Nino Bruno - A musical what if

A workday in Naples comes to an end, and something cool is needed to set the mood. A crowded evening in Piazza San Domenico Maggiore (a well-known gathering spot for Neapolitan youth), a table at a bar, a warm but not stifling night. If these were the only ingredients of the drink I'm after (and of the interview that follows), the result would be a mocktail; what's missing is exactly three fingers of white rum. And, right on cue, here comes Nino Bruno. Tracing his biography would be impossible even for a seasoned writer: a musical artist on the Neapolitan scene since his teenage years, collaborations across different fields of art, an open-mindedness that knows no limits. No cliché about being Neapolitan puts blinkers on Nino who, after four albums, an original soundtrack and even the splendid “Every Single Moment In My Life Is a Weary Wait” written for the film “This Must Be The Place”, is expanding the line-up of his Le 8 Tracce with two new members: Massimiliano Sacchi and Zaira Zigante (formerly of Almamegretta). The reshaped line-up is thus releasing a new EP titled “Ehi Dei”, opening the way towards new horizons while awaiting a forthcoming LP.

Rather than asking you first of all who Nino Bruno is, let me ask: what makes Nino Bruno what he is? What's the trait that makes you unique?

I always start from something of my own. A certain capacity to get excited about many things, about old and new listens, about something historic and about a kid who plays me his latest recording. Literally, an openness to enthusiasm.

Let's talk about your personal story. Where does Nino Bruno begin as an artist?

It begins with a band called Terrapin, like the track by Syd Barrett, and back then I was making a kind of wave with psychedelic touches drawn from the earliest Barrett. This mix was very different from what I went on to make later, yet it remains a genuinely bold experience.

How old were you?

Between 16 and 19 years old. There was a good dose of madness, of naivety; still, it remains a beautiful starting point, a precious memory.

At that age, which records could you not do without?

I've always listened to very little. I admit it, I'm a terrible listener. I used to listen to Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, and at a certain point also David Bowie, who seemed like an artist who could let me communicate with the young people of my era, since he was very fashionable and widely imitated by bands. One artist I listened to a lot was Robyn Hitchcock, I remember that very well (laughs). One record in particular, “I Often Dream Of Trains” from 1984, and I think it's one of the most beautiful I've ever heard.

Are you more of a home-listening type or a concert-going type?

Definitely home listening! And especially when I tried listening to certain genres in venues, I realized they didn't fit those contexts at all.

Let's talk a bit about “Ehi Dei”. I'd like to understand how it came about, why the idea of going so far back in time.

“Ehi Dei” consists of four tracks. Two of them were part of the soundtrack for “L'Odissea”, a 1911 silent film for which we re-edited this score. An important experience, also because it was the first time we brought this new five-piece lineup into play. In fact, in the past we were always a trio, with occasional collaborations; after that we started playing this way on a stable basis and a new “ensemble” was formed. “Ehi Dei” is actually the voice of Calypso, forced by the Gods to let Ulysses leave, and “Itaca (Bagno di Sangue)” is when the epic hero returns to his land. “Flow My Tears” is a track we used to play with Massimiliano Sacchi for a parallel project by Gabriele Frasca called “Nei Molti Mondi”, close to the literature of Philip K. Dick, which we then revived with the new lineup of Le 8 Tracce. Also, I, Luigi Rubino and Zaira performed “Flow My Tears” during a series of shows in China, and that's how the idea came about to make this record and include the track without any hesitation.

Then we decided to do something shorter, unlike the previous “Cuore Deserto”.

In “Ehi Dei” I heard a sound different from your previous records. There are almost classical passages, moments of medieval symphonies, even some sounds reminiscent of Renaissance music or certain King Crimson. Why this change?

The project has changed. We used to belong rigidly to “Dogma 8”, emphasizing the fact that we worked only on 8 tracks, only in analog. It's still substantially like that, but we no longer insist on it, placing the emphasis on the comparison between the music of yesterday and that of today. Now we aim to do other things. So now we're travelling through time: forward, backward; there's no longer the urge to stay fixed on one thing. The spaceship has left the planet (he says jokingly). Then there are those sounds, like the beat sound, which for me has always been more a sound than a genre, that remain in the band's blood. Ours is a bit of a musical what if: what would have happened if… everything had gone in a different direction?

When exactly was the project with Le 8 Tracce born? Through studio collaborations, or did you meet on stage? How did you then become a five-piece?

Actually, the first lineup was formed with Luigi Rubino and Giovanni Chianese, that was the initial trio. Then Luigi and Giovanni left and Peppe Sabbatino and Giulio Fazio came in, with a brief interlude featuring Angelo Beneduce and Roberto Vacca. It all started from rehearsals.

Among the new members there's also a female voice, namely Zaira Zigante, very present in “Ehi Dei”. Do you expect this lineup to remain stable with her on vocals?

The lineup is definitely stable, Zaira is also a multi-instrumentalist, so a very valuable resource for the band. In the future I'll certainly prefer larger lineups. Of course, a female voice offers different octaves, but I'm not in favor of gender differentiation in music. “Calipso”, moreover, is a track written for her. It was already in the soundtrack for “L'Odissea”.

After “Ehi Dei” are you also planning an LP, something more extensive?

Absolutely, it's in the works, I hope it won't take too long. In fact, I want it out as soon as possible!

Your involvement in the soundtracks of some of Paolo Sorrentino's films is well-known history by now. Let's start by talking about your other soundtracks.

The most beautiful thing I've worked on is definitely the soundtrack for Marcello Anselmo's “Posidonia”, a documentary about the seabeds of Naples. In that case I had the chance to create the entire soundtrack, which also resulted in an album of the same name, and I'm very proud of how that work turned out. In that instance we chose to produce purely instrumental tracks, very ambient. I went down to the bare bones of the discourse. Using those sounds, that instrumentation, within the limits the film's soundtrack required. The idea was to reveal the essential elements and the structure behind more conventional song-based records.

When you have to compose an original soundtrack, do you prefer to watch the film first and then compose the tracks, or do you form your own idea of the theme and then work separately in the studio?

Both with “This Must Be The Place” and with “Posidonia”, I started from words. In the first case I began composing from the words Paolo told me over the phone, in the second I took my cue from a treatment Marcello sent me. Words mainly guided me. Of course, once I saw the first images of “Posidonia”, for example, I stepped in and was able to change a few passages. I believe music should embrace a film from a distance, it shouldn't comment on the images or come across as overly explanatory, and that's how it went with “Posidonia”.

Was the collaboration with Sorrentino something you expected?

No, to be honest it was fairly sudden. We hadn't been in touch for a few years. He called me and, talking it over, we chose what to include in “This Must Be The Place”. We had already worked together in the past, during his early short films and on “L’Uomo In Più”.

Which influences from Italian music do you feel are closest to your sound?

I have to be honest, there have never really been any Italian influences. In fact, there haven't really been any influences at all, properly speaking. In the sense that my influences are rooted in my musical past. I don't sit down thinking of some particular artist I want to reproduce, nor do I operate by listening to what's going on around me and trying to fit in. It's not that I don't pay attention - I do listen - but I don't do it to emulate anyone. If I want to bring something in, I'd rather collaborate. One constant for me, though, remains beat music, the Italian kind, which paradoxically is more distinctive and unique than the English one. Beat music, Italian and French above all, had a peculiar sound that for me is the main influence; not a specific song or album, but a sound generally adopted within that whole universe that is beat music.

But there's also Syd Barrett.

Yes, that one goes back to when I was young, though! That's a little sickness, Barrett-itis (laughs). Around the time of “Cane Telepate” it was still very noticeable. From “Sei Corvi Contro Il Sole” onward it already disappears. On the first EP there are also two references alluding to “See Emily Play” and “Pow R. Toc H.”.

One last question. If you could start from scratch and take a different path in music-making, what would you like to do?

Given the time and the resources, I'd love to do so many things. Speaking hypothetically, I'd say a collective of musicians and lyricists working together, creating freely. A real group of about ten people, with three or four singer-songwriters, musicians practicing all day long, all able to live together in a space far from the chaos, where genre labels disappear completely. 

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