*When did you really get involved into music in general and into metal specific? Who was responsable for your interest in (metal) music?

My parents for sure, expecially my dad. He used to listen many music, from to Italian folk to hard rock and prog rock from seventies, so when I was a child in my house you could listen to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Fabrizio De Andrè, Lucio Battisti even King Crimson and Black Sabbath (I envy my dad seen KC in ‘74 and BS in mid ‘70, Genesis with Peter Gabriel in ’72 and Jethro Tull also in ’72)

*Which artists or bands did influence you the most?

Black Sabbath first! Then too many bands, we were teens in the 90’s so all the metal and hardcore scene of these years were fundamental to our growth, but if you want some name that has influenced our music the most I could mention Tool, Mastodon, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Alice in Chains, King Crimson, Kyuss.

*Which instrument do you play and how and when did you learn to play? Did you had lessons in school or private lessons? If so, was that because your parents expected that from you? Or did you learn to play the instruments by yourself? Do yo still follow some lessons?

I play the guitar, but I’ve learned to play by myself, I never took lesson… and you can hear it! In fact I would like to learn to play well and know music theory, but time is always few and in addition I do not like to study.

*Do you follow other or are you intrested in other styles of music beside metal? If so, what is the music you prefer to listen to?

I listen and I have listened to many different genres, from rock of the 70s, to punk, hardcore, thrash metal, death metal, industrial, many bands from 90’s, grunge, crossover, I also listen to Italian songwriters both the great classics and someone of contemporary, I have listened a lot blues as a kid, lI’m in love with the music of Nick Cave and I love also Jeff Buckley, in recent times I have listened a lot to the dark-folk of artists such as Wovenhand, Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle then also more jazzy things like Bohren und Der Club of Gore and also the new London jazz scene, in particular Alfa Mist and Yossef Dayes.

*Is music a full time job for you now or do you have a job beside music? If so, what kind of job are you doing? If you would be really succesful with music, would you quit your other job?

Music for us is only a hobby, we all have a main job, I am a surveyor and I work in a fixture company, I am a technician, I make measurements, surveys, quotes and orders and after-sales service. Burdo works in an agricultural machinery company and deals with spare parts and customer support. Allo works in the purchasing department of a nautical company, Andrea works in the warehouse in a company that makes clothes and accessories for fashion, Momo is an engineer and works for a company into the oil & gas. Clearly if we became a successful band we would leave our works and devote ourselves completely to music, but I think it is impossible, for many reasons.

*If you could start a band with other musicians on other instruments, which artist would you pick for wich instrument and why? (Something Like an “All Stars Band”.) Would you still go for a doom / stoner / sludge metal band? Or would you do something completely different?

I don’t think if I could choose any musician to play with I would do a doom / stoner metal band, unless one option was to join Black Sabbath as a second guitarist!

If I chose the musicians I admire most, an impossible band would come out, that is if there were Nick Cave on vocals, Robert Fripp on guitar, me on the other guitar, Al Cisneros on bass and Danny Carey on drums I don’t know what kind of stuff would come out.

*If you had been banned to an uninhabited island and you may pick 5 albums to listen to, wich albums would you choose and why?

It’s impossible to bring only five albums, but let’s try:

-King Crimson: ‘Red’, a perfect album of a perfect band.

-Black Sabbath: ‘Master of Reality’, my favourite album of my favourite band.

-Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: ‘Let Love In’, I really love Nick Cave, from his post-punk period with ‘Boys Next Door’/’Birthday Party’, the first albums with the Bad Seeds to the later works (‘Push The Sky Away’ is amazing) but the period I like the most is that of the 90’s records, so if I have to choose only one I say ‘Let Love In’, there are songs like ‘Do You Love Me?’, ‘Red Right Hand’, ‘Nobody’s Baby Now’, … it’s fantastic.

-Tool: ‘Ænema’, it is one of the albums that I have listened to most in my life, in ’98 I literally went crazy for that album, I spent years listening to it, I still listen to it with great pleasure, it is a true masterpiece.

-Turbonegro: ‘Apocalypse Dudes’, I don’t think it’s one of the five best albums in history, but in a desert island at least one album fast, rough, dirty and joyful, in short, an album to have a little party I must to bring it and this is an incredible album of an underrated band, one of the best rock n roll records ever, I could also have brought a Misfits album to party, but they’re too short!

*Every new album of a band or an artist is the best one, that’s what they always say. So here is a chance to promote the album. Why should a music lover buy your album? What are the standout tracks for you on this new album and why?

You’re right, the new one is always the best album, and this is no exception. A music lover, as long as he is into this genre, should love this album because it is a well written, well arranged, well played and well recorded album. always difficult to choose the tracks of a new album, I put two, ‘Iron Mouth’ and ‘Tides Of The Mourning’, both about eleven minutes long, very articulate, with a lot of dynamics, great riffs, charming atmospheres and great refrains.

– See “CD-Review” for a review (written in Dutch) for the new Void Of Sleep album ‘Metaphora’ (Aural Music) –

*I suppose you will promote this album through live concerts. If so, would you prefer small clubs or big festivals? And is there a chance we can see VOID OF SLEEP in Belgium?

Now, at this moment, when I am replying to you in Italy everything is closed, everything is still, concerts cannot be held, we had to cancel our release party on March 27 and we still do not know if we will be able to play the concerts scheduled in April, so I don’t know what to answer you.

I hope that the situation will be resolved quickly, especially for the health of the people and for the economy of the country, then maybe we will be able to organize some dates in the fall both in Italy and in Europe, it would be nice to go from Belgium.