Hopes Die Last have unleashed hell upon us since this past Valentine's Day with the release of their sophomore album "Trust No One" via Standby Records. Frontman vocalist Daniele Tofani talks about their latest release how the sounds evolved to where the band plans tour. And that's just the beginning!
1. Eight years together did you ever think you would have lasted this long?
Daniele: I’ve joined the band only a few years ago, but I knew Hopes Die Last by name before and I was a fan of them. It’s amazing to see how ups and downs have been overcome and the band has lasted so long. These years for music in our country have been very hard and there’s been a real slaughter of bands giving up playing. How sad, but it’s good to see we’ve managed to hold on.
2. Tell me about the concept for the video "Chapter One: Unleash Hell".
Daniele: That video is homage to two of our favorite film directors: Tarantino and Rodriguez and Ritchie. We wanted to do something raw, which could go well together with the song in general, and then leave it unfinished to let people find out the end in the next chapter.
3. You guys are from Rome, Italy what's the music scene like there? Are there any bands you'd recommend checking out?
Daniele: The actual music scene in Italy is chilled. Certain genres are completely ignored and nobody wants to bet on them, so they end up disappearing. The whole music system/market doesn’t work well, and this is the reason why, old and new bands are so penalized and hardly succeed in getting a recognized identity all over the world. But yes, a few kids I’d recommend are: Fear the siren and Swanshore.
4. How has the band’s sound evolved from Six Years Home to Trust No One?
Daniele: I think we’ve made a quantum leap from Six Years Home to Trust No One. Six Years Home was a good project but it had a few gaps to be highly rated. Our new record instead, is more refined. That’s been possible because it was written two years ago, but because of annoying musical bureaucracy, we had to put it aside and postpone its release. This slight hitch has given us time to review it in all its smallest details to make it perfect. Plus we’ve hazarded new music experiments and arrangements that are very interesting, and they are having a good feedback from our fans.
5. When did the band get signed with Standby Records and what was going through your mind when you signed your life away?
Daniele: We signed with Standby 5 years ago. This is a huge goal and satisfaction because not a lot of Italian bands have the chance to be noticed and signed by an American label of such importance.
6. Was your songwriting and recording process any different than usual for this CD?
Daniele: Different for sure. This time we’ve worked as a real team and everyone has given his contribution to enrich every song. It was like this in the past years: Six Years Home album for example was entirely written by our guitarist Marco.
7. What inspired the album title? Is it a concept album?
Daniele: Not really, but it’s a common idea that this world is a horrible place to be. And people are too. The title it’s just a warning against about-faces, who constantly infect our lives and they are so hard to find out before they hurt you.
8. The thing noticeable about this release is that it's divided into "Chapters" why?
Daniele: Actually that idea regarded only our first two videos, not the entire album. When we shot Unleash Hell it was supposed to be something on its own. Lately we came out with the idea to link the second video to the first one, in two chapters, just like a short movie with an interruption in the middle.
9. What are your expectations for the CD?
Daniele: It’s our creature and we are so proud of it. Of course we hope that sales will keep going well and we hope not to fall short of expectations, making happy our devoted fans and gain new ones all over the world.
10. What are your upcoming tour plans?
Daniele: Russia in May and Japan in June are some of the destinations we’ve planned for the promotional tour. The rest is still under construction, and I remind all our fans to stay tuned and check our Facebook page for info and updates.
11. 2012 Hopes Die Last will be doing what?
Daniele: Living the time of our life.
12. Anything else you’d like to say or promote?
Daniele: Big Thanks to everyone; keep buying our record and I hope to see you guys at our concerts having a great and wicked time with us!
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