Italy’s CARCHARODON has a unique approach to death/thrash infused with a Southern rock vibe and are now starting to make heavy waves from all the way across from the Mediterranean Sea to metal listeners in every spot of the world, since self-releasing their debut full-length album entitled “Macho Metal” in 2009.
The Metal Den’s Randy “Rocket” Cody recently conducted an interview with CARCHARODON bassist/vocalist Pixo for his loyal army of Den Headz worldwide.
Rocket: Where you born and raised?
Pixo: I was born in Italy, from a bluesman dad and a heartful mother. I grew up for some years in the countryside, without TV or other stuff that could stop creativity and the willing of playing. After a lot of years I still think that was hella good not to be as blindfolded as other men. I moved then from the countryside to a beach town in my 14 years old. That was fucking amazing. From the woods and the meadows to first parties, first booze binges and first girls. That opened my eyes to a world I didn’t know yet but I liked from the first day I got to know it!
Rocket: Do you come from a big family?
Pixo: No, my family isn’t so big. I mean, yeah, I got cousins and other extended relatives but the core was my dad, my mum, my bro and me. We always lived a bit detached from the rest of the family. And that’s probably why I play in a band with my bro. We’ve always had a hell of a bond.
Rocket: What first drew you to playing music?
Pixo: That’s hard to say. I guess my first step into music has been listening to my dad playing guitar in long rainy nights. From listener I became guitar player, and the first lessons came from my dad. From then I moved on alone studying scales and putting down my first riffs. I’m still a guitar player, I guess you can hear and see that my bass style is pretty much playing a distorted guitar with only 4 big strings.
Rocket: When exactly did you first start playing the bass guitar and singing?
Pixo: I started playing bass guitar in 2003. Some years before I started singing. My singing inspiration came from Six Feet Under album “Warpath”. I can still remember listening to it over and over and trying to growl something. It’s not that easy beginning with Chris Barnes, huh? Haha
Rocket: Did you ever take any formal bass playing lessons?
Pixo: I never took bass lessons. That’s why I never cared about playing bass the regular way. As I said before, I’m a guitarist with only 4 macaroni-big strings. Haha
Rocket: What kind of bass guitars are you currently playing live and in the studio?
Pixo: I’m playing an old 10 euros benson SB-01 bass. I bought it from a guy who played bass in a band with me hella time ago. I had to give him 20 euros, but I never did. I just gave him 10. This bass is something rough and, for most people, unplayable. But I made up my fingers on that piece of wood and I didn’t find a better one yet. That’s probably because of his thin 24 frets neck or his “clangy” and lone bridge pickup.
Rocket: What kind of amp rigs?
Pixo: I’m using Crate BT220H. That’s a fucking head punching solid state head! I bought it because of its double channel (distorted and clean, even if I use pretty much jus the distorted one) and the octaver, included in the head. That head is hella good! As cabinet, I’m using Crate BT410E. That’s a really good cabinet, with bass reflex system that delivers an awesome range of lows. Head+Cab= Pure woman wet!!
Rocket: Who are some of your biggest playing influences of past and present?
Pixo: Good question, Rocket. My biggest playing influence go from Thrash metal to Country and Blues. Talking bout names: Peter Steele (in the Carnivore era), Dave Ellefson, Lemmy Kilmister, Billy F Gibbons, Zakk Wylde, Hank III, Joe Bonamassa.
Rocket: How did CARCHARODON band form together?
Pixo: CARCHARODON formed in late 2003 from an idea of playing something acoustic. I guess we never exploited that side a lot, we soon immerged into Death n Roll, to approach then to our way of playing blues. Ultra heavy pentatonic riffs and brutal vocals. At the beginning that was just me and my bro, the two of us. In the meantime I was playing guitar and sang in a thrash metal band called Mass Destruction. The drummer of that band was Zack, who’s with us in Carcharodon. After Mass Destruction disbanded cause I fucked the bassist’s girl, we decided to get along as a trio: Boggio, Zack and me. The results are still here.
Rocket: Your band self-released a debut full length record called “Macho Metal”. Where can fans pickup a copy?
Pixo: You can order a copy from our myspace page and we’re now looking for a label who can promote us and produce our upcoming cd. Anyway, fans, you can also buy Macho Metal in the shops in our area or at our shows.
Rocket: Who are some of the heavy metal record labels that your band is interested in and why?
Pixo: Carcharodon is interested in every label that believes we have some good kicks (and I can assure you we got a lot!). Especially some labels in the Southern Metal circuit, or heavy stoner, or metal. I don’t care, because I don’t like definitions. We just need somebody to believe in us.
Rocket: I like to have fun with this next question. What’s the most embarassing thing you’ve ever had happen to yourself while performing live?
Pixo: Oh shit, there are a lot! Haha. From kicking a piece of shit (literally) that was on stage (I don’t know why..or maybe I do), and then the stage became a fuckin’ sty, to treading on my own bass jack and hearing my bass signal going off. Other stuff, we were playing on a pretty high stage (that’s on the bar in a live club). Before the show we had a lot of booze so, I was nearly falling down from stage. I can remember my brother playing with one hand and grabbin’ my t shirt with the other.
Rocket: What are some of the upcoming shows for CARCHARODON?
Pixo: We have a show in a southern metal festival in Germany on August 29th, then a self organized tour in France in September, some shows in Italy and then we have a pretty big German tour being planned in February, March.
Rocket: Where do you see yourself in ten years from now?
Pixo: Eh, that’s hard to answer this question! I hope on a big stage, with thousands people rocking out watching our show, and other thousand having sex listening to our music. Or I may simply tell “I hope to leave a sign with our music”.
Rocket: Thanks for rocking out this interview with me. Go ahead and give thanks out to your biggest supporters.
Pixo:Thank you, Rocket, for the interview and a mammoth big thanks to our fans who keep following up since years ago! And now, let’s have a gin. Cheers!
http://www.myspace.com/carcharodonpelvis
More Stories
ROCKET Interviews Vince Meal
ROCKET Interviewed by FM Rock Radio Station WQEE 99.1 (6/5/2024)
Rocket Interviews Eric Smith of MR. GREY