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| Artist Statistics |
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Artistopia Rank : 170
Member Since : 8/2006
Last Login : 4/18/2008
Views : 16,950
Songs : 4
Events : 0
Alliances : 2
Releases : 4
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Artistopia URL :
http://www.artistopia.com/gino_foti |
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| Latest Music By Gino Foti |
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Orbis Terrarum
Published Date : 08/01/2006
Total Downloads : 60
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News Article |
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Metronome Magazine interview with Gino Foti |
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| Published on 1/30/2007 |
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| By Shaun McNamara |
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Transcript of Metronome Magazine (February 2007 issue) interview with Gino Foti
by Shaun McNamara
In much the same way that Gino Foti approaches his blend of instrumental fusion, mixing progressive rock styles akin to Rush, Yes, and King Crimson with an emphasis on World music and Jazz, he also embraces a progressive ethic in distributing his music, and in setting up his internet-based independent record label - Net Dot Music. His story moves beyond the current formula of independent and internet-based music distribution into alchemical synthesis that takes a firm hold on the true possibilities of the internet. Where formulas for distribution and management arise and grow in tired similarities, Gino takes a new approach that offers open yet complex scalability and modularity. Perseverance is a key theme for his marketing strategy.
Not only has Gino created his own record label, in his own format, but he also simultaneously released the culmination of 2 years worth of work as 4 separate CDs. Having listened to all 4 CDs, I can say with confidence that they are as different from one another as if he had recorded them over a 10 year period - a surprising feat for a 4 volume work, completed from concept to pressing by one man. Aside from the guitar skills of his Electrum band mate, Dave Kulju, on songs from Sphere of Influence and Orbis Terrarum, as well as some excellent piano work from Chris Rossi on tracks from the same two albums, Gino played all bass guitars, MIDI bass guitar, keyboards, loops and samples.
METRONOME: Tell me about how NetDotMusic came into inception.
Gino: I play in a band called Electrum, and we formed in 1996. We released our first CD in 1998. It was tough marketing it, and it was our first attempt at even trying to market and promote a CD. When we found out that there was pretty much no interest in signing us from any labels, even at the Indie level, we also discovered a huge online network of Progressive rock dealers and distributors. So, the obvious next stage was to start a record label. I decided to do it myself, so NetDotMusic, right now, is mostly a vanity label for my music, but in the future I hope to expand and have a large instrumental artist roster where the artists would have as much control over their music as possible, with Net Dot Music retaining just a very small percentage to operate and promote the roster.
METRONOME: With a direct line to the indie and Progressive dealers and distributors online, why go so far as to create a record label at this point? Did you also feel that there was something lacking that you couldn’t bridge independently without forming the solid instrumental concept of Net Dot Music?
Gino: There’s a bit of pride involved. I always wanted to have my own business, and I thought that it would be something in a technical area since that’s where my college education is based. Music has always been a hobby, but I take it very seriously.
Another part of the reason for forming Net Dot Music was that among Progressive rock listeners, there are still a lot of people that aren’t into the instrumental side of the genre. When they talk about Progressive rock, they’re talking about bands like Yes, Rush, King Crimson, and Marillion - or bands whose influences are clearly from the 70s, with lots of mellotron and vocals laced with themes concerning wizards, dragons, and fairies, and all that stuff. On the other side of the spectrum are the Jazz fusion guys. If you’re talking about lots of legato techniques and improvisation over Jazz-oriented chord progressions, there’s a specific audience that are into it - listening to guys like Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and all the big names in that realm. When Art rock influences are incorporated, that audience starts to become disinterested. What I was trying to do is find a niche between those two genres of progressive music, focus on instrumental compositions,
and eventually bring in more artists that do that type of music.
That’s why I use the term - Instrumental Fusion - to define what I’m going for as a concept. It’s tough to define what we do anyway, but you have to call it something. You have to have keywords so that people can find you. So, I decided on "Instrumental Fusion". It’s a pretty good buzz word to get people in the Prog rock and Jazz fusion camps to find me. Now, with my solo releases, I have to add World music to that mix.
METRONOME: The four releases you sent me - Sphere of Influence, Bhavachakra, Orbis Terrarum, and Vedic Mantras - definitely have a prominent World music flare. In listening to Sphere of Influence, and hearing all the bits and pieces you played, including bass guitar, MIDI bass, keyboard, loops and samples, I could hear not only a Middle Eastern feel, but also African influences, and beyond.
Gino: I was born and raised in Sicily, so I listened to music from the Mediterranean for the first 9 1/2 years of my life. They do have a definite Mediterranean/Middle Eastern type of feel, especially on Orbis Terrarum. That was pretty much the focus for Sphere of Influence and Orbis Terrarum, which I call my primary releases. The focus was on blending diverse influences from Jazz Fusion, World music, Prog rock, and also European Classical, which was what I grew up listening to, with complex arrangements and having the bass guitar as the prominent instrument on most of the tracks.
There are very few gaps in my music collection. I don’t listen to a lot of modern Country because pretty much everything has been homogenized and crossed with Pop music. Then there are really bad fusions like Rap and Country or Rap and Metal. I don’t listen to them because I really can’t connect with it. I try to listen to music that has an intellectual component to it whenever I can, or whenever the bands are actually presenting that component. Neil Peart lyrics are interesting to me, even though they’ve changed quite a bit, and I personally feel they’re not as strong as they were back in their heyday. Lyrically, most Prog rock is much more interesting than what I have heard from the singer/songwriters at Harvard Square, for example, strumming their guitars and singing, pretty much, about the usual fare of lost loves, with very simple rhyming schemes, and three chord progressions. It just doesn’t speak to me on an intellectual level, and sometimes not even on an emotional level.
METRONOME: There definitely is a niche for Prog bands out there, as we see bands like Dream Theater, Spock’s Beard, and Porcupine Tree release viable efforts and create a consistent following that sustains them. Where do you see yourself fitting in, with the indefinable quality that your music and mind-set personifies.
Gino: Unfortunately, I don’t see myself as a good fit. Marketing these releases has proved to be much more difficult than I thought. I’ve carved out a niche between the World music, Jazz Fusion, and Prog rock factions, and there is a very small overlap between the three for me to take advantage of. Bands like Dream Theater, Spock’s Beard, and the other ones you’ve mentioned - even though there’s a lot of fusion in their sound, they do sit more in one camp than the others. Additionally, they’re touring bands. They’re professional musicians. I don’t gig out, even locally. It’s tough for me to get my name out there. If I were to perform these releases live, I’d have to hire four or five other musicians that are as dedicated to it as I am. Then you have to find a place to play. It would probably become a "pay to play" effort. It’s a huge waste of time, money, and energy.
I pretty much use niche retailers and dealers online that have a built in audience of Fusion lovers to distribute my music. I tend to do much better on those sites because they provide me with highly targeted listeners. It’s much be |
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| Article Credits and References |
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| No Credits or References were provided by publisher |
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