INFERNO PRESS 03/2004 - Interview with NUCLEUS 1. To begin Scott, I would like you to count us your musical trajectory and the projects in which you have intervened.  Let's see... in chronological order, my first recording was a thrashcore band known as Horsemeat and we issued a 4-song demo titled "Meet the Meat" in 1995, then I recorded a funk metal thrash project cassette, also 4-songs, Brom Bones likewise in 1995. Following that, was the "Monuments of Chaos" cassette demo in 1996, which served as the precursor to my first CD in 1996, "Ambient Earth"; a 72-minute excursion into electronic soundscapes and new age music. That same year, I wrote the lyrics fora number of songs on the Eye of the Storm debut CD. Let's see, I took a musical sabbatical for a bit of time, so not until 2001 when Chris Rifkin released his F5 "Dawn of a New Age" CD, did I head back into the studio, re-invigorated and musically charged (I played bass and a guitar solo on one song on the F5 CD). With the "Virtuality" CD in 2001 did I finally realize my musical goals of vocal oriented music that synthesized a number of musical styles such as progressive metal, hard rock, new age music and trance techno. I intervened on one of my graphic design clients CD's Bryant Wilder's "The Right Track" on guitar on one song. He's a gospel/jazz/funk cat from the Bronz, NY and still a graphic design client and friend of mine. Currently, I am promoting "Inferno" my newest CD issued in the spring of 2004, and am prepared to take on the world.   2. How would you describe your music? Inside that am used the you would locate?  We all know how artists hate to be categorized and pigeonholed, and I am no exception. With a variety of musical genre's form a diverse palate in my music, I think it's safe to place my current musical projects under the "progressive rock" mantle. I've no problem with that; it probably does justice to my approach.   3. Which are they the guitarists that more they influenced in your style? There's a wide spectrum of guitar players who inspire and influence my playing including George Lynch, Neal Schon, Steve Hogarth (Marillion), Tony MacAlpine, John Petrucci, Jim Matheos, Al DiMeola, The Edge, Andy Summers, Eddie Van Halen, Prince, Ritchie Blackmore, George Benson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Alex Lifeson, and more. I'm more inspired by musicians in general though, as opposed to only guitar players. There's even some killer kazoo players out there! 4. How were you the musicians that integrate your band incorporating? Which were the coincidences musical initials? Well, I'm not really working in a band situation, I'm the primary composer, arranger and musician. Todd Corsa, a close personal friend, knee-dancer and musician, is my musical co-conspirator. He writes and performs the vast majority of the vocals and the occassional guitar solo. Otherwise, it's basically my ship, and I bring in or enlist the aid of people I can musically and creatively depend on. If they are good dancers, is secondary to rockin' musical skills.   5. Was my first contact with your music through the excellent "Inferno". Could you be which the main idea of the album is?  It's making a statement on the environmental and political conditions of our world. War, environmental crisis, corporate power, and the loss of the voice of the citizenry.   6. How was the creative process of each one of your disks?  Basically, I compose all the songs on my keyboard workstation, and as soon as I've got the entire song complete, with the digital drum tracks, I submit the songs to Todd, and he works out some vocal ideas and melodies. From there I construct lyrics and then head off into the studio to record and deplete my entire financial infrastrucutre! I also design all my own CD covers and PR materials, which are always in perpetual progress until the final musical CD is mastered. I'm getting back to basics with some of my more recent material, and writing the initial chord progressions, melodic ideas and song structure on guitar.   7. Do you have material for a new discographic work or even not?  Ah yeah, me lad, I gotme enough material for probably almost 3 disks. Basically fully completed songs, just requiring vocal melodies and guitar arrangements. That said, I also have literally, hundreds of song ideas and statements, that are basically musical orphans right now, so the daunting dask is really piecing together the parts into a cohesive song that makes melodic and rhythmic sense while being very carefull not to overdose on Vanilla Coke in the process. 8. Does it continue inside the thematic one habitual or does it have a different focus?  I tend to have diverse lyrical concepts and themes, and while they are all relevant to me either politically, personally or thematically, I'm always looking to expand my motifs. More often than not, the mood of the songs dictate the lyrical direction I'll be taking. Who know's, though, I could write a song about combustible metamorphic tomato farming and work wonders for the agricultural lobby.   9. Today in day, how do your previous albums come in perspective?  Well, I have to admit, I kind of consider my first CD, AMBIENT EARTH, to be a demo of sorts. It's fairly far removed from where I"m going musically, today, but you can definitely see a progression through all 3 CD's. With VIRTUALITY, considering it was my first official CD release after a signifcant studio experience, I am fairly satisfied. To me INFERNO is the most focused CD I've done, so the challenge now it to take my established style and evolve without being institutionalized.   10. What opinion do you have about the current scene of the progressive rock in it USA in particular and in the rest of the world?  It's definitely not getting the exposure it deserves in the mass media, but with the wide variety of web sites, magazines and labels dedicated to progressive music, specifically of the rock and metal variety, I think it's doing very well. Granted this isn't MTV or AOR radio format music, but it's holding it's own without mass media representation.   11. Where do you see the vanguard musical today?  Really, the musicians who are meshing different styles of music, experimenting and synthesizing genre's, are doing what I call "progressive music" and that's what I am seeking to do. Expanding my own listening experience, and therefore, my own musical creative abilities, can bring people together. The only problem is with the independent artists, like myself, we are fighting an uphill battle with the corporate media and the machinations of the music industry that truly only represent the artists who are proven money makers. No one is taking enough time and money to invest in the prolific and productive underground artists any more. 12. Which are your plans in the immediate thing?   Well, ordering a pizza or chinese food first, write songs for my fourth CD, second, and lastly, delving into multi-media, possibly, in the future, such as a future music/digital art DVD. Of course, the INFERNO promotional campaign continues, and that takes up alot of my time.   13. Thank you Sott. Some final reflection?  Check out INFERNO and my other CD's, support independent musicians, and stay away from toxic waste dumps.