Settlefish - The Italian emo-core that Washington loves

A concrete reality, one that with "The Plural Of The Choir" risks growing its already substantial fanbase even further. This is Settlefish, a Bologna band signed to Unhip Records in Italy and to Deep Elm in the United States. Their sound is emotionally gripping, instinctive yet uncompromising in how it strikes with genuine immediacy. The right balance between noise and melody, making them one of the Italian bands with the greatest international reach. We sat down to get to know them better, thanks to the availability of Emilio (guitar) and Jonathan (vocals-guitar).

Let's start with the past. While we appreciated “Dance A While, Upset”, the new album seems to have a different weight to it. I'm not talking so much about the songs themselves, but about the production and the recording. What was it like working with Brian Deck, and what concrete differences did you find compared to the previous record?

Emilio: The differences are huge. You have to know that “Dance A While, Upset” was recorded in Bruno's (our other guitarist) and Danilo's studio, and it was a completely DIY job — we produced ourselves, with all the advantages and disadvantages that entails. “The Plural Of The Choir”, on the other hand, was made in a professional studio, with Brian's help, and he did a great job translating our sound onto tape. We wanted a rock record, but one with a strong acoustic and ambient component too, and Deck picked up on that really well. This latest record was also written in a short span of time: everything was finished within eight months, so the writing is much more compact. “Dance A While...”, on the other hand, gathered together songs that could be two or three years old. “The Plural Of The Choir” is like a short story — it's a record meant to be listened to as a whole, a small tale of loss and hope.

There are fifteen tracks, often quite different from one another, yet there's an underlying cohesion that never falters. It's a “whole” record, even though it contains episodes that could easily stand on their own. Do you agree?

Emilio: I partly agree with you. There are very different atmospheres on the record, but they're all part of the same story — each song sets up the one that follows, and that's why we wanted every track to feel like it was leading the next one by the hand. If you notice, even the ending of the last track ideally picks up the beginning of the record again. It's like a circle that closes and starts over.

Some have talked about a more pronounced indie attitude in the sound. I'd add a greater refinement in the atmospheres (in your own way, of course), and an even more evident blend of neurosis and melody compared to the past. What do you think?

Emilio: Thank you. Deep down, I think that's a reflection of the fact that we've really tightened up the ranks over the last two years — it's been a while since we've had a lineup change. I think melody and noise are essential parts of Settlefish, because what we listen to ranges from Califone to Us Maple, by way of Fugazi and Pavement. We love melodies, but we also love the roar and the feedback produced by guitars, and I think that's at the core of what we do.

Has your songwriting process changed compared to your previous work?

Emilio: We're faster and much less long-winded. We used to come up with songs that ran 12 minutes long; now the longest tracks last six minutes. I think that's down to us being more in sync with each other. A lot of the songs came out of jamming too! It's funny that, for instance, “Barnacle Beach”, one of the poppiest songs on the record, came out of a jam in just a few minutes. That was a great day — discovering that a lot of things come pretty naturally to us now.

My personal take: it seems like you worked a lot on a kind of balance between melody and schizophrenia, restrained moments and freer ones. Are contrasts important in your music?

Emilio: They absolutely are! I'm glad you picked up on that. The other day I smiled reading a forum post where someone said our guitars sound like they're played badly, but that that's exactly what makes us great. In truth, as I mentioned, a lot of us are fans of bands like Us Maple or Owls, who made guitar dissonance their banner. Sure, that element is much less present in our music, and we lean more toward harmony between guitars and bass, but we really like that kind of approach to the instrument, because it gives the listener a lot of uncertainty, and this record needed to express uncertainty in some way. Going back to the light and shade: that's what life is like, full of ups and downs, happy moments and sadder ones, and that's what this record is like too — not one-dimensional, poised between joy and melancholy.

How much importance do you place on the lyrics, and how do they come about?

Jonathan: Some lyrics come before the songs and then get reworked in the studio when we write together. I handle the lyrics, and for this record they all came together quickly, following the making of the record and the period we were going through as a band. The lyrics are meant to be a kind of synthesis of how I see the five of us within the band, of our relationships. My story acts as a hinge or a gathering point for the others. The lyrics are very different from the first record, where they were more hermetic and less connected. Here I focused on one subject and pushed myself to be as direct and raw as possible, trying to steer clear of the easy clichés you find in songs about relationships.

Post-punk, indie, emo... Do certain labels bother you, or do you consider them inevitable?

Emilio: We're not fans of definitions, but we find them inevitable. Sure, nowadays, for instance, the word “emo” gets used to describe bands that are worlds away from us, and that we absolutely despise (see Good Charlotte, Simple Plan and the like), but in the past it labeled bands we love to death, like Embrace, Rites Of Spring and Cap'n Jazz. Everything is very relative — imagine if “Zen Arcade” by Husker Du came out tomorrow — would that be emo, maybe?

A few collaborations: besides Deck, there's also Jukka Riverberi of Giardini Di Mirò, and Carlo Masu and Ferruccio Quercetti of Cut. On the tracks where they're featured, what kind of role did they play?

Emilio: Carlo, Jukka and Ferruccio are friends of ours, people we run into at gigs and have known for years. They happened to be dropping by the studio, so we basically forced them to put something of theirs into the tracks! Heheheh… No, I'm joking, but not entirely — they were passing through, so we roped them in. Then Jukka added a truly gorgeous guitar part on the ending of "We Please The Night, Drama", that outro really gave it another dimension.

In Italy with Unhip, in the States still with Deep Elm. How would you describe your relationship with these two labels?

Emilio: The relationship with both labels is great. Of course, the Unhip guys live in our city and we work together on tons of projects, so it's natural that we're much closer with them. But we're also in touch often by email with the Deep Elm people, and they're giving us a hand with the American tour, which will run between June and July. Everything's going well with our labels!

You're one of the Italian bands that plays abroad the most. Now a European tour, then one in America alongside Desert City Soundtrack. From the inside, what differences have you noticed between playing abroad and playing in Italy?

Emilio: I think that abroad there's generally more of a rock culture, so going to see a show is much more normal and less of a hassle than in Italy. To give you an example, in England everything starts at 8 and by 11:30 it's all over, so even people who have work or school the next day can enjoy the show! In general, though, kids are kids everywhere, and you drink and joke around after the show from Naples to Glasgow! Also, these Italian dates went really well, and we owe that to Labile and especially to Angelo, who organized them for us. He was like a real dad to us!

And in terms of the music scenes themselves? Are we just incurably obsessed with everything foreign, or is there some real reason behind it?

Emilio: I have to say that when I play abroad, I really find very few bands I like. Actually, so far only in England have we played with a band that really won us over, and in fact we invited them to open our release party here in Italy: Hot Club De Paris. In Italy there are quite a few excellent bands, and many of them, even if niche, go on tour. I don't think we have anything to feel bad about, except for a persistent hostility from foreign labels toward us — but even that is slowly changing.

Another Italian vice is harboring envy toward anyone who manages to break out in some way… Is that an attitude you've run into as well?

Emilio: Yes, but we don't care, we just do our thing and look ahead. We're happy with our band and we have a lot of fun — the rest is just talk, and we couldn't care less about it!

What are Settlefish listening to these days, and which records have most influenced the way you make music?

Emilio: So many things — I can tell you that right now, in the van, we're listening a lot to: Arcade Fire, the latest Yuppie Flu, Yage, Pedro The Lion, Joy Division, Television…

Jonathan: yeah, all sorts of stuff plays in the van, The Walkmen, Futureheads, June Of '44 (these guys always, for five years now), Cure, The Shins, Iron & Wine…

To wrap up, what do Settlefish ask of the future?

Emilio: we're asking to keep getting along well together and having fun the way we are right now.

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