Cabeki - Il montaggio delle emozioni

When he's not busy lending a hand in the studio or onstage to other acclaimed colleagues, Andrea Faccioli takes on the guise of Cabeki and brings to life finely chiseled tracks, in a craftsman-like work that starts from acoustic textures to head off, each time, in different directions and toward different horizons. On the occasion of the release of his third album “You won't make it, they're as fierce as wild beasts“, we have a chat with the Verona-based composer.

This album came into being after a fairly long and complicated labor, both in its creation and in its release. The title also describes the fear I had of not making it — neither finishing it nor releasing it.

It could be a concept about “disillusion” — and not only artistic disillusion — which inevitably takes hold of you with age, but which leads you to an interesting creative maturity and clarity. So not necessarily a negative meaning. But it also describes the cultural “Dark Age” we're living in, and which we ourselves are feeding. And the further new international developments can only encourage this view. Although I think it's a physiological evolution of the system. In fact, the track titles on the album are meant, in theory, to trace a sort of circular evolutionary path: from “Ultima luce” we'll start over again from a “Disgelo” and a “Prima luce”. So: ad majora!

There has always been a craftsman-like care, I'd say, in your solo work when it comes to choosing not only the instruments and sounds, but also the touches, and what isn't there — if you know what I mean. How do the songs come about, and how do you put them together?

I start from the guitar, and even more so on this record. Then a kind of mental process of arranging and shaping the sound takes place. Although I never think too much about where I'm going — I get there as I go, it's pure fun.

I really like the word “craftsman-like”. In general, I'm someone who likes to tinker around with wood and screwdrivers. I set up my guitars myself, I'm constantly modifying them. And I like instruments with unusual, particular timbres. I like the fact that not everything is so “recognizable”. And from this point of view, “what isn't there” is fundamental to me, both when I listen to other people's records and when I compose. Leaving open paths for the listener is essential — it's what makes you come back to a record a thousand times.

I think I'm still part of the generation that would listen to an album for two months straight until it was worn out, and then move on to something else. Now it seems like that's no longer the case, or at least much less so. Everything is much more random and superficial.

On the new album in particular, the songs started out on acoustic guitar and were then fleshed out with other instruments. Is that always your process? And out of all the instruments you play, which one do you most enjoy playing above all?

Up to now they've always come about that way, and the guitar, especially acoustic, is my instrument, the one I actually studied. Although I don't like calling myself a "guitarist." To me, guitarists are like penne all'arrabbiata in cafeterias or catering menus, you always find one. So I think of the guitar more as a "means" than an "end."

On this album you're joined by musicians of the caliber of Daniela Savoldi, Julia Kent, Maddalena Fasoli, Nelide Bandello, Simone Copellini and Stefano Roveda (I hope I've named them all). What kind of contribution did they make to the tracks?

They broadened the color palette significantly, and beautifully as far as I'm concerned. Some of them added their own touches, others played parts I had written. For the first time I wrote a score for string quartet, and being classically trained, they gave me their seal of approval, luckily, even though I made a few mistakes. It also gave me the chance to deepen the friendship and admiration I have for them. Being alone sometimes weighs on me, I do miss the feeling of writing and arranging as a group a little. That could be the next evolution for Cabeki.

The record contains veiled (but not too veiled) homages to the likes of Nick Drake and Penguin's Café Orchestra. As on "Una macchina celibe", though, I can also hear echoes of Nino Rota, for instance. Which composers or artists have most influenced your sound or your way of conceiving music, and why?

Going back to the whole "guitarist" question, Nick Drake, for example, is a folksinger, but also a phenomenal guitarist, with his own technique and a personal sound. That's why I prefer to cite him as a guitar reference rather than actual guitarists. Italian composers of the '60s and '70s are of course fundamental, as is the music of that era in general. And the "pop" evolution of minimalist classical music by Penguin Café Orchestra is a major reference point for me. But in truth I listen to a huge amount of sung music too. Wilco are another huge reference for me, on every level: songwriting, sound, arrangement, production and live performance. But I couldn't really say there's one composer or band that has influenced me the most. Everything has to go into the pot, otherwise the stew's no good, to make another culinary reference.

In recent years you've collaborated and toured with artists such as Le Luci della Centrale Elettrica, Cisco, Damo Suzuki... What have these experiences left you with?

Every experience as such has its own value and its own importance in a musician's growth, in my opinion. They're all very different situations, and that's exactly what makes them stimulating. From Damo's free-style approach to Cisco's folk, from Le Luci's oblique songwriting to Baustelle's precise, refined writing. Throwing yourself into something you don't know, or spotting affinities from different perspectives, is incredibly useful. And all of this inevitably ends up shaping the way you play and write. And that, to me, is the beauty of being a musician with and for others.

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