INTERVIEW WITH IT BITES, reply Bob Dalton (italian version)
by Giancarlo Bolther

Your band has started in the eighties, at the time prog music wasn't very popular, what do you remember about the difficulties to play prog music and why things are changed nowadays in your opinion?
Personally I don’t think we are just a prog band…we have lots of influences like pop and rock included in our songs. This meant we had more avenues open to us as a band than just a pure prog band.

What happened when you decided to break up and why did you decide to get back together?
Frank decided he didn’t want to do it bite anymore and left the band, which was a major let down in our lives. And when he decided he didn’t have enough time to do a reunion we asked john Mitchell to join…and he did. We had released a DVD live in Tokyo a couple of years earlier and it did ok, enough to make us think about doing some gigs.

Can you describe to us your meeting with John Mitchell and how have you made him involved?
John first came to light as far as with it bites with the Kino tour. Myself and john beck both did the live dates and when we did a couple of it bites songs to fill out the set we realized he did it really well. So we asked him to join the band after a rehearsal or two.

Do you think that the actual moment of grace for the prog music helped your come back?
Not really, pure coincidence

What emotions have you experienced with your comeback and what kind of audience do you have now, after so many years?
We had a great reaction to dates we did n 2006 which prompted the making of the tall ships and this too has been a great response from the fans, most of whom are long time fans id say. We do have a healthy amount of new fans though, young people mainly. Sons and daughters of old fans plus friends\converts if you like.

Are you planning to reprint your back catalogue?
Err….no but virgin might???

Can you tell us about the songs from the new album?
All the songs are new and have been written by john beck and john Mitchell. So although I am involved I am in a place where I can comment as a listener and id say this is a top album of songs and im once again proud to be involved with such talented people.

Does there is a concept behind?
All killer no filler was the only idea we had for this album. We only had 50% of the original band and a back catalogue to live up to.

How are going the responses to the new album, do you are surprised in some ways?
Again a listener i'm not surprised at the response we have had so far as it is a great album they have written

In your opinion, which are the differences with your early works?
I think tall ships captures all three of our previous albums and says. here we are now, here is a summary of what we do. The next will be different again I’m sure, as they all have been

What do you think about the actual progressive scene, there is something that you like?
Ocean size are a good band I went to seethe recently with john Mitchell. Very good

Today English prog artists are very few and the scene is poor in comparison to its tradition, how do you live this situation?
It is difficult but we do have a wider appeal than pure prog so that helps too.

What can you tell me about the prog scene in your country nowadays?
Not a lot I don’t follow it. Sorry

A lot of old school prog fans hate the new prog artists from the '80, what's your opinion about?
Que sera sera….

Are you planning a tour to support the new album? There will be some Italian dates?
Yes we tour with saga in the spring 09.no italian dates though i'm afraid.

Which are your future projects?
we go out and do some more dates in the uk in February followed by a tour in japan and then the saga dates. Hopefully then do some festivals and on to the next album.

Thanks a lot for this interview. Feel free to end with a message or a salute...
please have a listen to the tall ships and we hope to see you on tour soon.

Reviews (only in italian): The Tall Ships