XP8

XP8 is certainly no stranger to the scene. Being extremely vocal with their opinions and calling out all who have something negative to say about them, I've found myself to become a bit of a fan of the Italian duo. That being said, I thought it was high time that I got an interview with the two to talk about not only their musical careers, but their appearance at this year's Alt-Fest, as well as band history.

Alright, as a first time interview on this site after being reviewed four times, let's start this. Surely no introductions are needed, but just to educate anyone who hasn't heard of you, tell us of yourselves.

Marco - "We are two friends making music together since over a decade now. We like dancey beats, moody lyrics and BDSM - and we avoid at all costs all the tacky clichés of this scene. That should do as introduction I think!"

I've always found it interesting to hear how a band's name came to be. Tell me, how did XP8 come to be your name?

Marko - "XP8 used to be the name of a short-lived club night in Rome. I liked the way it spelled "expiate" and the fact that it was a 3-letter name, as the band was a three piece at the beginning. It also worked well easily as a logo so..."

Now, I understand that your current duo used to be a trio. Did you transition well from a three man band to a duet? Did you feel any loss when your third leg left?

Marko - "The 'transition' was far from easy. The original intention was just for me to replace Paul as frontman for several reasons, but it proved far too difficult for Paul to tread places with me and he decided he'd rather leave the band.

This obviously didn't go down well on-line, with people feeling the need to take sides and generally treating the change as Marco and I firing Paul, which was really NOT the case.

Anyhow, our music making process changed slightly and I think it took me a bit to become a 'proficient' frontman for our scene, but as far as feeling the loss of our 'third leg', well? I think both Marco and I miss Paul on a personal level, especially on the road. The little touring we did with him was really rather fun."

Marco - "Paul even shared a flat for a brief time back in 2002, and he was the one who mentored me into DJing: I will always be thankful for that, since coming from metal background as a guitar player I never even imagined I could have loved electronic music so much. He truly helped shape my life in what has become ever since we met. I still hope one day we'll be able to reconcile, somehow."

I know that Marco Visconti is also involved with Faderhead as well as just doing DJ sets as well. How do you balance it all out?

Marco - "Given how hard it is these days to book a tour or even single shows, in a scene that sadly keeps on disappearing more and more every year, it's really not that difficult! I'm surely helped by the fact that both me and Sami (Faderhead) are both very organised people who like to plan everything ahead months in advance: iCal is one of our most close friends.

As for DJing, I definitely don't do it as much as I should! But again, the situation for this scene is not so thriving as it used to be, and club nights are difficult to keep alive: along with DJ Hive (from Vampire Party, Antwerp, Belgium) we tried to start something here in London last year but it didn't last, despite a great location and no conflicting events. If I learned something, is that 'alternative people' are very lazy, and not keen on any kind of change: they rather prefer to go to the same club every weekend and complain about it, as opposed of actually showing up at something new. This is not gonna cut it for much longer."

And, as for the second half of XP8, Marko Rsurreccion, are you involved in any other projects aside from XP8?

Marko - "XP8 is at the moment my sole musical output. I've been in lots of bands and short lived projects in the past, but I feel that a side project right now would only distract me from expanding and improving on the XP8 front.
Sure I have countless demos of stuff that is not XP8-relevant and who knows, one day I might put out some solo stuff, but definitely not in the near future."

Now, your last release, aside from the remix album "Meathead's Lost HD", was "Adrenochrome". Aside from this site, how was that received across other magazines as well in live shows?

Marko - "I think it's safe to say that 'Adrenochrome' has been our most successful album to date. In terms of reviews, live reception and public comments it far outclassed anything we've done before.
Not sure about the sales side, as we don't have a clear picture of how much XP8 really sold in the past, but from a purely financial point of view, going 100% indie with 'Adrenochrome' has proved most rewarding."

As far as your next release goes, are you guys in the process of making it, writing it, or has it not even been discussed as of yet?

Marko - "We have a 4 track EP ready to release on Friday 6th June, in time for our WGT appearance in Leipzig this year. This will be the first of a series of three EPs that we'll release throughout the year and possibly collate in physical form later on: you can already get a glimpse of the theme and the artwork on our Facebook page. 'Adrenochrome' is a tough act to follow for us, but I am personally in love with this new material: it's fresh, pumping and it has something to say. Plus it was liberating for me to go back to writing lyrics that didn't have to adhere to fixed narrative."

Alright, we're going to get to the thick of things now. You guys are going to be present at Alt-Fest this year. What are your overall thoughts on the festival as of now?

Marko - "What can I say: the bill is bonkers! If we hadn't been booked to play, I'd definitely get a ticket for it. I mean, really, have you checked out the list of bands?!

Marco - "I can only echo Marko's feelings above. This festival is a huge accomplishment for the UK scene. While my heart still beats hard and strong for Resistanz, as I tend to prefer festivals that cater to one specific genre, this is an event that rivals with the huge juggernauts like WGT or M?era Luna, and it has the potential to become a true classic with its wider appeal. Let's hope it will be a resounding success!"

I think one of the standard questions that I'm going to be asking throughout all these Alt-Fest interviews is this: What do you think you'll be able to bring to Alt-Fest that other bands won't be able to?

Marko - "Hmmm, well, we're the only ones who can play our super-awesome-songs, so that should be plenty enough to justify us being on that bill.

Seriously though, we'll be bringing lots of energy on stage and we'll make sure that by the third track everybody's jumping.

Marco - "And if that's not enough, then we have indeed prepared something extra special for those of you who liked our version of the Doctor Who Theme. Whovians will be pleased, I'm sure!"

What days will you be performing at the festival

Marko "We'll be on stage on Saturday 16th."

I'm sure you're used to performing in front of crowds, but Alt-Fest is supposed to be pretty huge. Are you guys nervous for playing in front of a possibly huge crowd?

Marko - "Nervous? Not at all. Excited? Fuck yeah! We understand the difficulties of 'filling up' a stage when it's just the two of us, but we know we need to entertain and give punters their tickets-worth and we're working on some new visuals and we'll have a couple of guests on stage with us to spice up a few tracks?"

Marco - "I wish I remember what stage fright was, it did keep things more 'scary' back in the days! With time and experience anyway that phase should just disappear, and like Marko said already it all gets exchanged for a healthy dose of positive adrenaline: the bigger the crowd, the harder we'll perform!"

Aside from playing there, are there any acts that you are looking forward to seeing at the festival?

Marko - "Where to start? I personally hope that our gig will allow me to check out Gary Numan and SAM on Saturday. Beside that, on my list are Killing Joke, Front242, Faderhead, Memmaker, Leather Strip and spending time at the Steampunk stage and the Circus and generally soaking up the festival vibe."

Marco - "I'm definitely looking forward the Metal stage the most, since I've seen pretty much every other band on the Industrial stage already countless times: so you can expect to catch me in the crowd for Paradise Lost, Arch-Enemy, Satyricon, My Ruin, and keeping my hopes up that the two co-headliners still be announced will be In Flames and Katatonia. Also looking forward to see Marilyn Manson, that should definitely be an interesting gig."

Have you ever had any goofs happen at any live performances, and are you afraid that they might happen at Alt-Fest?

Marko - "Goofs? Not really? Like any other band we've had some technical issues in the past, culminating with a rather embarrassing Mac-freeze at Infest two years ago. Something we definitely don't want to repeat ever again. That said, you won't get me to jinx it now, so I won't say no more."

Marco - *mumbling something about luck and fingers crossed*

Now, after Alt-Fest, do you guys have any tours planned or are you going to take a break?

Marco - "To be fair, the only reason why you haven't heard about any XP8 shows is due to Alt-Fest, and the other UK festivals such as Resistanz and Infest. It's just not very smart to try and plan gigs when most of the fans prefer going just to festivals these days? That said, once the festival season will finally be over we do plan to bring our show back on the road, and in fact we are already planning various weekends for this Autumn, around late October to late November. As usual check our official channels to be informed about all the upcoming gigs!"

Alright, that about sums up everything. Do you have anything that you want to say as final words?

Marco - "This is the part where Marko just disappears and leave me with the duty to wrap it all up. So, be sure to keep your eyes peeled and ears ready for the 'Alchemy Series', starting on June 6th with the first EP. And see you at Alt-Fest this summer!"