows in Italy and Spain, and we quickly became friends. We are also super fans of Saturnus of course, and the voice of Thomas is one of the most iconic in the death/doom scene. It was very natural to invite him to join us. 

We met Mikko, instead, thanks to a common friend. Swallow the Sun are a pillar and a source of inspiration for us, so Mikko needed to be in this unique album too. He gladly accepted, and you can listen to the result. 

Elisabetta is a friend and one of the best singers in the Italian gothic/doom scene. She is also Marco’s wife, so the collaboration with her was super easy. We were very lucky in that. Each of them received some rough suggestions by our singer Davide, but they really worked on their parts and personalized them. You can also find on the album Martina, mastermind of all our videos with her team Sanda Movies and my lovely wife, Paolo Campitelli of Kaledon at the piano, Fabio and Valentina Gabbianelli on violin and double bass.

You have worked with Candlelight before, and now you publish with Spikerot. Did the change in companies help you in any way for the recording process? Did any of them give you any economical support?

Gab) It’s not so common for bands like us to have a contribution for the recording, none of the labels helped us with this task, but all bought the final master, with different deals.

The guitar sound is Deep and powerful. What gear did you use for the guitar recording? In some band pictures we have seen some Gibson Les Paul and Gibson SG. Did you try any other guitar for textures or solos? Which amps did you use for the album?

Gab) I have a very special Les Paul Custom with a Seymour Duncan Distortion pick-up that both Raffaele and I use for all the guitar tracks, but I rarely use it on stage. We used Diezel guitar head, Dual Rectifier and a VHT Pittbull for the guitars.


Gabriele, Raffaele, please, tell us more about your live gear. Amps, pedals, favorite axes, etc. How many guitars do you own?

Gab) I play almost all live shows with my beloved Gibson Les Paul Gothic with EMG pickups. An Orange Rockerverb head, and that’s it. I like it not over processed. I’m thinking about changing this tube approach in favor of a digital amp though. I know that it is not a choice that everyone appreciates, but I think that by now the quality of digital simulators has become incredible, and even if they are difficult to use, they have indisputable advantages when used in live shows, starting from the weight.

I have 6 other guitars, including the taylor GS mini Koa, that we use for all the acoustic parts in the albums.

Raf) During all these years with Shores Of Null I changed three different amps: Laney, Engl and now a Peavy Triple X. Of course, the last one is my favorite. I have 6 guitars but now I only play my Gibson SG voodoo.

We realized Matteo plays a Fender precision bass in some pictures and videos, but lately we have seen another model. What have you been playing lately? Which is your choice for live shows?

Mat) Actually it is the opposite: I started playing with Shores of Null with a Spector Euro 5 LX, which is a beast of a bass, I am absolutely in love with it. After a few years I moved from Italy to the Netherlands and I brought it with me, whereas my Fender Precision stayed at home in Rome. I always loved the harsh Precision sound and I am huge fan of Iron Maiden and Steve Harris, so I definitely had to own one P-bass! When I go and play live, depending on where the dates or tours are, I bring one or the other, it is mainly for a logistic reason. Their sounds are definitely different, but I love both of them so much! Recently I bought an acoustic bass as well, a 5-strings fretless Warwick Alien, which I played with on our acoustic show in June. The album recordings were done with a Zon and a Warwick streamer available at Kick recording studio instead.

This one goes for all the band : Tell us which is your most desired piece of equipment missing in your collection.

Gab) As a Opeth fan, I always wanted a PRS guitar. Maybe one day…

Mat) I always had a thing for Wal basses, but they are so crazy expensive that I don’t think it is ever going to happen 🙂

Emi) My secret dream is focused on a new homemade snare drum, an instrument that sounds like Nicko McBrain’s snare on ‘Somewhere In Time’.

Raf) I have been a father for 2 years and all that heavy “iron” makes me tired. I now desire a Mooer GE300 pedalboard. The good time has come to use digital tools.

Are you sponsored by any Brand?

Emi) Sure! I’m endorsed by ArtBeat Drumsticks, Attack Drumheads, Power Click, Powerfeet.

Do you usually record demos at home or during band practice? Do you use any specific software to record ideas?

Gab) Most of our composition work is actually home made recording and doing the arrangement of new ideas. We use a Mac with Logic Pro X and EzDrums, and a Fireface800 audio card. Sometimes I also record rehearsals or live sessions with my Behringer XAir 18, a mixer I will really recommend as it’s quite easy to use and very effective. I will not record an official album with it of course, but we use it live as a personal stage monitoring system so we can do our own in-ear monitors volume via the mobile app. We did this for the last few tours and it was an amazing upgrade for our live performances.

During all the pandemic, home studios have been very active. How did Shores of Null manage the lockdown and all the mobility restrictions?

Gab) Staying at home  🙂  Luckily we finished the recording sessions of the album in February 2020, just a few weeks before lockdown. So during all the pandemic we could focus on all the digital work of promotion, distribution etc. We did weekly calls for almost one year with a strict todolist. Now we are taking a break for the summer, but I think we’ll do this again from September. I really hope we can concentrate more on live activity…

In this regard, how are things going in your country? In Spain we had protests and different actions organized by the showbusiness professionals. Musicians, technicians, crew and music halls have claimed, together as a collective, support and economical help from governments. Considering the huge impact that all of this is having on the business…How is it going in Italy?

Gab) Something similar to Spain, I suppose. We had (really pacific) protests because the whole music sector has been literally forgotten by the government in terms of aids and rules to restart, it has simply closed everything. Now during the summer it was possible to do some outdoor shows, but I can’t imagine the situation from October 2021 onwards, honestly. Everything is still very uncertain.

 Going back to «Beyond the Shores…», and focusing on drums. We hear a pretty organic sound, but these days…you never know! Its hard to make a difference between softwares and real drums with mics. Tell us a little about the recording process here and how did you get that sound. Emiliano, Which Kit are you using? Do you use triggers? Have you used any software to fix some hits or quantization of sequences?

Emi) With our producer and sound engineer Marco Mastrobuono we decided to use a Tama Drumset composed by bass drum, 1 Tom, 1 floor tom, a Mapex Black Panther snare drum, 2 Paiste crash cymbals, my homemade Saluda Cymbals ride, hi hat, splashes and china.

My plan was to use the cymbal in a melodic way and in a specific part of the song, everything with the idea to create a groovy and melodic playing.

About triggers and software, we just put some samples recorded by myself at the end of the recording session.

We hear keyboards, some winds and other instruments in your last álbum. How did you include them? How and where did you record these sections?

Gab) No keyboards have been used for the recording of this album. There is an intro and an outro with winds and a storm, but all the instruments you hear have been recorded in the studio: a grand piano, double bass, violin.

Your vocal approach is a differential aspect of your band when compared with other bands in the genre. Davide, Which approach do you use? Do you need a particular environment for recording? Tell us a Little about the recording. Which microphones did you use?

Dav) Well, thanks. I always try not to do the most predictable thing when I lay down my vocals, but still following my heart and what the music demands. For the recordings I used a Neumann U67 for the clean vocals, Shure SM7B for growls, all studio-owned equipment. Live I use an Audix OM7 mic, which is very resistant to feedbacks and it’s perfect for concerts, especially on small stages, but really works well everywhere, so far every soundguy loved it.

We think that you recorded the album track by track. Last question :  Have you ever thought about recording a live album? It would be great to have the chance to witness a live recording, either live or in the studio

Gab) Last June we did a single show at Traffic Live in Rome, with a special unplugged set. We recorded it without having too many plans in mind, just to hear how it sounded. The result looks very interesting, so we are working to make a live release, even if it is not yet official. We hope to be able to release it for you next winter!

That’s all, folks! Thank you so much for your answers and for your contribution. Greets from Madrid, and best of luck with the band!!!

Gab) Thanks a lot to you for the super-in-depth and very interesting interview, we hope with all our hearts to be able to come to Spain on tour soon and see you in a club or festival!

Text by Harry Lime
English Translation by Alberto Benito Martin