Zeus! - The gods' war machine

On Thursday, November 25, 2010, Zeus! took the stage at Sottoscala Nove in Latina, an intimate, cozy venue, ideal for getting close to a band you're about to interview. We catch the duo almost by surprise as they're finishing off a pizza and knocking back a lager.

The devilish humor and boisterous wit of these two musicians from Imola forces us to take the initiative so as not to get steamrolled. The encounter turns out to be thoroughly enjoyable and reveals two approachable guys (they put up with over an hour of chat before the show), ready to discuss their personal and artistic path, along with various stories and characters tied to the more or less independent Italian scene, with plenty of moments of great irony.

Well, let me introduce them: Zeus! is the new project born from the minds of Calibro 35 bassist Luca Cavina and former Jennifer Gentle drummer (now with Il Genio) Paolo Mongardi. In my opinion, you got together to find a free outlet for your noise-driven tensions. How could a project like this come out of musicians with such different musical backgrounds? You're light years away both from Il Genio's pop and from the poliziottesco soundtracks reworked by Calibro 35.

Luca: If by musical background you mean the bands we've played in, you're right. I'm currently with Calibro 35 and in the past I played with Beatrice Antolini. Paolo was part of Jennifer Gentle and today he's with Il Genio. However, it shouldn't be forgotten that we both played in Transgender, a thoroughly cross-genre band from Bologna that released three albums. Beyond that, our backgrounds are fairly similar. Even though there's a four- or five-year age gap between us, we both had a "metalhead" adolescence in Imola, back when anyone into alternative music was listening to that kind of sound. We're also huge fans of crossover, stuff like Faith No More. All this to say there's a strong noise-hardcore root underneath our better-known experiences.

Your paths also crossed on "Il Beat Vol. I", which featured contributions from Calibro 35, Il Genio, Roberto Dell'Era and Dente. Is it a project that will continue?

Luca: as Calibro 35 we had already worked with Dell'Era (singer-songwriter and currently Afterhours bassist, ed.) on our first album, then a circle of friendships in Milan led to the songs that became "Il Beat Vol. I". The fact that it's called Volume 1 suggests there's an interest in giving it a follow-up, but not necessarily with the same artists. It's an open project, and other musicians could get involved down the line.

Speaking of collaboration: I get the feeling that after a period when Italian musicians stopped working together, each one focused on their own little patch, a kind of mutual spirit is coming back into fashion today, bringing back some of the flavor of the '90s, when things like Tora! Tora! or the Consorzio experience were just the tip of the iceberg of a hyperactive movement. The Zeus! experiment fits perfectly into this context...

Luca: first of all, I don't like the word "collaborationism": it rhymes with "opportunism". There are plenty of collaborations with no artistic purpose at all. Often the sole aim of a collaboration is to get the featuring of some big, or supposedly big, name to boast about. Still, it's true that today there's a renewed urge in the air to bring different scenes into contact with each other.

Paolo recently worked with singer-songwriter Simona Gretchen: knowing and respecting each other musically, they found themselves doing something together in a completely natural way. This is an example of healthy collaboration, out of which positive and interesting things can emerge.

"Zeus!" came out on six different labels — if that's not "collaborating"...

Luca: we liked the idea that everyone who had come forward to support the project could take part in some way in the making of the record. In this case there was a real convergence of shared intentions and interests. Once we had the final master of the album in hand, we sent it to the labels we were interested in — it seemed like a good idea to bring together the efforts of several parties. Also because each of these labels has its own "circuit", different distribution channels, and we didn't want to rule out any route.

We're not interested in being a niche band, and with the push of six labels behind us there was a chance to reach a wider audience of listeners who might be interested in our sound.

The choice to put out these sounds shows real sincerity and zero cunning, and that does you credit. But it's clear that making a hardcore noise record like this today, with no compromises, could prove a bit too risky at a time when record sales are already low…

Paolo: actually, we are selling records, and besides, the music we put on this album wasn't even that bold, in the sense that we wanted to express it, we'd had it inside us for a while, and we knew there could be the right channels to produce and spread it. There are plenty of bands out there similar to us in terms of noise and experimentation.

Then if you're talking about channels tied to clubs that are more comfortable hosting mainstream acts, we do risk getting weeded out by a big filter, but in underground circuits these kinds of sounds have always circulated. We didn't think about underground or overground, we just had a set of ideas we wanted to nail down for good. "Zeus!" represents ten years of pure messing around that eventually turned into something more serious.

Luca: anyone looking for these kinds of sounds eventually finds them somewhere, so I don't see what we're doing as a leap in the dark.

Touring Italy to promote the record, are you finding that your message is getting through?

Paolo: the impression we get, and it pleasantly surprises us, is that the message does get through. A lot of people tell us "it's not my genre, but I liked it", and then maybe they buy the record after the show.

Luca: recently in Fidenza a guy from England told us "I don't like your shit, but you're fucking great!", and we still can't shake it off! A lot of people come to our shows already knowing what sound awaits them. Then there's the average punter who goes to a certain venue without really knowing what's playing that night, and maybe at first they keep a safe distance, literally measured in inches from the stage, but then their interest slowly grows. The strongest compliments actually come from people who aren't regulars of our genre. A few nights ago in Prato a cellist told us that, more than hardcore punk, we reminded her of Stravinsky, so something does get through, even beyond genre boundaries.

Are you able to be full-time musicians?

Luca: I always keep this hoodie I'm wearing as a reminder. It's from a service cooperative, and if the record doesn't do well I risk going back there (laughs, ed.). I worked for eight years at this cooperative where, together with Paolo, I read utility meters. Since January of this year my income has come exclusively from music.

Paolo: I've also been able to live off music for just over a year now, ever since I joined Il Genio's line-up, though obviously with a few sacrifices.

That's quite an achievement. But is it actually possible to live off music alone in Italy?

Luca: I think the state of employment in Italy today is dire. It's such a paradox that my friends who are unemployed see me as someone with a job, for a job that nobody else considers a real one. In the past, when I told someone "I play music", they'd reply "sure, but what do you actually do for a living?". Today I find myself almost privileged, in the sense that music gives me a job and a livelihood, but is it easy to pull off? I'd say definitely not. Then there's the false problem, on the part of musicians themselves, of wanting to claim the title of full-time musician, of wanting it written on their ID card: you can still do valid work even if making music isn't your main occupation.

Of course, if you have to be stuck in an office for eight to ten hours a day, you don't have much time left to spend on your instrument.

Luca: this is another paradox, at least as far as I'm concerned: when I was working at this service co-op I managed to carve out time to improve my technique on my instrument. Now that I'm always on the road, I never get to touch my instruments except during shows. You have to find the right balance.

Paolo: you know, where we used to work before, almost all of us were musicians, because it was the kind of job that let us have flexible hours, so it was possible to find solutions to make everything work together.

Do you like Baustelle?

(they laugh and look at each other, amazed at the question, ed.) Luca: why, did they say they like Zeus!?

Let me explain: Francesco Bianconi, in a recent interview, said something interesting to me that I wanted to discuss with you: young people today are victims of the culture of background noise.

Paolo: the form in which Bianconi carries his lyrics around is very pop, he channels them through a path that makes it easier to find teenagers who learn the lyrics by heart without really getting too deep into them. Maybe someone like Vasco Brondi instead makes the music more integrated with his lyrics, becoming more abrasive from both angles. Baustelle's is a very refined pop that looks in many directions. Maybe Bianconi suffers because the cultured references he packs his lyrics with aren't properly "caught" by a portion of his listeners.

Of course, with all this musical output out there, all these more or less legal channels of consumption, the challenges increase. In the '90s, two or three well-written reviews could make your musical project something very serious, with strong chances of success; today, with our first record, we got dozens of them, but everything is harder. Supply is abundant, it's easier to actually get your music out there, it's easier to express yourself. From such a huge quantity of musical output, it's increasingly complicated for the end listener to pick out the best proposals: it takes a lot more attention to track down the works most worthy of it.

Luca: anyone today who wants to dig deeper has tons of tools available to do so, starting with the web, and there are still plenty of people who keep loving to dig deeper. Then it's possible that a certain percentage of the average 883 listeners aren't very devoted to digging deeper, but I don't have enough statistics on hand right now, Berlusconi is always so well-equipped for that...

Let's talk a bit about the records you've listened to most in recent months, and the ones you're planning to listen to.

Paolo: my first priority is to listen to the new Le Luci della Centrale Elettrica, I'm quite curious. I really liked Simona Gretchen, I want to see what direction the next record takes. Then I'd also say Alessandro Fiori, yes, he's someone I like a lot too.

Luca: I'm listening a lot to "La macarena su Roma" by Iosonouncane. Then, speaking of attentive listening, I'll say Uochi Toki. As you can see, we listen to a lot of singer-songwriters, a lot of things seemingly far removed from us. For instance, this year among foreign artists I really liked Gonjasufi's record "A Sufi And A Killer", another proposal far from the Zeus! world!

Do you think there's a sort of '90s revival going on? We've seen the return of Massimo Volume, One Dimensional Man release a box set and announce a new record, Marlene Kuntz are coming out these days with a new album that partly brings them back toward the musical territory of some time ago.

Luca: there's nothing wrong with the '90s coming back. There's a lot of the '90s in Zeus!'s music too, and that's because both Paolo and I grew up on those sounds, we were teenagers with those sounds, so in the end it all comes out. I don't see it as a problem, and I also notice how certain attitudes are coming back into fashion.

Is someone cleverly riding the wave?

Luca: I don't think it's a matter of anyone being clever: you can be musically clever even without resorting to the '90s.

Let's talk about your song titles.

(cue exchanged glances and laughter, after which they try to sketch out some explanations that turn out sharper than expected, ed.)

Luca: we don't choose titles according to any fixed logic. Sometimes we go with wordplay ("Grindmaster Flesh", "Cowboia") or fun mangled words ("Koprofiev"), other times we look for references that don't necessarily express what we're doing with the instruments. We're not trying to make didactic music: we title a track "Giacomo Leopardi" without meaning to give any kind of reference. Without pretending there's some added layer of meaning tacked on in post-production. Sometimes people explain their songs by pairing titles with completely made-up justifications.

We don't want to tell stories, or send out particular messages, so we don't want to give references. It happens, for instance, that we give a track some fanciful name just to label it in the rehearsal room, while it's still in an embryonic stage: sometimes that name sticks even in the final version. It seemed smarter to us to title a song "Giacomo Leopardi" without pretending to know the poet or wanting to make some statement about his poetry, rather than making a song completely devoid of content and then tacking on meanings afterwards, like a lot of people do.

A provocation?

Paolo: maybe it happens that while we're driving, one of us turns to the other and goes "what do you think of this title? Does it slap?". If the answer is yes, we go with it.

If you were to decide to include vocal parts on your next album, would you go with Italian or English?

Luca: well, there already are vocal parts.

Well, sure, calling them vocal parts...

Luca: We're after a sound.

Like the Sigur Rós of noise?

(more hearty laughter, ed.)

Luca: We weren't trying to be Sigur Rós, but I can confirm that we think it's smarter to say nothing at all than to pretend you want to say something. (and this is the best line of the whole interview, ed.)

Paolo: all this noise talk, in my opinion, isn't really an accurate reference. We don't want to play noise music. Sure, we make noise because we've got a distorted bass and drums cranked up to a certain amount of decibels, but a lot of people see more progressive elements in our music than punk-noise ones. Though of course, compared to the dinosaurs of prog, we can come across as absolutely punk.

Luca: we definitely have a certain attitude toward that sound, but the songwriting isn't that punk.

The most fitting reference might be to Zu…

Paolo: I'd actually say Ruins, if anything (a Japanese experimental rock duo, made up like Zeus! of bass and drums, ed.). But it's true that when I have to explain to someone what we do, I say: take Zu, remove the sax, speed everything up, and that's us.

A figure in the music scene you find particularly likeable, or that you admire.

Paolo: (straight off the bat, ed.) I really admire Michele Orvieti of Mariposa.

Luca: I don't know if it counts, since he's a friend, but I'll say Enrico Gabrielli, who also plays on our record.

And also on the latest Baustelle album…

Luca: Enrico is pretty much everywhere, and even though he's collaborated with plenty of musicians, including mainstream ones, he always manages to enrich the works he contributes to, always manages to add something beautiful. He's a prized little seasoning. And he's got an ear that always keeps him ahead of the trends.

Would you have left Afterhours in his place?

Luca: for what it's worth, when Afterhours were looking for a new bassist (after Andrea Viti's departure in 2005, ed.), they actually approached me too, but then Roberto Dell'Era joined instead, and it's right that things went that way: otherwise Zeus! might never have come into being. When Enrico joined Afterhours he told me, "I've found a steady job," but evidently that's not enough on its own. He had a great run with Afterhours, he was very happy there, but at a certain point he decided he needed something else artistically. He's always wanted to keep his own projects going, and at some point he found himself in Afterhours, in Mariposa, in Calibro 35, and juggling a string of collaborations, some of them one-off. He had to make choices.

Paolo: now it seems Roberto Dell'Era's solo album is finally about to come out: you'll see it won't be easy for him to find the time to properly promote it and tour it around Italy. Especially since he's in the studio at the same time working on the new Afterhours record. Certain bands absorb you almost completely, they don't leave you much time to run other projects alongside them. And Gabrielli is a great musician who intends to keep pushing forward with every project close to his heart.

What does it feel like to share a stage with legendary figures like Manuel Agnelli?

Luca: in the end you realize they're all just people. Some of them transform once they're on stage, but they're all just people. If I have to talk to you in terms of the emotions I feel performing with very well-known and admired figures, those emotions certainly don't depend on how famous the musician is. And there's often a really fruitful exchange. Meeting Calibro 35 was important for me: from the very first rehearsal we clicked perfectly playing together. That means more to me than any pseudo-god I might have played with. If I were ever to play one day with Robert Wyatt, though, in that case I'd probably feel a touch of reverence.

Your joking around often puts the interviewer in a tight spot. Let me try to add a bit of spice so I don't end up on the ropes. Give me the name of a figure in the music scene you really can't stand, who you find almost irritating?

Paolo: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (he immediately blurts out a name, laughing heartily; Luca immediately asks me to leave it out of the interview text, ed.).

Luca: musically speaking, everyone can more or less get along and consider certain projects worthwhile, regardless of personal taste. On a personal level, it's normal for friction or clashes to come up now and then. But I'd find it tacky to air those opinions about other musicians in the press.

The future of Zeus!?

Luca: I'll have to check with my trusted fortune teller. We're already writing new songs, and tonight we'll be adding two unreleased tracks to the setlist. Depending on where we've gotten to over the next three or four months, we'll figure out which direction to take, as part of a natural process of evolution.

Paolo: Zeus! will try to conquer the world

Then it's time for the show. Zeus! play for an hour, confirming themselves as a fearsome war machine. They run through their debut album, plus a couple of unreleased tracks. Watching them unleash so much energy is a surprise even for those who've long since absorbed their album, and it's striking that there are only two of them up on stage. Because the wall of sound raised by these gentlemen from Imola is truly remarkable. The gods of Olympus will have to admit it!

Ride the wave of great music

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