SPIRALARMS' LOCICERO: 'I Do What I Do For The Love Of Music And The People I Play It With'

June 25, 2013

San Francisco Bay Area-based guitarist Craig Locicero (FORBIDDEN, MANMADE GOD, SPIRALARMS) has defended himself against accusations that he "jumps around [his] musical endeavors as a follower of trends," insisting that he "[does] what [he does] for the love of music and the people [he] play[s] it with."

It was announced on Monday that SPIRALARMS has inked a worldwide deal with Steamhammer/SPV. The group's second album, "Freedom", is scheduled for an October release.

SPIRALARMS' musical direction was described by Steamhammer/SPV A&R representative Georg Schröder as " true, honest and super-heavy melodic rock" — a far-cry from the thrash-tinged offerings of Locicero's late'-80s group FORBIDDEN, which made a comeback several years ago before (unofficially) calling it quits once again in 2012.

Writing on his Facebook page, Locicero said: "Anyone who really knows me understands that I play from my heart. When I stopped doing thrash in the '90s it was because it was uninspiring to me. I needed to get more melody and universal feelings out of my music. From MANMADE GOD to SPIRALARMS, that's been what I have attained. I'm able to 'go there' regularly with top-notch musicians that are my brothers.

"When FORBIDDEN started back up again in '08, it was because I was feeling it. It was originally only supposed to be a reunion tour and I put SPIRAL on a non-permanent hold. Wasn't even supposed to be more then a few months. But I did get the itch to make new FORBIDDEN songs after our European tour and I'm glad we did it. However, a lot of things went sideways once I went down that road. My bandmates on both sides questioning me. Challenging my commitment to both bands. Jealousy, doubt and anger from TWO bands wondering if I was leading them on. I was not. My heart was in the right place, there just didn't seem to be a way to make everyone happy no matter how hard I tried.

"That was a low point of my life. So I said f*ck it and that's when I really felt inspired to make an angry and ferocious thrash record. I did it and with the help from Tim Narducci and Brad Barth from SPIRALARMS. Bridging the gap, trying to get the FORBIDDEN put their trust in me and the SPIRAL dudes. Russ [Anderson, FORBIDDEN singer] was very paranoid and probably more jealous of SPIRAL than anyone in SPIRAL was about FORBIDDEN. But we did it together. It killed and should have kept FORBIDDEN's career going for a while. It just wasn't meant to happen. When the two original guys aside from myself were only partly committed and not lifetime musicians... it was doomed. And guess what? I'm not bitter about it. I understood both sides of the coin. But the amount of work involved just to keep the wheels rolling was crushing me. It wasn't fun anymore and certainly not worth forcing it.

"Russ was right about one thing, FORBIDDEN was not where my heart really is anymore. Part of it, sure, but I've grown into a different person/musician. I love the FORBIDDEN fans, playing the songs, the shows etc. I even enjoy writing metal, just not as much as I love playing from my heart. It's all been a great experience that paved the way and earned the respect I get because of that hard work. So in turn, I equally respect what I've gained from it. But I can go out there every day and pretend that I have the same anger that I used to. I'm not that kid anymore and I'm lucky I have another voice I can use to express myself. I have SPIRALARMS.

"So here we are. Another chance after all of the turmoil and doubts. Playing with guys I love and respect who want this as bad as I do. Willing to make the sacrifices needed to make our dreams worth the efforts. This is only the beginning of a new chapter of hard work. We haven't arrived anywhere but back to the starting blocks...and we're not late...we're just in time.

"So when somebody that doesn't know me implies that I jump around my musical endeavors as a follower of trends... that has never ever been the case. I do what I do for the love of music and the people I play it with. It comes from my heart."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).