Bebawinigi - Of Songs and Stupefying Stories

Having debuted in 2016 with a self-titled album already brimming with allure, one for which the likes of Diamanda Galás, Carla Bozulich, Lydia Lunch and Tom Waits were called upon, Bebawinigi, aka Virginia Quaranta, has recently made headlines again thanks to the “obsessive songs” of “Stupor”, an album that ranges, holding nothing back, across different genres and styles, in a constant interplay of fullness and emptiness, noisy flare-ups, expanses charged with ancestral mystery, and heartfelt concessions to childlike ecstasy.

Below is our interview with the artist, who hails from Taranto.

"So, Virginia… apart from the “Mao” EP in 2021, it took you a full six years to follow up your debut, self-titled album. What have you been doing in the meantime?

So many things! I wrote, directed and acted in various theatre productions. I'm especially proud of “Storia Vera”, a stage adaptation of the text of the same name by Lucian of Samosata, which is the first science fiction story in human history! I've also acted in film and video-art projects. I've composed several soundtracks for theatre and cinema. But above all, I toured around Europe with my live shows, and most of “Stupor” grew out of that experience — it should actually have come out about two years ago. The recordings were finished in early 2020. Then things slowed down because of the pandemic. On top of that, the editing and mixing process had a difficult but very exciting gestation, because it involved a sonic exploration I'm very proud of. And now, at last, I'm starting to enjoy the fruits of this wonderful adventure, ready to head out on tour!

Why did you decide to use grammelot in so many of the songs on “Stupor”?

Singing in grammelot is something I've always done, and it's the result of a linguistic exploration with deep roots. First of all, I'm the daughter of an etymologist. That means that, from a very young age, I was instilled with a great passion for, and a careful, precise approach to, the use of verbal language. Beyond that, grammelot grew out of my university studies in linguistics and literature, and above all out of my work as a stage actress. When I was a girl listening to a ton of foreign music, I'd read the translated lyrics of my favourite songs and feel let down, because I'd imagined something completely different. That's when I realised I wanted to give my own, completely personal interpretation to a song, without following a fixed text. So I decided I'd write a good part of my songs in an invented language.

"Stupor" draws on so many different genres and styles. Was that a conscious decision, or was everything left to the inspiration of the moment? I ask partly because "Mao" went in a completely different direction, with its compositions for voice and guitar alone…

"Mao" is actually an EP conceived as a kind of gem for voice and guitar alone… it's a side release compared to the full-lengths. In fact, it was written and recorded at home during the first lockdown and came out in October 2021 as a little appetiser ahead of "Stupor". I wanted to put out something that represented that small, intimate, childlike side of me, which is a very important part of Bebawinigi. "Stupor" draws on so many different genres and styles simply because I love so many different genres and styles.

Can you explain the meaning behind the title, “Stupor”?

The title "Stupor" plays on the ambivalence between its Latin and English meanings. But it's not really the more well-known, ancient meaning that captures it — it's the English one, referring to the state where you can't think or act normally because you're too drunk, or too high, or too sick. It's a word we often use among friends, and it actually came out of a joke between us: we were wondering how to define the kind of music I make, since it doesn't have a set name or genre. So I said, "well, it could be called Stupor Wave"!

As far as I'm concerned, "Stupor" is a more mature record than your debut. What do you think?

It naturally is a more mature record than “Bebawinigi”, given that it came out later and there's also a gap of several years between the two… it's more complex, more multifaceted, and also much longer.

Why did you decide to put the image of a female breast on the cover?

There are several reasons, and they'd take a long time to explain — honestly, I don't really want to explain them too much anyway. My boob is a bit like grammelot: it's meant to be sensed, not explained. For instance, it looks like an eye caught in a state of stupor… Actually, it's a detail from a beautiful photographic artwork that Stefano Ciammitti made for me, which appears on the vinyl.

What kind of musical training did you have, and how did you first get into music?

My mother says I was born "singing". I've been singing for as long as I can remember, and I've always worked on my voice. My family has always been full of music and a love for every art form. It's thanks to them that, from a very young age, I got to listen to and discover incredible genres and artists. My father taught my older sister to play guitar, she taught me, and I taught my nephews and nieces. Even now, when we get together, we spend whole evenings singing in different voices and playing different instruments. As a child I got terribly bored, because I was pretty much alone, being the "latecomer" with a big age gap from my sisters. So I spent my time daydreaming, making up stories, and practising music, drawing and acting. On the other hand, being the youngest of everyone… my sisters, cousins and older friends would take me along with them everywhere in the evenings, I was their mascot, and so from childhood I got to hang out in the coolest venues and see amazing concerts. As a result, I was already writing songs at 11, and by 13 I had my own band.

Which records influenced you the most, and why?

Ouch, tough question! There are so many of them it would take a whole separate interview.

Let's do it this way: you've got a gun pointed at your head and you absolutely have to name five records!

Hmmm... I'll pick 5 at random out of the hundreds I've got in my head

1. Jethro Tull – Thick As A Brick

2. Metallica – Ride The Lightning

3. Nirvana – In Utero

4. Brian Eno – Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)

5. Sonic Youth – Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star

Is there any artist working today you feel particularly close to, or that you feel is especially akin to you?

I'd say I feel very close to Mica Levi, I feel she's a "kindred spirit" and has an artistic sensibility very similar to mine.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in your music, even within the folds of its more austere and mysterious moments, I get the impression there's something "childlike" lurking, something that, in short, has to do with a pure, wonder-struck perception of the world around us, and of what we carry inside us too...

You're not wrong. It's the other side of Bebawinigi, the childlike and the comic that mocks the more severe, shadowy side.

In what way, if at all, did the experience of the Covid-19 lockdown affect your perception of the world and of your music?

I lost the European tour I had lined up for March 2020, and I lost several jobs and shows too. But... I have to say I made the most of the situation to create a huge amount and to work on editing the record. So I actually have fond memories of that period: hyperactive and hyperproductive. That said, I have to admit that getting back into live activity since then has been, and still is, tough...

Among other things, you also trained to become a theatre actress. In what way does that theatre experience reverberate through your music?

There's a big theatrical component to my live shows. And drawing on my experience as an actress on stage is invaluable. I've always understood art as the union of many forms of expression fused together, which is why I trained not just as a musician but also as an actress, director, illustrator... Each track has its own world, with a character that's entirely cinematic or theatrical. Speaking of the latter, there are tracks like "Zichi", for instance, that were born to be a performance. "Zichi" is a game with the audience: first I build a suite of yawns designed to infect everyone watching, who duly start yawning too. Then, in the final part, I go down into the crowd to sing and tickle people... It really is the harassment song! Hahahaha!

You've often been compared, among others, to Diamanda Galás, and I imagine that can only be flattering. But concretely, what has the great American experimentalist taught you, if anything?

There's a sort of witchy affinity with her that I've felt since I was a child. And a strong perception of what is frightening, unsettling, dangerous. Witches exorcise that perception by becoming fear itself. She's certainly among the artists who taught me to bring out that essence of mine in my art — terrible, but necessary.

How do your songs usually come about? Is there something that sparks your inspiration in a particular way?

I'm inspired by everything around me, or that I feel inside. Usually, when a new song is born, it hammers away at my brain for hours, whole days on end, like an obsession. So all I can do is bring it to life. Sometimes it comes from particular situations: once I had to gargle with mouthwash for several days, and while doing it I'd sing a specific melody. That melody later became a song.

I've read that your music hasn't had, at least so far, much of a following in Italy, and I have to admit that doesn't surprise me. Abroad, though, in Germany for instance, things are going better. Have you resigned yourself to not being a prophet in your own land, or do you keep fighting?

Never resign yourself!

You're originally from Taranto, a city that has sadly made national headlines because of the dramatic environmental crisis tied to the Ilva steelworks. Do you go back there often?

Of course! Most of my family lives there, and I always go back. Taranto is a wonderful city, both geographically and naturally, as well as historically and artistically. It's a shame it gets treated like Italy's toilet. All our protests and our struggles have been in vain. We're still ignored and trampled on.

What should we expect from your next record?

Eeeeeeh, you want me to spoil the surprise? I'll just say I'm already working on it, and it's leading me toward unexplored, very fascinating shores!

Ride the wave of great music

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