Italian Guitarist Matt Filippini Goes Big on His Baby Moonstone Project, Working With Legend

Interview date: 07.02.2007

Ambitious Italian guitarist Mateo “Matt” Filippini, the man who last year released his solo studio Moonstone Project debut “Time To Take a Stand” (RockLine review HERE), is known for working with a whole bunch of big names in rock, the ones who helped shape “rock” through the seventies and whose contributions you can also find on Filippini’s album.  In February 2007 the guy took the stage with legendary drummer Ian Paice (Deep Purple) – gig report from Treviso (Italy) HERE, which was followed by an Italian tour with House Of Lords, and these days he’s gearing up for another tour on which he’ll be hosting yet another “Purple man” at his shows,  the great Glenn Hughes. 

RockLine: Hey Matt, how are you?
Matt: “Great, Aleš! It’s nice to have a friend in Slovenia. I visited Ljubljana in 2003, and I really like Ljubljana.”

RockLine: You must be running at 100% right now. Writing a new record, gigs non-stop?
Matt: “True. I’ve got work up to my ears at the moment, but I’m looking forward to everything that’s coming. Actually, it wasn’t a real tour with Ian Paice, just a bundle of five shows. That was followed at the end of February by 7 shows where we opened for House Of Lords. And now, in the middle of May, Glenn Hughes is guesting at the shows of my band Moonstone Project. I’ll spend the rest of this year working on the new Moonstone Project album, the second one. I’d also really love to play in other countries, not just in Italy.”

RockLine: In your music you can hear roots reaching back to classic heavy/hard rock, with a strong blues influence at every turn. What are the biggest musical influences that shaped your own musical voice and your approach to music as a performer – musician?
Matt: “Blues is everything I do! I’m not a modern rock guitarist, I draw my inspiration from guitarists like Paul Kossof, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix…. I grew up on 60’s/70’s classic hard rock, with bands like Free and Led Zeppelin. That’s also how I write music, inspired by British bluesy hard rock!”

RockLine: Where does your musical journey begin?
Matt: “I played in lots of local bands, but none of them ever really broke through. I was never a studio guitarist, I’m not good enough for that, heh, heh, heh! I was always looking for serious people to work in serious bands, but eventually you figure out that 99% of the time you’re dealing with idiots…. So I started seriously thinking about a solo career, and that’s how Moonstone Project happened.”

RockLine: What gear do you use?
Matt: “Guitar-wise mostly a Fender Stratocaster, and Mashall JCM 800 amps. I love my “Strats”, they’re like they were made for me. Besides that I also use handmade guitars from the Italian company Jim Reed, which I officially represent.”

RockLine: Your guitarist no. 1?
Matt: “Hendrix, no doubt! He started it all!”

RockLine: Matt, you’re surely one of those lucky few who got the chance to make music with the big names of rock, like Ian Paice, Eric Bloom, Steve Walsh, Glenn Hughes, Graham Bonnet, Kelly Keeling, James Christian, Carmine Appice and Paul Shortino. All of these people contributed to the Moonstone Project debut. Did it take a lot of effort to “drum” them all together?
Matt: “Yes! It took a lot of work! Financial and physical effort. I’m not a rich guy, and music isn’t the only thing I make a living from. All these guys you listed above, you know… it’s not enough for them to just like the material you’re offering, they also want to be paid for their work. I have to take care of all that myself. But I don’t regret it at all. Far from it! I’m happy and honored by the work gathered on my first Moonstone Project album “Time To Take A Stand”, leaving aside the label Majestic Records, which was the only mistake I made when I decided to work with them. You’re the first person I’m even telling this to. Labels are shit! We artists work like crazy on every album, and at the labels you’ve got a handful of totally uninterested morons. Let them go to hell!”

RockLine: Tell us a bit more about Moonstone Project. What was the main purpose behind creating it?
Matt: “I treat this opus like it’s my son! I love it. The main reason and purpose I took it on was so I could work and create completely independently, without pressure. And the other, maybe artistic, purpose of this opus is bringing Paice and Hughes back together after almost 30 years!”

RockLine: For you as the director and creator, or rather the leader of this project, it can’t have been easy taming all those big egos in the studio. Do you maybe have some special innate gift for being a successful leader?
Matt: “I’m a person with a strong ego whenever I want to be. But I can assure you that working with all these guys was an extreme pleasure, it was fantastic. They all put the goal of the project first, not satisfying their own egos. And that’s the point! Everybody approached it strictly professionally. The hardest job of all was coordinating the recording of the material itself in the studio.”

RockLine: You obviously had a totally clear vision of what you wanted to achieve with Moonstone Project?
Matt: “You never know what to expect from an album. Sometimes I write a song, record a demo in my home studio, and the final result is completely different in most cases. With Moonstone Project, for example, it happened that some guest musicians sent back changed lyrics for certain songs, and changed melodies too. That was really annoying. Because both are the blood of the music, and it’s not smart to mix it with other blood!”

RockLine: Where did you get the inspiration for the album title “Time To Take A Stand”?
Matt: “Strong title, right? Really strong. My co-producer Max suggested it to me. One night when we were working in the studio. It seemed like a very good suggestion to me.”

RockLine: The cover of “Time To Take A Stand” shows a Native American talisman or some kind of crystal ball. Do your musical sides lean toward the spiritual too?
Matt: “I really like the cover. It looks mysterious! And personally I’m truly connected to spirituality… I know that each of us is here with a special mission chosen just for them, and that we’ve all been given roles. As far as my own personality goes, I try to be a good person, to respect other people and nature, and to feed my musical gift. A guy once told me he was happy because he got to listen to my songs… That’s wonderful, so I carry a gift. And every day I try to be an even better person.”

RockLine: Who is Ian Paice to you? Had you and Ian Paice ever played together before?
Matt: “I love Ian. He’s like my second father! He’s a rock legend, yet such a very, very humble person. We’re completely honest with each other. We always tell each other everything, even the bad stuff. Honesty is the key. Even though the music business is a pile of crap, once in a while you run into a “Paicey”. Over the years we’ve played together at quite a few shows. Every gig with him is a brand new story. Sometimes we get a huge itch to do a “jam,” and that’s when I feel the magic between us. We’re not a perfect band! We don’t rehearse, we just get up on stage and people feel us and enjoy it. True, from time to time we play a bad show too, but the whole thing is always tied to a whole lot of fun!”

RockLine: In the Matt Filippini Band, which toured with Ian Paice this February, you brought along two excellent Italian singers. The first is Roberto Tiranti from the progressive metal band Labyrinth, and the second, who also plays keyboards, is Alessandro Del Vecchio from Edge Of Forever. Why did you decide to have two lead vocalists in the lineup?
Matt: “Roberto & Alessandro are two of my great friends, I really love them! I don’t know, it just happened that I have both of them in the band. I think their voices work great together. Roberto’s voice is higher and cleaner, and Alessandro’s is more “bluesy”. It’s a pleasure working with them!”

RockLine: At the shows with Ian Paice you didn’t play any Moonstone Project songs. Why?
Matt: “Normally Paicey and I don’t play Moonstone songs. He has a hard time remembering them, sometimes he doesn’t even remember a Deep Purple song. But we’ll definitely play Moonstone songs with Glenn Hughes.”

RockLine: What about your bass player?
Matt: “Nik Mazzuconi, he’s one of the best bass players in Italy. Ian Paice absolutely adores him, and the two of them often trade off a crossfire solo between drums and bass guitar when they’re on stage together!”

RockLine: And who played drums when you opened the shows around Italy in late February this year as Moontone Project, in front of House Of Lords?
Matt: “The lineup stayed practically unchanged, except that Alex Mori replaced Ian Paice. He’s a young, talented drummer who contributed drums on 5 tracks on the album “Time To Take A Stand”. On the tour with House Of Lords we played seven songs from that album, and we tweaked the set list for each night. We often added long, stretched-out solos to the songs, it was a total blast!”

RockLine: So how did you and Glenn Hughes end up getting together, so that he’s joining you on this year’s May tour?
Matt: “Wow, I’m really looking forward to the upcoming shows with him. Glenn contributed lead vocals on two tracks on the Moonstone Project debut. Then we talked on some occasion about maybe playing a gig together, whenever Hughes would find some free time. And well, that’s what’s happening now.”

RockLine: Will Glenn Hughes sing the whole Moonstone Project set, or will he show up as a special guest only during the show, for individual songs?
Matt: “Glenn will be guesting with us for about an hour.”

RockLine: Can we expect covers of Trapeze, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple Mk. III on this occasion?
Matt: “Yes. A lot of Deep Purple and some Trapeze, and of course some Moonstone. We’re also still looking into the possibility of doing a completely acoustic show. Those shows will be special, relaxing,….”

RockLine: Meanwhile, work is also moving along on your new Moonstone Project studio album. Tell us a bit more about that. Are there any new musical directions on the horizon compared to the debut?
Matt: “We already have 6 brand new songs… and they all kick ass!!! Really passionate songs, in exactly the same bluesy manner as the debut, but with a more clearly defined feeling that this time a band is playing on the record as one unit. Of course there’ll be some guests on the album again, but to get that “band as a unit” feel – that is, a more cohesive album sound – I’ll give the lead vocal role to just one singer. Alessandro Del Vecchio will produce the album. You can expect an album with a big rock sound!”

RockLine: Can you maybe already reveal some of the special guests on the new record?
Matt: “Sure… on drums there’ll be Paicey again, then Clive Bunker (Jethro Tull) and Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge). Ken Hensley (keyboards, ex-Uriah Heep) will very likely join in too. But please don’t ask me about the singer. That’s going to be a surprise.”

RockLine: Italy has produced some excellent rock musicians in the past. What do you think of the current development of hard rock in Italy? What’s the state of things today, how do you see the whole situation?
Matt: “It’s better than it was a few years ago. But, and this is very sad, musicians don’t work with each other! There’s a lot of jealousy between individuals and everyone is acting to stop the other guy’s success. What a shame. Anyway, I don’t care. I have friends in the music business and every one of them is a special person. None of them is an “asshole”!”

RockLine: Have you ever worked with names like guitarists Dario Mollo or Aldo Giuntini?
Matt: “I’ve never worked with them. They’re both excellent musicians, but I don’t know them personally.”

RockLine: Is there still any goal in the music business and your musical career that you’d like to reach?
Matt: “Sure. There are lots of things I still want to try and experience. I’m planning at least three or four more studio albums and one live DVD. I want lots of gigs. My dream? To play on stage with Glenn Hughes and Ian Paice at the same time someday. Never say never.”

RockLine: You’d also planned possible shows in Slovenia. Why didn’t that happen?
Matt: “I’m dying to play in your beautiful country. The problem was that I brought Ian Paice (for the February tour) and Glenn Hughes (for the May tour) into the band, and they’re expensive, and in cases like that promoters sometimes just say “no”. But one day I’ll play in Slovenia too. Be sure of that.”

RockLine: Matt, to wrap up, I’d like to sincerely thank you for your valuable time and thorough answers. It was an honor. I also wish you lots of luck and above all lots of energy to reach all your goals. Would you maybe like to add anything at the end of the interview?
Matt: “Thanks for this great interview. Excellent questions, man! You’re right. I need even more energy, because there’s still a lot of exciting work waiting for me. Keep on rocking Slovenia!”

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