Studio Murena - Experiments for "sample minds"

With the new album “Notturno” the six-member Milanese collective Studio Murena confirms itself as a project of major impact. Amedeo Nan (electric guitar), Giovanni Ferrazzi (electronics, sampler), Lorenzo Carminati (MC), Marco Falcon (drums), Matteo Castiglioni (keyboards and synths), Maurizio Gazzola (electric bass) are aware, determined musicians who blend together their diverse skill sets in the name of experimentation and groove, with one eye on the international hip-hop scene, one on Italian rap, and a newfound interest in melodic themes. Italian ones too. Talking with them is a pleasant and rewarding experience. They told us about their relationship with academic and non-academic music, with the establishment, with creativity, with music and its content, in a world that wants us ever more anesthetized and unthinking. Seven years on from their debut album, they now have solid credibility and considerable live experience, but the fun, the drive to experiment, the friendship and the intellectual curiosity are the same as ever. And they're winning out.

Courses, paths and recurrences

We first met when your debut album had just come out. Now we're on the third, with two label changes in between and a return to your original management. There's a clear evolution both artistically and in your relationship with audiences and industry professionals. In what ways do you feel you've changed, and what instead remains most consistent?

Seven years have gone by. Studio Murena has changed a lot, but certain fixed points have stayed the same. Figures like Tommaso Colliva, who produced our last two albums, and Simone Castello, our manager, have been and still are essential. And above all, there's solidity among us. At the same time, though, we've looked for new approaches. We felt the need to communicate in a more accessible, more direct way. The experiences we've had across these three albums have made us more confident, and so more open to the outside world. We've changed the structure of our songs to experiment and make ourselves more understandable, without losing our essence.

And are the dynamics within the group still the same? Or is conquering the world a draining business?

It's still the same six of us, with the same rehearsal room, Amedeo's house in the summer, the places where everything is born. That's allowed us to face external changes while staying united. Even more than in the past, we feel we have something to say as musicians. Ultimately, we're six stories interwoven into a single project. This record, for the first time, gave each of us a well-defined space. Before, there were balances to be found, but now every voice has had the chance to emerge. It was an important arrival point. And so, also a point of new departures.

At the start you were very spontaneous, anarchic, and the creative process was built on improvisation. Is it still like that?

Improvisation is still at the core, but with clearer balances now. Some dynamics repeat themselves, but the creative heart has stayed the same. Improvisation is central, first of all because the jazz component is one of the fundamental ingredients of our music, and also because it's the only way to blend all our different backgrounds. It's improvisation that lets us create organically. We're not a band with a frontman: we all write together. It's difficult, but wonderful.

Milano, la notte, il mondo

The balance is clear, but rap seems to come through more than on previous records. Was that a deliberate choice?

A spontaneous choice. It wasn't planned, but some lyrics were more personal and needed more expressive space. At the same time, we wanted certain textures to emerge that would highlight the emotional weight of the lyrics, and vice versa. That's why we left room for melodic parts.

Given that, the lyrics have become rawer, more direct, almost like an indictment. Is that just my impression?

That's absolutely true. The lyrics are streams of consciousness, very personal. They come from the need to express things we've lived through firsthand, and their intensity called for a starker, more direct language. They came out of radical changes and a growth process that involved each of us individually and also as a collective. That's why we called the record "Notturno". Night becomes the moment for reflection, for planning, for taking stock and identifying new expectations. The references are real: sometimes they speak of Milan's outskirts, its problems and tensions, which can even spill over into tragedy; other times the lyrics are about artistic self-affirmation, as in "Jazzhighlanders", and so on. What unites the different tracks is that everything still starts from the subjectivity of real experience.

Some say musicians shouldn't get into politics. I'm thinking of Kneecap, and the controversy engulfing them. What do you think?

What should we expect from an artist? It's right to speak out, even for those who can't. In fact, we could use even more artists using music to really say something. It's normal for someone to do that. The real question is whether having an opinion means being an activist. If so, then we all are. If not, it means an artist can express themselves and decide for themselves if and when to be an activist. Social media thrives on controversy and superficial impact. Kneecap are extraordinary, they're among our favorite listens. But people haven't grasped the deeper substance of their thinking, they can't even really be bothered by their lyrics, which are mostly in Gaelic anyway. Sometimes there's only room for the surface of things.

"Sample Minds"

Besides the lyrical side, another new element I've noticed is a stronger use of electronics and samples. Was that a deliberate choice?

Yes. The contrast between the two worlds, electronic and acoustic, is one of our trademarks. Sampling and reworking creatively has always been central for us. Over time, though, we've found a better balance between instruments and machines. Sounds and samples that couldn't easily be reproduced organically now weave into the overall fabric and have a more defined space of their own. It's been a turning point for us. Electronics have expanded our compositional possibilities. It gives you an endless sonic palette. It adds complexity, but also huge inspiration. And on this record we realized just how much value it can add to our project.

It seems to me that even the instrumental parts are in a way more arranged, more produced, to blend with the electronic scoring, and that the tracks have become shorter: was that a deliberate choice?

Yes, we wanted to streamline the message, to smooth off its rough edges. Each of our records has answered a different need, specific to a different phase. On the first one there was the influence of academia, of our studies as musicians; on the second, the isolation of the pandemic weighed heavily on the creative process. On this third one, however, we went back to working together, wanting to communicate our ideas straight away.

Let's talk about the features on the album. To start with, there are two opposite cultural clashes: Milan vs. Rome with MezzoSangue, and vs. Turin-style understatement with Willie Peyote. How did these collaborations come about?

MezzoSangue came to one of our shows, he's a fantastic person, completely down to earth. At first, obviously, without the balaclava we didn't recognize him. We've known each other for two years now, and over time we've shared work-in-progress stages of our respective records, talked things through, and out of that friendship came the idea of doing the feature. He came to visit us at our rehearsal space in San Donato, in fact his signature is on the wall. We're very proud of this collaboration, as well as completely satisfied with it. With Willie, we met at Primo Maggio in Taranto. It was an unlucky edition, because it was raining and we had to move from the Lungomare to the Spazio Porto, which is another venue in the city used for live music. That mishap actually led to more contact between the musicians. We crossed paths for a live track, and from there we ended up collaborating on record. At first it was meant to be a different song. After hearing it, Willie suggested trying to put together something more substantial. We loved the idea. We played him another track and rewrote the chorus with his part in mind. We worked with him in the studio at Tommaso Colliva's, and it was a beautiful moment.

The appearances by Rodrigo D'Erasmo and Fabrizio Bosso are really inspired. Did they come out of improvisations?

No, the tracks were already finished. In Fabrizio's case, we wanted to continue down the path we'd started with Paolo Fresu on the previous record. We sent him the track and he got back to us right away with several takes. The hard part for us afterwards was choosing one, they were all so fantastic. Rodrigo D'Erasmo had a genuine artistic interest in collaborating. His contribution has an authentic feel, because it comes from real involvement, not from strategy.

From collaborations to samples: how did you come up with the idea of sampling Battiato and Vanoni?

The idea for Ornella Vanoni came from Tommaso Colliva. The one for Battiato grew out of a lyric about the universe. We care about bringing our Italian identity even into a genre that's still not very developed here. It's a way of saying: we're Italian, and we carry our history with us.

In "Another Day with Another Sun" there's a voice that sounds sampled. Who is it?

It's an original vocal line written by Marco and sung by Milena Paris. We treated it like a sample, but it's actually unreleased material. It came out of a flute improvisation.

Six characters in search of a mascot

Let's talk about the live show: every track seems built to be expanded on. What kind of show have you put together?

In our live shows too, we've experimented with spaces where the electronics take center stage, creating very powerful moments of contrast with the acoustic side. We selected the tracks carefully. Every concert is a story. The atmosphere is set right from the intro, drawing you into the "Notturno" narrative. We left room for improvisation, and for each of us individually.

On the previous tour you happened to open for BADBADNOTGOOD  and Battles. What was that experience like?

Incredible in both cases. Those are experiences that change you. With BADBADNOTGOOD, we ended up watching their concert from backstage after we'd played in support of them. Some of us grew up listening to their music, and seeing them really into what we were doing was magical.

One last curiosity: so who is 24Kili, the added rapper?

A mask. A character. An alter ego born to rap bars, one that can act as an outlet for any of us, even for anyone in the audience, if you like. A sort of cross between Joker and Pirandello.

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