A Dirty Dozen with STEFANO CASANICA from FELDSPAR – April 2024

According to a recent press release: “Italian rock band FELDSPAR has signed with TTK Records, for a worldwide release of the band’s forthcoming debut album, due out later this year. The debut single from the album, “Cobblestones,” is set to at the end of May, with a music video to follow. The track heralds the start of a collaboration with Nick Terry, the highly acclaimed London-based producer renowned for his work on iconic albums by The Libertines, Simian Mobile Disco, Peaches, Ian Brown (Stone Roses), Turbonegro, Kvelertak, and more. Nick has helmed the production of Feldspar’s entire debut album.” We get guitarist Stefano to discuss new music, influences, and more.

1. Tell us a little about your latest release. What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through? Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Good question! The album will be full of sonic surprises. Inserts, more or less evident, designed to evoke the atmospheres the songs talk about. In this sense, I would say cinematic.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

It’s hard to remember what introduced me to music; all I know is that it happened very early, around the age of 9.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

I remember a Nirvana concert a week before Kurt Cobain’s death, to call it influential is an understatement.

4 If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Mike Patton or Trent Reznor.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour? What do you like to do to unwind?

Going surfing, playing basketball, and ironically attending music festivals with my friends.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I would describe it as modern hardcore from the old continent.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

No one cooks, Manlio and Luca get drinks, and Stefano grabs the guitar.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Hmm, I need to think about it. I’m not particularly impressed by celebrity, but surely spending an evening in Rome with Gil Scott Heron and attending his concert, just voice and piano, for 30 people was a strong emotion. Even though it certainly wasn’t the last one anyway.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Probably a professional free surfer. Who wouldn’t want to be supported to travel the world searching for untouched spots and being able to enjoy them alone or almost alone?

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I wouldn’t know, but the question I would like to ask or receive, regardless of being a musician, is on which day of history with a capital ‘H’ would you like to have lived?

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I’m not used to thinking in terms of regrets or missed opportunities, more about choices made hastily or not with the usual reasonableness.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

It might sound cliché, but Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, I don’t think I need to explain why.

FELDSPAR LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

INSTAGRAM

Category: Interviews