Above The Tree - Avant-rock transformisms

Above The Tree is one of the most singular and mysterious figures of the new millennium in Italian music, a musician who eludes definitions, to the point that it's even hard to pin down what he actually looks like.

Between a glass of wine and a tasty mix of local delicacies, what follows is the result of our pleasant conversation.

Let's start with a few brief biographical notes: first and last name.

Marco Bernacchia

Place of birth.

Senigallia, about 25 kilometers from Ancona, in the Marche region.

Year of birth.

1979.

Let's start by getting a sense of the man behind the Above The Tree persona, uncovering part of your identity, and above all retracing your artistic path…

It all began at a young age with studying saxophone: after a path devoted in fairly conventional fashion to classical music, from age five to twelve, complete with solfège and all that sort of thing, I got tired of it and soon decided to quit.

Gripped by a kind of rejection, I stopped playing any instrument for a while, to the point of almost hating music.

Then I found my way back, trading the saxophone for an electric guitar amp.

That opened up a whole new world: at fifteen I started making music again, and before long I put together my first band, M.A.Z.C.A., with whom I made four albums.

(he doesn't mention it, perhaps out of excessive modesty, but we know that Marco went on to brilliantly earn a degree in painting, attending the specialist course at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Urbino — so a well-rounded artist all round, ed.)

M.A.Z.C.A.'s first record came out in 1998, the project carried on until 2008, and after a hiatus we've recently started playing live again.

M.A.Z.C.A.'s line-up kept changing over time: we started out as five, then became four, then three, and now we're a duo.

You've always found an outlet for your creative drive through parallel side projects too…

Indeed, in the meantime I devoted myself to other ventures — one was called Al:Arm!, an artistic collective formed after meeting Paolo Campagnola.

We made experimental electroacoustic music, and released one album.

At the same time, while M.A.Z.C.A. was going into stand by, the Gallina project took off, an experience that lasted only two years but left a significant mark.

In the new millennium you picked back up and renewed the concept of lo-fi recording…

I've always recorded using different methods, sometimes at home with the help of a computer, other times in a studio but always with a very house-recording attitude.

I always try to find recording methods that are sustainable enough, both economically and functionally: beyond the purely financial aspects, you always need to find a certain feeling with whoever is recording you, without shutting off any possibility on an emotional level.

When you start composing, do you immediately direct your efforts toward one particular project, or do you decide its destination at the end?

Generally I approach a predefined project right from the start of the compositional phase, also because each situation is well defined in its own right, although lately the mutual influences have started to shuffle the cards a bit.

For example, Gallina started out as a post-punk outfit, with bass, guitar and strong individual identities within the band.

A fairly conventional rock band in terms of lineup, with a final result that merged folk and punk.

The compositional approach to the material of a band like Gallina can't be the same as that of M.A.Z.C.A., which was formed in 1996 as an instrumental post-rock group, with an identity that reflected a very specific scene.

Then, as I was telling you, sometimes the various experiences influence each other, so M.A.Z.C.A. evolved along the way, and its sound drew much closer to Gallina's material, which no longer exists today.

E arriviamo ad Above The Tree.

Above The Tree started right away as a solo side project, with a very intimate approach.

The first record under this name came out in 2006, conceived in complete solitude, recorded at a community center in Senigallia, where several local bands used to hang out and we took care of organizing events.

There was this computer, and that's where I started from.

M.A.Z.C.A. had gone into stand by, and it was a shame because the web and new technologies were opening up new scenarios and breaking down boundaries, making it possible to reach contacts that were once unthinkable.

But then, as time went by, growing older, not all musicians kept the same needs and the same priorities.

Some of us have small kids, others' interests have shifted — in short, not everyone is still in a position to handle the travel needed to support a run of shows, and people no longer necessarily agree on the time and freedom required to keep a project on the road.

So I came to the decision to start organizing things on my own as well.

And slowly the name started to get around…

Well, then "Blue Revenge" came out in 2008, followed by "Minimal Love" the year after.

I played live a great deal, often right here in this area too.

Now, for this new record, called "Wild", Above The Tree has been joined by an extraordinary drummer who goes by e-side.

What you'll see tonight is the set we put together together to promote the album.

There are obviously some stylistic new developments compared to my earlier work.

And I have to say "Wild" sounds really good — have the technical means at your disposal improved over the years?

As far as recording gear goes, I've never really made big changes, in the sense that the mindset is still the same one we were talking about earlier.

I certainly don't have superstar recording studios at my disposal, nor sky-high budgets — everything is still put together with a decidedly "homemade" mentality and means.

So the strategic choice becomes seeking out, with the help of particularly attentive labels, better visibility on a national scale.

With "Minimal Love" I had seven labels pushing the same release: with a setup like that, it becomes possible to reach a more far-reaching distribution across the country.

These days, given how things are, it's very hard to build wall-to-wall distribution on your own: a coalition of labels makes it much easier to actually press the record and promote it properly.

Did the idea of bringing the seven labels together come from you?

Yes, I had a master in hand, a recording that was already finished, and I went around pitching it to various people, well aware that the investment required wouldn't be too big if it was split up.

Everything would have become simpler with a joint effort.

With "Wild", on the other hand, we planned things out beforehand: we sat down together to decide how to record it, and in the end we once again went with home recording.

The house might change, but the approach stays more or less the same.

This time the headquarters was a cultural association called "La Stanza", basically a municipal rehearsal room that's essentially a house in the countryside with minimal gear: a Macintosh, Pro Tools, a basic audio interface, a few microphones and not much else.

Let's leave the subject of recording and move on to "live": Above The Tree is becoming a European presence...

Above The Tree's first show was in Spain, in Zaragoza, thanks precisely to how easy it turned out to be to make contacts there.

Above The Tree now plays all over Europe, and the response has been very good.

I've already done five tours in Spain, and I'm building up my own circuit there, and above all a certain visibility in the underground scene, which is really what interests me.

I've also played a lot in Portugal and France, and we've just gotten back from a tour in Ukraine.

We certainly don't get bored.

On your promotional tours abroad, do you find curiosity toward Italian acts?

In France, for instance, where the general musical culture runs deeper than what you'd typically find in Italy, and where more international artists go on tour, I've found people are more inclined to actually go to concerts.

There's always a lot of curiosity, audiences are interested in new proposals, experiments, innovative situations.

How did the idea come about of performing with your face covered by a rooster head?

It all began with a performance I did in an art gallery, where, dressed up as a bird, I would climb a tree while recording all the ambient sounds and creating a soundtrack out of them.

Then it turned into a concert, which kept changing and is still constantly evolving to this day.

That mask represents a parody of how simply a bird's brain works, and then you can draw whatever analogy you like with the mind of whoever you want (laughs, ed.).

It's a fun way of expressing one's identity without fully revealing it, hiding instead behind a kind of stratagem.

Also, wearing a mask gives you the chance to become another entity on stage, a situation that grants a certain freedom of action — you depersonalize yourself.

Tell me about the experiment involving the recent live recording released only on cassette.

It all started from a show in Milan, in Varedo to be precise, at a house called Ca' Blasè, which is basically Rella The Woodcutter's garage.

They started organizing house concerts, and I was one of the first to play there; we recorded the set and it turned into something interesting, almost anthropological.

The tracks are available for free online, or distributed on cassette.

Those who prefer can download them from the web, and the product can have its own digital life.

To me, though, the cassette seems like the most fitting format, something that aesthetically ties in perfectly with a garage kind of vibe.

Can you make a living from your music?

Above The Tree survives: I make art, I've worked with art spaces, I've worked with music, even if "working" is a dangerous word here; let's just say this is what I do in my life — the artist.

Wouldn't such a niche approach end up being limiting, when you have to live off the money such an activity brings in? I don't know if I'm making myself clear...

I understood exactly what you mean, but those are risks you take when you try to do what you love, which won't necessarily appeal to everyone else.

Everyone makes their own stylistic choices, I'm doing what interests me, I have no trouble putting food on the table, so I'm fine, I'm not complaining.

Let's change the subject.

Well, I can tell you that the same things Francesco Bianconi says about young people are exactly what I think about Francesco Bianconi himself. To my ears, what he does, musically speaking, is nothing more than the result of the very background-noise culture he's talking about.

In my view there isn't really all that much depth in his music, or rather, no more than there was in b-movies or in certain Lino Banfi vehicles.

Baustelle's output is basically good for a country like Italy, but when I read Bianconi playing the philosopher and try to reconcile that with his music, it irritates me a little, some of his views can come across as a bit arrogant.

Anyway, I consider shallowness a contemporary tool that, used with the right method, can even be quite rewarding.

I've always had the impression that your music would be perfect as a film score. Would you like to be involved in a project like that? Want to use this as a chance to put out an appeal?

That's the impression I have too, and besides, making film scores is a dream I've been keeping in a drawer, one I've actually already put into practice on a few occasions.

Getting to contribute my music to some neo-western-urban film would definitely be the ultimate goal.

Out of curiosity: you've always had a strong presence on OndaRock, did you know that? (I show him a printout of a series of articles, ed.)

I know, I follow you guys with real affection, there's your writer Michele Saran who's written about a lot of my projects, I even had him at one of my shows in Mestre.

I was told about live shows of yours where you'd do mini personalized concerts for each person in the audience. Is that true, or is it just an urban legend?

It's all true: I was presenting a cassette released by Bloody Sound Fucktory, the live recording made in a garage during a private party, the “Live At Ca' Blasè” we were talking about earlier, and I decided to recreate that same intimate situation.

Every so often Marco steps away to answer his phone, it seems there's a phone interview going on in parallel with a Rome radio station, I take the chance to use it as a cue for the next question.

The world is starting to take notice of Above The Tree – are there any names you'd like to collaborate with?

I recently started collaborating with Riccardo Benedetti, who plays with In Zaire: we've begun a project that's on a bit of a hiatus right now, since we both have albums coming out.

Anyway, there aren't any particular names I'd faint over.

Don't you have even one idol you'd do anything to work with?

I don't know, someone like Brian Eno, or Eddie Vedder, some unreachable name...

Even a dead one? (laughs, ed.) Jim Morrison, would that work?

Look, I'll say Ali Farka Touré and Bill Orcutt.

In Italy nobody in particular, and to be honest I don't know the scene that well, or rather, I'm not sure which scene you mean, there are too many different levels, just trying to answer you I've already lost my thread...

I notice a subtle thread of irony, so I jump at the chance.

Musicians almost never answer questions like this, but I want to try: are there any homegrown artists you just can't stand?

I find Le Luci della Centrale Elettrica boring and overrated, and the same goes for almost all the new Italian singer-songwriters, who almost always lack any long-term way out.

The only thing I appreciate about them is that they've given other young people a reason to pick up a guitar again.

Give me a few names then that you particularly esteem or appreciate on the national independent scene.

Or just someone you enjoy listening to anyway.

I really like what Fabio Bonelli of Musica da Cucina does; back in 2010 we did a split together, a vinyl we divided equally, each of us claiming one side.

I like In Zaire, Father Murphy, Comaneci, I've also done some things with Francesca Amati of Comaneci, she put vocals on a track of mine, so as you can see I keep bringing up artists I've already collaborated with.

We let him finish his quick dinner, because time is always short.

We follow the live performance with great attention, the audience is captivated by the duo's sonic experiments, by crescendos of great intensity, often built on percussive, Afrocentric rhythms, clearly indebted to certain passages dear to Animal Collective.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google