Guitarist Mark Diglio reveals XYZ’s classic line-up has reunited and working on new song ideas
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XYZ‘s classic line-up of lead vocalist Terry Ilous, bassist Pat Fontaine, guitarist Mark Diglio and drummer Paul Monroe are back together working on new song ideas. The four musicians were first in XYZ together from 1988 to 1991 during which time they released the debut self-titled album in 1989 and Hungry in 1991.
Andrew Daly from Classic Rock History caught up with Diglio in a rare interview.
Diglio was asked what first led to his departure from XYZ and whether he contributed to the album Hungry before leaving. The guitarist replied: “I’ll start with your second question. Yes, Hungry is all me writing and playing. I left after the Foreigner tour. As I said earlier, there was a change in the air; Seattle was onto something new, and something told me it was going to be big. I felt I needed some time to process things and see where the scene was going. Years went by before I knew it. I never walked away from music, just the music business.”
In terms of what he did during the 1990s and 2000s, Diglio advised: “I spent time with family and did things I never had a chance to do. I was living life. As I mentioned, I have a passion for blues music, so with no musical agenda, I started studying blues music and learning about all the many important people who contributed to the blues. I taught myself how to play slide guitar, learned a different phrasing, played many blues jam nights, put together a few projects, and just became a fan of the music. I spent a lot of time exploring vintage gear as well. When grunge peaked, I was a big fan of the sound. It was great; it wasn’t what I wanted to do personally, but it was a very creative period.”
On what led him back into the band, Diglio indicated: “It started with a phone call just about catching up, and then the next thing you know, we were working on song ideas. It’s in the early stages now, but there’s some good stuff already. Paul Monroe, the original drummer, is also on board.” With respect to what the future holds for XYZ‘s reunited classic line-up, Diglio opined: “I’m not sure where this will go. We have been working together remotely, swapping ideas, but when things are ready, we’ll be recording in Denver, Colorado, at Joey Shapiro’s Avalanche Recording Studio.”
