THE ALEX STAROPOLI HISTORY
SO FAR
 1970:
I was born on January 9. With my family we spent a lot of time
in holidays and most of the times I was surrounded by the nature,
especially mountains and forests, that's why I feel so strong
love for her. Still today I like to go high on the mighty peaks
to breath pure air and drink pure crystal clear mountain water.
1978:
I had my first piano and I began to study the basics. In this
year my life changed in a very positive way because my brother
Manuel was born (January 28).
1982:
Always studying, my piano teacher was really severe, I did hate
her…
1983:
I changed piano teacher.
1984:
I was living a "bad boy" life. No one could tell me
what I had to do or not to do. (like today)
1985:
I bought an electric guitar. After some months of playing I decided
to change and I bought my first synth.
1986:
I bought my first vinyl, "The final countdown" from
Europe. Beside piano I was strongly interested in playing keyboards
too.
1987:
I had my first love story with a girl living next door.
1988:
In this year a great band released a great album, this music miracle
was called "Transcendence", and it will be my favourite
metal album forever. In this magic period I discovered many good
rock and metal bands. I also got my drive license and my first
car.
1989:
Still studying piano. I began to have strong interests in regards
of meditations and in the spiritual field, also in relation with
music and arts.
1990:
In July, “casually”, Luca and me, meet eachother for
the first time during a stage of mental technics. (where you learn
how to have more control of your mind). At the end of the stage,
we had dinner together and we talked about music discovering that
we liked the same bands, and we had the same musical influences.
It was clear we had a big aim to reach.We agreeded to meet again...
1991:
I bought my Korg 01/W pro, keyboard that I still use sometime.
Luca and me spent spring and summer to compose our first songs.
Sometimes we composed songs on a top of a mountain being inspired
by some great landscapes. In this year we meet Daniele Carbonera,
he was the right "mighty" drummer we where searching
for.
1992/1993:
Still composing, playing, rehearsing, and taking piano lessons.
1994:
In October we finished to record our first demo tape called "Land
of Immortals" containing songs that will soon appear in the
first and in the second Rhapsody studio albums. The songs were:
Land of Immortals,Warrior of Ice,Rage of the Winter and Riding
the Winds of Eternity. The demotape was sent to all selected Europeans
labels. In the end of the year we received an enthusiastic offer
from the label "LMP" of Limb Schnoor.
1995:
An official demotape called "Eternal Glory" was released
under LMP, and we started to receive the very first positive reviews.
1996:
Year of deep preparation for the first studio album called Legendary
Tales, we entered in the studio in October.
1997:
Still developing new ideas while recording. In the studio, and
for the very first time we meet Fabio, the best singer we could
dream of. The production ended in June. I began to practise body
building.
1998:
Another year very busy for Luca and me composing new songs and
working on some left ones. We began to describe our music as "Hollywood
metal". The "Symphony of Enchanted Lands" production
was the longest so far, 4 months.
1999:
Year of rest for me, but anyway we did interviews, promo trips,
meetings ecc…
2000:
It was a very sad moment when our mighty friend and drummer Daniele
was not in the band anymore. Alex Holzwarth came in. This year
we did our first tour as support band for Stratovarius. We where
really looking forward to meet our Rhapsody fans all over Europe!
I could meet Jens Johansson and spend some time with him. I meet
also another great keyboarder and person, Mikko Harkin. (ex member
from Sonata Arctica). Right after the tour we had to finish the
compositions for "Dawn of victory".In 3 months the album
was recorded. Songs like Holy Thunderforce did rappresent a more
aggressive approach in our music.
2001:
This year we did play 5 festivals shows around Europe and we had
a very successful headliner tour in South America, what a great
audience! After that we where focused again on new songs. We released
“Rain of a Thousand Flames". This new production was
again about almost 4 months long.
2002:
The new album, Power of the Dragonflame was released in March.
We did our first European headliner tour presenting big shows
full of drama, effects, guests, actors and a majestic stage set
up. Then we finally played some shows in Japan and Korea having
again a great audiences and a great hospitality. The last concert
of this year was the "Bang your head" festival.
2003:
I bought a lot of new studio equipment and keyboards to face in
a better way all the needs for the upcoming production. During
this year Luca and me spent all our time to collect ideas for
new songs, and to compose a lot of new tracks. In August Alex
Holzwarth began to record the drums of the new mini album called
“The Dark Secret” and the new full length album “Symphony
of Enchanted Lands II - the Dark Secret”. Between October
and November we recorded Fabio’s vocals, the rest of the
band and some special guests. In December we recorded the big
orchestra and choir in Czech Republic, and immediately after,
right before Christmas, we recorded the amazing Christopher Lee’s
narrations in London.
We where proud to announce that we started to work with a great
management consisting in Joey DeMaio and Hinrich Sturken of Magic
Circle Music, and the great German label SPV. They will help us
trough the way for the next epic years.
2004:
We mixed “Symphony of Enchanted Lands II - the Dark Secret”
and did some more additional recordings, all that between the
end of January and the end of March.
We created a definitive trademark to clearly describe the way
we do compose music now, the unique and only Rhapsody’s
“FILM SCORE METAL”.
We did an extensive promotional tour all over Europe, US and Canada
to promote the new mini album “The Dark Secret” and
the new album “Symphony of Enchanted Lands II - the Dark
Secret” with incredible and really exciting feedbacks everywhere.
More news coming soon!
Favourite
Rhapsody album:
Symphony of Enchanted Lands II - the Dark Secret.
Favourite Rhapsody songs:
The Magic of the Wizard Dream, Emerald Sword, Lamento Eroico,
When Demons Awake, Erian’s Mystical Valleys, Nightfall On The Great Mountain,
Ecc…ecc…
Favourite artwork:
Symphony of Enchanted Lands II - the Dark Secret.
Favourite kinds of music:
Heavy metal, soundtracks, hard rock, classical, medieval, baroque.
Favourite bands:
Crimson Glory, Manowar, Virgin steele, Malmsteen, Dio, Van-Hagar
Favourite singers:
Midnight, Eric Adams, David DeFeis, Freddie Mercury, Sammy Hagar
Favourite guitar players:
Malmsteen, Van Halen, Patrick Rondat.
Favourite keyboard players:
Jens Johansson, Tony Macalpine, Jon Lord.
Favourite bass players:
Joey DeMaio, Billy Sheehan, Michael Antony.
Favourite drummers:
Alex Van Halen, Mikkey Dee, Atma Anur.
Favourite classical composers:
J.S.Bach, Vivaldi, Dworak, Orff and many many others…
Favourite classical compositions:
Carmina Burana, Toccata and Fuga, Symphony of the new world
Favourite kind of movies:
Action, fantasy, epic, historic,
Favourite science fiction movie:
Alien.
Favourite horror movie:
The Church (Dario Argento)
Favourite dramatic movie:
Braveheart, Gladiator
Favourite comic movie:
Naked Gun (Leslie Nielsen)
Favourite fantasy movie:
The Lord of the Rings, Conan the Barbarian
Favourite action movie:
Red Heat (A.Schwarzenegger), Gone in 60 seconds
Favourite actors:
Al pacino: Scarface
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Conan the Barbarian
Russel Crowe: Gladiator
Mel Gibson: Braveheart
Favourite actresses:
Sharon Stone: The specialist (S.Stallone)
Jodie Foster: Silence of the Lambs
Angelina Jolie: Gone in 60 seconds.
Favourite directors:
Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott, Tim Burton.
Favourite soundtracks composer:
Hans Zimmer, Basil Poledouris, Danny Elfman and many others…
Favourite hobbies:
Cinema, sport cars, American cars, CDs, music equipment, photo, video
Favourite foods:
Pizza, grilled and smoked food, season food, fruits.
Favourite drinks:
Water, fresh juices, vine, beer.
Favourite sports:
Body building, jogging, trekking, ski.
Favourite book:
Rudolf Steiner, Omraam Mikael Aivanhov.
Favourite colors:
Dark blue.
Favourite season:
Summer.
Favourite flower:
Crimson glory.
Favourite animals:
All.
Owner of animals:
No.
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