Gazebo Penguins :: Ondarock interviews

Gazebo Penguins return with a record that is a journey into the mind, between neuroscience, memories and identities. In this long chat, the Correggio band tells us how “storm” was born from reflections on the brain, perception and human fragility, mixing philosophy, rock and psychoanalysis. After exploring quantum physics in “how much”, they now ask themselves about who we really are, where our consciousness resides and what remains of us every day. With a freer production than in the past, thanks also to a study (where we have reached them for our chat, in the middle of the tests for the preparation of the tour) made available by the son of another Rocker of Correggio, the national Ligabue, the Gazebo Penguins were able to work calmly, experiment with new sounds and vintage tools, winds and keyboards. All with a perennial eye also to the live dimension, which remains central in their relationship with the public, even the youngest one. An intense and sincere interview from which a strong message emerges, which also lets and breathe: fragility unites us, and music is still a powerful way to tell it.

In search of Gestalt

I would start right from the last album, starting from the idea of ​​the Gestalt. How did the need, also poetic, of a disc focused on analysis and the definition of the ego?
Every now and then we like to digress on very wide themes. Reflecting, we realized that if the previous album took inspiration from the quantum mechanics to tell the world in which we live – so the “where we are” – in this new chapter we moved to the “who we are”. From there the desire to tell the brain in our own way: a strange, profound and mysterious organ, which also says who we were and who we could become. All the discourse on the memory and the perception of reality, and therefore on the Gestaltrevolves around a question: are we something beyond our brain or are we entirely contained in it? What happens when we no longer recognize ourselves, when we feel that our conscience is elsewhere? Where is our identity?

All these reflections, already present on the previous album, translate into a writing that we could define as “cultured”, literary, philosophical. Has this approach also influenced music?
Yes, absolutely. The use of post-rock structures, winds with more sought after harmonies, odd times, all this is part of a research that we have deepened on this album. It seems to us that our approach to writing and arrangements reflects a more mature way of working. Already with “Nebbia” (2017) we had started to introduce the use of a synthesizer live, the Korg MS-10, which replaced the lower but with a different sound, also creating sound rugs, drones-which we call “pad”. We began to build the songs starting from these drones, on which we then imposed unconventional batteries, which however maintained a certain rhythmic usability. “Temporary”, unlike the previous records, was born entirely in the studio, without rehearsals in the room. We had a beautiful study available – just in which we are now – for a long period, and this has allowed us to experiment so much in production and writing. We were able to carry on, perfect and amplify the type of work started in previous discs.

Can you tell us something more about this study? Is it the first time you work on it?
Yes, for this album we were lucky enough to work in the Ligabue studio in Reggio Emilia, thanks to his son Lenny, who is one of our fan and had come to see us during some dates of the previous tour. So the idea was born: “Why not record the new album there?”. It was a real turning point. Now we are here to set up the live.

Strange new sounds and animals

How has your relationship with the public evolved over time to concerts?
Well! After twenty years that sounds, every now and then you risk losing that momentum. Instead, seeing the response of the young audience during the “how much” tour – despite the complex themes of the disc – gave us a very strong desire to immediately make a new album. “Cloud”, for example, although not an easy song, it went very well. We notice it more to the concerts than from streaming. As soon as he leaves, the public recognizes him and unleashes. It is a strong signal for us. It is not a song Catchyit has a very long part, without battery … yet it is one of the most anticipated pieces and will certainly be in the lineup in the next dates.

About pieces without battery. In the new album there is “strange animals”, which is a suspended piece, without beat. How did the idea come about?
It was an idea of ​​guitar and goat voice. It speaks of hallucinations, of internal perceptions experienced as external. It is an “misunderstood” song: it has no battery, it breaks expectations, in fact it is placed differently on vinyl, cd and streaming. However, in a disc that speaks of mind, perception and identity, a song that represents a suspension, a fracture, a discontinuity has a pregnant meaning wherever you place it. But there is also another thing to say. In the last period we have started working on material for soundtracks and this has opened a new world, made of atmospheres, loopsuggestions. It is not said that it cannot play a role even in possible evolutions of the Penguins gazebo, but more likely it is part of our parallel compositional work.

Your sound has changed over time. Do you feel pressure from fans who would like you closer to the sound of the first albums?
Sometimes yes, but many understand evolution. It is normal that there are fond listeners to the old soundbut there are others who discovered us from “fog” onwards. It also happened to Fugazi: the first records were one thing, the last ones another. It's nice to see evolution. And then in the last album there are also pieces that bring back to the sound of the beginning, however revised and updated. Everything returns, in the end.

University courses and recursive refrains

Let's talk a moment about the role of Gabriele Malavasi, Aka Caprain writing. Was it more central in the last two records?
Yes, especially as regards thematic ideas, even if in the group we always decide everything together. During the “how much” tour, we started talking about what the theme could be for a possible new album. At that time he attended a philosophy course, convinced of deepening quantum mechanics, and instead we found ourselves dealing with the philosophy of the mind, cognitive sciences, relationship between mind and brain.

It seems to me that this link between brain, fragility and identity also leads to a more “recursive” musical structure. The refrains, for example, have a role that has never previously been played in your music. Is that so?
Absolutely. The brain is made up of recursiveness: signs that repeat themselves, and the refrains are also born from this principle. And then, curiously, some neuroscientific theories hypothesize that consciousness works according to principles of quantum mechanics. It is a minority, but fascinating hypothesis. And then there is also a message of empathy: our mind is capable of incredible things, but is based on a very fragile structure, made of electrical impulses between neurons. Everything starts from there. Playing these impulses, making them become songs, is a little a tribute to fragility, sharing, empathy.

Between-political staff and musical influences

Can all this also have a political value? The fragility in these times of frantic inhabism is really under attack …
Yes, maybe hidden, but very present. We live an anti -fascist vision of society, even if we do not always explicit it in the texts. The brain is the symbol of human complexity, of its magnitude, but it is also our most fragile organ. A small trauma at the hippocampus and you can forget who you are. This should make us more empathetic, less racist, less selfish and closed.

Let's talk about musical influences. One seems to me the post-rock and other forms of sound joints that expand the structures of the songs, such as the kraut. Sometimes it is the circularity of the agreements, other times the use of the guitar made, or the growth of the instruments. Come back to you?
Yes, it's a right reading. Sollo has worked for years with the gardens of Mirò and with Francesco Donadello, who today is a producer of international caliber. Mirò's gardens worked a lot with sounds kraut, pounding rhythms. These are things that even unconsciously finds yourself getting out during a creative process and it is nice that it happens and that it should be noted.

What about hip-hop? Are there no influences even from those latitudes?
Our way of thinking the rhythmic is deeply influenced by hip-hop. We often start writing starting from the battery. Some beat On the album they could easily remember those of the LIFE Bizkit. If you listen to them well, there is a rhythmic under certain songs crossover That perhaps with the sound environment around it turns into something else, but the base is that.

How you will organize yourself for the livenow that there are the richest winds and arrangements? Will something change?
Some dates will have winds – in Milan, for example, there will certainly be – but it will not be a fixed element, because the musicians involved are often on tour elsewhere. The set It will be divided into two parts: in the first we will play the whole new album, trying to bring the environmental, synthetic and a little 80s sounds to our live sound, which are found in the last two records. In the second part we will play a selection of old pieces, even if deciding which is difficult every test is a small battle.

Do you ever want to send everything to the air?
Yes, it often happens to us (they laugh). But in the end we make the music we want, with compromises only interior to the group, we know we are not in step with the times, and we will never be. On the other hand, however, we do not be ashamed of any of our songs, and this gives us strength. We like to think that our records can last over time, or that at least, even at a distance, they can represent something good for us.

(March 26, 2025)