Fabrizio Fratucelli's Project

A Review and Interview

By Ken Boyd

The Band:

Fabrizio Fratucelli: Guitars

Piero Leporale: Vocals

Riccardo Rosa: Bass

Stefano Vacchetta: Keyboards

Alberto Fratucelli: Drums

When I heard about this album from a  great friend, Marcello, I thought this would be such a great way to end out the year with yet another Tribute to one of our favorite musical groups, Rainbow. It went even further when I went to contact Fabrizio about getting a copy of the album so I could check it out--he was gracious enough to take the time to  chat with me about the project through some e mails and finally and interview.

So here I have that for you. 

Hi Fabrizio,
Hope all is well for you. Thank you once agian for taking the time to commit
to this interview as well as sending me a sample of your music--I really
enjoyed the Rainbow Eyes CD.

The group was born in 1996 in order to fulfill my musical need for a
band available to do a tribute to the Rainbow.
In these years many changes concerning the composition of my group
have taken place and in fact now I am preparing my new tour 2002 with
a band that is different from the one which has played with me in the
CD.
So the band is exclusively my project band.
At the same time I play in another band called 60/70 Rock Band with
which I do a tribute to Deep Purple (as you can see I try to represent
Blackmore's world in all its aspects at least as far as the electric
world is concerned) and sometimes in this group I have the big honour
of playing with Ian Paice in some gigs here in Italy.
All this happens because of my great devotion and and love for
Blackmore who I consider the biggest Rock guitarist in the world!
 
 I just finished listening to the Rainbow Eyes Cd and it is obvious that your
are greatly influenced by Ritchie Blackmore. How did that influence start
for you? Any particular tracks or albums that sound out in your mind, that
began this journey for you?

Ritchie Blackmore's influence on me started when I bought Deep
Purple's Made in Japan, I was 15 and it was a real discovery for me.
Before I was used to listen to the Beatles and Elvis Presley and you
can imagine my emotion when I listened to Highway Star, it was really
powerful ....
From that moment on guitar acquired a primary role for me, I tried to
discover everything about R.Blackmore and in that way I discovered the
Rainbow where Ritchie has showed his best guitar playing in my opinion.
 

Blackmore is toted as somewhat of a hot head--and it is well evidenced in
some of Deep Purple's live tapings--do you think it is just a measure of
professionalism? Or something else? How would you compare yourself to him in
this regard?

So many people tot R.B. as somewhat of a hot head: obviously I do not
know him and so I cannot tell you this is true; what it's certain is
that he sometimes behaves in a strange way but I believe this is
linked to his character. He is a professional and so he pretends the
best from all the people, sometimes this does not happen and this can
cause his anger. The comparison between R.B. and me is not possible
because I remain Fabrizio Fratucelli even though I also look for the
best from everyone!

Are the other guys in the band also such Blackmore fans?

Yes, the other guys in the band are Blackmore fans, too but not as
much as me, they like Rock of the 70s and so they have succeeded in
interpreting these songs in the right way and they have managed to re-
create the same magic atmosphere.

How did it feel in the studio actually covering these great classics?

I have recorded these songs on my home recording thanks to an old
recorder reel to reel, putting the drum in a room and the amplifiers
in another. The atmosphere was really relaxing and pleasant due to the
fact that we were not worried about time and excessive expenses;
surely the production cannot be as perfect as the one of big studios
but the final result is anyway very satisfying.

I see by your liner notes you are active on the internet. Do you guys have a
web page?

Unfortunately, neither I nor my band have a web page yet but I hope we
will manage to create one in the future.

What other projects have you been involved with? What was the first band you
were in?

As I said before, I play in another band (60/70 Rock Band), too.
At the beginning of the 90s I played in a hard rock band called Purple
Angels and we wrote lots of songs. We published a CD but a little bit
after we decided to split because we had different musical opinions.

Has Dio influenced your writing or stage presence in any way? Who has?

As I said before, I play Rainbow songs of all the periods; surely
Dio's period is the best one and as far as this is concerned I would
like to contact Ronnie and tell him I would be pleased to play with
him his Rainbow songs here in Italy. I have already done this
experience with Ian Paice in the 60/70 Rock Band and now I would like
to have Dio in my own band, the Project.... it would be wonderful !!!

Who do all listen to now?

Nowadays there are very few interesting songs but if I have to mention
something that has impressed me I would mention the English band the
MUSE, they are really fantastic! Have you ever heard about them?

How much force do you think the internet will play in the music industry in
the future?

It's difficult to foresee where music will be taken in the future;
what it's certain is that there has been an evolution, especially a
technological evolution but the big songs are still composed in the
same way as in the past Millennium. The most important thing is to
have a good idea, then it's not essential if this idea is realized
thanks to a guitar or to a computer. There is the NEED for a good
idea !!!

Today's music market seems so very TV video oriented. What are your plans in
that regard?
How important is it to the market to do videos in Italy?

It's natural that my goal would be that of becoming well-known in the
world but as we all know this is really difficult, especially if you
cover songs written by famous groups.
In the future I would like to write something on my own in order to be
judged for my own writing. Nowadays TV videos are essential because by
now all is on MTV and if you have not a video you can be disadvantaged
even though not all the good music is on MTV.
Moreover, as you know the mass media do not always consider a certain
kind of Rock and they relegate this music in an underground circuit.
Fortunately, thanks to people like you and thanks to Internet rock
musicians have the chance to be known among fans and in that way fans
can find out information about their favourite artist .... That's
great !

What do you think of his new venture with Candice Night? Any interest in
covering some of those tunes as well?
 
In 1995 I saw Ritchie's concert with Rainbow in Milano, I was really
happy 'cause for the first time I saw Ritchie playing with the band
which represents him better  and I thought Ritchie was about to return
to real Rock but 2 years after he presented a completely different
work. I' ve listened to his new work but I have to admit that it's not
the kind of music I prefer, anyway the work of his guitar is superb,
his guitar playing is recognizable among thousands of guitarists. In
this moment I' m  not interested in covering Blackmore's Night but I
know nothing about the future .....it can be.....

I also see you have thanked Doogie White--do you also cover some of his
Rainbow related tunes?
What about Graham Bonnet, or Joe Lyn Turner as well?
 
In my CD I have also thanked Doogie White 'cause I have contacted him
through e-mail, I have talked with him about my project and he has
asked me a copy of it.
I'm very happy about his interest in my work, he is one of Rainbow's
singers and so it's an honour for me to have the chance to let him
listen to my CD.
On the stage we perform Ariel, a great song and besides Dio's songs we
also cover some Rainbow tunes related to Bonnett and Turner's period
but to me Dio's period is the best one !!

Fabrizio, thank you once again. I wish you guys all the best,
KEN

The Track Listing (Samples)

Man On The Silver Mountain (Listen)

16th Century Greensleeves

Kill The King

Stargazer (Listen) 

The Temple Of The King

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (Listen)

Rainbow Eyes 

Well, there is some great music here. No doubt the guitar playing is Blackmore inspired--and proves to be quite a tribute in that sense. I find that the essence of these songs covered have definitely captured the lose essence of the original songs. There even proves to be some original twists to give the flavor of the band tributing those long ago forerunners, which is nice.

The only portions I find a limiting factor at all prove to be the vocalist--he seems to have a limited range that is straining a bit to keep up with the rest of the project. Though it would be completely unfair to compare such an attempt to the talents of Ronnie James Dio, there is still something left lacking when that flavor has gone amiss. A number of mixed up lyrics and questionable English are a large contributing factor here as well. None the less, I respect the man for stepping up to the plate--those are some mighty big shoes to attempt filling, even on a tributary level.

I would rate this tribute project a must have for any Blackmore fan and a nice piece to your collection to the run of the mill (is there such a thing?--LOL!) Rainbow fan.