Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin — founding keyboardist Claudio Simonetti’s modern manifestation of prolific Italian prog-rock composers Goblin — hits the road today to perform a live score to Demons followed by a set of other classic Goblin tracks across North America.
“Normally I play the same films, like Deep Red and Suspiria,” Simonetti tells me. “I have seen Demons with the actors at conventions, and I think that people love this film. It’s a cult film. I said, ‘Why don’t we try to do Demons live?’ It’s the first time. I never did it before. We have had a lot of rehearsals this summer.”
Originally, Simonetti wanted to do a Dawn of the Dead tour in celebration of the film’s 45th anniversary. “It’s one of my favorites, of course, but we are having some troubles with the producer for the rights to play the score live. Instead, we decided we will start doing Demons. I think Demons is a similar kind of style.”
He remains hopeful a Dawn of the Dead tour will come to fruition in the future.
Demons is produced and co-written by master of horror Dario Argento, for whom Goblin had previously composed several scores. In it, attendees at a mysterious horror film screening find themselves trapped in a theater with ravenous demons.
Simonetti and his bandmates — guitarist Daniele Amador, bassist Cecilia Nappo, and drummer Federico Maragoni — remain faithful to the score he composed in 1985. “The music is quite the same, because I don’t like to change. I use more or less the same original instruments. Maybe sometimes we play a little more heavy, more rock. Demons was played with a drum machine. I played most of the instruments just with keyboards, so I have to adapt the original sound to the live band with drums and guitar.”
Fans will also get to hear the band perform songs featured in the film from the likes of Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, and Billy Idol. “Demons has some heavy metal songs, and we will play these songs. We extract the original voices, so you will hear [Biff Byford of] Saxon and [Bruce Dickinson of] Iron Maiden singing with us.”
Simonetti believes that the movie holds up as well as the music. “When I see these vintage kind of films, I think they’re good. They have their own style, this old-fashioned style. If the film was made right now, they could use digital effects, but Demons is all handmade. I was on the set, so I remember a lot of people in the makeup. Now it’s easy to do the digital effects, but sometimes it’s too much. It’s not the same.”
In addition to Argento, Simonetti counts John Carpenter among his admirers: “When I met John Carpenter for the first time, it was in 2013 in Los Angeles. I was introduced to him, and he told me, ‘Oh, I know you very well. I stole all your music!'” he laughs. “I said, ‘Thank you, but you did it very good!’ He said in an interview that when he composed Halloween he was inspired by Deep Red. I like John Carpenter a lot as a musician and a director, of course.”
Simonetti will pay tribute to Carpenter by performing his iconic Halloween theme, along with Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” from The Exorcist, during the second half of the show. “These two songs are very similar to my genre. The first time I recorded these covers was with my band Daemonia in the 2000s. We did a Dario Argento tribute and also put Halloween and The Exorcist. They’re two of my favorite films.”
There are no plans to re-record the Demons score as Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin previously did with Suspiria, Dawn of the Dead, and Deep Red. Instead, the band will head back to Italy after the tour wraps to begin working on a new album for release in 2024.
Simonetti credits the internet for his music continuing to find an audience after all these years. “The internet destroyed the record companies, but you have more visibility now. In the ’70s, when we formed the original Goblin, we sold many records in many countries, but they didn’t know who we were, because no internet, no information, nothing. Now people can see films, they can see concerts, they can see who we are. It’s wonderful.”
He continues, “I have many different ages at my concerts. There are 20-year-olds to 60-year-olds; father and son together, because it’s a tradition in families. They teach them to listen to the prog-rock bands. That’s why most of the famous bands of the ’70s are playing again now. There is nothing special in music now, so many people find something new in the past. Our sound is completely different from the modern sound.”
Simonetti is perfectly content with his legacy being intertwined with Argento, of whom he was a fan before becoming a collaborator. “I remember when I saw Dario’s first film, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, in 1970 with my friend. I said, ‘Wow, this new director is great! This film is fantastic!’ I never could suppose that in five years I would compose music for him.
“Life is incredible.”
Get your tickets now to see Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin perform the Demons score live.
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