I have seen that some people are commenting with their disappointment that a few of the “so called” supergroups are not playing live and that this somehow diminishes the relevance or quality of these releases. A lot of negative vibes and preconceived notions are made before a note of music has even been released. This is not a new issue to us and we of course respect people's opinions, but in these times of social media where direct communication to the fans is available, I thought I’d make a direct statement to explain how we, Frontiers see things.
Since the moment I put the label together, I saw this as one of the most exciting jobs that I could ever have imagined in my life. It was something that for years I was only able to dream of. The idea of working with the artists that for years and years I had been listening to on record was truly exciting. And after almost 20 years (yes, next year Frontiers will turn 20!), I think I have not lost one ounce of that initial enthusiasm! I was, and still am primarily a MUSIC fan and I have always interpreted my role as A&R director of Frontiers in a creative way. I have always been relentless in trying to find and expose GOOD MUSIC to the fans. And considering that when I started the label a lot of the classic bands that I grew up with were disbanded or not active, I think that I have really helped in creating some interesting pieces of music to fill the void left by those legends.
Since the days where – together with artists like Kevin Chalfant, Mark Mangold, Jim Peterik, Billy Greer or Tony Harnell to name a few – we created the concepts of Two Fires, The Sign, Seventh Key, Pride of Lions and Starbreaker, Frontiers has been the “brain” behind these new band projects which were greeted warmly by the public and the media. Now as to WHY those bands have never played live? Well to begin with it is not completely true that none of these projects have ever played live. In fact, The Sign, Two Fires, Seventh Key, The Magnificent, W.E.T, Angelica, ISSA, and I am certainly forgetting others, have all played live shows. And also, it needs to be said that there is nothing in principle that prevents these bands from playing live. In most cases, unfortunately this has to do with a lack of interest from tour promoters and/or with scheduling conflicts among the members or even certain contractual obligations that the artists might have to their main band. However, I am pleased to say that there will be more and more efforts from our side to bring these projects to life on the stage moving forward – and you will soon see what I mean.
So, yes, I think I am creative and again, what still preoccupies me the most, after all these years, is to keep releasing GREAT records that keep Classic Rock, Melodic Rock, and Hard Rock alive and well with a constant flow of quality releases. This – I think – allows everyone to keep ENJOYING new and exciting music while allowing me to keep building on my personal dreams thanks to the art, talent and skill of all these amazing musicians we are so fortunate to work with. Just think about all the amazing records from the likes of ALLEN LANDE, FROM THE INSIDE, ISSA, KHYMERA, KISKE SOMERVILLE, PLACE VENDOME, FIRST SIGNAL, SUNSTORM, VERTIGO and all the others…
I really hope that people can welcome with open arms the music we release and give it a fair chance, regardless of who is involved, if the artist is touring, etc. Moreover I wish to say one final thing: If it wasn’t for some of those projects, we would have had a lot more difficulties in launching new talents. The most shining example is probably W.E.T, whose success immensely helped the exposure for two of the most EXCITING new bands we have on the roster, Eclipse (Sweden) and Work of Art. But, I could obviously mention Revolution Saints for Alessandro Del Vecchio, Allen Lande for Magnus Karlsson, Starbreaker for Fabrizio Grossi, Find Me for Daniel Flores, and of course all the work we did during the years with Dennis Ward,and so on. These groups are also a really important tool to expose new songwriters, producers and real musical talents to the world.
Talking about new bands, you may have noticed some “young blood” coming in. I am very proud of these new guys, and I hope you will follow and give them a chance, exactly in the same way you would do with a new Whitesnake or Journey record.
Long Live Rock n’ Roll!!
Serafino
https://www.facebook.com/frontiersmusicsrl/posts/949293265126725
Since the moment I put the label together, I saw this as one of the most exciting jobs that I could ever have imagined in my life. It was something that for years I was only able to dream of. The idea of working with the artists that for years and years I had been listening to on record was truly exciting. And after almost 20 years (yes, next year Frontiers will turn 20!), I think I have not lost one ounce of that initial enthusiasm! I was, and still am primarily a MUSIC fan and I have always interpreted my role as A&R director of Frontiers in a creative way. I have always been relentless in trying to find and expose GOOD MUSIC to the fans. And considering that when I started the label a lot of the classic bands that I grew up with were disbanded or not active, I think that I have really helped in creating some interesting pieces of music to fill the void left by those legends.
Since the days where – together with artists like Kevin Chalfant, Mark Mangold, Jim Peterik, Billy Greer or Tony Harnell to name a few – we created the concepts of Two Fires, The Sign, Seventh Key, Pride of Lions and Starbreaker, Frontiers has been the “brain” behind these new band projects which were greeted warmly by the public and the media. Now as to WHY those bands have never played live? Well to begin with it is not completely true that none of these projects have ever played live. In fact, The Sign, Two Fires, Seventh Key, The Magnificent, W.E.T, Angelica, ISSA, and I am certainly forgetting others, have all played live shows. And also, it needs to be said that there is nothing in principle that prevents these bands from playing live. In most cases, unfortunately this has to do with a lack of interest from tour promoters and/or with scheduling conflicts among the members or even certain contractual obligations that the artists might have to their main band. However, I am pleased to say that there will be more and more efforts from our side to bring these projects to life on the stage moving forward – and you will soon see what I mean.
So, yes, I think I am creative and again, what still preoccupies me the most, after all these years, is to keep releasing GREAT records that keep Classic Rock, Melodic Rock, and Hard Rock alive and well with a constant flow of quality releases. This – I think – allows everyone to keep ENJOYING new and exciting music while allowing me to keep building on my personal dreams thanks to the art, talent and skill of all these amazing musicians we are so fortunate to work with. Just think about all the amazing records from the likes of ALLEN LANDE, FROM THE INSIDE, ISSA, KHYMERA, KISKE SOMERVILLE, PLACE VENDOME, FIRST SIGNAL, SUNSTORM, VERTIGO and all the others…
I really hope that people can welcome with open arms the music we release and give it a fair chance, regardless of who is involved, if the artist is touring, etc. Moreover I wish to say one final thing: If it wasn’t for some of those projects, we would have had a lot more difficulties in launching new talents. The most shining example is probably W.E.T, whose success immensely helped the exposure for two of the most EXCITING new bands we have on the roster, Eclipse (Sweden) and Work of Art. But, I could obviously mention Revolution Saints for Alessandro Del Vecchio, Allen Lande for Magnus Karlsson, Starbreaker for Fabrizio Grossi, Find Me for Daniel Flores, and of course all the work we did during the years with Dennis Ward,and so on. These groups are also a really important tool to expose new songwriters, producers and real musical talents to the world.
Talking about new bands, you may have noticed some “young blood” coming in. I am very proud of these new guys, and I hope you will follow and give them a chance, exactly in the same way you would do with a new Whitesnake or Journey record.
Long Live Rock n’ Roll!!
Serafino
https://www.facebook.com/frontiersmusicsrl/posts/949293265126725