EMQs With Bob Saliba
EMQ’s With Bob Saliba
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with French Melodic Metal artist Bob Saliba. Huge thanks to Bob Saliba 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?
I am Bob Saliba, composer, singer, guitarist and sometimes bass player. After many collaborations and album releases, I decided to launch my new solo project to distill a resolutely melodic sound. The original idea was to do a studio project with the participation of several guests from the local and international scene that I’ve been lucky enough to meet over the years. Then I was asked to do some gigs, the very first of which was at the opening of FM, so I also put together a local team, drawing on my circle of local musicians. The FTF Music label then adopted the project in its roster and the adventure began.
How did you come up with your band name?
I was searching for a solo band name for years, and every name on my shortlist was already taken by another band somewhere in the world (just have a look on the Encyclopaedia Metallum website). Friends then suggested I should use my own name. Stan W. Decker, who is also French proposed a great logo, so I decided to use this option.
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
I am French, it’s been years that I’ve performed here and in Europe as a musician in different bands. The French scene is mostly Extreme Metal.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
My solo album, entitled “Hosts of a Vanished World”. Talking about my other bands: the KingCrown – “Wake Up Call” as guitarist and composer, featuring Jo & David Amore (ex-Nightmare, Tower of Babel) and the Galderia – “Lost Horizon” album, both released in 2022. I also released the Rubicon – “Aliapolis” album in 2023 in which I am the only Frenchie, lead guitarist, in a Russian band.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Prog rock & Hard rock bands from the 70s such as Yes, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Starcastle, Caravan, Mike Oldfields, Uriah Heep, Led Zep, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Scorpions, Melodic Heavy Metal from the 80s & 90s with Iron Maiden, Metallica, Savatage, Dio, Pretty Maids, Annihilator and other fabulous bands from the early 2000s like Symphony X, Ark, Beyond Twilight, Silent Force, Rhapsody, Masterplan, Angra… I also like folk music (celtic, greek, oriental…) and listen to great guitar players such as Steve Vai, Satriani, Eric Johnson, Michael Lee Firkins…
What first got you into music?
My adolescence was an awakening to Metal music with bands like Metallica or Iron Maiden, but I grew up listening to Greek folk music or bands like the Bee Gees or ABBA.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
I’d say I’m very lucky to work with my current mates in my solo band, with all these guests, and my other bands KingCrown, Radburn, Rubicon… Generally speaking I’m very open to collaboration because it allows us to mix different universes and can give birth to something great!
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Haha… Woodstock 😀
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Hair scrunchies and a cuddly toy 😀
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
To meet us during our gigs. I like these moments because some of them give their feelings and feedback after listening to our studio releases and our gig performances. I also want to thank them for their support.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Impossible to choose, I can’t just pick one and let the others down… Everyone of them has a special personality and talent, we would need all of them!
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Composing and creating is the very essence of being an artist, so it’s obviously what I prefer, the whole process of making a record fascinates me. Communicating with a live audience is particularly enjoyable too. What I don’t like are the long journeys involved in touring, because I don’t like promiscuity, even though I’m said to be very easy to live with 😀
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Worshippers of Rock or Metal music specifically have to go and find what they like in the underground, because I don’t know how it is in your country, but in France, we haven’t listened to Pop and Rap music from the mass media for 40 years. For a long time now, all anyone’s talked about is rap, football, variety, lousy radio hooks and other stuff that’s either completely devoid of interest or belongs to a world I don’t fit into at all. And it’s getting worse, at least in the 80s there was good music on the big radio stations.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Only one?? I’d pick “Close to the Edge” by Yes, “TAAB” by Jethro Tull, “Somewhere in Time” by Iron Maiden; “Gutter Ballet” by Savatage, “Last in Line “ by Dio… and many more!
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
I would go for CDs and vinyls. CDs were at their best when I was a teen, I guess it’s a matter of generation. But in our music style we really love great artworks for albums, and they often deserve an adapted support to be released.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Tours with great bands such as Therion, opening for Ripper Owens, Blaze Bayley, FM, Secret Sphere. We also will tour with Alcatrazz and Girlschool with KingCrown.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I am a former scientist, an engineer in biotechs. I’ll probably go back to the lab.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
The beloved ones my family or my close friends.
What’s next for the band?
I’m particularly prolific when it comes to composing, having just finished recording the 2nd album and finished composing for the 3rd. I’m currently thinking about which guests to invite. At the same time, we’re starting to book gigs with the live team and I’m very busy with radio promotion and interviews. I always have tons of ideas and new songs to work on
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
I honestly don’t really like it, fortunately my friends community managers and people of my label FTF-Music are doing a great job on Facebook, Instagram; Youtube and the Tiktok things.
Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?
It would be more like a biscuit with a filling and a glaze no? Tell me about it! Anyway I love it so much! Hail to John Langlands!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
I’d like to thank you for this interview and your interest in my music, as well as all your readers. And a big thank you to all our followers and supporters who have made this 1st album possible.
