SIRAVO consider them a variety of rock, when it comes to the genre at hand. Thus, since their formation way back when, they have released content over time, including their most and third full-length to date "The Restless and The Mad" expected this fall. But before that release, several tracks taken from the release, and made into singles will be available. In fact, guitarist/vocalist Michael Archangelo talks about these assorted single's, the accompanying album and future plans of action that the band plans to put into effect soon enough!
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Mike Archangelo: Siravo has actually gone through quite a few lineup changes over the years! Paul and I met in high school when they were 15 and started jamming on guitars. Paul kept asking me to start a band, but I wanted to get my solo project off the ground. Eventually, Paul jumped behind the drum kit, and he and I started jamming to Metallica and System of a Down. My brother, Zac, played bass, and the three of us started jamming regularly in mine and Zac’s basement. We got a gig, and that’s how Siravo was born.
After about a year, we added a second guitar player, but we went through a few different people for that spot. We landed on Eric Brown, and the four of us cut a record together called “Inside It All”. We put that out in 2011. That same year, Zac went off to college, and he and Eric left the band.
So Paul and I found another guitar player, Mike Swangler. The three of us started playing acoustic shows while we were writing our next full-length, “Vassal”. Later on, we found a new bassist, Isaac Raymond. The four of us finished writing Vassal and put that out in 2015. Right before the release, Mike Swangler left the band, and Andy Horne stepped in on guitar. So me, Paul, Andy, and Isaac wrote and recorded “The Restless & The Mad”, but then Isaac left the band earlier this year. Andrew Cooper came in on bass, and that’s our current lineup today: Mike Archangelo, Andy Horne, Andrew Cooper, and Paul Buondonno.
2. How did you come up with your band's namesake Siravo, does it have a meaning to it?
Mike: my last name is Siravo. When me, my brother, and Paul started the band, two out of the three of us were “Siravo”s, so we picked that and it stuck!
3. What does it feel like, to have had Siravo be around for a little over 10 years now?
Mike: It’s pretty crazy to think about that! We’ve changed so much over the last decade as musicians, as players, as writers, and as human beings, especially since we started so young. It’s really given us a chance to grow together and learn from each other, musically and personally, and a lot of that has bled into our writing. We’ve written about each other’s breakups, struggles, world views. It’s really special to be a part of something that’s been around for a decade. That’s just cool. Especially when it’s something you built from the ground up. This band is really like a second family to all of us.
4. Over that span of time, the band has released three full-length's, including the third newest one titled "The Restless and The Mad", coming up, how does this one differ and compare to the previous releases?
Mike: Musically, this album is a little more mature and refined than our previous stuff. If you listen to Inside It All, you’d see that it’s very different from Vassal or The Restless & The Mad. We were really figuring ourselves out on that record, so it has a sort of innocence to it.
We always aim to build heavy arrangements, and then I throw melodic vocal lines with stacks of harmonies over that, and that’s true on this new album too. I have a clean voice, so I use my range to try to match the intensity of the music. I did that on our last album, Vassal, and I continued to do that on this album too. So that’s a similarity. We also aim to be dynamic, so we like to break up some of that heavy distorted guitar with lighter, more emotional sections on a few tracks.
Lyrically, this is a concept album, so it’s a bit different in that sense. There was an overarching theme that I had in mind when I approached writing the lyrics to each song. Also, this is the first time we’ve released a cover on an album! We covered “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago. We replaced all the horns with guitars and it was so much fun!
Production wise, this album is different too. On Inside It All, we worked with Dan Skye at Skylab Studios. On Vassal, we cut drums and vocals at Skylab, and I cut guitars and bass at my home studio. I edited, produced, and mixed the whole album. It was a ton of work. On The Restless & The Mad, we worked with Jason Ruch at 0x1 Sound Studio. While I still edited and produced this one, Jay engineered and mixed the whole record. So overall, it has a different feel to it than our previous work.
5. Did you ever see this band to even reach this point of having three albums under your belts?
Mike: I didn’t even think we were going to write music when we started this! It’s been a hell of a ride with tons of ups and downs.
6. Coming off this album is not one but five singles, tell me about these and why go with five, instead of just a few?
Mike: It’s been almost 3 years since we’ve released new music, and we wanted to do something a little different for the fans with this one. So we said, ok, how can we build excitement for this thing but also give the fans what they want, which is new music. With 5 singles, we can give the fans a ton of content leading up to the release! At the beginning of each week, we’re releasing short videos on Instagram and Facebook explaining the inspiration behind each song. Then on Friday we drop a new track!
7. Do these array of singles connect in any sort of way to one another?
Mike: Since this is a concept record, all the songs on this record are connected to each other. So like I said, we’re putting out videos every week on Instagram and Facebook explaining the inspiration behind each one. They all have a different story, but they’re all tied to the same overarching concept.
8. How did the set up with Unable Records take place?
Mike: Andy introduced us to Jason Ruch at 0x1 Sound Studio, and that’s where we recorded this new album. Andy has worked with Jay for years with other bands, and we were really excited to finally work with Jay too. We’ve had a great relationship with Jay. He really believes in our music and what we do, so he told us about Unable Records. Jay is a part owner of Unable, so that definitely helped! He explained what Unable does for its artists and we were totally on board. And here we are!
9. "The Restless and The Mad", will be released on various format, streaming, digital, physical, which version of media do you prefer your music to be heard upon?
Mike: I think if we had our pick, we’d choose physical, just because you’ll get the music in its truest form. Streaming services apply processing that can get rid of some of the dynamics in the music, a lot of digital platforms compress the files down to mp3s, but physicals still allow for that high quality, crisp audio. That said, we love technology and welcome change, and we feel that you should use whatever platform gives you the greatest experience for you!
10. When it comes to the album's officially release day, how does the band plan on celebrating?
Mike: I think we’re planning on throwing an unofficial party on Release Day, but we can’t really go too hard because we’re playing a big release show the following night in Philadelphia! We’ll be playing through the entire album, plus breaking out some material from Vassal that we haven’t played in years. It’s definitely gonna be a great show and one that you won’t want to miss! That’s the real party you want to be at.
11. Does this album have a concept to it?
Mike: Yes, this is a concept album. The concept is that we see the world through the lens of all our experiences. So basically, everything that happens to you, every conversation you have, every song you listen to, show you watch, all of your experience shapes your perspective on every little thing. It changes the way you think and process the world. And because everyone’s experience is unique, so are our perspectives. That’s what makes the human experience so interesting. But it’s also what leads to a lot of conflict, and that’s a shame. That’s what this album is about: the intriguing part of that concept, but also the negative aspect. It explains so much of what we go through as individuals on a day-to-day basis, but also what we go through on a more macro level. Just look at where we are politically right now, for instance.
12. Where does the title and album artwork connect to the music off the album?
Mike: So everything connects to the album’s concept. “The Restless & The Mad” represents two sides to the story (despite there being many more than just two sides). To oversimplify it, The Restless represents people who are tired of the oppressive nature of society against certain groups of people, and The Mad represents people who are lashing out and fighting against being told what is “right”. It’s also a lyric in our title song “The Restless and The Mad”. The lyric talks about a person trying to please everyone, even the most outspoken, about their points of view, a/k/a “the restless and the mad”.
The artwork is also directly tied to that concept. The two faces, blue and red, represent the two groups of people: “The Restless” and “The Mad”. They’re both screaming out in frustration. We call the eye in the middle the Eye of Objectivity. It represents an objective view of the world, recognizing the fact that we are a product of our experiences, and taking everything into consideration with that in mind.
13. What can the fans and new comers expect from the new Siravo album as a whole?
Mike: Fans can expect what they probably love about Siravo: soaring vocals, nasty guitar solos, blaring guitars, tasty bass lines, and crisp, technical beats. What’s new on this album sound-wise is that Andy did some singing. He’s got harmonies throughout the record and a lead part in Down. He also has a few guitar solos, and they’re really awesome!
Newcomers can expect a really honest, hard-hitting rock record. We’ve got some heavy stuff on here, but we also have some epic, dynamic, emotional songs. We played and sang our asses off, and I think it shows.
14. How about plans for the rest of this year, what do you have planned?
Mike: We’ve got a video coming out for Down that I think everyone is going to love. We went a pretty different direction with this one than we have in the past. The video ties into the story behind Down, and it’s actually really funny. We can’t wait to hear everyone’s reactions! We’ll also be hitting the road and playing a lot of the new music, which we can’t wait to do. We’ve been slowly debuting a few songs recently, but we’ve been DYING to play this new music for over a year now! It’s about time!
15. Would you like to say or add on anything else?
Mike: We just really want to thank everyone who supports us and we want to welcome all new Siravo fans! Every comment, every like, every follower and subscriber, every person who comes out to a show, everyone who comes up and talks to us after the show, it all really really means the world to us. We are so stoked to finally share what we’ve been working on for the last three years! Be good to each other!
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