EMQ’s with BRUNNO MARIANTE: HEAL OR KILL
EMQ’s with BRUNNO MARIANTE: HEAL OR KILL
Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview, courtesy of Victor, with the Traditional Metal solo band of highly respected Brazilian vocalist Brunno Mariante aka Brunno Mariante: Heal Or Kill. Huge thanks to Brunno, drummer Leonora Mölka, and bassist Rick Posi, for taking part!
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Brunno Mariante: I’m Brunno Mariante, I started this solo band in the middle of 2016 with my fiancée Leonora Mölka (Drummer) and my friends: Rick Posi (Bassist) and Michel Turim (Guitarist). It all started as an experimental project, but in a natural way, things got bigger, until the moment when I was asking Blaze Bayley (ex-Iron Maiden) to participate in the recordings of 2 singles and in a video. That’s when I saw that the thing was getting bigger.
Michel had to leave the band as he moved out of town and so we called Andreas Dehn to do the guitars for us.
Rick Posi: I’m a bass player. As for the band’s history, Brunno certainly knows how to tell better.
How did you come up with your band name?
Brunno: This is my solo band, or we also call the project Heal or Kill, but “Heal or Kill” comes from a dilemma that many musicians face, which is the “Focus and look ahead” or “Stop it all right now” situation.
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
Brunno: We are from Brazil, São Paulo State. The rock scene here is not very strong, but we are a kind of “Metal Resistance”, and we take the band to any city that calls us and make things happen.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Brunno: Our latest release is called “15th Year Anniversary Tour”, it was released this year, 2021, in DVD and CD formats, but it’s also on all streaming platforms and the full DVD is on YouTube. It’s a special package celebrating the 15 years of my career, the physical media edition also comes with special gifts!
“15th Year Anniversary Tour” (Full Performance)
Who have been your greatest influences?
Brunno: Traditional Heavy Metal: Iron Maiden (80’s), Judas Priest, Power Metal Old School: Helloween and other Brazilian Metal bands: Angra, Shaman and Viper.
Leonora Mölka: It’s easier saying genres, such as: (melodic) Death Metal, Doom Metal, Thrash Metal, Stoner, Blues, Gothic Metal, Gothic Rock, a mixing of things.
Rick: Classic Rock and Progressive.
What first got you into music?
Brunno: I started very early, at the time of primary school. There were flute classes at school and the teacher also taught us the basics of popular singing. I probably was about 12 years old at that time, but then, at 25 years old, I went to take singing lessons in a school in my city called Cromat.
Leonora: I started playing keyboard when I was a child, because of my uncle who still has a Yamaha Keyboard, he is an orchestra conductor, then I tried playing string instruments such as electric and acoustic guitars…no way! After a cousin’s rehearsal, I sat down on the drum throne and tried up hitting something, so I found my way on drums! I also sing, when I was 10, I was in a choir.
Rick: I’ve always been a music enthusiast and I owe a lot of my musical growth to my father, who was a musician. I started with the acoustic guitar, then I went to the electric guitar and, finally, I identified with the bass, always getting involved with authorial projects.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician, who would it be?
Brunno: If it were a band from Brazil, certainly in Viper or Angra, already an international band, I believe I would like to make a participation in Avantasia.
Leonora: Brazil: Crypta or Nervosa; International: Arch Enemy, Carcass, Lacuna Coil. It’s so difficult to choose hahahaha!
Rick: It is very difficult to choose just one…so I will name a few; Brazilian bands: Golpe de Estado, Harppia, Patrulha do Espaço; International bands: Uriah Heep, Blue Öyster Cult, Saxon, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, The Cult, Ozzy Osbourne and Alice Cooper.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Brunno: If it were in Europe, I would like Wacken Open Air (Germany), In the United States on Prog Power USA (Atlanta) and In Brazil I wanted to go to Rock in Rio (Rio de Janeiro).
Leonora: Europe, in Wacken or Hellfest. Europe has a lot of huge events there.
Rick: I would choose Rock in Rio because it is located in my country and because it was an extremely important event in the historical trajectory of rock in the Brazilian nation.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Brunno: A fan made an inverted pentagram on the floor of a concert by the band I am in, Vindicta, and started to simulate black magic in front of the stage, this wasn’t really a gift, but it was something weirder than I’ve seen at one of my shows.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Brunno: Live today as if it were the last day of your life!
Our life is very short, and we have to be happy and dreaming the biggest you can.
Rick: Value the music scene because the strength of the music scene comes from you. Invest in musical creation and ensure the union between musicians.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Brunno: My favorite singers, from Brazil: Andre Matos (Ex-Angra / Shaman).
International: Ronnie James Dio.
Leonora: Sir Lemmy Kilmister and the Green Man Peter Steele.
Rick: John Lennon. I’m very curious to know what he would create musically if he stayed alive.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Brunno: What I like the most is, even being Underground, I like to do things as professionally as possible, sell merchandising, create a Web site, promo photos, record covers, all the merchandising. I’m a Marketing guy and I like all these tools, because playing well is the minimum that every band should do.
Rick: What I like most: expressing my tastes, my ideas and my proposals through art. What I hate most: disunity, envy, rivalries.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Brunno: I value the physical media of CD’s and DVD’s a lot, and this is something that is currently falling into disuse and apparently not a very good thing. I think I would do something to improve the prices of this type of product so that it would encourage people to still buy and consume.
Rick: I would grant greater freedom to the musician’s artistic creation, disassociating him from the logic that seeks to prioritize the stylistic aspect considered the most commercially successful. Furthermore, I would seek to contemplate the great talents who do not have opportunities.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Brunno: International: Iron Maiden – “The Number of the Beast”, Dream Theater – “Images and Words”
From Brazil: Angra – “Angel’s Cry” and “Temple of Shadows”, Sepultura – “Chaos A.D.”, Viper – “Theater of Fate”.
Rick: It’s very difficult to choose just one! But I will mention “In the Court of the Crimson King” (1969), by King Crimson.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Brunno: The CD’s I still think are the best, but they all have their value.
Leonora: All of them, I guess.
Rick: I prefer Vinyls and CD’s!
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Brunno: I’ve done a lot of excellent shows, but one was the main one of my solo band in Leme city, a motorcycle club called Kaiowas, there were a lot of people there and they bought a lot of merchandising besides having enjoyed my whole show a lot. I can’t fail to mention the importance of my DVD show, which, despite having been made for a very small audience, amenable to friends plus VIPs, was the one that produced my best product ever released so far.
Rick: It was a concert that took place in early 2018, at Concha Acústica from Taquaral (Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil), by a band I’ve already participated in called Lippo a Vapor. This band featured guitarist Lippo Baldassarini, a great veteran of Brazilian rock who had played in notable eighties bands such as Made in Brazil and Harppia.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Brunno: Graphic Designer or Video Maker, work that I already do with music.
Leonora: What I work as beyond a musician: English, Spanish and Portuguese teacher, Instructional Designer, Writer, Translator and Reviewer.
Rick: I would love to be an actor!
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Brunno: Rafael Bittencourt (Angra), Tim Ripper Owens (KK’ Priest/Ex-Judas Priest), Andi Deris (Helloween), Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Aquiles Priester (W.A.S.P./Hangar/Edu Falaschi/ex – Angra).
Leonora: It would be a BIG party hahahahaha, I don’t know, all Arch Enemy members, surely!
Rick: Alice Cooper, Steven Wilson, Ray Davies, Geddy Lee and Ozzy Osbourne!
What’s next for the band?
Brunno: A new studio album with 13 tracks that I’ve been working on for over 2 years and that will surely surpass everyone’s expectations. it will be a great release in January.
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Brunno: YouTube and Spotify, these are definitely the most watched ones today.
Rick: I believe Spotify, YouTube and Facebook are the three main vehicles for dissemination – in that order. Therefore, they have been used by the Heal or Kill project.
LINKS:
www.brunnomariante.com.br
www.facebook.com/brunnomariantesolo
www.instagram.com/brunnomariante
www.twitter.com/brunnomariante
www.open.spotify.com/album/0NMAsvju5fer2kaD7pf66X
www.youtube.com/brunnomariante
Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?
Brunno: I’m not sure, but if you would send me some for my band to do a tasting, we would be very grateful to reveal this mystery to you.
Rick: I have no idea, hahahaha…
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Brunno: I appreciate it, I would say just to wait for the Pandemic to end very calmly, being kind to people.
Leonora: Thank you for this interview! Waiting for this vaccine and the pandemic ending!
Rick: Thank you very much! And may much good news come and may music return with renewed strength after we overcome this pandemic. Let’s hold on!
Victor’s original review of Brunno Mariante: Heal Or Kill – 15th Year Anniversary Tour:
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
