Riccardo Zito (Bass).’’We are all from Rome and its southern coastal area. Pierluigi founded the band a few years ago. In the beginning the line-up wasn’t that established: it’s only in early 2015 when Julia joined, and also Riccardo a bit later, that the band really came to life properly. We consider that to be the real founding moment, because that’s when everything started coming together: our music style, the lyrical concepts, etc.
As to how we got to know each other, metal in Rome doesn’t have huge numbers, so it’s not hard to find someone if you have specs in mind, given he/she exists, naturally.’’
Where did the name come from? the currency is from South Africa, but the band is Italian?
‘’You’re right, it’s related to South Africa’s currency. When Pierluigi was looking for a name for the musical project he had in mind, he met a strange and mysterious guy who, after a good chat, gave him a 5 Rand coin as a lucky charm. He liked both the coin and the name, so it did stick.’’
The band relies on luck...
‘’We’d very much like to, but apparently the feeling isn’t mutual…’’
5rand music is passionate...
‘’Absolutely! Passion is what keeps us going, from the creation of our music to its live performance. It’s also our main satisfaction. We try to express our intimate feelings through music, a part of us is in there and naturally we are passionate about that!’’
What makes 5rand different ...
“When you hear metal for the first time there has to be something that just clicks, you’re astonished by its energy. It completely stands out, it did back in the day and even more so now, where the majority of music has become so shallow and irrelevant.
As to what makes us different, it’s not for us to say really. We try to be ourselves and not to emulate our heroes too much.”
Proud to be metal…
“We’re extremely proud of metal and its community. It’s one of the most welcoming and open minded fanbase we know of. Of course it has its bigots who despise changes and anything that came out after the time where they got into the genre, but it’s just human to long for the good old times and complain about what’s new. On the other hand, modern metal bands have become very innovative while maintaining their distinctive character, and we like that a lot.”
Your music is energetic bordering on violence…
‘’Metal must be about energy and passion, otherwise it’s only sterile mannerism. What is it that drives you crazy, for the good or the bad? That’s the secret recipe.’’
Dark Mother is much more mature than your debut Sacred/scared…
‘’A huge difference is that, compared to its predecessor, Dark Mother has been written in a few weeks and in a much more cooperative way by the four of us, so that it has a major stylistic congruence. Sacred/Scared on the other hand, being our debut album, has songs written during a quite long span of time and therefore includes different songwriting approaches.
I’d say that the final outcome is for sure deeper, darker and more mature, as you’ve noticed, capable of representing the emotional tension and the anguish that nowadays we all perceive, feelings that cannot and should not be ignored.’’
The Fleshgod Apocalypse connection….
‘’We’ve met the guys a few years ago while opening one of their shows here in Rome, and they’re really good friends with Marco Mastrobuono, who engineered both our records and some of theirs.’’
New Music …
‘’We have our style, so new music won’t change that much. Maybe a few innovations may be introduced, but nothing completely different.’’
How do you Embrace the fury?
‘’Think of what drives you crazy and how you’d like to change that, and a big f**k off to who says no.’’
5rands lyrics come from the world around them and personal experience…
‘’Our lyrics are both from personal experience and suggestion. Julia takes care of them and she’s a psychologist, so she’s got plenty of material to write about.’’
The biggest misconception about 5rand?
‘’The whole female fronted gimmick. It’s a metal band, why should people like it any better if there’s a woman in it?’’
Your dream gig…
‘’Supporting Slipknot in the US. We’d have to work an awful lot to not be destroyed by the comparison, but it would be so much fun and such a great goal to achieve!’’
The Italian scene. …
‘’Probably death metal shows are the most attended of the average metal gigs that take place here. That’s not considering bigger bands who move thousands of fans, naturally. Prog and power too have a fair amount of appeal, but the majority of people here tends to be a bit lazy in their musical taste and isn’t that eager to know new bands or genre contaminations. People mostly like what they already know.’’
Your top 6 albums of all time?
Iron Maiden – Seventh son of a seventh son
Metallica - … And justice for all
Slipknot – Iowa
Megadeth – Rust in peace
Testament – The gathering
Slayer – Reign in blood