The Silver Snails are a band on a mission: to open hearts by creating the world’s finest pop rock.

Comprised of lead singer Lucas Ward and his wife Elisa Fantini, the pair are gifted at fashioning contemporary pop rock. Based in Italy, the talented duo surround themselves with ace musicians.

We visited with lead singer Lucas Ward – who’s currently in Portland working on the band’s upcoming release – about the band’s first album “The Seven Melodies.”

It was recently re-released to help grow their fan base, and the band will be performing songs from it in Portland and Eugene this month. Weaving diverse genres – from electronica to Celtic to jazz – into fresh, catchy melodies, the band hopes their music reaches the ears of a global audience.

PRP: How long have you been a musician? What instruments do you play?

Ward: “I’ve been active in music since I was a kid, and started piano while attending Jefferson Art School.”

“I see my main job today as singing and writing songs, so I play guitar and keyboards, and also bass and drums.”

PRP: “ ‘Beatrice Russo’ is a lovely composition, very romantic. It has a retro vibe to it reminiscent of The Alan Parsons Project. What inspired that track?”

Ward: “That’s a heavy compliment, thank you. Beatrice Russo is a reference to a character in the movie “Il Postino,” and it’s also a reference to Dante.”

“I was sitting at the piano in Italy and Elisa really liked the initial melody so I developed it.”

Beatrice Russo

PRP: “Who are the other musicians you play with?”

Ward: “We recorded and produced ‘The 7 Melodies’ with help from Andrea Spadaro and a cast of Italian session players in Sarsina,” says Ward.

“Generally, I compose complete demos of each song complete with vocals, keyboard parts, guitar parts etc. We then redo everything in the studio, but with help of live drums and bass session players. Occasionally, we’ll invite a guitarist or other ‘guest’ musician to add magic.”

PRP: “ ‘Waltz for Two Moons’ is a great, fantastic work. It starts off electronically, mysteriously, then it melds into this magical Pop, with vocals in French. Then it has a great spoken word towards the finish. What’s that track all about?”

Ward: “The theme of ‘Waltz for Two Moons’ is creature fear, the existential dread that one sometimes feels in the face of so many unpredictable forces beyond our control. We used the metaphor of planetary alignment, an upcoming ‘dance of the planets,’ to represent a major event evoking both anticipation and anxiety.”

PRP: “Your promo sheet lists The Beatles, Stones, Bowie and Pink Floyd…are these your musical influences?”

Ward: “We consider the British Invaders to be our deepest influence, but we have so many of them. Other artists we love: The Flaming lips, James Brown, The Sea & Cake, Stevie Wonder,  Elliott Smith, Strfckr, Manu Chao, Beethoven & Bach, Miles Davis and Bill Evans, Jobim, King Sunny Adè, Elton John, Ravi Shankhar, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Keola Beamer, Hamza El Din, Thomas Mapfumo and The Beach Boys.”

PRP: “How would you describe the new album? Does it have a release date, or title yet?

Ward: “Relative to ‘The 7 Melodies’, it’s more Indie Rock and less World Music oriented…it features more dynamic and polished full-studio production. We’ve been working on it steadily for the past six years, with help from Dylan Magierek at Type Foundry Studio.”

“(It includes) the talents of local greats such as Luke Ydstie (bassist for Blind Pilot), Arcellus Sykes, Ben Nugent, Barry Walker and Mark Powers.”

“We expect it to be released by June, 2020…our working title is ‘The Speed of Light’.”

Upcoming shows

The band’s embarking on a Pacific Northwest tour in a 5-piece rock band format.

They’ll be joined by Portland Indie Rockers Brent Follis (Pink Martini) on drums, Ross Garlow, John Wolcott, Adam Carlson, Garret Thielking and Jack Radsliff.

Upcoming shows:

June 22nd – Alberta Street Pub
June 28th – Hawthorne Hideaway
June 30th – Dante’s

 

The band also performs June 23 in Eugene at Sam Bond’s Garage.

Get out and support these innovative pop-rocker’s!

Cynthia Orlando
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