Myth of Rock had the great honor, the unique chance to talk with a distinguished musician, a charming personality and a wonderful voice. We are referring to Edu Falaschi, the Brazilian singer, who released a number of incredible power metal albums with Angra and is now delivering “Vera Cruz”, his compelling solo masterpiece. Our chat proved to be a really nice way to learn everything about Edu Falaschi’s activities plus many more interesting things about his past, present and future. Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Edu Falaschi!
by Dimtiris Zacharopoulos
Edu, your latest release was “Vera Cruz”, which was a solo album. Why did you decide to release a solo album and not an album with a band?
Well, the story is like this … I was playing with Almah, you know, my ex-band, the band I did after Angra, but I just released that the fans wanted to hear the original singer of Angra during the first years of the ‘00s. They asked me all the times to sing Angra songs. Then I was, of course, trying to build something with my old band Almah, but, in a certain point of my career, I just said to the fans, “OK, I am going to sing the songs you want to hear, like “Nova Era”, “Spread Your Fire”, “Rebirth”, “Millennium Sun” and others, because these songs are part of the life of the fans, since the beginning of the ‘00s. There is an emotional connection between the fans and these albums. So, I just decided to continue this history with this album called “Vera Cruz”. That’s why I did a solo album, to continue the story I had started with Angra, since 2001 until 2012. That’s the point.
Are you satisfied with the way people have accepted the “Vera Cruz” album until now?
Yes, I am very happy, especially in countries like Brazil and Japan! In Japan we got the first place in Amazon, we were best-sellers in the Amazon store, which is really important in Japan, you know. And then I am super happy, because in Brazil as well, we are reaching two million streamings only in Spotify. That’s a great achievement, haha! I am very happy with the results, and now I am very happy to know that, as you said to me, we got a 10 out of 10 in Myth of Rock! I am very satisfied!
Yes, it is a great album!
Yes, I did this album with all my heart, I think the people just realized there is soul in this album, that this album is true. People like this album, because it is very sensitive, emotional and sophisticated, there is a soul in this album. I think it is important for an artist to put his soul in his project.
So, “Vera Cruz” is an album that the Angra fans will like for sure?
This album is a mix of power metal with symphonic metal. There are also ethnic influences from the Brazilian music. It is obvious that the Angra fans of my times with the band will love this album. It is the same singer, the same composer of many songs of Angra – I composed “Nova Era”, “Spread Your Fire”, “Hunters and Prey”, “Angels and Demons”, “Wishing Well”, “The Course of Nature”, so many Angra songs … ! I think the fans of Angra will connect with “Vera Cruz”, which contains songs that were firstly composed for Angra. It is natural, the fans will love it.
One of the things that impressed me in the “Vera Cruz” album was the extravagant guitar work that is featured on these new songs.
Yes, there are progressive metal elements in the album … I love progressive metal, I love power metal, I love Brazilian music, that’s why you can say that there are many elements from different kinds of music. To play this kind of music, you need to have technical musicians and shredding guitarists, but obviously, these guitarists aren’t doing only shred stuff. We have many guitars with feelings, guitars with beautiful melodies and beautiful harmonies, but sometimes, we need to put some velocity, some kind of adrenaline in the songs. That’s the style that I used to do, since I was a teenager! I am a power metal singer, since I was 16-17 years old. It is natural for me and I think that the fans like it, it is very nice.
Edu, did you write all the songs and the lyrics in “Vera Cruz”?
Yes, I composed all the songs, but the guitar player called Roberto Barros, who produced the album together with me, co-wrote three songs with me. So, I composed everything, I wrote all the lyrics, I made the concept, I made most of the arrangements. So, yes, I am the main composer.
Where does the album concept refer to?
I like epic stories, I like movies like “The Lord of the Rings”, but I also wanted to create something about Brazil. Then I decided to tell about the Brazilian history, through fiction, through a story that started in 1200. There was an ancient prophecy about a child, who would be born with a birthmark, a chest mark, and this child would be the chosen one to fight against a secret order called Nero’s Cross Order. Of course, this is fiction, it comes from my mind, haha. This baby was the descendant of a man, who created a dark, secret Order called Nero’s Cross Order in the year 1200. After 300 years, around 1500, Jorge (as the name of the child was) was born in Portugal and he is the baby of the prophecy. Nero’s Cross Order started trying to kill Jorge, because they didn’t want him to grow up, create an army and fight against this secret Order. That’s what the main story is about. In certain part of the story I decided to create a passage, in order to connect with the Brazilian history, in which passage Jorge went to Brazil to run away from the dark Order. Then the dark Order came to Brazil with a big army with many ships and soldiers to catch him. In Brazil Jorge became friend with the Indians and some men from the white Order of Christ. The existence of this white Order is a fact, it’s history. The man called Pedro Álvares Cabral, who historically discovered Brazil in the year 1500, was part of the Order of Christ and that’s why I used him in the story – Cabral saved Jorge, who joined the Order of Christ in order to fight the dark Order. There is a big battle here in Brazil, and in the end Jorge is the winner of the battle. Jorge and the white Order fight against evil and they finally win the war.
A fascinating story, indeed … Let’s go now to the mixing and mastering of the album. Were they done by Dennis Ward?
Yes! For me Dennis Ward is one of the best producers of this kind of music, of power metal. I worked with him in Angra’s “Rebirth”, “Temple of Shadows”, “Hunters and Prey” and “Aurora Consurgens”. When I decided to do this very important album for me, “Vera Cruz”, since I am celebrating this year 30 years as a professional singer, you know, the fans will be happy to see here again in this album the same producer of that Angra albums … Dennis Ward is fantastic, he is really good, he worked in the new Helloween album as well. That’s why I decided to work again with him. To remember the good times with Angra and also because he is really good, haha.
Did you listen to the new Helloween album?
Yes! And I loved it, haha! That’s Helloween, you know, that’s Kai Hansen, that’s Michael Kiske, Andi Deris and the other guys! That’s Helloween! It’s pure, it’s genuine. I mean, when I want to listen to Iron Maiden, I want to listen to Iron Maiden, that kind of music. So, I am very happy to see that Helloween kept the main characteristics of the band, the main spirit of the band. For me this album is really, really beautiful, really nice.
How do you remember your days with Angra, Edu?
Well, I have many memories, Angra is very important for me. I think Angra just showed my voice and my talent, my compositions to the world. I had the opportunity with this band to show my career to the world, because before Angra I was only in Brazil and then I wasn’t an underground artist anymore. We had many hard moments, we had some hard feelings, but that is normal in any relationship, we worked together for twelve years, so … it’ s a lifetime! For me the important thing is to keep the good moments in my mind and in my heart. I have good feelings nowadays.
So, is a reunion with Angra possible?
I don’t know, many people have asked me that …
Would you like to reunite with Angra?
It is hard to say, because I can’t say yes and I can’t say no as well. We never know, the future is unkown. But we must find a true feeling to make this reunion happen. Not only because of money, or for fame, for marketing. We need to have something real between us, the magic needs to happen again. If we have this magic, everything is possible. But … nowadays I am very focused on my solo album and my solo career, I really don’t think about that, but in the future we never know, haha!
What about Almah? Is there a possibility of a new Almah album?
No, no. I just stopped Almah, I didn’t announce that the band is over, but it is really hard for me to come back with Almah, because I am doing many good things with my solo career. I have many long-term plans, many things to do, many plans, so I don’t think we are going to do something together again, to be honest. However, as I said, we never know. I am very focused on this solo career, I have many plans, and many opportunities coming. This solo career is going really well in Brazil, in South America, in Japan and I hope soon in Europe as well. Everything is just starting, since I started my solo career in 2017, so it is only four years. In these four years I did one DVD, called “Temple of Shadows in Concert”, which is amazing and features an orchestra, I played the “Temple of Shadows” album entirely …
This live DVD is fantastic!
Yes, it is fantastic, the production is huge … 4,000 people, 4,000 fans, the concert was amazing … I also did an EP (“The Glory of the Sacred Truth”), which was a great success in Japan , I did now “Vera Cruz” … I am doing a lot of things, I am very happy and the future is very promising for this solo career!
Which are your vocal influences, Edu?
I have many. I think it is kind of natural for all power metal singers to have Bruce Dickinson as an influence! And Ronnie James Dio, as well! These two singers were the main influence for me, as a singer.
Apart from singing, you are also playing some instruments, like guitar and bass.
Yes.
In “Vera Cruz” you only sing or are you also playing other instruments?
I play all the acoustic guitars. People used to know me as a singer only, but I play a lot of instruments as well. I play the piano, the guitar, the bass, the acoustic guitar, for example in the song “Land Ahoy”, which is my favorite song from the album (editor’s note: Edu starts to play me some melodies in the acoustic guitar!). I love that kind of instrumentation with the acoustic guitars! I composed all the songs in the piano, but I mainly played the acoustic guitars in the album.
So, what made you a singer and not a guitarist?
Wow, it is difficult to say! I love playing drums, playing drums, playing bass guitar, but … I remember I was playing with a cover band, when I was young, actually I was the guitar player of the band. The singer used to miss the rehearsals. One day the leader of the band told me: “Edu, I have seen that you can also sing. Why don’t you just sing? We will find another guitar player!”. I said that I could try it. Then I started singing and the band said “OK, we don’t need the other singer anymore! You are going to be the singer now, and we will look for another guitar player for the band!”. After that, I became the singer of another band, called Mitrium, which was my first band and we released a vinyl, we did an album (editor’s note: it was a split album with Sweet Pain, titled “Eyes of Time/Shining from the Darknesss”) in 1993. It was really cool, haha!
In “Vera Cruz” you co-operate with some guest musicians. How did you select them?
I selected the musicians, based on the concept, its story and the characters. There is a woman in the story, an Indian girl, so I needed a female singer to represent this character. Also I needed an aggressive vocalist to represent the Indian of the war, because there is a captain of the Indian tribe, who fights against evil. I wanted somebody with power, with a very powerful voice. That’s why I invited the best one, in my opinion, Max Cavalera, he is my hero, an icon in the thrash metal music! And I invited a female singer from Brazil, Elba Ramalho, who is also a hero of mine, her voice is amazing, super beautiful!
Let’s talk now a little about the coronavirus pandemic. How were things in your country, Brazil?
Things were difficult for us, as well, half a million people died in Brazil because of this virus. There was a quarantine in the beginning, in March of 2020, then things started opening again, but we had a second wave of this coronavirus … For the artists it was the worst moment, because everybody had the chance to close and open again, to close and open again, but the musicians, we stopped everything until now, so we are almost two years without one concert! It was hard. Fortunately, I had this album to record, since I have a studio here in my house, so I could compose, create, I was focused on something good, music, and not just stay at home in a boring life, without doing anything. For me everything was normal, because I was at home composing, making music, but for many people it was a disaster. Many companies in Brazil just closed, they didn’t have money anymore to keep the company working.
What’s your opinion about the coronavirus vaccine?
Well, I don’t have any opinion, because we don’t have any choice! I already took the vaccine, because I am old enough, haha, I needed to take the vaccine. For example, if I decided not to get vaccinated, I would not be able to go to Europe, to the USA, I couldn’t travel, because the travel companies ask you for the vaccine, they ask you for a document, to prove that you got the vaccine. So … we have no choice, we need to take the vaccine. If the vaccine is real or not real, if it is good or it is bad for the future, we don’t know. I hope it is good, it is true and that it saves people. I hope it, haha!
So, Edu, have you planned any live shows for the near future?
Yes, I am planning the tour for next year, the beginning of next year. It is good, because I have time to create something really cool, to organize the whole production. This year I am going to stay at home, the tour for “Vera Cruz” will start in April next year.
Edu, thank you very much for this interview!
I would like to thank you, it is really important that the Greek fans will read about me!
