Hiya folks thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today, grab a brew and take a seat.
What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
Gary: As a teenager, I found I could say things in songs that I didn’t dare say in real life which led to a lot of unrequited love songs!
Introduce us to all of the members and your musical history.
Gary: Singer/Songwriter/Drummer/Producer. Has been writing and singing since 17 and had 4 solo albums. The Dream Debut were his totally fictitious backing band before meeting Rossella, and between them they turned The Dream Debut into a real band in its own right. Gary tends to write fairly MOR material but loves Prog & Ska.
Rossella: MD/Pianist/Keyboards/ Studio Engineer. Has been trained classically at the Conservatoire in Padova Italy for nearly 20 years and is a professional orchestra arranger, and is the band’s MD and musical heart. She takes Gary’s songs and turns them into mini masterpieces with full orchestral backing. Despite her classical training she actually loves bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake etc.
Richard: Is the secondary keyboard player which is handy as he builds synthesisers for a living, he also does some backing vocals, and is the sound/light and video tech for live shows.
What was life like for you before music?
For all of us, music has always been a hobby and a dream which has meant that we have built up quite a large 30-year back catalogue that we hope to take advantage of over the next couple of years! It is quite a large musical asset if we can build a following.
Gary still runs his own car delivery business in the UK & Rossella still teaches Piano in Italy to students of all levels from young children to degree level. We would love to become full-time professional musicians but that’s not so easy as a new mature band!
What was the first song you heard that steered you into a music path?
Gary: It was Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Titch’s “Hold Tight” and Cozy Powell’s “Na-Na-Na” that made me want to be a drummer. Later it was a mutual love of Cozy Powell that brought Gary & Rossella together when Rossella campaigned to get a Blue Plaque put up in Cozy Powell’s memory in Cirencester UK.
Gary signed her petition and sent Rossella a photo of when he played Cozy’s £40k Gold plated kit at a charity event just a week or so before, the two got chatting online and within weeks started working together musically. The forthcoming album “North of Nowhere South of Time” will be their first album recorded as a full band with orchestra.
Where do you feel you currently sit within the music industry?
This is quite a sore point as trying to break a mature band is much MUCH harder than a young band! There are now radio stations that specifically play music for an older audience BUT they only play music from bands that WERE BIG decades ago, there is NO outlet for NEW material from NEW mature bands!
What’s the biggest thing you have learned from someone else in the industry?
I only have TWO musical heroes, from SKAFISH I learned to be true to myself and write what matters to YOU, if other people like it great, if not be a covers band, and you’ll make more money!
From MIKE BATT, I learned to write songs in every possible style and put them on the same album (EG: The Wombles) BUT this has created its own problems and the new album will have us down as a “Prog Pop, Baroque ’n’ Roll, Bardcore Ska band!!
Tell us two truths and a lie about you.
One of us had a bit part in the film Gregory’s Girl.
One of us was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness.
One of us has been photographed in a 4 person lineup with Brian May, Tony Iommi & Carl Palmer.
If you could wish for one thing to aid your career what would it be?
A radio station that plays music for mature people BY mature people!
Do you ever worry about people taking things the wrong way or cancel culture? Discuss….
The whole band is quite left wing but we don’t bring politics into our music, we are there purely to entertain. A couple of people have said they found our single “Lady Laura” uncomfortable, but they didn’t know that Laura asked for the song to be written, she’s still a good friend to this day, and both she and her wife are in the Lady Laura video!
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories? If not why not?
No, because I’ve never looked into any in particular. God, Ghosts & UFO’s may well all exist but I have more interesting things to spend my time doing 🙂
What was the worst experience on stage?
All the venue fuses blew and we had to close the building.
Tell us something about each member that you think people would be surprised about.
Gary got a Masters’s Degree with distinction aged 52.
Richard builds his own make of synthesisers.
Rossella got her Blue Plaque to Cozy Powell which was unveiled by Brian May of Queen.
What makes you stand out as a band?
The spread of genres and crossovers we play, now with full orchestral arrangements.
A full orchestra playing Ska is a sound to behold!
I hear you have a new music, what can you tell us about it.
It covers several genres but all with a slight medieval feel to them and most with full orchestral backing. The single Lady Laura is the exception being a commercial straight ska sound, but even THAT ended up with choirs 🙂
What was the recording process like?
Fantastic fun but it’s taken nearly 3 years to complete the album and we still have a few vocals to add. Thanks to Brexit rules Rossella cannot now come back to the UK until next year as she has used up her allowance of days to be here!
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tune?
There’s really no answer to this having been writing songs for 40 years.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
NO! Rossella’s orchestral arrangements and Synth wizardry sound absolutely amazing. I could not be prouder of our forthcoming album.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Not really. We are entertainers, we don’t have a message for the world despite our personal political leanings.
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