Cranberries Tribute Band · Electric Blue Experience
Four musicians. Sixteen questions. Why The Cranberries?
A tribute band only makes sense if the people on stage still have something personal to say about the songs. Michela, Giorgio, Elvis and Orlando explain — each in their own way — why these songs are still worth playing.
Voice & guitar
Michela
She talks about songs from the inside: emotion first, technique second. And Dolores is not someone to imitate.
Which Cranberries song first felt genuinely yours?
Linger. Not necessarily the first one I heard, but the first one where I felt there was a space for me inside the song. It sounds simple until you sing it. Then you realise how many shades are hidden in it. That is something I love about The Cranberries: an immediate melody can carry a lot more underneath.
The unavoidable question: what is your relationship with Dolores O'Riordan?
Complicated, in the best possible way. You cannot sing these songs without confronting her presence because her voice and phrasing were unmistakable. But that is exactly why I do not want to imitate her. I would lose before starting. I prefer to respect what she created and bring my own voice into it.
Why did you say yes to a Cranberries tribute band?
Because after the first rehearsals I understood that nobody was looking for “a singer to put in front of three musicians”. We were building a band. I can sing, play guitar, suggest ideas, change arrangements. For me that changes everything.
What moment of the show do you wait for the most?
Probably Dreams. Not because it is the hardest song, but because something changes the second it begins. The audience recognises it almost immediately and suddenly the song no longer belongs only to the people on stage.
Guitar
Giorgio
He is interested in where a song can still go. Repetition for its own sake is the quickest way to kill it.
After all these years, why do you still want to play The Cranberries?
Because they have not bored me yet, which is quite remarkable. I have played some of these songs hundreds of times and I can still find details to change. If we had to reproduce exactly the same concert every night, I would probably have stopped. Electric Blue Experience exists partly to avoid that.
Favourite song to play?
Daffodil Lament. It is not the obvious answer from someone in a Cranberries tribute band, which is precisely why I like it. It has dynamics, atmosphere, guitars and silence. Almost everything I find interesting in their music is in there.
What does “The Cranberries Reimagined” actually mean?
There is a line we do not want to cross: the song must remain the song. Inside that line, though, we want freedom. Change a sound, stretch a section, remove something, rebuild a dynamic. Respect does not mean photocopying.
What would you like this project to become?
I would like people eventually to come to an Electric Blue Experience show not only because they love The Cranberries, but because they are curious about what we do with those songs. Playing them in Ireland was already something that once sounded slightly crazy. Now the ambition moves forward.
Drums
Elvis
Short answers, practical ideas. For him, the whole thing starts with groove and with musicians actually listening to one another.
What is unusual about playing The Cranberries as a drummer?
If you think the parts are easy, you will play them badly. A lot of the songs look straightforward, but the groove is everything. Fergal Lawler always played for the song. No unnecessary demonstration. Making something feel right is harder than making it look difficult.
Which song is the most fun live?
Promises. Physical, direct, no need to explain it. Put it in the right place in the set and the whole room changes gear.
You were one of the first to push for a change. What were you looking for?
A higher ceiling. Not louder, not more notes. Four people with the same appetite for detail and the technical possibility to act on an idea immediately. Now someone proposes something at rehearsal and five minutes later we are actually playing it.
Best thing about this line-up?
It listens. That may sound like a strange answer for musicians, but it is the important one. If four people really listen, you can change a dynamic on stage without having to discuss it first. That is when a line-up starts becoming a band.
Bass & guitars
Orlando
He already knew Giorgio and Elvis from years of records, stages and vans. His approach is simple: serve the arrangement, not the job title.
You joined Electric Blue Experience after years of music with Giorgio and Elvis. Did it really feel like a new project?
New, yes. Unknown, no. We had already shared records, studios, concerts and a ridiculous number of kilometres. You know people's strengths, weaknesses and — more importantly — how they react musically. Putting that chemistry inside The Cranberries catalogue was the interesting part.
Your favourite Cranberries song?
Ridiculous Thoughts. The bass part can look simple, but it carries most of the movement. It also reminds people that The Cranberries could be much rougher than the nostalgic version of them that sometimes survives in people's memory.
You play bass, but also guitars. Why?
Because four fixed boxes are boring. If a song works better with me on guitar, I take the guitar. If Michela needs to move from voice to guitar, she does. The arrangement comes before whatever role is printed next to your name.
What would you like someone to say after an Electric Blue Experience show?
“I came to hear The Cranberries and I saw a band.” That would do nicely.
One last question
In one word: why The Cranberries?
Electric Blue Experience
The Cranberries Reimagined
Four musicians, one catalogue and no interest in turning it into a museum piece.