MARDI GRAS - Interview

Rome based Mardi Gras is a rock act with a difference. Named after Creedence Clearwater Revival’s last studio album, the band’s musical journey is made of protest songs, poetry, prayers set to music, and a whole lot more.

2018 marks a new start for the band with a new line up and a brand new voice. Their latest single “One Guitar” (benefit single to raise funds and help the Light of Day Foundation for Parkinson’s disease) has just been released in December 2018, their second single “Tried” has just been released in July 2018, “Shoes”, a groovy soul oriented track is the first single released with the new line up in spring 2018. Mardi Gras has released three albums so far: Drops Made (2006, Goodfellas), Among the Streams (2011) and last, Playground (2015), a record where ballads, rock, funk and acoustic pieces of music are the playground for the band with all their influences.

The band has also enjoyed great success attracting attention internationally on European and US based radio stations and becoming one of the most popular Italian acts with a constantly growing fanbase.

– Liina Rätsep, Fabrizio Fontanelli, Alessandro Matilli, Carlo Di Tore Tosti, Valerio Giovanardi, Fabrizio Del Marchesato

Mardi Gras Line-up

Their song From Zero to One was one of the most played songs on Museboat so I decided to find out a bit more about this fantastic band from the band´s lead singer Liina Rätsep. Hi Liina, how are you ?

Hi,I’m good, thanks. Happy to be here on Museboat!

You joined the band back in 2018 as vocalist, how did that come about?

That’s rather simple actually. The band’s keyboard player Alessandro contacted me and invited me to an audition. They were searching for a new singer and were seeing many different vocalists at that time. So I went to the studio, sang a bit for the band and long story short, here I am.

How did you find the transition joining an established well known band?

I had never heard of them actually, haha. Anyway, I think the “transition" was rather smooth, it was like joining any other established band – you learn the repertoire, try to make it your own and collaborate when you start writing new material together. I have been doing this kind of work since many years.

What have yourself and the band been doing during the pandemic with regards to music?

Right before the coronavirus disaster we came out with our single “From Zero to One” and I think the song really describes these difficult times where many of us have faced serious problems during which, having someone close to us to support us is extremely important. Obviously all live performances were canceled so during the lockdown in Italy we published three singles with videos, all recorded live in our homes. We made a slightly different version of “Shoes" which was my first single with the Mardi Gras back in 2018; then we did a cover of the Oasis’ song “Don’t Look Back in Anger" and there we invited also 19 of our friends to sing with us; and last of the three “home editions" was a new version of “Satellites and me", originally from Mardi Gras' 2011 album “Among the streams “ and in 2020 with me as the new singer of the band and our friend Claudio Desideri as a guest vocalist. In September we released our rendition of the Paul Weller classic “You do Something to Me" that is accompanied by a beautiful animated video (by the way, it’s available on YouTube). Then…actually, recently we were listed on Reader’s Digest as one of 7 European bands one should know, which came as a huge surprise. And then, just a few days ago we released our version of Elisa's song “Come Speak to Me". Elisa is an Italian artist and we were supposed to perform her song (in addition to our original music) in Sanremo as guests of a show that was hosted during the Sanremo festival week by a noted music journalist. Unfortunately we couldn’t go to Sanremo so we decided to record our version of the song instead. Oh and in the meanwhile we are working on a new album! So, long story short, we don’t intend to stop and coronavirus won’t stop us. We will continue making music and...Let’s hope for the best!

Mardi Gras write from poetry, prayers etc. What message do you want to convey to your audience within your music?

Mardi Gras is made of many different colors and each song has its own message. Songs against violence, songs that talk about environmental problems, songs about dreams, songs about friends and friendship, youth, and so on. As our motto says, as long as there are stories to tell, there will be music. Always. I’d like to specify though that all of our original music has also original lyrics (with one exception).

What are the band's plans for the future?

Finishing our album that we have been working on for quite some time and returning to play live shows are definitely on top of our list, though not necessarily in that specific order. We don’t have exact dates yet as the situation with coronavirus makes everybody change their plans constantly but for the latest news it is a good idea to follow us on social media or check out our website www.mardigrasmusic.it.

Is there anything you would like to say to Museboat listeners?

Thank you for supporting and listening to independent artists, thanks for tuning in tonight and if you are curious about Mardi Gras then go to our website mardigrasmusic.it. If you like our music, follow @mardigrasband on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, subscribe to our YouTube channel and support us by getting our music from your preferred online store. Or you can invite us to play at your event, hehe. I can’t wait to see a real audience again!

Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. It has been great!

Likewise! Thank you for inviting me!

In May 2021 Mardi Gras comes out with their version of Elisa's song "Come speak to me". In 2020, five singles are published: first "From Zero to One" that is produced by Stuart Epps (producer of Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Robbie Williams, Zak Starkey, George Harrison, Bill Wyman, Chris Rea); then a new version of the band's 2018 single "Shoes", a cover of the Oasis' "Don't look back in anger" and a new version of "Satellites and me" (originally from their album "Among the streams") that are recorded as "home editions" during the lockdown in Italy; and in September a new rendition of Paul Weller's song "You do something to me", again in collaboration with the producer Stuart Epps. In 2019 the singles “Adam & Eve” and “Gingerman” are released in collaboration with Mark Geary, a noted Irish artist. 2018 marks a new start for the band with a new line up and a brand new voice. Three singles from that year: "One Guitar" (benefit single to raise funds and help the Light of Day Foundation for Parkinson's disease) was released in December, a pop/rock ballad "Tried" in July, and "Shoes", a groovy soul oriented track was the first single released with the new line up in spring 2018.

Watch Mardi Gras Music Video: