Interview with All for Metall

«Metal music is my curse!»

"Gods Of Metal": The title of the upcoming sophomore album of ALL FOR METAL, which is set to be released on August 23, 2024 through Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM), couldn't be more matching. The octet are rapidly climbing towards the Mount Olympus of music and are far from being done. While touring across the continent with Finnish monster labelmates LORDI to spread their gospel among the European metalheads. In honour of the Japanese year 2024, "The Year Of The Dragon," the theme has been chosen as the album's subtitle. The band's vocalist Antonio Calanna kindly took the time to answer our questions.

Hi Antonio! Thanks for taking the time for our interview!

Thanks for inviting me! I'm here in my second home in Italy. It's kind of like a vacation where I work. I decided I needed a week here to try and record some songs and give myself a brain storm.

You look like an old-school metal band and sound like an old-school metal band. Do you consider yourselves an old-school metal band?

We took something from the sound of all those icons and old metal gods, but we also live in 2024 and understand the modern market. But we also try to have a good time, like modern young people. So you can think of it as an omage to all that old heavy metal.   

Do you remember the strangest autograph you have ever given to someone?

Oh, most of the time people come right up to you with some photos, and most of the time you don't remember where or when the photos were taken anymore. They take them on their phones and on their cameras, and very often you get weird moments in the frame where you're singing on stage or having a good time and doing all this rock and roll stuff, and sometimes, honestly, you look a little weird. And you think, "Okay, you picked this photo out of the whole shoot..." It does look really weird sometimes. But sometimes there are even more interesting moments. For example, once I was asked to handwrite a quote from one of our songs. And I took a photo and sent that photo to one of our fans, and he got a tattoo on his arm with that quote written in my handwriting. And it was like, "Wow! That's a hard rock fan!" 

Do you have any particular style of songwriting, and what is your biggest inspiration for lyrics?  

My background: when I was very young and I started singing pretty early, when I was a teenager, I played the piano quite a lot. And then I moved to Germany, where I officially live, but I'm Italian. And I started my career learning this whole music business and learning what would work and what wouldn't work. Just like metal musicians, we draw our strength from our audience. It's our fans that give us that power to be creative and to perform, and it's always a game of both sides trying to find a good balance between what we like and what people like. 

What do you find most important to you? Maybe stage shows, lyrics, cool music, or music videos?  

I can only definitely name the things I hate! Let's start with videos! In general, I don't like studio time, the whole social media thing, or shooting videos. What I really love is live music and writing music. I love being a singer, and the time I get to spend on stage is the most basic thing that makes me happy. Those are some of my happiest moments! 

Have you ever gotten a really crazy reaction to your music? 

The craziest reactions come from the people who come to our shows. Those moments when we see that we're actually entertaining them and that the fans are actually having fun and feeling good when we perform. We're still a new band, but when we see the live reaction and the payoff from the audience at a show, we realize that we're still moving in the right direction! And we really believe that with a new album and with new material, 2025 is going to be a really bright and good year for us. When we sold out for our release party in Hamburg, we were even a bit surprised, and we had to add another date for another gig. And those tickets sold out almost instantly, too! And for a new band, two sold-out shows in one place is a really crazy reaction. When you're at our live show, you'll know what I'm talking about; you can feel the atmosphere. It's going to be a great ferry show, we're going to ride the river, and it's going to be really something very special.

It sounds like a crazy thing to do, but I'm excited! This is going to be my first ferry party! 

Yes, it's going to be a really crazy exclusive party, and we also have great fans! 

What does total creative freedom mean to you?

А! It's something that doesn't really exist. In today's reality, you have to consider what the producers want from you, what terms the labels offer, and what people like, and you have to create this circle of money that will help you create and be visible. There's really only two things that can allow you to be totally free to create: if you're really super rich and you don't care about anything at all, you can write, produce, and publish whatever you want. Or if you're so good that you're someone like Taylor Swift and you can do whatever you want because you've already declared to the world that you're cool and you rule, We certainly hope something like that happens to us within 5–10 years…

 Well, you already have two absolutely sold-out shows in Hamburg, so maybe you'll be something like the next Taylor Swift!

Oh yeah! Let's dream bigger! I mean, when Taylor Swift comes to another city with her concert, she practically makes that city's annual budget. That's insane! 

Why did you decide to dedicate yourself to show business and music in the first place? 

I was cursed. I actually think about it sometimes. I studied marketing and communications in general, and I have a "normal" education. And I could have been a good manager in a big company. But somehow I decided to become a musician. But in general, it's not something you choose. It's just something that calls to you, and you can't ignore it. And you just have to do it. It's like responding to the call of a sea siren; when you hear it, you just go for it. But I think I've just always been that way. I've kind of always belonged to this world of entertainment, music, and show business. 

It's like something in your soul, and you just have to do it and not back down. 

МI was wondering what bands you are listening to right now.

Korn, that album they did with DJ Skrillex is really full of good music. And right now I'm in a period where I'm listening to Falling in Reverse, Electric Callboy, but one of my favorite metal bands that I always like to listen to is Avenged Sevenfold. To me, it's the one instance where melody, sound, and artistry come together in a cool way

Oh, I have a peppery question. What role does the sexual element or anti-sexual element play in your shows and videos? 

Well, I've heard people sometimes call us a typical masculine band and things like that, and not always in the best colors. I think sometimes the first thing people see is that we are half-naked on stage. But that's just a first impression. In general, you would think that our showgirls do all their performances for men or that someone forces them to do it. But they don't. In fact, they really like to be in this image on stage or dancing; it's their choice. It's just part of the show, and sometimes we even have to ask, "Hey girls, please let's keep it down!" It's just part of our rock-and-roll metal show. 

What mark would you like to leave on music history? 

Hmm, how about "hottest singer in metal music"? 

I think you could make t-shirts with that phrase on them.  

Yeah, that's not a bad idea, by the way. We should think about it!

Jenet Bonishi