Francesco Marras will probably be best known to many as the current guitarist in NWOBHM legends Tygers of Pan Tang or in his own band Screaming Shadows. However, he also has a career as a solo artist, taking on the role of lead vocalist as well as guitarist. His latest solo album, “Out of the Fire”, was released on 21st February and it features guest vocalists on four tracks alongside the six tracks Francesco sings on. I spoke to Francesco on Zoom on 25th February and we talked about the new album, Screaming Shadows, Tygers of Pan Tang, his other projects and future plans. You can hear that interview on the Friday NI Rocks Show for 28th February.
The interview will be uploaded to our MixCloud page soon and will be available to read here shortly.
Website - https://www.francescomarras.com/
Playlist for the Show –
SINOCENCE – Incarcerated
HEARTLAND - Don’t Say Goodbye
RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S RAINBOW - Wolf to the Moon
BAD COMPANY - Company of Strangers
FRANCESCO MARRAS - Lost Souls (ft David Readman)
Interview with FRANCESCO MARRAS Part 1 (12 min)
FRANCESCO MARRAS – Soldiers of the Light (ft Daniele Ledda)
Interview with FRANCESCO MARRAS Part 2 (6 min)
SCREAMING SHADOWS – Shake Your Blood
Interview with FRANCESCO MARRAS Part 3 (4 min)
TYGERS OF PAN TANG – Fire on the Horizon
Interview with FRANCESCO MARRAS Part 4 (4 min)
FRANCESCO MARRAS – Carnival of Darkness (ft Gianni Pontillo)
KINGDOM COME - Hope is On Fire
BAD MOON RISING – Moonchild
TYKETTO - Let It Go
AVANTASIA - The Witch (ft Tommy Karevik)
Promo with TOBIAS SAMMET for new AVANTASIA album “Here Be Dragons”
AVANTASIA - Against the Wind (ft Kenny Leckremo)
KROKUS - Lion Heart
AC/DC - Hard as a Rock
DOKKEN - Too High to Fly
ERIC BASS - Azalia
Promo for new ERIC BASS album “I Had A Name”
ERIC BASS - Mind Control
WHITEABBEY - Just Hold Me
NI ROCKS - Hi Francesco, thanks for taking some time to talk to Rock Radio NI. You’ve just released a new solo album called “Out of the Fire” and we’ve just played a track called “Lost Souls”. First of all what can you tell us about that track?
FRANCESCO – “Lost Souls” is a bluesy song. You can hear the mood of a bluesy song; inspired by Whitesnake or something from Yngwie Malmsteen. A lot of artists use this kind of tempo. It was a song perfect for the voice of David Readman. We are friends because we met during a Go music tour in Germany. It's a tour that was arranged by a friend of mine, a bass player; his name is MartiEngeliens. We are friends and he called me every year to play a mini tour in Germany. A couple of years ago I played with David (Readman) and I loved his voice because he's a great singer; inspired by David Coverdale and those kind of singers from the rock scene from the 80s. And I thought he was perfect for my song, so I asked him if he would like to join me? And he said yes - and that's all. (Laughs) That's how the song was born.
NI ROCKS - David is one of four guest vocalists on the album. Who are the others and how did you decide which singers you wanted on the album?
FRANCESCO - The other guest singers include Daniele Ledda, who's a long time friend of mine and he was the singer in my Italian band Screaming Shadows. He sang on the “New Era of Shadows” album that was released in 2009. So, we are very close friends and I love to play with him. So, it was easy for me to ask him to join me for one song. And then the other one is Iacopa Meille, because he's a bandmate in Tygers. We are both Italian, so you can understand that the link between us is stronger than the one with Robb or Craig or Huw; the other guys in the band because we can speak the same language and it's easier and it's faster. You know Iacopa is not a heavy metal singer. It's not a secret that he is not a heavy metal singer; he's a hard rock singer, inspired by Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin and singers from the 70s and early 80s. A couple of years ago I wrote this song that became “Cyber Lust”, and the mood of the song was very inspired by Led Zeppelin. So, I thought he was perfect for that song and we are always speaking about a whole album recorded by me and him. So, I don't know, maybe that's the seed for a new project in the future.
NI ROCKS – That would be good.
FRANCESCO - And the other one is Gianni Pontillo. He's the singer of Victory, the German band. The leader of the band is Herman Frank - he was the guitar player in Accept on the album “Balls To The Wall”. This singer is amazing. I love his voice. And he's Italian too. I met him personally during the 70,000 Tonnes of Metal festival – on the cruise ship from Miami to the Republic of Dominica. I became a fan of him and of his band and saw all his shows during the cruise. Yeah. We became friends and it was a pleasure for me to invite him to join me in a song for the new album.
NI ROCKS - Who else is working on the album with you and where was it recorded?
FRANCESCO - The whole album was recorded by me and most of the songs are mixed and mastered by me. I have a small recording studio in my hometown and I produce music; I produce other bands and I compose music for other artists, so I'm always working on music. I'm a full time musician. The other guy who mixed a couple of songs on the album is Matthia Stancioiu. He was the drummer in two very important power metal bands in the 90s and 2000s. The bands are Labyrinth and Vision Divine. He was the drummer of those bands and I grew up listening to Labyrinth and Vision Divine because they are Italian and they are great. When I was young in Italy, there wasn't a lot of good bands in the hard rock and heavy metal scene. I remember only Death SS and maybe Vanadium. When Rhapsody and Labyrinth came out it was like, wow! - it was a revolution for us in Italy, believe me. It was great to listen to those great bands from Italy. That's why he's always working with me. Matthia is always involved in all of my recordings. For example, he did the mastering of “Legacy of Stone” and he did the mastering of “It's Me”. So, I'm always working with him.
NI ROCKS – You mentioned “It’s Me” (the previous solo album from 2022). You do lead vocals on six of the tracks on the new album and you did lead vocals on all the tracks on “It’s Me”. You’ve obviously become more comfortable with doing the lead vocals over the years as you didn’t usually?
FRANCESCO - Yeah, it became easier and easier during the years, even if it's not very easy for me because I'm a guitar player!. But I try!
NI ROCKS – You sound great.
FRANCESCO - Thank you very much. I'm always trying to improve my singing.
NI ROCKS – It works well. You have a great voice.
NI ROCKS - You’ve a few tour dates in Germany in March. Will you be doing lead vocals on that tour and who else will be in your live band?
FRANCESCO – Yes, I will be the lead singer for all six shows in Germany im March and that's why I'm a little bit scared. (Laughs) It's the very, very first time I sing a whole live set and I have to do that for six days, six nights, one after the other. So, I'm praying to be alive after the tour. But the musicians who will be with me on stage, they are great musicians, so I trust them. They are Martin Engelien on bass, Marco Cossu on keyboards - and Marco Cossu is also the keyboard player on a couple of songs on “Out of the Fire” and the keyboard player on “It’s Me”. And then the guitar player who will play rhythm guitars on the tour will be Daniele Bucco and the drummer will be Dirk Sengotta.
NI ROCKS - Are you hoping to dot some more tour dates after those Germany ones or will that be it for a while?
FRANCESCO - I hope so. I’m trying to arrange more live shows but it's not very easy. Because I am a new name. I'm the guitar player of Tygers and also the guitar player of Screaming Shadows, but as a solo musician I'm starting from zero or close to zero. It's not very easy to arrange shows and to find venues that are able to arrange shows for me. I cannot do that for only one show; I always need at least a run of three shows to cut the expenses.
NI ROCKS - We’ll play another track from the album now. Do you want to pick a track and tell us something about it?
FRANCESCO - Yeah, I'd. I'd like to play “Soldiers of the Light” because it's a great classic heavy metal track. The guest singer is Daniele Ledda who is a great friend of mine. So I'd like to show you his great voice.