SpazioRock.it has issued an interview with singer ANDRE MATOS (ex-ANGRA/SHAMAN), for the release of his last record, Mentalize. The following is an excerpt from the interview, conducted by Gaetano Loffredo:

Q: I'd like to begin with Mentalize. It seemed more calculated than Time To Be Free and a little bit harder to digest. Did you create it with the same attitude than the previous one or did you feel mentally freer?

A: "Well, when you start composing songs for the new album, you never know what is going to come out. In this very situation, I was with my band mates and we used to compose and write songs together... So, we technically decided not to worry too much about what was coming out. We had this philosophy saying something like 'just do what you're able to do and what comes out in a spontaneous way'. So, I think this album it's somehow more spontaneous and more natural than the first one. I don't mean that the first one it's not that too, it followed the same philosophy, but maybe, due to the fact that it was the first release and it was of my solo band and solo career, of course you become concerned about the result. You want to do your best, you want to put all of your ideas at the same time there. So, I think in some way Mentalize, the follower, it has been constructed more simply, but the atmospheres, the substance of the songs and the ideas are not less intense. Everything is still there. We always believed there must be some kind of development and enhancement from an album to another, and at least the albums are different to each other, but they still keep the same attitude."

Q: Perfect! Now you really feel free, I think.

A: "Yeah, you know, the first album was titled Time To Be Free and that really was the search for self-expression, freedom and liberty, and perhaps this has been confirmed in the second album. I think that's a good point: we can really speak out our minds, we can really compose what's in our souls and that will always come through the music and we will hit people with this message. That's freedom in music, basically, I don't mean you don't care about what people think of your work, but that you don't do anything just to satisfy somebody else's taste. It's also trying to dare and look for new elements and ideas: it has always been very important to me. Across my career I have always tried to find motivation to write songs, not only because I had to release something.

Read the full interview at this location.