今天采访到的是来自意大利的Groove / Thrash Metal / Metalcore乐队Element，组建于2014年的Element乐队目前已经走过了十个年头了，由歌 / 吉他手Sebastiano组建，当时Sebastiano组建这支乐队的时候只有16岁，在经过两年的磨合之后乐队在2016年发行了第一首单曲，2018年发行了第一张正式专辑“We Are What We Are”，这张作品融合了Groove / Thrash Metal / Metalcore等元素，锋利，快速的Riff，令人忘记的旋律，再加Groove这样的时髦元素，瞬间收获了一大批的歌曲关注，随后乐队发行了三首单曲，2022年乐队的第二张正式专辑“2198 secondi di odio”发行，同样深受广泛好评，也一并成为了各大音乐节的宠儿，在前不久乐队的创始人歌 / 吉他手Sebastiano与杂志取得联系进行了一次专访！
（V: 代表笔者 S: 代表Sebastiano）
Today, I interviewed the Groove/Thrash Metal/Metalcore band Element from Italy. The band Element, which was formed in 2014, has gone through ten years, and was formed by the song/guitarist Sebastiano, who was only 16 years old when he formed this band. After two years of running-in, the band released its first single in 2016 and its first official album "We Are What We Are" in 2018. This work combines elements such as Groove/Thrash Metal/Metalcore, sharp and fast Riff, unforgettable melody, and fashionable elements like Groove. Instantly gained a lot of attention from songs, and then the band released three singles. In 2022, the band's second official album "2198 secondi di odio" was released, which was also widely praised and became the darling of major music festivals. Not long ago, the band's founder song/guitarist Sebastiano got in touch with the magazine for an exclusive interview!
(V: on behalf of the author S: on behalf of Sebastiano)
采访对象：Sebastiano（Element乐队歌 / 吉他手）
采访时间：2024.11.03
V: 你好Sebastiano很高兴见到你，非常感谢你接受我的采访。我想这是你们乐队第一次接受中国杂志的采访。首先向中国的粉丝们问好。Element乐队成立于2014年，已经是一支有十年历史的老牌乐队了。最初是谁提议组建这支乐队的？
Hello Sebastiano Nice to meet you and thank you very much for getting in touch with me for this interview. I think this is the first time for your band to be interviewed by China magazine. First of all, I would like to say hello to the fans in China. Element was founded in 2014, and it has been an old band for ten years. Who originally proposed to form this band?
S: 谢谢，很高兴见到你。是的这是我们第一次接受中国杂志的采访。Element是在2013年到2014年之间成立的，这个想法是我自己想出来的，当时我和乐队的其他成员一样都很年轻，我想玩音乐，主要是Thrash Metal和一个乐队一起玩。所谓“年轻”是指2014年我16岁。
Thanks, nice to meet you. Yes it’s the first time for us to be interviewed by a Chinese magazine. Element was found between 2013 and 2014, the idea came out of me, i was really young like also the other band members, but i wanted to play music, thrash metal mainly, with a band. For really young i mean that in 2014 i was 16 years old.
V: 你们乐队的所有成员都是第一代成员吗？你们更换过成员吗？新成员是如何加入乐队的？你对他们的工作满意吗？
Are all the members of your band members of the first generation? Have you changed members? How do new members join the band? Are you satisfied with their work?
S: Element 的成员从一开始就是同一批人，我们四个人在一起已经十年了。我们都是同龄人，开始一起玩的时候我们都还在上高中，现在我们做着不同的工作，生活在不同的城市，但我们仍然在玩，我们一直在努力做到最好。乐队就像一个大家庭，我们总是试图找到正确的方式，让所有成员都能对每一个决定和每一个结果感到开心和满意。
Element has the same members from the beginning. We are four together for ten years now.
We’re all of the same age, we were all in high school when we started playing together, now we are doing different works and living in different cities but we still play and we try to do our best always. The band approach is kind of a family, we always try to find the right way for all members to be happy and satisfied with every decision and every result.
V: 你们乐队通常如何创作歌曲？能谈谈你们的创作过程吗？
How does your band usually compose songs? Can you tell us about your composing process?
S: 嗯，我们通常在排练室里创作歌曲，有人有了一个想法或旋律，我们就围绕这个想法或旋律进行创作。实际上这并不是一个规则，有时我们几乎是在录制过程中就写好了歌曲，例如上一首单曲“File 17”就是这样，乐队带着我们想要的想法来到录音室，然后在录制过程中我们就开始创作歌曲。这对我们来说并不常见，但这次却很有必要，因为这首歌有四位说唱歌手，所以排练起来非常困难。
Well, usually we compose songs in the rehearsal room,someone has an idea or a riff and we build around it. This is not a rule actually, it happens that we almost wrote the song in the recording sessions of it, for example the last single “File 17” was pretty much like this, the band arrived in the studio with an idea of what we wanted, then during the process we literally built the song. This is not so common for us, but i this occasion it was needed since the song was featuring four rappers, so it was extremely hard to rehears.
V: 你们的专辑录音效果很好，你们是在哪个录音室录制专辑的？谁为你们制作的专辑？
Your albums are excellent in recording. In which studio did you record the albums? Who produced the album for you?
S: 谢谢 我们的两张专辑都是在我们的朋友Andrea Rigoni的“Produzioni Fantasma”录制的。实际上我们从未有过真正的制作人，但他在歌曲结尾的精细过程中帮助了我们。
thanks really. The two records we have are recorded in “Produzioni Fantasma” by our friend Andrea Rigoni. We never actually had a real producer, but he helped us in the fine process of ending the songs.
V: 你们音乐的主题是什么？你们想通过这样的音乐主题表达什么？你们还创作了歌词部分，这些歌词是谁写的？
What is the theme of your music? What do you want to express through such a musical theme? You also wrote the lyrics. Who wrote these lyrics and what inspired him?
S: 是我写的歌词，这几年歌词的变化很大。起初我们用的是英文歌词，这对一支金属乐队来说很正常，而现在我们写的是意大利文歌词。这是一个方向上的巨大转变，使用意大利语填词一点都不容易，除了语言上的问题，意大利的金属乐迷通常都不喜欢用意大利语演唱金属乐，我觉得这对他们来说听起来很廉价。老实说在进入这个过程之前，我也是这么认为的，我不喜欢任何一支意大利乐队提出意大利语歌词。对Element来说，我们开始使用意大利语的原因是我推动了它的发展，那段时间我非常喜欢说唱乐，而金属乐对我来说已经死气沉沉了（大流行时期）主要是因为我没有看过任何演唱会。说唱的传播方式更直接、更有表现力，我真的被这种表现力所吸引，我也想在我的乐队中重现这种表现力。一开始很难，后来我们找到了自己的方式，在这个游戏中形成了自己的风格。歌曲的灵感来自现实生活，来自各地，来自大自然。我们的歌词很多都是关于我们的家乡（意大利北部一个叫Val Chiampo的山谷）和我们的国家。
I’m the one who is writing lyrics. This changed a lot during these years. First we were using english lyrics, pretty normal for a metal band, now we are writing italian lyrics. This was a huge change of direction, using italian lyrics is not easy at all, besides the language sound, italian metalhead usually really don’t like the idea of metal in italian language, i think it sound cheap to them or something like this. I will honestly said that this was also my opinion before entering that process, i didn’t like any of the italian band proposing italian lyrics. For Element, the reason we started with italian is because i pushed it, it was a period i was a lot into Rap, where metal was kind of dead to me, (pandemic period) mainly because I was not seeing any concert. The way rap is communicating is a lot more direct and more expressive, i was really attracted by this expressivity and i wanted to recreate it also with my band. At the beginning it was hard, then we found our way to make it and our own style in this game. The inspirations for songs are coming from real life, from places, from nature. Our lyrics talks a lot about the place we are coming from (A valley in north italy called Val Chiampo) and our country.
V: 你们的Logo设计非常简单，但这种设计形式是我最喜欢的，因为我很容易就能记住它的名字。谁为你设计了这个Logo？你们的专辑封面也非常独特，这些作品是谁为你设计的？它有什么含义吗？
Your logo design is very simple, but this design form is my favorite, because I can easily remember the name. Who designed this logo for you? Your album artwork is also very unique. Who designed these artworks for you? Does it have any meaning?
S: 谢谢！是的，我们也很喜欢。这是不同设计师的作品，每次Logo都有不同的发展。最后一张唱片的图案是由Farnaz Baadahang设计的，这是我的一个想法。上面有两幅意义非凡的图片。第一张是一战后的照片，4名妇女在我们家乡附近的墓地废墟上工作，这张照片因其黑暗和阴森而显得格外沉重和迷人。第二张照片表现的是冬天山的面貌，树叶落尽，树木枯瘦，展现了过去在我们山区开垦梯田的情景，那是一项超级艰苦的工作，充满了奉献精神。
Thank you! Yes we like it too. It was the work of different designer and each times the logo developed. The artwork of the last record is made by Farnaz Baadahang and it was an idea of mine. There are two meaningful pictures exposed one on top of each other. The first one is a picture from the post WW1 period, where 4 women are working of the ruins of a cemetery, close to our hometown, this picture is so heavy and charming because of its darkness and creepiness. The second pictures represent the face of a mountain during winter, leaves are fallen and trees are now skinny, showing the terracing used in the past for cultivating in our mountains, it was a super hard work, full of dedication.
V: 你们的所有专辑都是自己发行的数字版。你为什么不找一个正式的唱片公司来发行你的专辑？目前有没有计划找一个厂牌来发行自己的专辑？
All your albums are in digital versions released by you. Why don't you find a formal label to release your albums? Do you have any plans to find a brand to release your album at present?
S: 电子版在 bigcartel.com上有售。我们一直倾向于自己做，唱片公司确实能让我们更轻松，但要找到一个合作愉快的人并不容易，也许我们将来会做的。
Fiscal copies are available in bigcartel.com We always preferred to make it by ourselves, a label can really make it easier but it’s not easy to find someone you work good with. Maybe we will make it in the future.
V: 们的最新专辑于2022年发行。你们的作品非常出色，快速而犀利的Thrash Metal Riff和一些 Groov 元素让你们的作品听起来更加时尚。Metalcore的元素让你们的作品更具侵略性，非常硬朗，鼓手的风格多样，歌手非常有激情，这让你们的作品更耐听。你觉得自己的作品如何？
Your latest album was released in 2022. Your works are excellent, fast and sharp Thrash Metal Riff, and some elements of Groove make your works sound more fashionable. The elements of Metalcore make your works more aggressive, very tough, the drummers are varied, and the singers are very passionate, which makes your works more listening. What do you think of your works?
S: 谢谢，我们对上张唱片非常满意，它充满了能量。我认为我们本能地做出了这张唱片，这让它变得非常真实，没有办法让它变得更简单，没有美化让人声对每个人都有吸引力，也没有想法让它更容易获得，这就是事实。
Thank you. We are quite satisfied with what we did in the last record, it’s full of energy. I think that the fact we made it instinctively makes it very real, there’s no way to make it easier, there’s no beautification for making vocals attractive for everyone and there was no idea for making it more easy access. It is simply true.
V: 你们乐队在2024年有什么新的工作要做吗？比如创作、录制新歌或发行新专辑？能告诉我们一些信息吗？
Does your band have any new work to do in 2024? Like writing, recording some new songs or releasing a new album? Can you tell us some information?
S: 我们刚刚发行了最后一首单曲“File 17”，去听听吧！今年我们将在东欧完成几场演出，然后在12月我们会花一些时间来完成我们的一些想法，都是关于新歌的。现在还没有确切的计划，也许在2025年或者2026年。
We just released our last single “File 17”, go listen to it! This year we will finish with some shows in east europe and then for december we will set some time for finishing some ideas we have, all about new songs. For now there are no precise idea coming on, maybe for 2025, maybe for 2026.
V: 你们乐队参加过很多音乐节，其中一些音乐节给你们留下了深刻的印象。能否介绍一下当时的气氛？2024年还会受邀参加哪些音乐节？
Your band has participated in many music festivals, and some of them have left a deep impression on you. Can you introduce the atmosphere at that time? What other music festivals will you be invited to attend in 2024?
S: 2024年的音乐节已经结束了，2025年的还不知道。我们参加了几个音乐节，但真正的美好经历是在斯洛文尼亚韦莱涅举办的Metaldays 2023。能和Kreator、Carcass、Napalm Death、Biohazard等英雄乐队在同一天参加同一个音乐节，真的太不可思议了。这是我们梦想成真的机会之一。
Festival season for 2024 is done, for 2025 we still don't know. We played in several festival but what really was an excellent experience was Metaldays 2023 in Velenje, Slovenia. It was so good to play in the same festival and same day of heroes like Kreator, Carcass, Napalm Death, Biohazard and many more, really incredible. That was one of our dream becoming reality.
V: Element是一支优秀的乐队。我会一直支持和关注你们的乐队。我也希望通过这次采访，能有更多的中国乐迷关注和支持你们的乐队。最后有什么想对中国的乐迷说的吗？
Element is an excellent band. I will always support and pay attention to your band. I also hope that through this interview, more China fans will pay attention to and support your band. Do you have anything to say to China fans at the end?
S: 谢谢你们所做的一切，很高兴能抽出时间邀请我们采访。我们喜欢来自不同国家的人们支持我们，聆听我们的音乐，我们喜欢与不同的文化打交道，分享我们的激情。如果我们的中国粉丝在这次采访后有所增长，我会非常非常高兴的，请去听听我们的音乐，在社交媒体上关注我们并让我们知道你的想法，我们一直很想知道我们的音乐给你带来了什么：再次感谢！
Thank you for everything, it was really nice to spend some time for this interview. We love when people from different countries are supporting us and listening to our music, we love to deal with different cultures and share our passion. I would be very very happy if our chinese fan base grow after this interview, go listen to our music, follow us in social media and please let us know what you think, we always love to know where our music drives you: Thanks again!
Element - We Are What We Are（2018）
Element - 2198 secondi di odio（2022）
Element乐队官方Bandcamp网站：https://element11.bandcamp.com/music
Element乐队官方Facebook网站：https://www.facebook.com/Elementbandmetal/
Element乐队官方Spotify网站：https://open.spotify.com/artist/7wRvHLMJxNi9LB0rXzgRkP
Element乐队官方YouTube网站：https://www.youtube.com/@elementband1119
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