Interview with DANIELE BRUSASCHETTO

Automatic translation. Improvements are constantly being worked on.

“Even the toad sings his praises.”

2 facts:
– The Italian project has been in existence since 1994.
– The music of Turin-born Daniele Brusaschetto is characterized by the combination of elements from soundscapes, electronics and an intimate writing style.

The release of the new album “Bruise a Shadow” was a “fulfillment and liberation” for Daniele Brusaschetto. This was preceded by “a truly intensive and exhausting five years.” However, the result corresponds to the artist’s ideas. We talk to Daniele about tilting at windmills, classic obsessions, amphibians and pale temptations.

Tilting at windmills?
Orkus:The versatile title is also about pronunciation, isn’t it?
Daniele Brusaschetto: It’s mainly a play on words. “BruiseAShadow” is how non-Italians pronounce the name “Brusaschetto”, especially native English speakers. My friend Bruno Dorella pointed this out to me when he told me: “I have the title for your next album!”. I find the (“not”) meaning of making a shadow pale very fascinating and evocative. Punching something that can’t take a punch … Don Quixote-style tilting at windmills; or again, taking it out on the shadow of the opponent in the flesh, either out of cowardice or buffoonery… or boastfulness… or mockery… You can have fun turning things around in a thousand different ways.

Classic?
O: “Coal Woods” is also characterized by its multifaceted nature and unconventional structure. How long are such fiery arrangements polished?
DB: Oh, a long time. In the last six or seven years, I have significantly intensified my listening to classical music. Even though I have full respect for it, I feel the need to go beyond the usual song structure of “popular” music: Introduction/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus. I want to have fun looking for different structures, necessarily more complex. Grating the guitar, stumbling on unpredictable sonic excursions, and throwing myself into sonic rollercoasters at light speed. Naturally, however, without sacrificing the melodic sense, an essential and princely part of the whole.

Obsessed
O: “The Eternal Perhaps of the Who Knows” ends quite specifically, “Travaso di Bile” abruptly and “Petra” ends gently. Does it depend on a good ending?
DB: I’m actually quite obsessed with endings, and how one song connects to the next in an album. It is these details that make a difference. Even the simplest fade-out must be calibrated in speed/length to give the right sense of closure to one piece… and opening to another.

Temptation?
O: Does the album release mark the end or the beginning for you?
DB: It’s a mixture of the two. It’s a mixture of the two things. The enormous creative work and the number of choices that have to be made before an album is produced finally become a thing of the past. Added to the satisfaction is the curiosity to send promotional copies, see what the reviews will be like, whether the public will like it, the search for live dates… And then the worm of a new creative process creeps in, stimulating, but which must wait patiently. We must resist him tenaciously, everything in its time.

Fahl?
O: How did the moon and toad come to be in the cover artwork and lyrics for “Alla Luna”?
DB: “Alla Luna” (“To the Moon”) is a romantic song dedicated to the moon, nothing particularly original I guess (laughs) … But it’s a satellite that has always attracted and fascinated me. Perhaps due to his modest personality, his pale light is a different intensity every night. Life on earth is secretly controlled by his sickle. Even the toad sings his praises.

In the wild?
O: Have you ever met a toad or frog in the wild?
DB: When I think of frogs, I vividly remember mountain hikes in my pre- adolescence, small lakes and streams filled with these amphibians and their little tadpoles. As for toads, however, I have some doubts. Probably only in some display case in a zoo somewhere…

Did you know?
Rocco Lombardi’s art was already represented in Daniele Brusaschetto & Paolo Spaccamonti’s “Burnout (August Sessions)”. With the new cover, Daniele had to get used to the “presence of a lot of black”, but appreciates the style for many reasons and believes it can “bring the elusive lyrics back down to earth”.