Violet Blend are an Italian alternative metal band, featuring extraordinary vocals, rich sonic power, and unbridled energy. Founded in 2014, Giada Celeste Chelli (vocals and piano) was joined by Michel Agostini (drums), and next, Ferruccio Baroni (bass) and Daniele Cristellon (guitar), in Florence, Italy. Known for culture and fine art, many believe this city was the birth-place of The Renaissance, and while famously populated, its musical community is ironically lean and tight-knit. Therefore, it is not surprising that these four talented musicians knew each other long before the release of their debut album White Mask, which received high praise from audiences and critics, both locally and abroad.
In terms of touring, Violet Blend has opened for renowned bands such as Radiohead, Garbage, Chris Slade (AC/DC), Vinnie Moore (Alice Cooper), Eva Poles (Prozac+) Finley, Rezophonic (Mario Riso, Cristina Scabbia), and the British band Antimatter. Moreover, the band has won several awards, including Band Revelation of 2019 from the F.I.P.I. – International Intellectual Property Federation, #togetherforthemusic 2020 of Elio e le Storie Tese, Trio Medusa, Cesvi and Radio Deejay, and the Et Music Prize at Sanremo Rock 2019.
This kind of meteoric rise to celebrity is often launched by some sort of scholastic acclaim, and it is interesting to note that band members of Violet Blend earned degrees, or have been named members of the faculty, at some of the most prestigious institutions in Italy. Giada Celeste Chelli earned a bachelor’s degree DAMS – Disciplines of Arts, Music and Performing Arts at the University of Florence. She also earned a master’s degree in Music Disciplines at The Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna, also acquiring a Professional Diploma in music engineering and music production at Lizard Music Academy (Florence). She has engaged in academic studies of soprano sax, alto sax, and singing at Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Florence and is a Teacher of Singing and Didactics of Listening at the Le Muse e il Tempo Association of Bologna. Giada is also Musician (soprano sax, alto sax, piano) at the Florentine Music Association of Florence. Ferruccio Baroni is a teacher of electric bass at the Le Arti in Gioco Association of Florence, Michel Agostini is a teacher of drums at the Le Arti in Gioco Association of Florence, and Daniele Cristellon has a bachelor’s degree in Music and New Technologies – Electronic Music – Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Florence. He is a teacher of modern guitar at the Off Musical Association of Florence.
As for the music more specifically, Violet Blend do not simply write and perform “catchy songs,” but rather, they make haunting and glorious musical portraits that personify beauty, discontent, passion, and rage. The White Mask record exposed the fallacy of using social media to represent “the self,” and the new album, Demons, continues the journey by moving the focus to the more personal, internal mechanism we use to make our own tragic masks. We do this to represent ourselves favorably to others, and our fragile, raw truths remain fatally hidden. Still, the glory is the crucial moment we decide to unveil. Not for others. For us. For the sake of the soul.
There are thirteen tracks on Demons, all cornerstones for the theme of ambitious yet contradictory facades, and each song is represented in the cover-art as masks of demons from every culture in the world, stemming from Greek mythology, Chinese tradition, and Dante’s literature, to the Aztec Empire, Celtic mythography, and African rituals, etc.
Violet Blend are an awe-inspiring female fronted band that make us measure our internal landscape differently. Demons is an exciting record with something for everyone, from the superlative vocal to the rhythm-chops that seem to echo the true pulse of the world. Are you ready to join them in this? Are you fired up now? Are you ready to rock?
Demons by Violet Blend was released worldwide on April 1, 2022 via Eclipse Records.
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