Brian May interview at Italian program Che Tempo Che Fa (Rai 3 - 5 October 2021 )
Part 1 (on Youtube)
Hi everyone! I tried to translate the interview that Brian had with the Italian TV program Che Tempo Che Fa, with the host Fabio Fazio. This is only the 1st half of the interview, that can be found on Youtube, while I'll translate the next part next week so stay tuned.
Before reading:
Please keep in mind that English is not my natuve language, I'm Italian and I'm not a professional translator, I simply tried my best with the skills I have and a bit of help from the internet. There may be some errors here and there, I apologise.
While I constantly tried to hear Brian's voice to quote him directly, the translator's voice was loud and I couldn't hear Brian most of the time. My translation is a mix of what the translator says and what I could hear from Brian so please don't take these as exact quotes.
Part 2 is on Rai's website, I'll do my best to translate it for next week! He talks a bit about Freddie, about Back To the Light and other things.
Translation under the cut.
Fabio Fazio: Being able to have him with us is a great surprise. 50 years ago, along with Freddie Mercury, he started one of the most extraordinary bands of all time that sold more than 300 billions of discs. Before having him with us we’d love to dedicate to him and to Queen this video:
[Video montage]
FF: A rock legend, with Freddie Mercury he’s been the soul and the founder of Queen. From London: Brian May!
Brian May: Ciao Fabio! Thank you for having me!
FF: This is so emotional, we hope to see you soon here [Fazio meant in studio/in Italy], we’ll wait for you with open arms. (Fazio fanboys some more)
BM: Thank you, I can’t wait to be back in Italy, I’ve always loved it a lot. I apologise for the sunglasses, but I have a problem, I have an infection, it’s not my fault.
FF: Rockstars can do anything they want, there’s no problem. I’m sorry about the infection, I hope you’ll be better soon.
BM: But if you can stand me I can take them off, so you see me as I am. (Removes his sunglasses)
FF: Oh feel free to keep them on if you want to, it’s not a problem.
BM: Oh no, I wanted to show you how ugly I am (laughs)
FF: (laughs)
FF: So, this is a year full of important anniversaries, first of all 50 years ago Queen was born, I’ve heard that with Roger Taylor you didn’t want to do a massive celebration, he [idk if he refers to Roger or Bri, also this may not be the exact quote] said “Being still around and playing music is already the biggest celebration”.
BM: That’s right, we didn’t want to make too much noise, you know, 50 years makes us feel very old but I’m happy to be here, to work well. We will be on tour next year in May and we’ll be in Bologna; we really hope so because it’s been a long time and we really have to go on with what we’ve been doing.
FF: It would be amazing if you came here before the tour! But now I want to show our audience a very very beautiful thing: three days ago this very special book came out, the title is “Queen in 3D” and it’s a new updated edition [it’s the edition with the pages about BoRhap that came out like last year but not in Italy yet], completely written by Brian May, the [Italian] publisher is Gremese and it’s a beautiful book! Full of facts, memories, photographs, tales and passion. (fanboys some more) It’s like living the whole story of Queen at Brian’s side, and also our own lives’ stories as we had Queen as our soundtrack.
BM: (picks up the OWL) There’s also a tool to look at the pictures in three dimensions!
FF: Yes! Look, I have it too, my viewer. So, tell us about it!
BM: Because they’re not just pictures in two dimensions, they’re tridimensional and there’s a big difference!
FF: That’s a huge passion of yours! Now- in the end we found out that, alongside music, you’ve always studied and followed your passion for 3D photography!
BM: Yeah, I probably have too many passions! You see, of course my main passion is music, then stereoscopy, and also astronomy and I even got a PhD. And then animals, I love animals, protecting wildlife and animal rights.
FF: Exactly, Brian May has a PhD in Physics [*astrophysics], in fact his dad wanted for him to have a more reliable job, as a scientist. You’ve also been a teacher, right? While you were already writing songs for Queen.
BM: Yes, yes, I did! I taught maths I think at middle school, it was great but my students were a bit suspicious and kept asking me “are you a rockstar, sir?” while I was training them.
FF: (Laughs) Well they’d have noticed shortly after!
BM: (says something on the notes of “sure they did!”)
FF: So, during your whole time with Queen you always took pictures, so you documented everything.
BM: I did.
FF: And being them in 3D…
BM: It’s actually very easy! If we had more time I’d show you how, even with an iPhone or any smartphone you can take tridimensional pictures. You just have to take two photos one next to the other, if you go to my website there’s the whole explanation- because we need more tridimensional photos nowadays! I’ve convinced a lot of people, myself included, and NASA scientists as well. Stereoscopy goes from the Victorian era to space!
FF: That’s true! Why do you say we need more 3D photographs? What does it mean, what do they add?
BM: Because we have two eyes for a good reason, we have the privilege to see depth and it’s been important for our evolution, for example to see where our prey is or if we’re being attacked. Stereoscopy has been unfairly neglected.
FF: This passion, if I’m not wrong, comes from… wait, was that the guitar?
BM: Oh this? I always have one in my hands, I’m glued to my guitar!
FF: It’s the Red??! (literally glows up)
[Brian plays something but the audio is bad and there’s applause as well so we can’t hear anything, sadly.]
FF: But… is it the Red Special? I can’t see very well from here, is it that??
BM: Yeah, yeah this is my Red Special that I built with my dad many years ago, three thousand years ago. It still works. [?? Here I don’t know if Brian has actually said 300 but the translator surely did and I’m a bit confused]
FF: Can we… Can we hear it playing?
[the sound is again very low but better than before]
[applauses]
FF: In the book… [Brian keeps playing]
FF: Thank you!
BM: I’m trying to let you hear it…
FF: The sound isn't good, we can’t hear much, but we heard just a little… we tried… In the book you tell its story, you built it with your father! You used wood from your fireplace.
BM: Yes, exactly. There was a hundred year old fireplace and we used its wood, then some springs from a motorcycle… It’s been made with lots of litter but I’ve used it throughout my career and I want to keep it ‘til I live.
FF: That’s very touching, beautiful. I’ve heard that during concerts there’s a person whose job is to watch over it.
BM: Yeah there’s always a babysitter for it! During the concerts I always have it with me of course, but we all take very good care of it and keep our eyes on her, she’s an old lady and needs special attention!
FF: Your dad was an electrical engineer, right? He realized that yours was a serious business only later in your career... was it in New York?
BM: Yes, you know it’s always been really hard for him to accept that I wouldn’t carry on with my astronomy studies because I wanted to be a rockstar, and he told me “Why are you wasting it all away to be a rockstar?” -Yes, that's a photo of my dad- It took him a while. We were at Madison Square Garden and after the show he came to me, held my hand, and told me “Now I understand”. It’s been a beautiful moment.
I think we all want to please our parents and I think I managed to do that.
[Time was running out so Fazio had to change topic.]
FF: Well, we’re speaking to a legend, I’m so happy and starstruck and I thank you with all my heart.
Yesterday Brian got interviewed by the Italian TV program "Che tempo che fa", regarding the Italian re-edition of his book Queen in 3D (it's the same as the latest edition with the BoRhap paragraph at the end, but it didn't come out yet in italy). The interview was nice, I'm glad the host asked him about the book, his passion for photography, about Back to the Light and about the Red Special, and didn't make the whole interview about Freddie (nothing against it obv but I feel that's often a problem with Roger and Brian's interviews, people are more interested in milking Freddie rather than ask them about themselves).
The translator's voice was really loud and kinda atone so I can't really hear Brian's direct replies but it was overall very nice. Nothing really new coming from Bri, but still I wish I had the time to translate it for you guys 😔
They probably got laid a lot which put detrimental effects on their marriages / relationships
Yeah basically that’s what Brian said.
“For some reason we got so into the social life, we got a long way from the music. And I think we all skirted with extreme danger at that time, and didn’t do ourselves any good. I don’t know if we were sort of making up for lost time, but that’s when marriages started to crumble. We hadn’t been newsworthy until that point, and suddenly our lives were really interesting and pretty difficult to lead.”
