Interview with Materdea
Michele Burke May, 2010
- MATERDEA
- Pagan pages: Who is MATERDEA?
- MATERDEA (Marco): For MaterDea she is Diana, an Italian, Latin and Roman Goddess. She is the protectress of wild animals, the guardian of springs and streams and the protectress of women to whom she ensures an easy delivery. She is the bestower of sovereignty and Mystery. Diana dwells in Nemus, and she is the sacred and vital lymph of Nemi’s Sacred Wood (Rome).
- Diana is well represented in the spoken verse at the end of MaterDea’s acoustic version, the last track of our album:
“I am the Earth’s green beauty
- The clear moon among the stars
- The waters’ mysteries and the humans’ heart desire
- I am the Goddess, Mother Nature that bestows life to the universe
- Everything comes from me, and to me it must return
- I am the Goddess of love, spreading the stars’ mantle upon the night
- I am the one that heralds the dawn and greets the sunset
- I am the dew that caresses the grass covered in flowers, the lynph that flows in the woods
- That gives life to the winds and waters that weds the land and makes it fertile
- I am She that defeats death and shatters the chains of fear
- I am Love, I am Life, I am the infinite Light”
- But for MaterDea there is also Pan’s strength and passion, Pan, the flocks’ guardian and player of flute. Through his wooded melodies MaterDea’s enchantment is fulfilled: I always get inspiration from every note coming from that flute, it generates an image, from that image comes a sound, from that sound a new composition.
- PP: What were the driving forces that led you to this wonderful album?
- MD: Our passion for music, Marco’s passion for the Roman Deities, our interaction that has always been so fluid, intense and harmonic. It seemed to us that every song had its own purpose and it came into being in such a natural way. We went on discovering them little by little each time getting more enthusiastic and surprised about what we were bringing forth from ourselves.
- PP: From where do you draw your MUSIC?
MD (Simon): Our inspirations came along merging Marco’s rock background and experience and his love for the Celtic atmosphere together with my natural attitude to sing in a dreamy and soft way. Each song was inspired by the sophisticated harmonies and arrangements that Marco created which permitted me to unleash my imagination, finally allowing me to unite it with a new creation. We were often together in Marcos’ studio, in a beautiful little house in the country nestled among magnificent trees, to decide which was the best direction to take on a particular melody, and ended up recording the entire album there. Each track was recorded after the finalization of the composition. One at a time, every one took on aspects of daily life, of the seasons with their colours and scents, and of the goings-on that occurred in our personal lives during this entire period. Perhaps it’s because of this; the album manages to convey a particular feeling to the listener.
- PP: How long did it take to bring this album into being?
MD: The recording of this album took place from November 2008 until November 2009. The last period was so intense that we had little time to sleep and we were really tiring ourselves, but our happiness for the results was so great that we kept that pace up and succeeded in mixing all the tracks in time to deliver the album on the Yule days!
MD (Simon): Our inspirations came along merging Marco’s rock background and experience and his love for the Celtic atmosphere together with my natural attitude to sing in a dreamy and soft way. Each song was inspired by the sophisticated harmonies and arrangements that Marco created which permitted me to unleash my imagination, finally allowing me to unite it with a new creation. We were often together in Marcos’ studio, in a beautiful little house in the country nestled among magnificent trees, to decide which was the best direction to take on a particular melody, and ended up recording the entire album there. Each track was recorded after the finalization of the composition. One at a time, every one took on aspects of daily life, of the seasons with their colours and scents, and of the goings-on that occurred in our personal lives during this entire period. Perhaps it’s because of this; the album manages to convey a particular feeling to the listener.
PP: When did you two meet?
MD (Marco): The first time we met was in 1991 during a recording session. Then for many years we didn’t have the opportunity to work together and each one of us pursued our own musical career. Then in summer 2008 we met again in a recording studio and worked together for some months. It was then that I asked Simon to join me in the creation of a Celtic soundtrack for a short movie. That composition took on the name “Mater Dea” and we were really happy about it! After that we decided to work on an entire album. “Below the mists, above the brambles” was born from that particular moment.
PP: Is there a new album coming anywhere soon?
MD: oh, yes, of course! We are planning to start working on a new album next summer and release it next year.
PP: Who has been your biggest inspiration?
Marco: Pan’s passion and power, Diana’s spirituality and Simon’s voice.
- Simon: The beautiful and dreamy musical atmospheres Marco always submitted to me to create a new melody and a new story…… and of course his powerful guitar playing!
- “Many thanks to you all! it is a great pleasure to have met you, and our greatest honour to having been interviewed by Pagan Pages!”
PP: Bountiful Blessings go out to MaterDea, thank you so very much for grating the readers and I such a glorious opportunity to see firsthand a look into your artistic lives. It has truly been an awe inspiring experience. Again thank you.
Free Sound Clip – Elder Flute
