Fabio interview
Uh, not THAT Fabio. In fact, here’s what this MOFO looks like:
Talk about false advertising, huh?
Any-hoo, Fabio–better known by the nome-de-sexxx Fab White–is an Italian musicican (well duh!!! Fabio?) who thinks Dokken are the absolute nipples. An album of his just came out so better check the all-important links below this page. In the meantime, you might wanna enjoy reading a pleasant chat he had with Dr. Steel.
Hello Fab, mind telling us your Christian name?
My Christian name is Fabio Renzi and my scene name is Fab White while my band monicker is FAB.
Oh right, you’re not only metal, but Christian. Is this Stryper’s fault?
Of course, I love Stryper but my songs are about everyday life, love, music, intense feelings. Faith is something strong that influences every side of your life, including the way you write songs if you’re a musician. I try to talk about everything in my music because I play not only for a Christian audience. Bu I have to say believing in God does gives you a peculiar view of the things you write about.
You play metal the right way, which is old school. What makes the 80’s sound and ethos so attractive for you?
If you call it Hard Rock or Heavy Metal I think it must be done the way it was done in the years when that kind of music enjoyed its creative peak, the 1980′s. I love the way music was written and produced back then and I think that if you want to find out the best in Hard n’ Heavy rock music you still have to look back to those years. It’s kinda sad, but I sometimes think evolution doesn’t mean doing things better but actually parting ways from the initial concept. Sometimes the future resides in the past.
So when did this music bug crawl inside your pants and bite you in the cock? Do you consider yourself the multi-instrumentalist from hell?
Hahahahaha! If I’m the rocker from hell now, I hope I can get a place in heaven in the world to come! I’ve played guitar since 1993, so it bit me (in the cock) when I was 15 ears old! I’m not exactly a “multi instrumentalist,” mind you, I’m a guitarist. In my solo CD I played all the instruments but I’m no bass player, even if I also had a band where I was the bassist some years ago, and I’m absolutely no drummer! But working on your own, while on one side it means doing everything by yourself, with a bigger amount of work, gives you absolute freedom of choice. Of course, it’s possible you just end up with a double personality after arguing with yourself so much!
Did you learn to write songs by just listening and listening to music or did you have a mentor who taught your the ABCs (or should it be AABA) of songcraft?
I’m a self-taught guitar player and a self-taught songwriter. God has given me the gift of being very receptive with what I listen to and if on one side it increases the risk of being too devoted to the item in the way you write songs, on the other side it allows you to learn a lot from the artists you love!
Tell me all about your original compositions now, dammit!
The CD has 11 tracks and they’re all original compositions! Composing two of the tracks I’ve been helped by a good friend and good musician, Sammy Valentine (he plays bass in the rock band CherryBomb, with which I also collaborate) who wrote the lyrics for one song and co-wrote the music for another one.
You write songs, record them, put them on your mysapce for the world to hear. There must be a first album soon, right?
The songs you hear on my myspace are from a demo CD that’s self recorded, self produced, self distributed. There aren’t any labels around here [where I live] yet! The CD came out last December, I’m still waiting to hear some reviews and hoping they’ll be gentle. Now then, to all music label-runners in the world, if you want to hear some good melodic Heavy Metal kick me inside a recording studio and I’ll rock the hell out of you guys!!!
Music is tough, especially for those who are just starting out. What keeps you going? Who is the sunshine in your life?
True. The love for music keeps me going; I’m doing it for passion! The sunshine in my life is my beautiful girlfriend Guenda, the woman I love. She’s not into Heavy Metal, but she loves my music; she loves me as well though, and she’s always by my side.
What were the seminal albums that helped shape your musical dreams?
Too many, and it’s not just the easiest answer… I love Dokken, they’re one of my favorites, so I think an album like “Under Lock And Key” can be considered influential in shaping my sound. Some of the albums that I got stuck in my head while writing songs are…well, I really love all Aldo Nova’s albums, some Ratt, the two Giuffria’s. Lots of stuff in fact!
You’re all by your lonesome. I guess you don’t play live, huh?
Of course I play live! Being just me and my guitar, as you can guess I have to play a bit different from what’s on the record. For example, I just play three or four songs out of the “Fab”album and these are the ones I could best transpose in a semi-acoustic form. You gotta know I have some older stuff written in a more folk-rock style, so in my live shows I offer a mix of some older songs, some of the new ones, and some cover versions. My faves being “Calling On You” by Stryper, “Don’t Walk Away” by Danger Danger, “Don’t Know What U Got” by Cinderella, and some others.
Since your music is grounded in the golden oldies, do you also go for an 80’s look (i.e. denim, sneakers, and leather)? What’s inside your closet? Don’t answer ‘porn.’
I like dressing the 80s way! I love sneakers and I wear a leather jacket like a second skin together with jeans, vests, and everything else. I’m exactly the way you can see me on the CD’s cover pictures! About porn, well…to alter what Twisted Sister called one of their albums back in the day: “Porn is for suckers”!
In a perfect world, how should the music business work?
Very difficult question; it would need a whole book to examine the problem from every side! The world is not perfect and the music business today is made by a big bunch of compulsive downloaders with big hard drives full of every kind of junk and there’s not a single LP or CD in their messy rooms! As a record collector, I should say in a perfect world the music business would still be made with music sold through records more than on data.
If you were a sexual position, what would it be?
A position full of love, shivers, and sweet emotions, as sex should always be!
If you had to choose between magical powers and enormous sex appeal, your choice is…?
Well…I HAVE enormous sex appeal so this is the wrong question!
What is your favorite part of each day? Mine is when I go to sleep.
6 o’clock in the afternoon, when I get out of work!
How do you say “You cannot take me by ass” in Italian? When is it appropriate to tell someone they can’t take you by the ass?
“Non Prendermi per il culo”!!! Where “culo” means “ass”! Hahahahaha! It looks like your English sentence is made over Spanish…Well, I think everytime someone does it to you and he’s not joking, it’s the right time to say it!
What do you like the most about your hometown in Italy? Do you watch concerts often?
My hometown is called Cattolica, it’s a very small town. In the summer it’s a place for tourists and its population doubles! The thing I like the most is it’s by the sea so when it gets too hot, you can go down the beach and go for a dive! I watch concerts as often as I can. Last week I saw Stryper in Milan; they played in Italy for the first time ever.
Take a young, beautiful Italian woman and wrap her in spandex. What would be your favorite part of the female anatomy be then? And after you answer that, consider this: If you’re already famous and have female groupies and they show up inside your hotel room, what are you gonna do?
I’ve got my hands tied: I have a girlfriend and yeah, she’s jealous!!! By the way, are there still groupies in the Hard Rock scene? Lord, bring back groupies! They’re another reason why the 80′s were great, which brings us back to question number 3!
Are you familiar with the progressive rock group Asia? Man, I’m just dying to get my hands on one of their albums right now. Problem is, I don’t know where to look. Got any ideas? Care to recommend some of your 80′s favorites?
I like Asia, I’ve got their first album, but I’m no specialist when it comes to their music. They play good AOR with a progressive feel and they have their own niche in rock history. Where can you buy them? In a good record shop! I could recommend you some very good ones, but they are here in Italy!
I guess we have to end here Fabio. Sorry mate. You wanna leave a message to your female fans?
Thank you and good luck, boy! To my female fans: where the freak are you???
Check out his breathtaking, super-awesome webpage at
http://www.myspace.com/fabhm78
See him A-live!
http://www.youtube.com/fabhm78
Send Fab a spicy Love-Mail via
toothandnail@hotmail.it