The Median Man spoke with Thomas Amoriello about the Amoriello project.
The Median Man spoke with Thomas Amoriello about the Amoriello project.
EDUCATOR
What inspired you to begin performing music and what inspired the creation of Dear Dark?
Well, besides my younger days of playing in some local club scene metal bands in southerm NJ and handing fliers out (pre-internet) at a mall, I have spent most of my professional life as an educator that has taught at community colleges, public and private schools, non-profit and profit arts academies and even at music stores teaching private lessons and guitar classes. I decided to create music to go along with a school assembly I was developing for children based upon my first children’s picture book, “A Journey to Guitarland with Maestro Armadillo”. Then things got out of hand with man more songs than anticipated and the debut AMORIELLO LP was released on H42 Records in December 2018. The recent follow up (March 2020) is called Dear Dark which is an EP that has more of a band approach using the same guest musicians on most of the tracks for consistency. Dear Dark is a collection of songs that are moods and riffs I felt from October 2018 through September 2019 while all of the recording was taking place.
How do you approach songwriting?
At the end of the day all the songs have elements of collaboration. I initiate the process by writing lyrics with particular themes in mind, editing and arranging guitar riffs and chord progressions into a structured manner, and then make specific suggestions to the producer while the drum rhythm patterns are being programmed. There is then a process to quote a baseball term, when the song gets “passed around the horn” to the various studio musicians that I have in mind. The bassist and keyboardist add their magic with suggestions from me on sounds I desire ranging from fretless bass to Korg or Moog synth sounds. The chosen vocalist handles the vocal melody as well with suggested inspiration with statements such as “an Arthur Brown scream here or a Painkiller Rob Halford there!” Sometimes a song is much different than I originally intended and sometimes it is much better than I ever imagined. Flexibility and letting go of Type-A personality syndrome lead to a finished concept. At the moment that is what works for me as I am not a “singer-songwriter or Trent Reznor work alone musician.”
COLLABORATION
COLLABORATION
How do you approach songwriting?
At the end of the day all the songs have elements of collaboration. I initiate the process by writing lyrics with particular themes in mind, editing and arranging guitar riffs and chord progressions into a structured manner, and then make specific suggestions to the producer while the drum rhythm patterns are being programmed. There is then a process to quote a baseball term, when the song gets “passed around the horn” to the various studio musicians that I have in mind. The bassist and keyboardist add their magic with suggestions from me on sounds I desire ranging from fretless bass to Korg or Moog synth sounds. The chosen vocalist handles the vocal melody as well with suggested inspiration with statements such as “an Arthur Brown scream here or a Painkiller Rob Halford there!” Sometimes a song is much different than I originally intended and sometimes it is much better than I ever imagined. Flexibility and letting go of Type-A personality syndrome lead to a finished concept. At the moment that is what works for me as I am not a “singer-songwriter or Trent Reznor work alone musician.”
THIS BURNING EVIL
Were there any themes that you deliberately chose to explore on the record?
“This Burning Evil” dives into fears I had as a child after watching films such as , The Omen and The Exorcist and the supernatural. Even the “edited for television” versions in the late 1970’s scared the devil in me, being a product of a catholic upbringing and later even later a catholic school music teacher. The song “Magic Wand” was based off of a documentary I watched about the origins of the circus and their “carnival culture” of yesteryear which is a history I am fascinated by. The music to “Milan’s Dream was written circa 1550’s and appeared in one of the first guitar (well vihuela) methods that I adapted lyrics for with some mellotron sounds and Thirty Four Strings of Fury is a nod to my Shrapnel Records influences of my teenage years with the help of Alex Masi, Ronni LeTekro, Toby Knapp, and Glen Drover.
Are you planning on bringing the songs to a live audience?
I am going to release one more recording before I explore the possibility of putting a live group together to perform this music. I have communicated with a vocalist here in New Jersey who can handle the material and have a keyboardist and bassist lined up. Hopefully we will see some live action in 2021-22. If not, I am completely content at this moment making studio recordings.
POSSIBILITY
POSSIBILITY
Are you planning on bringing the songs to a live audience?
I am going to release one more recording before I explore the possibility of putting a live group together to perform this music. I have communicated with a vocalist here in New Jersey who can handle the material and have a keyboardist and bassist lined up. Hopefully we will see some live action in 2021-22. If not, I am completely content at this moment making studio recordings.
WHAT WORKS
APRIL
What plans do you have for the future?
I will enter the studio in mid-April to lay down basic rhythm tracks for three songs which may be either another EP or a part of a compilation of previously released material that will not see the light of day until the middle of 2021. I have been in contact with the intended players and it will have connections to the first two releases but with some new twists and surprises to keep the interest of the creator as well as those interest the AMORIELLO supporters in mind.