Aoeria's interview with Vents Magazine
Frank did an interview with Rafael Jovine of Vents, here it is along with a picture from around the time of the interview and one a little more recent
What's the meaning behind the band's name?
I was thinking about floaty places that'd be cool to inhabit and was trying to find the word this imaginary place. I was thinking a little bit of open sounds after seeing Donovan, the folk singer/poet, at a David Lynch event in NYC and how he told about when he went to India how he realized his vocal sounds are all sustained in the open sound and I thought that was very cool.
How did the band get started??
The band started with a few songs that were written by me, Frank Giliberti, on guitar jamming solo and with different drummers around 2002 that became the Waterwheel album and many songs I've were written since while the band was always changing and afterwards solo became our new album Praise to All You Hear. So the band is just me and songs I've written drawn from a bunch of different settings and with a few guests playing. Right now I'm playing everything.
What's the message you'd like to transmit with your music??
Music is the best language because it's pure emotion. Some things are beyond and other things there are too many words for. Our music represents that we are all connected being able to share our feelings.
What's your method of songwriting??
Sometimes I'm just playing an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, or bass and come up with a few riffs or chords, sometimes doing that with drummers and other musicians, and later trying different ways to go and adding singing and lyrics that capture the feeling. Sometimes a song comes together almost by itself and melodies and lyrics spring right out. I let the song guide me.
What influences your music?
Anything with great songwriting and sweet music. The things I've listened to most come out in a mixed up ways so it might be hard to tell my biggest influences are The Beatles, The Byrds, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, King Crimson, The Smashing Pumpkins, A Perfect Circle, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Porcupine Tree, and lots of different literature and films from all over, like Andre Breton and Walt Whitman, to Luis Buñuel and Chris Marker.
What plans do you guys have for the future??
Making as much as we can and getting it out there to everyone who might like our songs. A new album is brewing. I have 14 songs going right now and a bunch more I really like.
What has been the funniest prank you guys have pulled or took part in while on tour or after a show??
I don't know if this counts but my first band that played alot, Jamaica Ashe, tried to play at our local Carnival when it came to town and every year they said no so we showed up with a generator and set up and rocked out. They showed up about a song in and started unplugging us but we kept going back in and annoying them!
If you guys were stranded in the middle of nowhere after a show or while on tour and help is 65 miles away from where you are, who would you guys send to look for help? And if while the rest wait, there's no food and the only way to feed yourself is by eating each other, who would you eat first?
This is a tough question cause I'm the only guy in the band. Anyone want to volunteer? EDIT- Now that Toby is in the band this really is 50/50. Flip a coin perhaps? I'd probably start walking, or running!
Which country you guys would love to play?
That's really tough, I can't pick one! Pretty much anywhere, I would like to go all overl! If anyone would like to hear us play let me know!
What bands would you guys love to share stage with??
Anyone I mentioned in my influences, any one of the people in the bands! I don't know if I would want to mess with the beautiful things they have going, but I'd have fun trying to hold my own. I'll play with anyone, performing can be a magical experience.
Are you guys OK with the direction the band is going actually?
Absolutely, the direction we go is completely up to us as long as we are receptive to the freedom of music. Aoeria is an approach to music, and for me it's something that always draws me in. Aoeria is the music we feel needs to be made, and I only make the music I'm happy to be playing. There's other things I could do that might be a different approach to music that I could do myself or with another group, but right now Aoeria is my home because of the creative range that I work to cultivate to be free to express anything
Thanks for making this awesome interview happen!
click above to return to aoeria.com