THE MORENAS

1. What are you currently up to? (e.g. touring/studio,etc.)

Putting the finishing touches to our debut studio album, and preparing for a 10-date UK University tour this autumn, which starts in Liverpool on the 25th October.

2. Brief history of the band and the style of music you play.

Band formed in 2002 encompassing a diverse mixture of musical styles and approaches. Their first meeting came from Paolo's search to find like-minded musicians to complete his dream. Firstly, with Steve at a Francis Dunnery concert and then Tim at a local studio where the three of them rehearsed unaware of the imminent connection. The style of music is inspired by Paolo's travels through Europe and beyond, producing a high octane, adrenalin fuelled mix of melody, rhythm and groove soulfully tainted by the melancholy.

3. Who was/is are the biggest influences on your career?

Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jeff Buckley, The Police, Radiohead, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Prodigy, Cream, Rush, Jellyfish, The Beatles, Primus, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Steely Dan.

4. What has been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?

Lots of highlights including the summer festivals and making the 'Coming Home' video. Low point, not getting to play the V- festival this year. We were so close!

5. What would the Morenas like to achieve ideally by this time next year?

A top 20 album, doing a storming live set on `Later with Jools Holland', followed by a long summer of European festivals.

6. When will the debut album be out and how does the band go about writing & recording?

The debut album `Dance For Your Dictator' is set for release in February. Nearly all the songs were taken from Paolo's songbooks which were mostly written before our time together as a band. Writing and arranging music is a talent and like any other talent it takes a lot of practice especially when writing as a group, we enjoy the challenge and so far the results are impressive. We jam through the material testing out different grooves and tempos, exploring the possibilities within the music. The melody is usually the last piece we add to a track before the lyrics can be completed. The lyrics are added to give the music dimension and theme, turning it into a song. Paolo doesn't always add the lyrics at the end, some songs began as poetry that has just evolved but most of the time he likes to work with a completed piece of music and allow that to guide his emotions.We try to be as organic as possible when we record so we always use tape and also record the rhythm section simultaneously then add the guitars and any embellishments and finally the vocals. We have times in the day when we prefer to record. Steve and Tim like to start recording their parts early so the rhythm is done by early afternoon, we save the evening time for guest slots and the twilight hours are Paolo's.

7. The band took part in the Cannonball rally. How did you become involved in that race and what was it like?

The band listen to Xfm especially after they played our first single, 'Heart&Soul'. Xfm ran a competition to find the coolest car to win a place in this year's Cannonball 8000. Our 1979 Chevrolet New York Police car with working sirens, flashing lights and pimp spotlight which we use for gigs in was entered and we won!! The event was amazing, a real rock and roll experience, we finished in 69th position and then went onto headline the after-party in Monte-Carlo.

8. How easy/hard is it to get gigs and what are your touring plans for the album?

The live scene is currently really buoyant with venues opening up all the time. We have the right people in place and a formulated campaign around the album and so the gigs are coming in thick and fast. A small 10-date university tour this autumn is being fully confirmed as we speak before a full UK tour in the spring to support the album.

9. What's the most rock 'n' roll moment the band has had so far?

We were booked to play a show at what the Essex Police called an "illegal rave". Everything about this party was awesome we had a huge sound and lighting rig preceded over by expert technicians, around a thousand fans and related guests coming from all over the country. We struck up and managed to make it through just one song before the Superintendent of Essex police turned up saying he was going to remove everyone from the site and had every riot van in the county on stand-by! A two-hour stand off ensued as the party organisers tried every legal trick in the book to continue. By the end of a tiresome legal tug-of-war the Superintendent concluded that the band would be arrested if they contravened the Criminal Justice bill section on amplified music. An acoustic set prevailed and revenge , best served cold, was complete as we returned this year to a secret location to a storming gig heard up to 4 miles away through a dainty 15k Turbosound rig!

10. What CD's do you currently have available and where can they be purchased from?

The single `Coming Home' is released on November 15th and will be available on CD, limited edition 7" and will be available in record shops across the UK including HMV and Virgin Megastores. The single will also be available as a digital download from Napster and iTunes. Our first single `Heart&Soul' is now only available from our webshop at www.themorenas.co.uk along with other merchandise.

11. Message to your fans?

Thank you for being patient.....It's coming!

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