ShannoN interview

Hard rock band ShannoN are from France and have been together for a decade. They released the excellent “Angel in Disguise” earlier this year. I recently interviewed vocalist Olivier Del Valle to learn about this band.

MM-Please introduce yourselves and tell a little about the history of your band.
ODV-I am Olivier Del Valle, lead singer of ShannoN since 1998. Before joining ShannoN, I sang in many bands in which I gained a lot of experience and really learn the job. Let’s go back to ShannoN. To sum up in few words the history of the band, ShannoN was born ten years ago. At that time, Patrice and Thierry were already playing together, working on some Bon Jovi, Europe or Journey covers. I joined them in spring ’98 and soon we decided to stop the covers and write our own songs. Quickly we made a demo that was sent to some labels. Feedback was pretty good, so in 2003, we issued our first album. We played some shows with big names such as Pink Cream 69, Axxis and Jeff Scott Soto. At that time, the line-up was not stabilized yet. In 2005, Benjamin and Nico joined us. From that moment on, ShannoN went bigger. We worked hard to play live as often as we could and started to compose for the new album. Since then, line-up hasn’t changed and things are going fairly well.

MM-Who are your musical influences?
ODV-Our influences are numerous. Clearly, we are influenced by NWOBHM of the 80’s with bands like Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden or Saxon. It is the music we grew up with. We have also a vein from Dokken, Danger Danger, Warrant, Harem Scarem and Firehouse. As a matter of fact, what these bands have in common is this amazing alchemy between melody and power. I guess you can listen to this in our songs. Apart from the bands I talked about, for the moment, Gotthard is unanimously appraised by all the band members in ShannoN. And myself, I am a die-hard fan of White Lion. I do believe that the represent the ultimate melody and the duet between Vito Bratta and Mike Tramp was fabulous.

MM-What are some of your favorite songs off of “Angel in Disguise” and why?
ODV-I have no real favourite track on this album. All the tracks are ours, all reflect today’s ShannoN. Without saying that it is my favourite, “Do You Know”, the track that opens the record, is special to me. Aside form “Road Of Desire” which is an track a bit older, “Do You Know” is the first one we wrote for this album and I feel that it give the pace of the album.

MM-What are some of your songs about? Where do you get the inspirations for your song topics?
ODV-Themes are multiple. We love keeping this double face, between good times tracks with happy vocals and tracks with darker lyrics. “Do You Know” is a good example. This song talks about death, what we’ll become when we have left this world. It is also an invitation to position you, to chose your path and chose right or wrong. In the same mood, the lyrics of “Winter Nights” speak about exclusion, the story of a guy that has lost everything and is left alone. When you’re out of the society, pretty soon no one sees you, people don’t see you anymore. Besides this we have funnier songs like “No Better Times” or “Keep on Rolling”.

MM-How do you think that you have improved since you first started out?
ODV-I do believe it so, and I hope too! From 2003 when we launched our first album, we had time to make our influence ours. When Benji and Nico joined in, it was a great thing for us as they brought their own approach of music. They do not have a hard rock background. Before joining ShannoN, they had played in jazz or funk oriented bands. It has been a real challenge for them. Talking about our music, I would say that "Angel In Disguise" is more mature than the first one. As evidence, our style became harder, while keeping the melody. The tracks are heavier, more direct. And they make a homogeneous whole. As I had told you, when we recorded the first album, we had never played them with a complete line-up. For this one, we had time to rehearse and play them live; this changes everything. Another big difference is production. We put a high care in that and so, "Angel In Disguise" has a far better quality of production.

MM-In what areas do you think that you still have to improve upon?
ODV-I guess we can improve on all domains, in the studio, for the production level and even on stage. It’d be crazy to think that with 2 records we have seen it all! We know that the way is still long and tricky to become known and, even if things are going fairly well since the launch of « Angel In Disguise », we keep cautious!



MM-You obviously have a strong 1980’s hard rock/metal influence. What do you think was so good about metal from that decade?
ODV-As I said earlier, the hard rock from the 80’s is the music we grew up with, so there is a little nostalgia and emotions for us... At that time, hard rock was top fashion and there were so many fans! It was in fact more than music that kept us together; it was a real way of life. In the 80’s, hard rockers were a family. It was really special. Music had changed, also, during these years. With bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest or Van Halen, the hard rock image was deeply modified. It was a sudden change from bands that were meeting success as Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple to real machines which set world tours with very spectacular shows. These years have been crazy in terms of quantity of bands that burst! Just for melodic hard rock, the number of high quality bands from this period is amazing: White Lion, Dokken, Cinderella, Y&T, Motley Crüe, Def Leppard… the list is endless!


MM-If you could only listen to three albums over the next month then what would you choose?ODV-Whitesnake “Good To Be Bad”, White Lion “Return Of The Pride” And Dokken “Lightning Strikes Again

MM-Is there much of a metal scene in France these days? Any there good unsigned bands we should know about?
ODV-Even if France has no culture or tradition for rock, there is a hard rock scene. Bands like Lightseekers and Manigance deserve it, for instance.

MM-What should someone who comes to see you live expect?
ODV-Just having good times. For us, being on stage is above all the way to share a nice moment with the fans, filled with rock’n roll and fun.Who have you opened for? What have been some of your more memorable shows so far? We opened for Pink Cream 69, Axxis, Jeff Scott Soto and Gotthard with whom we shared the bill of the last Raismefest. When you play with these bands you learn a lot, just talking, and seeing the way they consider their job. They have a lot of experience, and everything is so professionally structured. For a band like us, it is highly motivating and so instructive.

MM-What touring plans do you have for 2008?
ODV-For the time being, the new album promotion takes all our time. So we could not take the road and play our new tracks live. But we work for that and we shall start soon. We have few dates in France, mainly for festivals but we’d love to tour abroad. This is highly depending on the way our record shall sell outside France.

MM-Why should people buy “Angel in Disguise”?
ODV-Just because I think that it is a good record that should please every melodic hard rock fan. All the 13 tracks from the album are melodic and powerful. I do believe also that the production is quite good that give the real worth of each and every song. Now, fans have the final words...

MM-What music are you currently listening to?
ODV- Essentially melodic hard rock : Gotthard, Whitesnake, Work Of Art and many others. But I still do listen to old good records from the 80’s as Motörhead, Judas Priest, Saxon, and of course White Lion, which remains my all-time favourite.

MM-What interests do you have besides music?
ODV-Besides music, I love spending time with my family and my friends. In fact, nothing really amazing, just having good times with the ones I love. If you take into account the time that music takes, these moments aren’t that numerous and I do appreciate them even more.

MM-Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band, your music or anything you want to promote?
ODV-I want to thank you for your interest and to have helped me introducing ShannoN to your readers. Now, for those who still hesitate, check our MySpace page. There are many extracts from our music and live video footage!www.myspace.com/shannonbandrock

***Thanks to Olivier for doing the interview.