DOMINICI – With his own words

Charlie Dominici is known by many fans from his time with Dream Theater. With whom he recoreded their debut album When Dream And Day Unite in 1989. His artistic achievements within Dream Theater are undisputed to this day. Now, with O₃  A Trilogy – part 2, he stands proudly alongside his contemporaries in today's metal scene.

 
ET – Greetings Charlie, my name is Ståle and I am from Norway. Above all, congratulations with your new album. Tell me something about the album and the band.
Charlie Dominici – It's nice to hear from you! The album is part two of the trilogy. The band is formerly known as Solid Vision and they are my band now. I found the guys with an ad on a web-fanzine site. Dominici's my main band – and the only band these days.

ET – Back to the beginning: when did your metal career start and with which band?
Charlie Dominici – My metal career started with Dream Theater, but my music career started many years before that.

ET – Which were your influences in the old days when you started with Dream Theater?
Charlie Dominici – We were influenced a lot back then by bands like Rush, Queensrÿche, Kansas, Metallica etc.

ET – You received accolades from the fans when you reunited with your former band mates for the 15^th anniversary of When Dream And Day Unite in 2004. Are you still in contact with the Dream Theater band members?
Charlie Dominici – I am always in touch with the guys in Dream Theater. They are like my family, even James La Brie.

ET – Do you keep up to date with the new generation of Progressive Metal bands and if; what are your favourites and the members of Dominici's primary or perhaps common influences these days?
Charlie Dominici – Influences are not abound here. I don't listen to other bands much because I don't want to be influenced. I like some bands that I've heard lately. Bands like, Civilization One, Redemption, Red Circuit, Symphony X, Pagan's Mind and many others.

ET – Share with us the best and worst moment in the band's history.
Charlie Dominici – I assume you mean my new band. The history is not that long. I only know these guys for 6 months now. Since then the best moment was finishing the recording of the new album which only took us 1 month to write and record the entire CD. The worst moment was having to fly back to the US and be apart from my band, which I now will not have to do anymore since I am moving over there.

ET – How are the reactions to your new album, O₃  A Trilogy – part 2?
Charlie Dominici – Very positive! I heard one bad review but the guy was so out of touch that it made me laugh! 

ET – Time and time again you have surprised your fans throughout your long and successful career:
Charlie Dominici – As an american vocalist I have never attemptet to imitate myself or other musicians. Everything I work on sounds original, fresh and authentic. I didn't feel I had to model myself on other contemporary singers on the nine new complex compositions from our latest work. I wanted to sing my songs how they had to be sung. Sometimes it sounds like Judas Priest or Metallica, sometimes more like Dream Theater or Queen. But most often it just sounds like us.  I'm very proud of the new band consisting of  musicians Brian Maillard (guitar), Yan Maillard (drums), Americo Rigoldi (keyboards) and Erik Atzeni (bass). It' a musically strong individual line-up, and that's the main reason Dominici became the name of the band itself. Dominici reflects the individual values of the band. It's easy to find the influences mentioned above in such pieces as «Captured», «School Of Pain» or «The Real Life». However «O3 A Trilogy – Part 2» is certainly not some kind of imitation of other successful concepts by other artists. It's 100 per cent innovative and unmistakeable, with the majority of tracks being composed and performed to the highest standards throughout.

ET – Do you ever experience while working on a story in the «O3 Trilogy» that the songs will be let down to the benefit of the macrostructure? Although it seems to be a consistency in the creating process between the micro- and macrostructures, likewise between the lyrics dealing with human conditions and the music.
Charlie Dominici – That's a good observation. To create three pieces with single songs and personal topics is never easy. But we learn to avoid the most obvious problems, and as time goes by I think I've become a better songwriter with the efforts we put into creating music. Every single song of the albums is very important to me. This record tells a story. The song «Nowhere to Hide» introduces the main character from the album and his background. It talks about his unacceptable behaviour, being an offensive alcoholic. Similarly «Greed, the Evil Seed» explains why there are so many enormous problems in the world. By contrast the concluding song «A New Hope» deals with something positive, a glimmer of hope for the world. This closing track, with its surprising end, sets the tone for the third part of my trilogy. For a better understanding, Part 1 of the «O3 Trilogy» was realesed in July 2005, Part 2 came out in February this year and Part 3 is in the planning stages.

ET – How do you feel finaly being back on the Metal scene with your own style of music?
Charlie Dominici – The sylistic mixture of «O3 A Trilogy – Part 2» is Melodic Progressive Metal. I'm very eager to take the music back to the stage due to the new band. Together we are a group of musicians who are able to present our demanding music in a live setting without compromise. During the hiatus I've had a long time making my goals for this band. If I had my way we'll tour the whole world.

ET – When can we expect Dominici back on the road? Are there any plans for visiting Europe for some live shows?
Charlie Dominici – Very soon! We are possibly going to be opening up a few shows in Europe for a band I used to be in, whose name I won't mention in case it does not work out. Like I said before. I'm moving to Europe. There will be lots of live shows!

ET – With which bands do you like to tour in the future?
Charlie Dominici – Anyone heavy!

ET – Anything else you want to share with the readers and the Dominici-fans?
Charlie Dominici – Come and see us live!

ET – Charlie Dominici, thank you for this interview.
Charlie Dominici – My pleasure!