Mushy - A Spectral Blues

On the occasion of her show at Tago Fest in Massa, the festival dedicated to independent labels, we meet Valentina Fanigliulo, the woman behind the solo-female project Mushy, who, thanks to the album “Faded Heart” (Mannequin Records, 2011), has already won over dark-music hearts across half of Italy, gathering a considerable following abroad as well.

Hi Valentina, let's talk about your journey as an artist...

Before joining Mannequin, my current label, for which I initially shared a record with Peter M (aka Alessandro Adriani), I had already produced two limited-edition CD-Rs. One for Cold Current (“Analitica dell’Immaginazione”, 2003), a small label that found me online and offered to release my first material with them, and then a second one for FinalMuzik (“Superfetazione”, 2009), again in very few copies. That was already 2009, but I'd recorded the tracks between 2005 and 2006...

Were you already called Mushy back then? Was your aesthetic approach already clear in your mind?

Yes, I've always been called Mushy and... I started out from much darker premises, both visually and stylistically. I was much more noise-oriented, more distorted, with mostly instrumental tracks. Some were spoken word pieces in Italian, poems I'd written and recited myself...

In particular, on the first record, my main sources of inspiration were Italian industrial acts like Tasady and F:A.R, for example, and labels like ADN (A Dull Note, founded in 1983 by Marco Veronesi and Alberto Crosta, ed.). What I wanted to do was pay tribute to music and artists whose material and information were very hard to track down, a sort of push to help rediscover certain sounds that were less known compared to other European exponents of industrial music. Now some of their works have been reissued, labels like Silentes have brought several things back to light…. Back then I also received a number of thank-yous and compliments from members of the bands I was paying homage to, which was a huge satisfaction. After that step I moved on to synthesizers and released a split tape with a Portuguese tribal noise group, Somalia (“Three Legged Cat”, 2010). That's the midpoint between the first phase and what Mushy is today. The tracks are the soundtrack to a hypothetical horror film, no vocals.

One strange thing about your latest work, “Faded Heart“, is that, with a few exceptions, it received the attention it deserved late in Italy, whereas abroad it was recognized right away. How do you explain that?

Honestly, I don't know, it was strange. The reaction times were different. In Italy it seems there was only a response thanks to the attention I got abroad.. the feedback is positive, but different compared to other countries. Mostly because of the stylistic comparison with Zola Jesus. Abroad too I was compared to her, but here her stylistic influence on my work is described as absolute…

What was your idea for your latest record, instead? What was the core stylistic concept?

It'll sound strange, but it's the blues. Even though there's nothing that, on the surface, might recall that genre, in terms of lyrics, of emotion, and of composition – namely a certain kind of circularity, which can contain improvisation and other nuances – I feel my record fits within the “broad” concept of the blues. And then well… Nico, Crime & The City Solution, a very strong depressive and melancholic feeling, that's what I wanted to distill into my record.

Mushy today is me, 360 degrees. My musical world, my visual world, since every part of it (lyrics, songs, artwork etc.) is the product of my expressiveness, my creativity.

Going back a step and talking briefly about the scenes you've been associated with, one clear reference that's been pointed out is the witchhouse world and Moan Wave. What do you feel you share with them?

If I could name a group I feel very close to, it's Tropic Of Cancer, an American duo with electronic drums, very slow backing tracks and a stretched-out, reverb-drenched female voice, almost like a lullaby. In today's scene, they're the only group I'd want to do a split with, the one I feel I share a style with. I don't feel very much a part of witchhouse, though I've had various exchanges with bands and figures from it… but I wouldn't call it tied to one precise musical genre. There are so many nuances, there are many artists connected to Mater Suspiria Vision, others tied to grave wave. I've always thought of it more as a kind of big family, a commune, where collaborations and energies are shared.

Alongside your work as a musician, you also do graphic design for Mannequin Records. How did that collaboration start and what are your points of reference?

It began with “Danza Meccanica” (Mannequin, 2009), an anthology of Italian music with a synth-minimal wave sensibility. For that I let myself be influenced by the Futurists and by the principles of the “Danza Futurista” conceived by Marinetti. Add to that the fact that I come from an architecture background, and you'll easily understand my taste for the minimalism that dominates the LP's cover. Then influences like Bauhaus, Russian Constructivism are essential to me…. The latest work I did, for the release of “Escape” by //TENSE//  is a full expression of my love for architecture, it's basically a perspective built on an old DOS system.

Last customary question: what are your recording and collaboration plans for the future? What do you imagine will be your next creative step?

I've already started recording new tracks for the next album, and in the meantime I'll focus exclusively on live shows, with no further distractions. For the new tracks I already have a shift and a broadening of perspective in mind, but for now it's all still a work in progress, and I too am very curious to see how it'll turn out.

Ride the wave of great music

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