Manuel Agnelli

From the meeting between the collective of GERMI-Luogo di Contaminazione, the Milanese cultural space founded by Manuel Agnelli, and Siae, “Sounds from the Future” was born in recent weeks: a three-year project dedicated to the new Italian music scene, created to naturally bring together creativity, copyright and live performance. The initiative has a clear goal: to support a new generation of songwriters and musicians through a concrete path built on stages, training and professional growth.

GERMI-LdC takes on a central role as a permanent scouting and training lab, hosting five evenings a month for ten months a year at its venue: around a hundred bands will perform in an ongoing lineup focused on originality, compositional quality and artistic identity. All the artists involved will present original songs, helping to promote a culture of creativity.

The “Sounds from the Future” Live Tour will translate the project into a touring showcase, bringing 12 of these musical projects each year to clubs across Italy, starting from eight cities on the peninsula: Milan, Rome, Bologna, Naples, Palermo, Taranto, Pesaro and Turin. Ninety-six concerts in total, split into two separate legs between spring and autumn 2026. All the shows will be free admission, to encourage direct contact between artists and audiences in landmark live music venues.

“Sounds from the Future” represents the evolution of a journey that began a few years ago: the project in fact grows out of the earlier experience of “Carne Fresca”, the showcase launched by GERMI in 2024, which gave space to numerous artists aged between 15 and 30, selected from thousands of applications received from all over Italy.

We met Manuel Agnelli to hear about this ambitious idea, born in that essential laboratory that is GERMI. It was also the right occasion to touch on a few other interesting topics with the Milanese musician.

Hi Manuel, we last crossed paths less than a year ago, when you and Afterhours were about to set off on the tour celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the album “Ballate per piccole iene”. I later had the chance to attend the second Rome date of the tour, in the magical setting of the Cavea dell’Auditorium. Can we say that tour was a triumph?

I'll tell you the truth: I expected it to go well, but honestly not this well. It was a genuine triumph, and once again it was especially beautiful because a large part of the audience who bought tickets to come see us was "new" audience. All these people — let's call them "young adults" — who are twenty or twenty-five years younger than us, made those summer nights even more special, because they stripped away that veneer of melancholy that projects like this always risk having. Not that there's anything wrong with melancholy, but it was an even bigger blast to find ourselves in front of so many people much younger than us, who back in the Nineties definitely couldn't have been at our shows. But aside from the incredible number of people we had, there was a real sense of complicity among us, because for all of us doing this tour was a genuine necessity — remembering an album that important, a defining stretch of our path as a band. You could really feel that this experience needed to become part of a process of coming back together, and I mean that on a personal level as much as an artistic one.

Just last Friday I was actually at the Orion in Ciampino for a date on the thirtieth-anniversary tour for "Il Vile" by Marlene Kuntz. After the show, chatting with Cristiano Godano and Riccardo Tesio, we noticed how many very young people were in the venue, singing along to every song. They told me it's happening at every date of the tour. We're talking about songs that never got radio play, not now and not back then, so there's a generation that has somehow sought out and found the songs of Afterhours and Marlene Kuntz — a phenomenon affecting several bands from the Italian alt-rock scene of the Nineties.

I'm delighted about it, because I think this new generation of listeners has taken us as a reference point. Maybe because ours was the last musical generation defined by a certain kind of expressive freedom, one that also managed to achieve real results. If you think about it, many of the bands that debuted between the late Eighties and the mid-Nineties, even when things went badly for them, still lasted something like ten years — a long time — often building a huge following while always staying outside the media and market dynamics of the time. Back then, very few of us ever appeared on television, even fewer in newspapers, and commercial radio basically never played us, not once. But none of that stopped us from having a genuinely large audience, from building a career, a path, from making a living out of music. I think our generation is the last example of that kind of attitude, and these kids are looking for exactly that: they're trying to make music, trying to live off music, trying to make music their profession, their life, without accepting the dynamics they find around them today, which are probably even worse than the ones we ran into back then.

So all these young people start digging around on streaming platforms and discover "Dea," "Male di miele," "Quello che non c'è" and find themselves in those songs. I'm sure you're aware that for some strange reason shoegaze has become a viral trend on TikTok in recent years: it seems a lot of teenagers find comfort in these sounds, which manage to capture the disorientation and lack of reference points typical of this generation...

I'm sure of it: that's exactly how it is. And if you think about it, punk and post-punk have also reclaimed an important role and following in the last few years: Viagra Boys, Idles, Fontaines D.C. are all bands getting a lot of attention right now. You can feel the return of a certain kind of musical freedom that had somewhat disappeared in recent years: mixing styles, cross-contaminating, releasing six-minute singles instead of the usual two and a half, because not everyone cares about getting radio play. You know, it's natural for history to repeat itself in cycles, but I also believe this generation isn't just riding shifts in fashion or the evolution of particular trends. Through this kind of attitude, a lot of young musicians are responding to a personal need: they want to free themselves from certain dynamics typical of the web, of the internet, dynamics that have put an insane amount of pressure on these kids, dynamics that demand everyone be cool, be gorgeous, be super-productive — a situation that's at risk of crushing them. The idea that everything has to be aimed at generating numbers, at achieving success, and if you're successful then you're worth something, and if you're not you're worth nothing — well, that's a giant load of crap, and these kids have understood it. The entire history of art wouldn't exist if that were true. It's an incredibly heavy thing for a generation to carry, and these kids are rejecting it.

Still, I don't think these kids are running away from success: if you write a great song, you'd want as many people as possible to hear it...

Well, it's not that success disgusts them, not at all, but they're not playing for success — that's not their primary goal, because they've discovered that kind of pressure causes real distress: I think that's what unites them most. They want to have a language of their own, regardless of how effective it actually is, because having a language, having a space to recognize themselves in, makes them feel better. You mention shoegaze — well, we still tend to frame things through a mere classification into rock subgenres, we tend to sort things by identifying scenes people can identify with. Styles, subgenres, scenes are all protective shells that help you find and shape an identity, which will differ depending on the language or aesthetic you choose to adopt. Today, though, we have tons of kids playing all sorts of different genres, and while it's clear that guitar-driven rock, sometimes fairly heavy, still dominates, there are also plenty of other styles — it's not just rock. What unites this new generation isn't the genre each of them chooses to play, but a particular attitude: beyond the genres, I think it's precisely that need which will make this scene strong and relevant.

You've always paid special attention to young emerging musicians: thanks to you, GERMI was born in Milan, a much-needed cultural space, and inside GERMI the "Carne Fresca" project blossomed, and from that project "Sounds from the Future" is now being born...

"Carne Fresca" turned out to be a very positive experiment, with nights when lines formed outside the venue to see completely unknown acts — a good sign. The intent behind "Sounds from the Future" is to build a national network of venues similar to GERMI; the hope is to (re)build a network that lets these kids play anywhere, all over the country, to gain experience, to take what they're doing musically out on the road.

How did the idea get started?

We started by contacting the first venues, and I explained the idea to the President of SIAE, Salvatore Nastasi, who was immediately enthusiastic about it. Partly, I think, because it's in SIAE's interest to support a new generation of songwriters, since these kids are capable of breaking the stranglehold of those five or six composers who write the same thing for everyone in the music market "that matters." These kids write their own songs on their own, they're a new generation of potential new songwriters, and SIAE should have every interest in helping them grow and promoting them. Because music is destined to die without new, capable, talented songwriters able to guarantee generational turnover over time. Beyond that, SIAE has every interest in seeing live clubs recovered — all those venues where live music is played, places that, especially after the pandemic, have been decimated, wiped out. The live clubs that survived are mostly bare rooms rented out to promoters, where touring bands are brought in to play as promotion. In the past, live clubs used to be places with real artistic direction, with a musical direction, places that had and set points of reference. These places still exist, and we want to create a network among them, get them actively collaborating with each other. SIAE has sponsored the initiative very effectively; it grows directly out of "Carne Fresca," since most of the musicians taking part in the tours we're organizing — which will be spread out over the next three years — actually come from the "Carne Fresca" experience. But we've also started looking a bit further afield, to try to widen the circle. For instance, we've decided to give local promoters the chance to add an opening band to every "Sounds from the Future" night. Just to show right away that the collaboration is meant to be concrete.

The first tour kicks off in the coming days; dates, host venues and participating bands have already been announced, and we'll list them at the end of the interview. A second tour is already planned for next autumn. Each night will feature two or three bands plus a local opening act, with no-headliner bills, all bands placed on equal footing. Are hierarchies already starting to form among them?

No, there are no hierarchies, and there shouldn't be any. The project has nothing to do with competitive situations, contests, rankings, not even rankings of merit. Of course some artists are more mature than others, just as some are more talented than others — that's normal — but the goal is to help them all grow. Maybe today a sixteen-year-old is a bit behind someone who's twenty-five, but who knows what they'll have become in three years — we need to let them gain experience, grow, test themselves, and yes, make mistakes too. What matters is giving them the chance. The goal isn't scouting, I'm not trying to find the next whoever-it-is, I don't care about that: what I care about is building a system, because a system is what generates quality, a system is what nourishes talent. Building a system to let these kids grow the way they want, and then get it wrong too, I'll say it again, even get it wrong, screw things up — things that unfortunately aren't allowed today, because nowadays if you're not selling out San Siro you're a nobody!

So the idea of adding a headliner band to draw attention was ruled out. The stage has to belong only to them...

I don't want headliners, and I don't want these nights to turn into an event: there are already plenty of events out there, and they work just fine, but that's not our goal. Our goal is to create a scene, one that has to grow little by little, take root and become stable. I don't want anyone using these kids or overshadowing their visibility, so no headliners, even though adding a more famous act to each night could have brought in a bigger crowd. With Afterhours last summer, during the "Ballate per piccole iene" tour, we had a lot of bands from the "Carne Fresca" circuit open for us, two a night before our sets — you saw them, and tell me if they weren't all excellent. It's a useful thing, a very useful thing for them, to get experience on that kind of stage, in front of a big crowd, but that was our tour, that was our audience. For the "Sounds from the Future" project, it's far more important that every artist builds an audience that's entirely their own. You see, I've been playing a kind of music that's never really worked in Italy for forty years now, because alternative rock in Italy has never had a real market, but for forty years I've done exactly whatever the hell I wanted, and this summer we drew very big numbers with the Afterhours tour. What matters is having a solid audience, not some immediate flash in the pan that only lasts a few months.

The bands involved in the "Carne Fresca" and "Sounds from the Future" projects come from all over Italy, but GERMI is based in Milan, so in the end things happen in Milan, Bologna, Turin. Is that where you have to move to make things really happen?

No. The provinces are tough, but they can also be super-creative. Opening a community hub in an area where there's almost nothing can often be an advantage, because that place develops the potential to become a point of reference for that territory. In big cities, gathering spaces already exist, so if someone wants to start this kind of activity in the provinces, in my opinion, that's the right path for the future. Sure, it's harder, but it's an investment. Think about Velvet in Rimini: for many years, maybe more than thirty, it was one of the most important reference points on the Italian scene. Think about Bloom in Mezzago: it's hosted three generations of international musicians, and it's out in the middle of nowhere, it's even hard to find, in the middle of the countryside of Brianza. I remember the T-shirts printed for one of Nirvana's European tours: on the back were listed the cities where Nirvana would play, there was Amsterdam, London, Berlin, and then there was also Mezzago! It's very important to understand that the provinces are harder, but the provinces shouldn't be seen as a limitation - quite the opposite, as I see it, they can be an advantage, because there's less competition, and on a social level they offer incredible help to young people looking for a place to meet and express themselves. In its initial phase, "Sounds from the Future" will touch a few big cities, because right now we need to optimize communication, but we won't stop at the bigger cities, we'll go everywhere, wherever we manage to expand the network. And anyway, we're just a spark, a crumb, I don't think I can change the state of Italian music on my own. I hope this spark attracts lots of other people who can do what I'm doing. Not just musicians with visibility, but also people interested in supporting this new generation.

In recent years, trap music has confused a lot of young people's ideas somewhat. Some of them, often without any particular talent and without having studied any musical instrument, pick up a microphone, switch on the Auto-Tune, and try to pull off the shot of their lifetime. Maestro Ennio Morricone used to argue years ago that talent without study produces unrealized potential: even if you have talent, you need to study to try to achieve better results. What advice would you give these kids, at least the more talented ones?

Studying obviously always helps, but I've also seen the opposite: students who leave music schools thinking they're now "educated". I've got nothing to say about some of them, but unfortunately many remain "prisoners of technique", prisoners of theory: you need real maturity to study and then be able to use that study effectively in order to be creative. It takes considerable mental clarity, and it takes a "vision". When someone studies a lot and also has talent, they can really do special things, but very few people manage to use technique and theory to create something special. Paradoxically, it's much easier for someone who hasn't studied to find their own personal path, as long as they have the clarity to turn their limitations and flaws into personality. I, for example, took a hybrid path: I studied classical piano for many years, which is the instrument I play best, but then I started playing guitar, because on piano I was trapped within that kind of training. I've always technically played guitar badly, but in the end all the Afterhours riffs are mine. In the end, within the context of Afterhours, I applied the theory and technical ideas I'd learned through studying piano, but freeing myself from that cage which lets you become an excellent performer, but too often kills your creativity, or doesn't let you understand how to bring it out. Lately I've started playing piano again and studying it, because now my head is much freer than before.

So the advice would be...

The advice would be: don't let yourself be dominated by technique and theory. Don't stop at your talent, even if you have a lot of it, and don't take anything for granted. It's important to keep growing, to keep questioning yourself. The ideal is to find your own personality, and enrich it through study. That's easier than trying to find a personality in someone who has studied a lot.

I remember one of your concerts at the Foro Italico in Rome in the summer of 2005: during the performance of "L'estate" you were roughing up the piano, it really looked like a protest against those "cages" you're talking about...

I've got the image of that concert stuck in my head.

But the best Rome concert of that period, in my opinion, was two months earlier, at the Ex Mattatoio, the very first date of the "Ballate" tour, which had come out three or four days before, and Greg Dulli was on stage with you too. Afterhours were the biggest name on the independent scene, success kept growing with every record, I showed up too relaxed, maybe underestimating the draw the After had by then, and I found an endless line to get in, so much so that I missed the first two songs. It really was an unforgettable concert...

I remember it well, and by the way I have to thank people like you, because unfortunately, lately, the fame television gave me - well, there's this legend going around that before I did X-Factor nobody gave a damn about Afterhours, which is absolute bullshit. Sure, I wasn't famous on a mainstream, household-name level, and maybe I could go grocery shopping without being recognized. Now clearly a bit less so, but otherwise we already had a huge audience before that.

I can confirm that, absolutely, and since we're on the subject of Afterhours' career, what differences do you notice between the kids of "Sounds from the Future" and the musicians of your generation when they were the same age?

On average, kids from this generation play better than we did at their age, because today there are more music schools, and because they have more material available to practice with, thanks to the internet, and that's one of the positive sides of the web. Think of all the tutorials for learning riffs, solos, song structures. We, on the other hand, had to figure things out by memory, by ear, there were music books, sheet music we bought at Ricordi, but there was really little material available, whereas today there's a goldmine of information, which helps young musicians grow up faster. Back then there was also little communication. I discovered punk by watching Renzo Arbore's "L'altra domenica", where they broadcast reports by Michel Pergolani from London about punk, but it was rare to see anything like that, a trend had to really explode for it to reach you, whereas today you can listen to anything, the whole musical universe is immediately available, from Tropicalia to the sounds of Polynesia, all the music in the world at your fingertips, even inside a smartphone. That's why budding musicians today are on average more mature in their songwriting and better players than we were at the same age. What they need to watch out for is not losing their personality - I won't say originality, but personality, being personal, therefore unique. It was easy for us because our limitations became our strengths, we deliberately built our character out of our limits and flaws, and all of this was also in the nature of post-punk. You can't play bass? Doesn't matter: you're my bassist, full stop. Because you're cool and I'm sure the notes you'll come up with will make sense. Today a lot of new bands are derivative, that's normal, and there's nothing wrong with that - in the end Raphael took a lot from Michelangelo, that's not a problem. But being too derivative can become a problem, because you risk turning into a cover band. These kids need to be careful not to become too derivative, but otherwise there's really a lot of talent out there.

When Manuel Agnelli is off duty, does he ever listen to new music? You've already mentioned Viagra Boys, Idles, Fontaines D.C. Is there anything recent that's particularly struck you?

I don't want to come across as a snob, but right now I really love African music. I was lucky enough to play with Fatoumata Diawara, in Matera, the year it was European Capital of Culture, I put together a band with her and it was an incredible, magical experience. I like listening to things that are very far removed from rock. I like this latest post-punk generation, both for the attitude and for the songs, the sounds are contemporary, but I lived through the post-punk period at the time, and I have to say it was a wonderful period, unbeatable, so today I'm happy to head towards plenty of other genres too. I've always liked jazz, not free jazz and not the classic jazz that used to be played in clubs here in Italy. Without too many preconceptions, at GERMI too we have a jazz showcase, "Germi in Jazz", where some of the acts were brought in by Paolo Fresu, who acted as artistic director and supervisor. Lately I've seen and heard some great talents, Italian ones too, really remarkable, musicians who've reworked numerous influences and are coming up with something personal, in my opinion of international standard. For example, at GERMI there was Andrea Manzoni, a contemporary pianist and composer, another area I like listening to. Then, to be clear, it's not that I have to force this stuff into my records - maybe it ends up there anyway, as inspiration, as color, as shading, even unconsciously. I also listen to classical music, it's the music that shaped me, because I studied classical piano for twenty years, but in the end all this stuff doesn't necessarily have to end up directly in what I write and play: what I'm able to do well, and what fully represents me, is rock'n'roll made in a certain way. Call it "alternative", call it whatever you want, that's what I like to do, that's who I am in terms of musical personality, then what I listen to at home can be something completely different.

Let me bring you into the mainstream for a moment. In recent years we've gone from a male-centric situation, where men held absolute dominance, to one where women are having more success. If we look, for example, at the Grammy Awards, in the "Album Of The Year" category, out of ten nominations usually eight or nine are women artists, a situation that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Rosalía, SZA: women are proving to be far more talented and interesting than their male counterparts, at least in the mainstream pop world. Do you agree? Is there any of these artists who's caught your attention?

These days people are crucifying me because I'm expressing opinions about other colleagues, and you know how it is...

But these are foreigners, maybe they'll never read what you say, I don't know... what do you think, for example, of Taylor Swift?

I couldn't give a damn about Taylor Swift! I couldn't give a damn about the music she makes... I don't like it. Then again, for someone who's sold that much, who's had that kind of success, she probably has a hell of a lot of talent, but compared to so many other musicians I've known and listened to in the past, I just don't see it in all this stuff — but that's just the way it is, right? As for the presence of women, yes, you're right, it's definitely increased in recent years, but the music world remains very male-dominated: don't be fooled by the greater or lesser presence of women.

So the system stays "male-centric"...

If you think about it, most women — not all, but most of those who hold an important role in music — still have to season their presence with a certain kind of femininity, which in the end represents exactly what men want to see: sexy, sinuous, exposed bodies. Far be it from me to play the moralist, God forbid, everyone should do whatever the hell they want, but I say this to underline the fact that there's a vision of women that remains male-centric, and that's not good news. It IS good news that there are so many women, that's true, because it's a trend that can finally bring to light many talented artists who, in other eras, might have struggled more to break through. But it's not good that there are almost indispensable ingredients if you're after a certain kind of fame. And anyway, within the music system men still call the shots, and in Italy there's a frightening amount of misogyny! We're miles away from a calm, balanced concept of the power dynamic between men and women within the music system.

Do you like the big-festival dimension?

The problem isn't what's there, the problem is what's missing. Big festivals are welcome, they're a really cool way to see and discover certain kinds of artists, to witness a monstrous level of organization and professionalism, they represent a great moment of togetherness for fans. I'm thinking, for example, of Sziget in Budapest, where we played a few years ago, and everything around it was wonderful. Not just the music but also the stores, the campsite — a truly great experience. But obviously it has to be organized properly, and that's not so easy. I've played many European festivals, both with Afterhours and with other bands, with Greg Dulli, with Mark Lanegan, and even at a few American festivals, and you really feel the difference compared to what happens in Italy. At European festivals there's an impressive level of organization compared to what we have here. Festivals in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and of course England let you live a genuine experience. The big festival is cool, while right now the smaller festivals are struggling a bit, somewhat squeezed by these giants: small festivals are a different kind of experience, where the audience is less passive, because they're less at the mercy of what happens on stage and participate much more. Those are incredible experiences too and deserve a bit of a revival, but there's room for everything, especially since Italy isn't exactly overflowing with these situations anyway.

But why can't Italy manage to organize a Primavera Sound, a Glastonbury, a Reading? Why can't this situation be replicated here, and why do we keep having to go abroad to experience it?

There's a problem with venues, with finding the right locations, there's a bureaucracy problem, and also a problem on the part of those who could organize these events, because to change the nature of festivals in Italy you have to take a risk, and many promoters don't feel up to it, or can't find the right conditions to do so. The bureaucratic problems are definitely huge. I see, for instance, that there are issues with decibel limits, which is pretty ridiculous, given that in some situations the noise pollution certain areas have to put up with is far worse than anything a concert could cause — not to mention that karaoke bars or discos have monstrous volume levels and culturally give back a lot less than a festival does, while also facing far fewer controls. Last summer in Milan we played in front of ten thousand people at Carroponte, which isn't a bad venue, and even though it's outside the city, in Sesto San Giovanni, we had ridiculous decibel limits. The audience was chatting away quite comfortably while we played. And from halfway through the set on, nobody could hear a damn thing. The fact that Milan operates on a "make do with what you've got" basis strikes me as absurd. It should be a cutting-edge European city. So there are definitely bureaucratic problems that musicians, promoters and everyone in the industry need to tackle as a group. When we worked on the music law, which then never became an implementing decree because of this government, there was a bit of mobilization, one of the rare cases of shared purpose in the music world — but maybe only because we were all stuck at home, and very worried, during the pandemic. Because otherwise it's a world that's always very divided, fragmented, where everyone minds their own business, tends their own little garden, where nobody does anything for anyone else, and that's a huge problem. In a situation like that, to organize a large-scale event, we certainly can't expect a promoter to take on all the responsibility and risk alone. It's the environment itself that needs to change, it's the whole concept of music in Italy that needs to change. Sorry if this is starting to sound like a campaign speech...

Well, since we're at it, after the No vote won the referendum we went straight into campaign mode for next year's general election...

You're right! You see, if it's not our own category, audience included, coming together and taking a stand so that Italy pays more attention, so that the work of musicians is given more dignity, along with concerts, festivals, taxes, pension contributions — if our own category doesn't take a firm stand, why should anyone else? We're always complaining, but we never do a damn thing about it! That's the problem! And it's true that in Italy there's less of a music culture, not in terms of quality, because we're a people who listen to a huge amount of music, but in terms of dignity. The public still doesn't grant musicians the same dignity it grants any other kind of professional.

In Italy they tried with Heineken, which in the end turned out to be something of a disaster...

Heineken didn't have even 10% of any large European festival, which, beyond the stages hosting music, have a whole world built around them.

In Italy, the reality of the big open-air festival is missing, and it's strange, because Italy is the country of people out in the streets, the country of people staying out in the piazzas all night long.

Why did you end the wonderful adventure of the Tora! Tora! Festival?

For a thousand reasons. The personal one is that I want to be a musician. Tora! Tora! was the swan song of a generation. At the start there was heartfelt participation from almost everyone who played there.

Tora! Tora! was possible because bands came at reduced fees, because we managed to find "easy" logistical situations, because at that time there was also a generation of promoters and concert organizers who were used to working at a high level, very capable professionals who had come up alongside us. We were all friends. But then things started getting really exhausting.

And nobody came to you and said: if you step away, we'll carry it forward?

No. Also because you have to consider that project didn't make any money at all, financially speaking. We managed to put on five editions, which if you think about it is a lot, because then a musical generation came to an end - at a certain point, in 2005, the situation had started to change, it's only natural. The Tora! Tora! lineup was made up of big bands with a big following, but who had also already given a bit of everything they had: if you came to see Tora! Tora! twice over five years, then what do you do, keep doing the same line-up over and over? I mean, there wasn't a generation after ours that allowed certain initiatives to carry on over time, there wasn't a generation that replaced us, and I say that with real bitterness, because - as maybe is only right - the generation immediately after ours rejected us a little, even though at Tora! Tora! there was a good representation of this new generation, I'm talking about those who came along ten years after us. The new generation had talent but didn't have the same communicative power as ours, and the generation of indie singer-songwriters hadn't arrived yet - the one that went on to have huge success, quite apart from the fact that, honestly, I was never all that interested in them, I never found them musically interesting as a phenomenon, but they had huge success and could have done well at a Tora! Tora!, except they came along a bit later. So, we found ourselves running the risk of just doing the same things over and over again. It was also exhausting keeping the participating bands together, I worked my ass off playing psychologist, it was a wonderful experience, but it was a situation that was draining me, so at a certain point I had to say stop.

One last question to try and get you to open up: in the coming months will it be easier to see you on stage in one of the many incarnations of Afterhours, or as a solo artist?

In the coming months? I'm taking a sabbatical year, even if it doesn't look like it. In the coming months I'm minding my own business. In January I spent a month visiting friends in Australia, including Nic Cester and Hugo Race, I've been travelling around a bit, and honestly I'd like to keep doing that until the end of this year.

I'll admit I have a ton of material, and I hope a lot of things can happen, but until the end of this year I hope to manage to unplug a little, take some time for myself, do other things, and then we'll see each other again, in 2027.

We'll be waiting then: good luck, Manuel!

The first leg of the 2026 "Suoni dal futuro" tour will feature Dirty Noise, Dlemma, Grida, Kahlumet, Mars on Suicide and Wayloz. The tour will kick off on April 10 at GERMI in Milan and will take in Spazioporto in Taranto, Urbica in Pesaro, I Candelai in Palermo, Auditorium Novecento in Naples, Wishlist in Rome and Il Covo in Bologna, before wrapping up at Spazio 211 in Turin on May 30.

A second run of shows will take place next autumn.

"Sounds from the Future" Tour Schedule – Spring 2026

10/04 – 31/05

Dirty Noie | Dlemma | Grida | Kahlumet | Mars On Suicide | Wayloz

            Milan – GERMI LdC 

• 10/04 – Mars On Suicide / Kahlumet
• 11/04 – Dlemma / Grida
• 12/04 – Dirty Noise / Wayloz

            Taranto – Spazioporto 

• 11/04 – Dirty Noise / Mars On Suicide
• 17/04 – Dlemma / Wayloz
• 24/04 – Grida / Kahlumet

            Pesaro – Urbica 

• 16/04 – Wayloz / Dlemma
• 17/04 – Grida / Mars On Suicide
• 18/04 – Dirty Noise / Kahlumet

            Palermo – I Candelai 

• 22/04 – Grida / Kahlumet
• 23/04 – Mars On Suicide / Wayloz
• 24/04 – Dirty Noise / Dlemma

            Naples – Auditorium Novecento 

• 30/04 – Dlemma / Mars On Suicide
• 01/05 – Dirty Noise / Grida
• 02/05 – Kahlumet / Wayloz

            Rome – Wishlist Club 

• 08/05 – Wayloz / Mars On Suicide / Kahlumet
• 09/05 – Dirty Noise / Dlemma / Grida

            Bologna – Il Covo 

• 21/05 – Dlemma / Kahlumet
• 22/05 – Mars On Suicide / Wayloz
• 23/05 – Dirty Noise / Grida

            Turin – Spazio 211 

• 28/05 – Dlemma / Grida
• 29/05 – Dirty Noise / Wayloz
• 30/05 – Kahlumet / Mars On Suicide

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