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Interviews > Entry: No Restraints

Entry: No Restraints

Artist	No Restraints
Title	Expect The Unexpected
Date	06 October 2009, 7:10 AM
Interview	Per la prima volta gli statunitensi No Restraints rilasciano un'intervista ad un magazine italiano. E' stato davvero un piacere scoprire in Mark Smith e Christina Terry due persone disponibilissime e molto sensibili, realmente appassionati di ciò che fanno. L'intervista è pubblicata integralmente in inglese con le domande in italiano questo per cercare, come facciamo da quando il nuovo sito è attivo, di evitare di stravolgere il significato di determinate espressioni degli artisti stranieri. Mark, iniziamo questo piccolo viaggio all'interno della tua band. In che modo sono nati i No Restraints? The Band "No Restraints" came about from a get together 6 years ago with a couple of bandmates of mine from a group I was in a ways back called "Talisman". I had been on a writing/performing hiatus for quite a while and the discussion came up from former Talisman guitarist Jon Terry to give our style of music another turn. I agreed but on the condition of taking the music to a different level and style. Talisman was a four piece band performing my more neo classical prog music. To pull it off live I was playing a 10 keyboard setup. I wanted to explore other styles of music other than the classically influenced writings of Talisman''s past. Jon and I went about finding the talent that formed the first roster of musicians performing on the first album "In The Left Lane" The name "No Restraints" was selected as our group title to further communicate that we ,as a musical group, were not going to limit ourselves in sound, style or performers. Mark, da "In The Left Lane" a "Xout" ci sono molte differenze, dall'eccellente contributo di Robinson nel primo disco a quello, di pari livello, di Christina Terry nell'ultimo lavoro; perché questo cambiamento così evidente? I No Restraints stanno cercando la loro identità? There are a few reasons that there can be perceived our group' searching for it's identity. Our first album "In The Left Lane" was written around a single concept. The songs all told a collective story of a place called The Left Lane. We all visit this Left (out) Lane during a big change or loss encountered in our lives that puts us into a zone of being alone and separated from the main streams of life. Starla's tenor sax was an important voice in the mood of those Left Lane songs. "Xout" on the other hand did not have a specific story to tell and whose direction was pointed towards our further musical approach to Progressive Rock Music. I did score a number of sax parts for the songs on "Xout" but Starla was going through a real tough split at the time of the recording and was unable to contribute. I hope that she will rejoin us on the next project. Another contributing factor to the different identities is that I personally have a wide range of Prog influence. It is a challenge writing in a form as broad to interpretation as progressive rock while all along the way attempting to make a unique identifiable sound. We have no restraints (forgive the pun) including various musicians and encouraging them to bring their personal styles of playing to the group in order to realize the music I have written. Last in this explanation is the band''s real world situations that make physical identity changes. Everyone in the group has day jobs, families, careers, other interests. We all love our music but are challenged, both financially and with little time, to realize our songs to final form and release. It is definitly a sign and product of the times these days that there is very little monetary compensation in the form of CD or Digital sales that can fund a music group like us. With that operational fact understood and accepted we carry on with who is available and up for the rehearsals, practice and performance in the studio for any given song. It is truly a labor of love by all of us. So the mixed identities that you may hear are attributed to these factors. Our musical identity is our name which, in the end, is our musical direction and determination. Mark, perché hai deciso di fare un EP? Non sarebbe stato meglio aspettare di avere abbastanza materiale per un vero disco? After writing, arranging and scoring all of the songs for "In The Left Lane" I was motivated into the thought and idea of a shorter musical statement for the second release. I was attracted to the second project to be different in sound and duration showing more of our musical depth. So fewer instruments were used which allowed for more individual embellishment. Christina, la tua performance in "Xout" ha determinato, di fatto, l'atmosfera e il pathos dell'intero disco. Quale percorso professionale hai seguito prima di entrare nei No Restraints? I've always been doing different vocal projects ever since I can remember. I started getting heavily involved in choir and vocal competitions in high school and continued with that passion into college where I studied as a vocal performance major. Mark saw the love I have for singing and music and decided to make me a part of No Restraints, where I've enjoyed using what I've learned in my training in a very different and unique way. Mark, è chiaro che il Blues è nelle tue vene così come il Prog Sinfonico alla ELP. Chi sono i tastieristi che ti hanno maggiormente influenzato? A small but important group of Proggressive Jazz and Rock players provided me enormous inspiration, direction and appreciation for emerging styles of music. In cronological order, the order that I came to hear and know about each one, those organists are: Rod Argent, Jon Lord and Keith Emerson. The pianists in that same cronological order are: Dave Brubeck ,Oscar Peterson and Keith Emerson. I owe them all a great deal of personal thanks for their dedication to the music. Christina, qual'è la tua relazione con le strutture musicali della band: provi a seguire alla lettera lo spartito oppure cerchi di mettere parte della tua personalità nella performance? It's definitely always important for any musician to put themselves into the piece they' are working on. While all these songs of course reflect Mark and his personality, he definitely encourages me to put a lot of myself into my performance on the album. That's really one of the most enjoyable parts of making music, relating to each song, and making that come through in the performance. Christina, stai pensando a realizzare un album a solo (magari con l'aiuto di Mark)? I would definitely love to have advice from Mark if I did choose to do a solo album, but that is not something I'm planning for at the moment. I have a full time job in the business side of music, which is another passion of mine. I love coming in and working on projects like this because it keeps me singing and I get to work with amazing musicians. But at this time, a solo album is not in my plans. Mark, qual'è la tua visione del Prog moderno? Ci si sta indirizzando verso una sorta di Esperanto musicale oppure si continua a seguire la tradizione? Fabrizio this is an interesting question. It is my observation that Modern Prog is a large musical canvas that has been painted with a very large brush. I think the creative new ideas in Prog Music will come from the Prog Artists who choose instead to use a small brush on a piece of parchment to illustrate their new ideas with. In other words each artist taking a one good solid idea from traditional Prog and evolving it further than the original onto a new surface. If this can happen traditional Prog effectively passes the torch to modern Prog. The Prog music style will still continue to fragment but in a traditionally influenced way. No Restraints attempts to realize this style of approach to it''s music. I think we all as Prog composers and players should honor the traditional Prog past but not repeat it. Ultima domanda per entrambi: Qual'è il futuro dei No Restraints? Christina: No Restraints is Mark's creation and will continue on the path that his creative musical mind chooses to take. I don't think anyone other than Mark can predict that. Mark: I am currently writing new material and researching a slightly different artist lineup to take it all on. Expect the unexpected.

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