like his work a lot. Q: How do you manage to work on so many different collaborations?
will lead to nonlinear developments and unpredictability. The result is a holistic whole, something which is different from the sum of its parts, a complex dynamical system with global emergent properties.” To demonstrate in practical terms your working method, could you maybe pick one particular moment in the live excerpt you have uploaded onto Soundcloud and talk me through it?
at the same time, it is hopeful as it can lead to a radical discontinuity in the otherwise continuous evolution of the species.” In a similar way, INNV works with no pre-planned structures, favouring improvisation. Indeed, as Andrea Valle explained to me, diversification in sound is very important to INNV. Will any of the hopeful monsters generate a new breed of sound?
A: Yes, I described the trio focusing on that idea, but I think it is actually something which applies to any improvisational approach. I wanted to underline the idea that a group of improvising musicians should be considered as a whole, and not just as a summation of the characteristics of each member. I like to think of improvisation as a functional mechanism to achieve the aforementioned interaction, and not as something which itself defines an aesthetics.
A: Each one of us has always been researching new sounds. Every time I’ve met the other members of the group, they had new devices or processes augmenting their sets with which they created sounds, either as instrument preparations, self-made instruments, or software implementations. Personally, I think I would hardly be able to work with found-sounds now, and my attempt is to implement systems which can potentially lead to new sonic and formal (two strictly inter-related aspects) results every time.
I think that any part or development in the Soundcloud track is representative of such an approach, as the track is a non-edited extract from one of our improvisation sessions. Q: Next one up is the INNV or the Institute for the Very Very Nervous, an electro-acoustic improvisation which had an earlier incarnation as AMP 2 and which also included Domenico Sciajno. AMP 2 released an album, Hopeful Monsters, part of the Musica Improvvisa boxset by Die Schachtel which took as the concept of the Hopeful Monster introduced by the biologist Richard Goldschmidt at its basis to indicate an individual of a species showing a relevant mutation in its genes. “This mutation makes the individual a ‘monster’ as it differs from all the other individuals of his species but,
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Q: You’re also collaborating with SEC_ who’s from the Naples area. What can you tell me of this particular collaboration? A: The first time I met Mimmo was a few years ago in Avellino, when I played a duo with Gandolfo, but we didn’t really have a chance to talk. After I moved to Naples we started hanging out together and sharing ideas and music. Eventually we organized a concert where we played solo sets and as a duo. That’s how it all started. After that, we did some recording sessions and more recently we’ve been working on an album which is almost finished, and which could actually turn into two albums. Mimmo is now a good friend of mine and I’m very happy about this collaboration. I really
A: It is not that easy indeed. With Mimmo it is easier as we live in the same city, but most of the other people I’m working with are based in different cities, and some even abroad. We try and organize gigs in order to be able to physically meet up and eventually work on other recording sessions or projects. When I go back to Sicily I always try to stop by in Palermo to see Gandolfo, whereas with Andrea we can easily work online when it comes to writing and such like. Whenever the occasion arises, I can also travel to meet the other musicians I collaborate with, if we have something specific to work on. If, on the other hand, they happen to be in my area because of some other work they’re doing, that’s also a good occasion to meet up of course. Q: On a more general note, just to get an idea of your listening background, how influenced have you been by examples of feedback in both contemporary music, and I’m thinking specifically of Steve Reich, and pop and rock music with the likes of Robert Fripp and Sonic Youth? A: Not at all, to be honest. I have only recently started to listen to some Sonic Youth and Robert Fripp (I think Gandolfo played some for me), which I like, but I wasn’t listening to them when I started working with feedback. I’m quite sure I’ve listened to Pendulum Music a long time ago, but that wasn’t the trigger to get into feedback either. It all started while implementing patches: at some point I tried some processed feedback loops and, as I have already mentioned, I thought that that was something to be deeply investigated. I used to be heavily into the Breakcore scene, and when I was younger I listened to a lot of Sepultura, Pantera, Negazione, CCCP, Primus and Alice in Chains, and even some traditional or classical music. Although I’ve always been listening to non-conventional/experimental music from an early age. Q: I am particularly interested in finding out whether you have experimented on