Italian horror/suspense films, or giallo, hold a special place in the bloody heart of the American horror fan. Italian director Dario Argento is considered giallo’s high priest, and such films as Suspiria, Deep Red, and Bird with the Crystal Plumage are held up by adherents as more than seminal slasher films of the ‘70s, but a kind of image-driven sui generis art form that dares to descend where tamer cinephiles fear to tread (or fear to admit they tread, technically).
Wafting more subtly into the subconscious of the horror acolyte are Argento’s musical collaborators, an Italian progressive rock/disco band called Goblin that, miraculously, are still making music together. The band, which provided the scores for Argento films including Deep Red, Suspiria, and Tenebrae, cooked up keyboard-driven, spooky, atmospheric, uptempo riffs that jibed delightfully with Argento’s scenes of brutality and exsanguination. The music comes off now like some vintage mid-70s Ferrari—a sexy, magnetic Italian relic, the likes of which simply isn’t made anymore.
Improbably, four of five original Goblin members are not only still together in the band, after nearly forty years of knocking around Europe they have embarked on their first concert tour of North America. They’ll play 2720 Cherokee this Tuesday, December 3, with openers Zombi, a keyboards-and-drum duo from Pittsburgh clearly influenced by Goblin. In a world where so much music is ruined by lead singers that try too hard, it will be nice to hear two spooky-fun acts that both happen to be instrumental. And if you’re a cult-film aficionado, the horror-rock concert will be “deep-cult.”
Goblin keyboardist Maurizio Guarini has been with the band off-and-on since its creation in 1975. We spoke with him.
I understand when Goblin plays in concert you show scenes from the films behind you?
Yes, not in sync but some of the films’ footage, a compilation made by an artist. We play the scores from the movies to that.
Is Goblin still working with Dario Argento now?
Not really. The former keyboard player Claudio Simonetti is, but not us. He just left Goblin again at the end of the first leg of this U.S. tour. It’s not because of arguments; we are all just trying to follow different paths. We’re excited because we just got our classic rhythm section back, Fabio Pignatelli the bassist and Agostino Marangolo the drummer, and that brings back the incredible sound of Goblin. We have four of five of our original line-up from 1975. This is the first time the almost-whole Goblin has played the U.S.
And you’ve played with Goblin for 38 years!
I joined in ‘75 just after the release of Profondo Rosso [Deep Red] and was with the band ‘til end of ‘76, then again from ’78 to ‘93, and then from the reunion in ‘03–’04.
Do people assume you, personally, like horror films?
If we really like horror and giallo, we do that as a band, but personally it’s different, that’s not completely myself. Personally, I like science fiction. People identify our music with giallo and thrillers and horror, and we understand that, and we’re pretty happy about that. We didn’t think this would happen 40 years ago.
Are there any Goblin songs with vocals?
No. Another keyboard player, Aidan Zammit, does sing background for one album, but there are no leads. We do have some background-effect vocals on Suspiria, and some on Tenebrae.
Goblin music is often driven by the keyboard sound. That must be fun for you.
When we play live we need two keyboardists. Keyboards are key.
Is it okay to call Goblin music progressive or prog rock?
I’m not sure about that. If it means the music is not simple, with elements of other music like classical and jazz inside the rock, yes, we can be categorized as progressive rock.
How has the American response been to your live shows so far?
We did 21 concerts in 27 days and the response was just incredible. We weren’t expecting so much energy back from the audience. Most of the shows have been sold-out. We are so glad to be here and to see how people love us now, at this point, is just incredible.
What’s it like to work with Argento?
Personally, I just worked on Suspiria. We brought him the first theme, the main theme, before seeing the movie. He certainly knows how to communicate his needs. [Laughs]. I left the band before the editing process, though.
Do you enjoy the music that John Carpenter has written for his own horror and suspense films?
Yes, he was inspired by Goblin for the theme of Halloween. I personally like his music, sure.
How do the horror or slasher films of today compare with the ones from the golden era of slasher films?
What we did isn’t something that can happen anymore unless it’s forced, I don’t think. The music industry and scoring industry were free to experiment. Now everything has to be more stereotypical, or people don’t recognize it. We could be more creative then. You can look at the films and see at that time we did whatever we wanted to do.
I wonder if part of the appeal of Goblin now is that you are “retro-cool”?
Personally, I don’t feel like we’re sticking to the past. But when we play live the audience wants to re-feel the sensation you’re talking about. People expect that. Even if we’re older now, that is part of us. And thanks to social networking, this can happen in the new century.
