Giovanni Truppi - The new renaissance

Giovanni, with this album – your first for a major label (Universal) – you've reached a wide audience. The in-store tour then gave you the chance to gauge the mood and the reception around the project. What was the experience of the in-store dates and the contact with the audience like?

I was pleasantly surprised by the experience – at first I was a bit worried it might feel impersonal and cold. Instead, I was struck by how warm the atmosphere was on a human level. On these occasions I like being close to the audience.

Talking about the track "Borghesia": an amusing and amused critique that also keeps a certain distance from its subject matter and its history. What was the genesis of the lyrics and the composition?

From a compositional point of view, it's a track that came about quite spontaneously; it's not the most elaborate on the record because it was written in a relatively short time. The subject had been close to my heart for a long time, partly because I found myself thinking back to the neighborhood where I was born. I had the chance to read Edoardo Albinati's "La scuola cattolica", and I wanted to create a new synthesis of it in "Borghesia" - a reworking of the impressions that book left me with. It might seem like I'm distancing myself from the subject, but the first member of the bourgeoisie I'm referring to is actually myself.

What reflections and reactions did reading "La scuola cattolica" (winner of the 2016 Premio Strega) stir up in you?

In Albinati's text I found a great many reflections on the Italian bourgeoisie, though it would be reductive to try to sum them up now given the sheer size of the novel (over a thousand pages). It was also interesting for the way it addresses what it means to be a man - it really made me think.

"Quando ridi" builds a world that's at times mystical, whose sound - like the vocals - recalls Franco Battiato. Broadly speaking, what records influenced you while making your album?

There are quite a few: I can mention Skeleton Tree by Nick Cave, and Illinois and Carrie & Lowell (live) by Sufjan Stevens. On top of these there were lots of others: from Mia Martini to Battiato, as you say. Plus other productions from the fifties. "The Ship" by Brian Eno was a real point of reference, as were Antony and the Johnsons. With Marco Buccelli, I tried to bring together lots of things I loved.

In "Due segreti", and at the end of the track "Le elezioni politiche del 2018", as well as in the songs that follow, you can sense a taste for classical music; so much so that, as you listen, the writing becomes increasingly grandiloquent. Did you also listen to classical music recordings that then fed into the creative process?

I have to say that the classical influence on "Le elezioni politiche del 2018" was Marco Buccelli's idea, since he listens to more classical music than I do. As for me, I think "Due segreti" draws more from jazz listening, and indeed the harmonic side of it is more intricate.

The whole record's writing rests on airy themes and moods chasing one another: what creative need gave rise to this concept album - if we can call it that - "Poetry and civilization"?

Ending up with such a cohesive record was actually down to chance - I'm glad you call it a concept album, because that does capture the cohesiveness of the record, even though I wouldn't define it that way myself. But I wanted to make a work with a unified character, one where I could let through subjects that truly mattered to me, as well as the kind of sonic world I wanted to build around the songs.

In the past I always tried to cram in as many different things as possible, which is a very different approach from "Poetry and civilization".

There's been palpable anticipation for the record among industry insiders and fellow artists (from Mèsa to Calcutta). Do you follow and appreciate any new names in Italian songwriting yourself?

From the generation after mine, I've heard two tracks by Fulminacci that really struck me.

What lineup will we see on tour? And what kind of show should we expect live?

There will be six of us on stage: I'll be on guitar and keyboards, a singer will be on keyboards, one person on bass, one on drums, and two more on guitar and bass. It's an unusual lineup, but engaged in a layered effort that will try to present the record in a faithful form, combined with material from earlier releases. Part of the set will be more melodic and contemplative, while the rest will have a more rock-oriented character.

At the winter date of Calcutta's tour in Naples at the Teatro Palapartenope, you played “Del verde”. How did you two meet, and what was it like performing the song live together?

I met Edoardo even before “Mainstream” came out. Each of us chose which song we wanted to do. It was actually very simple, and on stage Edoardo was a great performer. I was really pleased he invited me.

To those who discovered you through “Poetry and civilization”: what did you want to come across about the album and your artistic identity?

I think what I wanted to convey, above all, were the issues closest to my heart, my idea of music and of my craft.

Edda, with whom you played guitar on the track “Arrivederci Roma”, recently said that this is a very dark moment in history, but that afterwards we might see a new renaissance (“because in the past we've had dark pages too”). In the album's closing track “Ancient Society” you say the same thing: how will this resurrection come about?

I believe we're already in the renaissance. For “Ancient Society” I drew on a passage by an American anthropologist from a hundred and fifty years earlier: the piece laid out a number of hypotheses, many of which still haven't come true. We tend to focus on the negative elements of our times, but I don't want to resort to platitudes to make the point either. To get back to a state of renaissance, we can each do our part every day, in our own everyday lives.

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