Black Mamba Talks with UnRated Magazine

0 Shares

Black Mamba Out Look for 2018

Interview take place December 20, 2017

Black Mamba is a female fronted Rock band from Viterbo (Centre of Italy). Coming from different music backgrounds, the band has developed on stage a unique kind of Rock performance building a high energy shows extremely technical and musical. When it’s not on stage playing songs from Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Foo Fighters, the band is working on the production of the first unreleased album,
Heritage was released in December 2017

Black Mamba has over one hundred and fifty performances under her belt in Italy and in France and has shared stage with some international acts for example: Blaze Bayley (Ex. Iron Maiden Singer), John Macaluso, Carl Palmer, Braido and more.

Black Mamba

The band, Irma Mirtilla (Guitar and Vocals) , Cecilia Nappo (Bass), Federico Maragoni (Drums) is endorsed by Vater Drumsticks, Mezzabarba/Masotti Guitar Heads, ATS Bass Heads, IQS Bass/Guitar strings.

Unratedmagazine: How did you find each other? Tell me about the development of the band?

Federico Maragoni: Black Mamba was an all-female band at the beginning. The band was born in 2010. I joined the band after Cecilia joined my other metal band, Adimiron and Black Mamba ex-drummer left the job at the beginning of 2016. The current formation, power trio, was born at the end of 2016 and we did about 35 shows till now 🙂

How did you pick your name?

Name? Well, girls at the beginning thought to the nickname of Uma in Kill Bill. Something which is truly lethal.

Tell me about your backgrounds?

I come from a very little town in the middle of Italy then to study drums I moved to Rome and I attended Saint Louis College of Music studying with Daniele Chiantese. Such an awesome experience. But I learned a lot playing live with my Metal Progressive band Adimiron. Life on the road teaches you a lot of things!

Black Mamba

How do you describe your music?

Our music is Alternative Rock because you know, nowadays we must use labels for everything, to be part of a faction haha! There are a lot of Prog, Hard Rock, Funk, Metal, Djent: a lot of genres! We call our music “Headbanging Rock”.

What type of music did you listen to growing up?

Rock music definitely! I and Cecilia are coming from Funk Rock, Prog Rock and all these kinds of stuff. We can surely say we love experimental rock music 😊

Who influences you and why?

For drumming well Dave Weckl, Simon Phillips, Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta. About video making and music promotion I study each day, trying to understand how some huge bands move with promotional plans etc. and about video making watching a lot of YouTube tutorials!

I know you started up as a cover band, which a lot of bands do. What is the crowd favorite which you like to perform?

Beer fests for sure! As professional musicians, we live and play the bill playing and teaching music. Cover songs right now give us the possibility to play and being paid and invest money in the original part of the band.

You are from Viterbo (Centre of Italy). What is your favorite club there to play?

We come from Viterbo but we usually don’t play there. About 1 / 40 shows 😊 No clubs to play till now. There are some venues growing up these months, and we will surely be there playing in few months.

What is Music and what do you feel, what direction it is heading?

Music is the perfect background for everyday life. Spotify is the right reply to the huge request of the people. Times are changing but people don’t. That’s why people are still loving music, buying it and supporting the artists. Methodology for promotion for bands has changed but results in proportion are the same.

How did you get signed to the label?

Right now we are not signed to any label. We are in collaboration with Dooweet Agency for PR and my agency (Continental Music Agency) for web promotion and SMM. We will start knocking’ on labels doors (Bob Dylan new hit ehehe) when we will start gathering some reviews about our latest album Heritage. We hope to get signed in 6 months 1 year we hope for the next album 🙂

Let’s talk about your new cd which is your first full-length LP, HERITAGE. Why do you feel this cd is ready to be release?

Heritage for us is the first step in the original music industry. A lot of people and followers asked us, with a huge voice, to release an EP or some original songs after watching our cover videos. And we did an album of 10 songs. Fan base was ready to get the album and we reached break-even point about album investment 🙂

Why did you release Loop as the first video?

Because it is the right compromise. It shows people all the peculiarity you can find on the album. We will release 6 videos from the album so get ready!

What is going to be the next video from the LP?

Never Obey! The second song in the Heritage’s track list.

Irma and Federico, I saw you are the managers of the band. What is your management style?

Very very old style! We are a power trio so we need to be very efficient like ants eheheh!

Federico is that you are the CEO of Continental Music Agency. What do they do how many bands do you have under you?

Continental Music Agency was born 2 years ago trying to help musicians and give them the right exposure from social networks. I don’t have a roster list, I collaborate with bands for YouTube/Facebook promotion and SEO job. If you pay, you will have a nerd member working with the band! The bands/artists I worked with: Black Mamba, Vincenzo Icastico, Simone Gamberi, Piano B, Fragment, Matteo Gravante and many more!

And Federico one more question. What do you use to do your video editing? And what is your skill set?

I use Sony Vegas 13 Pro, a very cool software and very similar in composition to Logic, Reaper. It works like a DAW so was not too difficult for me to figure out how to handle it. At the beginning not so good but right now I think very good. I do also video making for other bands, it’s a service offered by Continental Music Agency.

What made and model of instruments does you play?

I play a DW drums. Love it!

What type of clubs have you played in (size)?

Well with all my bands a lot, from smaller to huger. Z7 in Pratteln (Switzerland) is one of the best clubs to play!

Tell me about your endorsement deals and how you got them?

Was a natural process. Each one of us plays the same instrument, drumsticks, guitar pick, bass/guitar strings, so was easy for us to send an email to brand factory asking for sponsorship 🙂

What music fests would you like to play in?

Black Mamba at Vans tour music fest would be the perfect fest/tour were to play our music for sure!

Have you looked into SXSW?

The fest? No.

Are you thinking about doing the US for a tour?

Absolutely yes. All contacts did till now for playing live music were a consequence of Facebook/web promotion. We will start looking for some promoters/booking agency for the US at the beginning of the year. We hope to make a tour late 2018.

Black Mamba

How would you explain your live performance?

It’s a trip! We work a lot to create a visual experience using sync programmed lights show and a super sexy rock attitude of the Mambas in the first line. Drummer? Who cares about drummers? Haha

Who have you opened up for?

We shared the stage with some international acts, for example, Blaze Bayley (Ex. Iron Maiden Singer), John Macaluso, Carl Palmer, Braido and more.

If someone was listening to you for the first time, what 3 videos or songs would you tell them to look/listen to and why?

Loop, Wreckage, Lost in Translation. These songs are the juice of what we play in Black Mamba music.

How do you see your band in the next 5 years?

3 albums out, label working for our music together and a huge live activity! Nothing will stop us 🙂

Any guilty pleasures your fans would be surprise you listen to?

Haddaway “What Is Love” (1993) ahahah

What is on your phone for music now?

PFM Emotional Tattoos! Super album!

Any plans for Xmas?

Family and relax!

Anything in closing you would like to say?

Just two words on Black Mamba album. BLACK MAMBA – “Heritage” album come out December 14th, 2017. Order: http://smarturl.it/GetHeritage Cheers from Italy to each supporter of Unrated Magazine and we hope to be in the US playing and meet you! Ciao – Federico Maragoni