The envoy They are, in technical parlance, obsessive. Now: We know that the word “nerd” is often used in a derogatory way but the truth is that I personally highly envy their scientific knowledge and the talent they have to apply to music. So, yes: The nerd is a stark compliment.
backwards It is the song with which they decided to introduce themselves to the world, already defined by similarities: Radiohead, Massive Attack, U2. Here, though, we think identifying by similarity is boring, so here’s our definition: If someone could play the picture of subatomic particles colliding with each other, the envoy would come out.
Of course we want the image with a black background.
First thing: I recorded everything in analog. I think it gave you a chance to literally “touch” your music. What is the feeling it gives?
The honest answer? So much worry! Seriously, the adoption of analog audio wasn’t a random choice. The ability to touch music with your hands obviously has serious consequences at the formation stage. You are entering a dimension made of screens and choices, and another made more of instinct and ‘courage’. In a sense, it allows you to tell thoughts with greater intensity, and possibly make choices that, even if unconscious, are often more focused. Then there’s the fun part! We are real obsessed! We take pleasure in complicating our lives. Our condition, the worse things get, the more we have fun.
The second thing: why choose analog? What made you lean toward magnetic tape and scissors?
As said before, we love to complicate our lives. But the real reason behind all this is given by the different sound paste that is obtained with this type of device. Now, one can talk for hours about the thousands of ways analog audio can prove to be better than digital, but for that there are forums for audio enthusiasts. For us it is just a matter of sensations, the essence of sound. It’s simply different the way we like it, and that gives us a different movement and warmth. Music composing is a vital and three-dimensional matter, and cannot be described using very technical terms. You get lost in the ocean of vibrations of the song, and you get into that instinctive dimension we were talking about before.
You’ve called the back Your Business Card. Why did you choose this piece to introduce yourself to the world when you already know how it was received?
Exactly for the reason I just explained! Backwards is our calling card, because it’s our first real look at the world as a band, and because it’s a way of saying to everyone: Hey! Here we are, and this is our music! It is simply a way of expressing who we are, and is there a better way for us than with our music and our voice? And we can say with reasonable confidence that if you want to get an idea of our voice, Backwards is the best example.
As a first, and like all our beginnings, on the other hand, this is a very delicate stage; Therefore, we do not feel unbalanced by expectations that are too optimistic or too negative. We can say one thing though! We have received so many positive messages, and this cannot but fill us with joy. We are dreamers and like to think big. One day we would like to be able to travel and transport our music outside the Italian borders. If this happens, we may consider ourselves the most grateful and fortunate people in the world. That’s why we see this song as a stepping stone towards what we hope will turn into something bigger.
An unlikely question: You three are science enthusiasts, each in their own field. Physics, planets and geology. Yesterday I was reading about Gianfranco Schiavacchi, an artist and photographer, who incorporated courses for programmers and binary code, the logic behind the language of computers, into his art. Do you work the same way? Do the laws that “govern” the world end up in your music? In the end you experiment with the tools, and the science goes on with the experiment.
It’s partly a matter of taste, and partly a matter of practice. We have always been very attracted to old and new techniques, and we often try to incorporate them into our music. We thought of some pieces: How do we recreate the sense of space with a guitar? How do we get the idea of starting a rocket using a compound? We are so fascinated by everything that is greater than us, and what is the best example of the immensity of the universe? There are views that we believe are intimately necessary to our development as human beings; The perspectives you only have when you are placed in front of the true scale of the universe. Study and knowledge bring awareness, but also a deep sense of humility and reverence for the world. In connection with this, some time ago we found ourselves having to choose between a series of samples to include in a song, it is a piece that accurately speaks of this, and in the end we chose a certain famous speech of the world and popular Carl Sagan, the narrator who occasionally accompanied the afternoons of our childhood.
Then there is the strictly practical part, which is more relevant to our present than ever: In addition to being great geeks, we also believe that everything can be useful in some way: the more knowledge and workers you have in many areas, the better. We are all passionate about photography, light, electronics of all kinds and of course science, and this allows us a lot of freedom in the creative field. It is not uncommon for knowledge gained in another field to be useful in writing music.
Technical question: Do you already have any shows planned? How will you promote this song?
jokes? They even call us from Japan! To stay seriously, we have concerts now scheduled in Rome, and we’re moving our music across the country, and why not, in Europe. Also, we have a big surprise in the pipeline which will be coming out very soon. Get ready, because you’ll see some good stuff!
Thanks!
“Infuriatingly humble social media buff. Twitter advocate. Writer. Internet nerd.”
