Ondakeiki - The Search for Lightness

With a name that blends imagery of the sea with the idea of something being born and growing, Ondakeiki are one of the most interesting and free-spirited acts on the new Italian scene. Born from the meeting of three musicians with different backgrounds, they've created a project that rejects rigidity and definitions, letting songs emerge spontaneously, like waves that form and transform. After "Canti Vol. I" and the recent release of "Vol. 2", we met them to talk about their origins, method, imagery, and above all the spirit of lightness, play and discovery that guides their music.

The name is made up of two parts: onda, Italian for "wave", and keiki, Hawaiian for child, sprout, something newly born. The initial idea, which came from Rella, was to call ourselves just Keiki. To that we wanted to add a word that evoked imagery tied to the ocean and to depth, which we felt suited the music we make together.

Tell me your story: how did you start playing together, and when did that happen?

We've known each other for many years, because we've all been playing in different projects for a long time. We came together when Rella, who has a solo project (Everest Magma), felt like sharing the experience of playing with other people. So he asked me and Nicola to give it a try. We started experimenting with dub sounds, we immediately clicked, and that's how our first EP, "Canti Vol. I", was born.

What were the key milestones that brought you to where you are now?

Besides starting to play together, it was essential to record and self-produce our first record, and to play live as much as possible.

Why “Canti”?

We liked the idea of linking the music to the world of sea creatures, of mermaids, to a music that comes from something mysterious, from the woods or from the depths.

A year after “Canti Vol. I”, “Canti Vol. 2“ is out. Was it conceived from the start as a two-part EP?

Actually, when we made “Canti Vol. I” we called it that because we liked the idea that it wasn't something absolute and definitive; and also because, otherwise, just Canti on its own sounded like a volume of poetry. “Canti Vol. I” came across instead as part of a fluid project, as if to say: some things sound like this, but others can sound different. Then, when we started working on the new tracks, we realized they resembled the first ones, and so the latest EP came about naturally. We only realized it as we went along.

How does your creative process work?

We try to play as much as possible: we spend a lot of time in the rehearsal room, and that's where the songs come out spontaneously. By playing a lot, it naturally happens that something abstract, with no fixed length and countless possible detours, gradually takes shape and becomes a song.

The tracks are real journeys, stretched out and long…

That's how we like to play. We like to stretch out the tempos: that's the only way the songs take on that sprawling, journey-like shape. Live, too, we tend to draw them out further: we like to arrive slowly at the feelings and the different parts of the song.

The EP opens with “Una stanza”: how did it come about?

It's the first song on the record that we made. Rella wrote the lyrics entirely by himself, and we started playing it live right away because we loved it so much.

What is the song “Un cerchio” about, instead?

We wrote the lyrics for “Un cerchio” together, starting from an idea taken from “Always Coming Home”, the book by Ursula K. Le Guin. As we wrote, it then became something of its own. We don't like giving songs a single interpretation: we prefer listeners to find in them whatever they're looking for.

When you play live, what does the audience give you?

At shows, people sometimes tell us they felt particular sensations, that they felt transported somewhere else. And that's wonderful: it's exactly the imagery we want to convey. The second best thing is seeing them dance.

When you play, do you lose yourselves too, or do you stay in the “here and now”?

We all play different instruments, so on stage – unfortunately – we're very focused on the here and now. But we still manage to find moments where we let go, and it shows!

What's the feeling that guides your music?

In everything we've done so far, it's been essential to let go and be guided by an idea of lightness, of fun, in the true sense of hilarity, almost like play. It mattered because our previous projects, even as solo artists, were very serious, almost grave music. With Ondakeiki, instead, we were chasing enthusiasm, almost childlike. For example, the keyboard line in "Culla il mio petto" cracks me up a bit, if you ask me. The motto was: try it out, does it make you laugh? Perfect, we're keeping it.

Ondakeiki are on tour on these dates:

November 29 – Palazzolo sull'Oglio – Arci Base, with San Leo

December 6 – Jesi – TNT

Ride the wave of great music

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