Ritter,Tod and Tour Talk – Interview with SERENITY bassist Fabio

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Did you seriously think that I would only present you with a concert review and not an interview? As is so often the case, the two go hand in hand, so it should be obvious… Nevertheless, I was and am very happy that Fabio and I had the opportunity to sit down together again almost exactly four years after our last interview. Read on to find out what the past few weeks have been like for him and the band and where he sees SERENITY’s future.

Huge thanks to Stephan Bollmann (@mainlyguitars) for the pictures!

Shieldmaiden’s Voice: Would you rather have worked alongside Albrecht Dürer or lived at Maximilian I.’s court?

Fabio:  Nice question! Perhaps, there would be a position where I could work for both because they knew each other. So why not be in the middle, on a intersectional position, in the Memoria times? [we chuckle]

SV: Is that how you came up with the idea to make an album about Albrecht Dürer?

Fabio: No, not really. A long time ago, we had already written a song about him. In the album Death & Legacy from 2011, we have a song called When Canvas Starts To Burn which is about him and we even used the picture where Dürer’s self-portrait is morphed into Andi’s face. It’s safe to say that Dürer is an artist that stayed in our minds and in our thoughts. I’m very sure that Georg had been thinking about doing more material about him for a long time, so there you go!

SV: If I’m not mistaken, there’s also a painting made by Dürer that shows Innsbruck…

Fabio: There is definitely a connection because Maximilian’s court musician also worked for Dürer which means that there were some connections there for sure. There was even a connection to DaVinci.

SV: With the new album, you also had some changes within the band with Marco joining the band permanently. What was working with him like knowing that he is now a full member of your band?

Fabio: Marco has been part of the album writing process ever since the album before and there was not so much change, to be honest, because he didn’t record the guitar lines. He sang and he wrote songs, so not much of a difference there. 

SV: Could Marco’s more committed involvement be the reason why Nemesis AD turned out more symphonic than The Last Knight?

Fabio: It could be, but it was certainly not a deliberate choice, but him writing the songs together with the others probably had an impact. 

SV: You’ve been on tour for a bit with Nemesis AD. How does it compare to The Last Knight?

Fabio: It’s a completely different scenario. As you know, with The Last Knight we had a huge impediment called “Covid” which robbed us of the opportunity to do a proper tour and promotional period. It was such a waste because we were only able to do two tours with the album. Then there was an absence for two years which obviously breaks down any effort you previously made to promote that album. The situation now is vastly different. We were able to go on tour right away and we even did some shows in Japan. After that we played 70.000 Tons of Metal and now, we have been on a European tour for almost a month. That is what I call “sailing on the waves” of the album’s success!

SV: I mean you were literally sailing on the waves when you did 70.000 Tons and being in Japan was huge for you guys. What were those experiences like for you?

Fabio: Japan was totally new and because we had never done it before, it was a completely different type of experience for us! It was exciting to discover some new (musical) territory and it was about time that we did it. There was also a lot of enthusiasm, so I’m pretty sure that we’re going to go back at some point. 

In terms of the cruise, it wasn’t our first time there, but it was a nice experience, nevertheless. We’re not really a festival band, but we had two cool shows there. 

SV: Out of all the people who saw you play these shows, how many actually realized that most of the songs on the album correspond to an actual Albrecht Dürer painting?

Fabio: It’s impossible not to notice when you see the show because Georg is directing his history class as you’ll see tonight. That means that only those who sleep or don’t understand the language, might not notice it. 

SV: Would you ever, when looking at topics for future albums, venture into more modern times? Maybe doing an album about Queen Victoria or may Louis XVI.?

Fabio: When we did Death & Legacy, we did a bit more modern stuff. I can’t tell you if there is going to be an album with a more recent character in its entirety. Most of the times, it’s Georg’s idea. 

SV: The tour, at this time, has some shows left. What is something you look forward to once you’re home?

Fabio: [laughs] Having some days off! I want to have the time to recover, to sleep and eat well and to just have some privacy.

SV: I can imagine! In a nightliner, there is no privacy!

Fabio: Especially with 24 people! We’re four bands and I think it’s the first time that we are so many… And as you might hear from my voice, as soon as one person is even a little bit sick, everyone else is too. 

SV: It’s like in kindergarten, when one is sick, everyone is…

Fabio: Exactly! It started with our sound engineer and then our tour manager got sick as well, was out and just came back two or three days ago. It just hit everybody! A bit like a pandemic…

SV: Once you have completed the tour, I’m sure you’ll get better. Looking at the bigger picture though, what is something that you wish for in SERENITY’s future?

Fabio: To be completely honest with you, I’d love to keep doing what we’re doing with the difference of increasing our audience. That would increase our opportunities and would mean we wouldn’t need to tour in these conditions where we have to overload our nightliner and have four bands playing each night. Shows become very long like that and it’s exhausting. The trailer is completely full of equipment which is a lot of work each day to mount and dismount it. I’m not hoping for arena shows because I don’t think that that is our future, but I wish we could do what we do now in a more comfortable situation. More comfort would improve the shows greatly, at least for me!

SV: What is something you always wanted to mention in an interview, but never had the chance to?

Fabio: Mhm, that is difficult… I could mention that when I was a kid, I was dreaming of this moment of being able to give interviews about something! But when you’re actually doing it, you don’t really realize that. It’s like your dream came true without you even knowing it. 

SV: I relate to that a lot! When I was younger, I always asked myself how people were able to get on guest lists and meet artists and stuff like that and now I’m doing it myself!

Maybe, as a final send-off: If you could give your fans one message, what would it be?

Fabio: Keep this business alive by continuing to support the bands you like through merchandise, trough tickets, through the VIP accesses to shows and don’t fall for streaming and the disposable value of music!