Mr.Riot - Thomas Libero

MRRIOT2

MRRIOT1

💿 Hi Thomas, welcome to Hardrockheavymetal! You are a musician, singer, and songwriter so please let’s start talking about the early days. When is this all begun? First of all thank you for the interview, i'm very happy to do this! Well, I started playing guitar when I was 13 years old because I wanted to be the new "Ace Frehley" (I'm a very big KISS fan..haha) but some years later (I was 17) I decided to be a lead vocalist too because I couldn't find the right singer for my projects. I began to write songs since I learned the first three chords (C-D-E) in the Iron Maiden style, then I started with all the covers, tribute and so on. still today, sometimes, I look back to the first songs and I can find some interesting riffs ! 💿 Even though you are still very young you have already released a few albums. Is this correct? Yes! I released my first solo work in 2015, the EP "A Letter To Me" , it reached the number #47 on the new rock releases chart on iTunes and still today is well appreciated. This year I released another EP called "Dark Days" which is a part of a big project of concept albums that I would like to carry on through the years, speaking about astral projections, lucid dreams, aliens and a lot of funny things like that. Then I did other recordings and songwriting for some Italian bands and artists 💿 Last year you have officially become the lead singer of Mr. Riot! How did you get in touch with the band and how has your life changed ever since? I met Mario and Denny in Milan when I opened the Erik Grönwall and Dave Dalone's Acoustic show with my set. We talked about creating a new band together (not Mr. Riot) and after that night, I entered Mr Riot first as a bass player and then as the singer. It was a big change in my life because I used to write everything alone before. With Mr Riot, I found a strong team and I learn everyday how to co-work on songs. I'm really happy to be in the band, to write songs and play with them. 💿 You're currently in the studio to record a brand new album. How are the new songs turning out and how far are you from the release date? We've already finished the recording sessions and we are very satisfied. With "My Life, My Road" we break all the walls and boundaries, we tried to do something different from the first album and we have a lot of variety on this upcoming record. I think you are gonna like it very much ! For the release date we have to wait some months ! 💿 You are also the lead singer of a BON JOVI tribute band among the other things... Yes, it was my first "singing experience" because I started singing with Bon Jovi songs! In that time a lot of people told me that I could be in a tribute so I decided to do it and try. Still today i play with "Faithless Bon Jovi Tribute" and it is one of my passions and i love Bon Jovi! 💿 You' re involved in other projects and you even had the chance to tour Brazil last year. What kind of experience was that? Yes I toured Brasil with a band called Siska last year supporting Tim Ripper Owens (Judas Priest). It was an amazing experience and people from there write me everyday asking me to come back and playing ! It was my first experience as a singer/bass player too! I'd love to come back because I had a great time and people there have a very big heart, they showed me a lot of love and I will always grateful for that. Maybe i could go there with Mr Riot... 💿 Are there any new tour dates in sight for you or Mr. Riot? We will play with "Stop Stop!" In Milan at the blue rose club on July 14th and we will play at a couple of big festivals here in Italy in august like Isola Rock (with Secret Sphere and other bands) on august 19th and Drakkarock (headlined by DGM) on August 26th. For the European/worldwide tour dates we must wait the release of "My Life, My Road"! 💿Thomas, thank you for your time. It was great chatting with you! Thank you Ale! It was great talking about music with you! Thank you and www.hardrockheavymetal.info. for the interview! You are great and I hope to talk with you again soon! Rock on!