Anacleto Vitolo - Av-k - K.lone - Kletus Kaseday - The last virtuoso of Italian-made electronic music

An upward trajectory that seems destined to keep going: this is the path Anacleto Vitolo's career has followed in recent years. A journey that's still brief, but deeply rooted, firmly planted in Naples' electronic underground and in particular in the seminal countercultural experience of the RXSTNZ collective. Born a drummer and soon transformed into Kletus Kaseday, building a reputation mainly as an histrionic, unpredictable beatmaker, Vitolo has carried forward his own highly personal research, progressively embracing more and more territories and proving himself an authentic, versatile musician. The fruits of this path have been the successful experiment straddling melodic ambient and glitch under the name K.Lone, and later the final, definitive alter-ego Av-k. Under that name, a few weeks ago, "Fracture" saw the light of day: the album of his definitive consecration, perhaps the most personal and mature of his works. All this without forgetting the meta-avant-garde marvel released last year together with Michela Coppola under the name Algebra del Bisogno, and the equally worthwhile post-rock experience alongside Enrico Carrino under the name Ame Pantin, which saw him return to his "original" role as drummer. A great variety of creative souls closely bound together by a set of themes and moods that have always been dear to Vitolo's soundworld: from anxiety toward time to claustrophobia, by way of a naturalistic and deterministic vision of contemporary reality and a "scientific" fear of the future, rendered through post-apocalyptic and meta-industrial sonic scenarios. To get him to tell us all about this and shine a light on his artistic journey, on the occasion of the release of "Fracture" we reached Anacleto by email: what follows is the substantial legacy of our virtual chat.

Personally, I discovered you only a few years ago, thanks to a track released under a moniker you no longer use, which ended up on a sampler that I in turn found while digging through the vinyl collection of a DJ friend from the RXSTNZ scene… Since then, I've never really been able to dig deeper into your background: can you sum it up?

So, it all started around fifteen years ago, even though I only started releasing music more recently. First and foremost, I started out as a hip-hop dj/turntablist, and later, struck by Company Flow and especially the beats on Funcrusher Plus, I devoted myself to production. I started with beats and slowly, over the years and through what I was listening to, that evolved into the various things I went on to do. In the meantime I studied drums for about 8 years, and perhaps a lot of the rhythmic side of my productions comes precisely from the influences and the studying I did during that period. ­

Speaking of RXSTNZ, how important was that experience for your artistic journey?

Enormously, I'd say it was fundamental! I had the pleasure and honor of meeting the RXSTNZ guys, in particular Giona (Hyena) and Pablo (Pablito el dritto, as well as RXSTNZ's boss) back in '99 when I took part in MEI tech. That's where I met Giona, and we've kept up our musical connection ever since. I released my first official EP as Kletus Kaseday, "X", with them, along with the digital version of "A stubborn rising", with the Framedada collective, for which I handled the musical side.

In every one of your projects, you've always stood out for your meticulous attention to the electronic sounds around you, which you've consistently woven into an incredibly personal soundscape… What's the relationship between what you listen to today and what you absorbed in the past? Is there any trace of it in your music?

My very personal opinion is that everything we listen to inevitably influences us and can, in some way, be traced in the music we make or, more broadly, in whatever art form we express ourselves through. I've always loved the dark, cerebral, "mantric" side of music, if you can call it that, across every field, from rock to rap to ambient, jazz, death metal. All genres I love deeply and that helped shape me. In some way I believe there's a common thread running through everything I like and listen to. I think. But honestly, it hardly matters!

Staying on topic, which artists do you appreciate most today? And which ones from the past have you learned the most from?

Well, when it comes to artists I appreciate, both today and in the past, I could list hundreds. Artists like King Crimson, Tool, Vladislav Delay, Throbbing Gristle, Dälek, El­P & Cannibal Ox, Jesu have definitely left a huge mark on the way I make music. The record that's blown me away the most in recent times has undoubtedly been "Virgins" by Tim Hecker. Pure beauty as far as I'm concerned, but there's also a lot of Italian music that's struck me. The gorgeous "Xuan" by Ennio Mazzon, "Natura Morta" by Andrea Belfi. The latest Dirk Serries—we could go on for hours listing them… I hope I've learned something from everyone I've listened to, without ripping any of them off.

Your recent "Fracture" shows how your sound is in constant evolution: today it grapples with and deconstructs that "human" minimalism that, through Jon Hopkins, found its way to the top; yesterday, with K.lone, it leaned more toward late-stage glitch. And before that, you transformed hip-hop into a post-sci-fi expression… Is this a deliberate choice, or do you just follow a creative instinct?

I make, produce, play whatever inspires me in that moment. There's no premeditation involved. The truth is I like a lot of things, and I don't put too many limits or constraints on myself.

How did you come to embrace ambient music and drones, the almost exclusive components of that gem "A Centripetal Fugue"?

I couldn't really tell you; honestly, I've always loved ambient, and in almost everything I listen to, whatever its nature, I find a strong drone component. Sure, interest in this kind of music has grown a lot lately, helped along by gorgeous records like the aforementioned Tim Hecker ones, but truthfully these sounds captivated me from the very first time I encountered them.

The undeniable consequence is the polyglot nature of your research, which, while sticking to certain fixed principles, always tends to produce unpredictable results… Where does this constant stylistic turnover come from?

Generally speaking, I get bored producing or working on the same kind of things all the time. It's almost a necessity, but really it happens completely naturally: seeking out new stimuli and new ideas that inevitably push me, time after time, to play/produce/compose whatever music I'm feeling in that moment.

Is there a connection between this eclecticism of yours and your choice—seemingly very "nineties"—to entrust your music to so many different pseudonyms?

Actually, the reason for that is closely tied to the audience. It's not unlikely that whoever prefers Av-k productions (a name under which, incidentally, I actually produce fairly different kinds of things, and which lately I've been using almost exclusively for all my most recent releases) might not enjoy the softer, poppier sounds of K.lone, as opposed to the acid beats I release under the name Kletus.K—most often in combination with MCs, as on "Internos" or "moonchild(s)". A different story applies to the collectives, like Internos itself, Algebra del Bisogno and X(i)NEON. Let's say that, broadly speaking, I have 3 personal pseudonyms: Av-k for all the most experimental productions, K.lone for the poppier stuff, and Kletus.K for acid beats and rap.

I got the impression that your recent work under the name Av-k is the most mature and self-aware of your career. Would you agree it's your most personal, complete and, in some ways, "definitive" project?

I'm flattered by your words, and it's certainly not for me to say. What's for sure is that, today, it's the project I feel closest to my personal tastes and inclinations, and it's the one I'm devoting almost all of my current and upcoming productions to (even the new Internos, which will be out soon, will be released as A.rota.B & Av-k, because of Kletus.K, given the nature of the productions).

I don't think it's a coincidence that this recognition arrived with a moniker you've often used in the past too, to sign some of your productions on a discographic/editorial level… How and where was it born? What does it represent for you?

Here's how it went: at first I released things under the name Kletus Kaseday… the issue came up with Framedada, and in particular with K.lone. That's where the need arose to find a name that could bring all of these various projects under one umbrella, associating them with me. Then, when I made the tracks for Fat Cat, I felt the need to find yet another moniker, because I felt they were quite far removed from everything I'd done before… And at that point I decided to use the name Av-k, which is nothing more than the acronym of my first and last name with the addition of the K, for Kletus (laughs).

If I think of a comparison between “Enchantment” and “Francture“, the sonic evolution is quite obvious, and so are the differences, even radical ones, in the sound. What direction has your research taken in recent years? Driven by which elements?

Certainly on one hand there's the rhythmic aspect, this time more fragmented and less rigid, and at the same time more aggressive. On the other, there are the drones and the noise. To be honest, I feel “Fracture”, and Av-k in general, as an evolution, a direct consequence of the things I started as Kletus.K. Little, if any, room for the melodies that instead characterize K.lone… But, as I keep saying, there's no premeditation in any of this. There's much more instinct than you might think! ­

In that respect, both “Fracture” and your hip-hop work under the name Kletus Kaseday (and, in a more abstract and less strictly rational way, the Algebra del Bisogno project too, which we'll get back to later) seem to share a sense of scientific anguish, an almost naturalistic attitude in rendering, through sound, the times we live in and hypothetical future scenarios. Do you agree with this reading? Is this theme of the world changing over time one that's close to your heart?

I fully agree, insofar as, inevitably, the times we live in, and the socio-economic, political and environmental conditions, influence us in every respect. Rather than feeling like a witness of my time, I'd say it's the context I live in that shapes me, more or less consciously, leading me to carry those feelings into the music I make.

And as for that little marvel you worked on with Michela Coppola, what did it represent for you?

It's definitely an escape from everything your art has been up to this point, a step that goes beyond music in the strict sense.

Do you think there's a connection between the metatheatrical expressionism of this work (and the art of spoken-poetry) and your hip-hop past (with “its own spoken-­poetry”, that is, “rhythm and poetry”)?

There definitely is. And I'm strongly drawn to this style of vocal and recitative delivery. On one hand, this isn't an entirely new operation for me, since Framedada itself was a project that combined sound experimentation with poetic research. And then I'm hugely intrigued by the interplay of rhythmic patterns between the voice, the percussion and the other instruments in general. Certainly, given my drumming background on one side and my hip-hop roots on the other, it came about somewhat naturally. ­

Besides having gained, in a short time, an important and thoroughly deserved status in the Italian electronic scene, the pace of your releases has also sped up dramatically! What's behind this creative explosion?

Well, to tell the truth, I've always produced a lot. It's just that until a few years ago I didn't feel ready to release the things I was making… I consider the first 10 years (I've been doing this for about fifteen years now) as years of study, of training… Let's say that from around 2010 I started feeling more confident and pitching my stuff more to labels so it would get released. Why do I produce so much? Because I love it! I love music, I love making it and I love listening to it! ­

How do you explain the fact that you managed to “climb” the mountain of recognition in such a short time?

I don't know if that's really happened. What I know is that I love what I do, and what drives me is passion, nothing else. ­

By the way, how did you end up signing with FatCat, and what does this milestone mean to you? When can we expect your first release for them?

With FatCat I have a publishing deal; for now there's no talk of record releases, at least not in the immediate future. I sent them an email with a link to my material and some info, just as I've always done in the past and still do, pitching my own work. I feel lucky and honored to have been chosen among so many others to work with them. It all happened very naturally... beyond anything I could have expected!

Has something changed in your interests, and in you as a person, over these few but intense years?

Probably yes, but I couldn't really tell you how. I don't think about it much, honestly... It must have happened, if nothing else for reasons of "age". What's certain is that I love music exactly as much as I loved it fifteen years ago, when I started fiddling around with mixers and turntables. What's certain is that today the range of things I appreciate and that intrigue me, not just musically, is broader, as is right and natural as a person grows, whatever they do and whatever field they're in.

Your way of understanding electronic music has never depended on the dancefloor and its dynamics, but your most recent work seems to have definitively severed that connection... Would you agree?

Well, actually one of the upcoming releases, which I won't name or date for superstition's sake, does carry, albeit in a very personal form, a certain connection to techno and the dancefloor, though completely detached from the dynamics that surround that world, for better or worse.

We're also in a period in which electronic music as a whole is progressively moving away from this original role... Do you think this process can benefit expressive potential and music in general?

I wouldn't know, I don't feel in a position to pass judgment on that. Truth be told, there are some really beautiful and interesting things happening both within and outside the dancefloor sphere. I don't think it's a matter of background or genre, but more simply a matter of the quality and personality of the work itself.

Speaking of your discography, I noticed that "Fracture" is a very carefully curated release in terms of its physical edition, and interestingly it follows two works released exclusively in digital format... Do you still believe in the value and relevance of physical formats for electronic music? Could digital potentially represent a better, more current alternative?

I like buying records. Unfortunately I buy far fewer than I'd like to, and that's my own very personal answer to your question. I have no prejudices about it, I'm neither a fanatic nor a staunch follower of one school of thought or the other. What matters to me is that the music gets listened to in the best possible way. I think the question of formats is also somewhat tied to the trends of the moment. Right now I see a lot of cassette releases and a strong, decisive vinyl revival. It's all fine, as long as the music gets out there and gets listened to. Whether that happens digitally or on a physical format matters little to me.

How important, on the other hand, is the live dimension for you? And what kinds of venues do you think best suit your music?

The live show is a very important aspect of my music, and I think an album like "Fracture" in particular comes across even better live, if presented in the right context. I try to take as physical an approach as possible to performing live, attempting over time to make my live set feel increasingly "played", as much as possible. As you rightly said earlier, I'm not that tied, at least as far as the live show is concerned, to the dancefloor dimension of things, but a lot depends on the type of live set I'm about to present, which is often also a function of the location where I happen to be performing. I like both larger settings and more intimate, close-knit situations. I have no preference in that regard. I like to change things up and test myself in ever-different situations.

Let me wrap up by asking you to give us a preview of your next moves: I understand that the creative explosion we talked about earlier seems far from winding down...

Yes, there are a lot of things in the pipeline, some with a more immediate timeline, others looser and further off in terms of release. Coming up soon are the new Internos, the first work as X(i)NEON (in collaboration with bassist/double bassist Francesco Galatro), a few releases as Av-k, solo and with a couple of works in collaboration with other musicians, and then a remix album for Laverna's 10th anniversary... And then I'm starting up a new small venture, Cogwheel Press Rec, which will give voice to that alt-rap side I mentioned earlier, with a few releases involving me (as Kletus Kaseday) on production, and others by artists I admire and respect in that field... In short, plenty to keep me busy!

Header photo by Alfonso Fiero – courtesy of Flussi

Homepage photo by Alessandra Magno

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