Recorded in the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, the new album Free Love which will be released the day after tomorrow embodies Negramaro's tension between past and future, personal achievements and constant search for independence. In the background, reflections on universal themes such as freedom, love, sense of belonging.
They explain it in this interview, between the story of an era in which “it seems we have returned to the Middle Ages” as regards rights, Giuliano Sangiorgi's obsessive bond with nature, the balance that holds a band together after 25 years between “confrontations, crises and mutual respect”. The real key seems to be consistency: «If you are consistent, you are free. And when you are free you are not afraid to enter other people's lives.” And don't call them boomers: “Boomers are obsessed, I'm fed up with this word.”
In the album the moon, the stars, the planets, the Astral conjunction in the piece with Niccolò Fabi hey Martians in the single you released a couple of weeks ago. It seems like you spent a lot of time observing the sky.
Giuliano Sangiorgi: The moon, the sky, the sea are elements that I imagine even when I don't have them in front of me, they are an obsession. They lead me to reflect on the fact that nature takes its path however our life goes. I idealized them, they are not just something visually suggestive, I feel truly anchored by them.
Let's stay in the sky. Free Love it's your ninth studio album and number 9 in astrology represents the Hermit, a card that speaks of enlightenment, wisdom and awareness. Do you recognize each other?
Julian: We leave wisdom to posterity. We are part of the poised generation that never feels resolved and therefore cannot arrive at the wisdom that belongs to resolved people. For the moment it is not part of our plans.
Danilo Tasco: The Hermit is an image that I struggle to associate with a band like ours. As for wisdom, it could be an ambition of ours, only that we have to postpone it for a few more years of life and experiences.
In the album you say that loving is a right, without prejudice, violence and discrimination. Is it a reaction to politicians who would like to impose their way of loving?
Julian: I wonder if one day I will be able to respect my daughter's freedom, but I think I am ready to get rid of any prejudice. I am convinced that all social achievements are too great to be wasted in the new Middle Ages that we live in and which we did not expect would return. Who imagined sinking backwards? Being confident, Free Love it is full of hope and I think that this period, which is one of the darkest for the conquests of rights, will be overcome because the new generations are ready to be free.
You recorded in Berlin in the historic Hansa Studios, which hosted David Bowie, Depeche Mode, U2, Iggy Pop and REM La East Berlin of your song is it really so far from Italy?
Julian: I wrote that song when I arrived in Berlin and it was like touching lunar soil for the first time. I went there with Ilaria and Stella (his partner and daughter, ed), it was the first time for me. I wrote this piece immediately in the hotel. I felt that freedom that had broken the walls, destroyed the borders, in which all humanity had found itself. Perhaps Free Love it could only be born in a place where freedom broke down barriers. I was a child when the Berlin Wall fell, I still have those images and the expressions of my mother and father before my eyes. So yes, we wanted to steal the spirit that you feel on the streets of the city and this is also about civil and social rights.
What does it take to keep a band like yours going for so long?
Danilo: A band like ours is no different from other small communities that have been together for 25 years and are influenced by constant evolution, by growth, by dramas, by the different moments that accompany life. There are six of us and we like to think that the band goes beyond individual capabilities. The work we have produced has always been the result of an experience that we have told in songs. It's not easy, it doesn't mean getting along or not discussing things, but doing it freely, respecting everyone's opinion.
The album cover hosts the Narcissus of Iago. Taking inspiration from the myth, Giuliano, have you ever looked in the mirror in the pond and not recognized yourself?
Julian: When I look in the mirror, I see the image of a woman. Caterina Caselli often told me: «When you write you have the soul of a woman». Also in Iago's work, Narcissus reflects himself and sees a woman. In my daughter Stella I feel a symmetry, a reflection different from the one I find myself in. I collaborated with Mina, Ornella Vanoni, Patty Pravo, Malika Ayane and it seemed strange to me that women were so familiar with what I wrote, but in reality it was me who was reflected in them and this allows me to live in balance.
Negramaro at Skyway Monte Bianco for the video of 'Free Love'. Photo: Giordano Mattar
If Negramaro were born today, would they be the same? Or maybe they wouldn't last long?
Danilo: Every now and then we wonder what would have happened if we had had social media when we started. At the time, even just to have a record label listen to a song it was necessary to physically deliver it. It's prehistory, the Internet was there, but not social media.
Julian: Before the advent of social media, we played at San Siro, at the Arena di Verona or at the Olimpico, goals that today have a huge resonance. If we had had them, they would have been a very powerful driving force. Even outside Italy.
After 25 years of career, aren't you afraid of being called a boomer by younger people?
Danilo: We don't feel like boomers, also because we don't like the idea of being labeled. And then we are demographically between various generations. But beyond definitions, we have a predisposition to welcome what is to come, we are looking forward to the future.
Julian: It's an obsession for boomers, I'm bored with this word. Generations change, what the fuck do we care if we are boomers or not? Do you know what's important? Be free. There is a clear break between the generations, it is right that the new ones revolt, but the word boomer is inadequate to describe the generational conflict.
