Nicolò Piccinni is 'Mareamare': a journey between music, stories and visions – Rockon.it

After “Cold Water”, Italian adaptation of “Cold Water”, authorized and praised by the author himself Tom Waits, Nicolò Piccinni come back with mareamarethird studio album; A multimedia work that is a record, a book of stories and illustrations, published by Morsi Editore, and a collection of videos produced by the Filmatographic Studio Fuoricampo, all united by the theme of the virtual dimension.

Twelve songs that expand between the coordinates of the songwriter and the experimentation with the featuring of artists and artists such as Bunna of the United Africa, Fausia, Rossana De Pace, Giulia Impache, VEA, Protto and Andrea Boris Borasco.

Bbiamo met Piccinni and we made ourselves told of mareamare And how this multimedia work was born.

mareamare It is a complex work, which unites music, stories and illustrations. What was the starting point for you?
Certainly the fear of dying, back home by a beautiful intense evening I was attacked by this fear. I said to myself “What if they are no longer there tomorrow”? It seems a bad thing, but in reality it has prompted me to do some order among the songs I had written over the years. That night by arranging the songs I discovered that some more recent songs spoke of the absence of the sea (what then became side A) and a handful of others instead of the presence of the sea (which then became the B side). Just to say it clearly, I survived, the next day I was still alive! Then over time the stories have sprung up, which I wrote in a sort of exploration of the songs and symbols that were contained there. At that point the project was welcomed by Morsi Editore who involved the artist Sara Zollo, who made twelve beautiful illustrations plus the cover, and here is the book of “Mareamare”.

The loss and the rediscovery of oneself, the border between the real and virtual self, love and madness, how did you choose the themes that cross the album?
I don't think I chose them rationally, they came out by writing, singing. Then perhaps they are present almost everywhere, I mean that they can be traced in many works, they are themes that we can define. They are there and all involve us all.

The album explores several musical styles, from songwriting to experimentation. How you balanced these elements in creating the sound of mareamare?
It was a seven -year long job. In seven years many things change around and within us. There was also pandemic in the middle, among other things, and in that period the years seemed twice as much. The sound of the album has changed in parallel to us, that is, to me and to the Internet users. All of them played an active role in the creation process. In particular as regards the recordings, which took place in different places and times, Federico Bertaccini has been fundamental, as sound engineer and sound engineer since the beginning of the project. Francesco Cornaglia also played an important role in the recording phase and sound identity, not only as a drummer or executor, but as an artist with a broad vision, I would say global of what a single sound represents within a song And of what a song represents within a concept album. Gabriele Prandi, the guitarist, was the first I involved and he was fundamental in what I can define the staging of the melody, because he created countercanchers on the unique, characterizing, fundamental guitar. At the end of the road then there were Andrea De Carlo who in his studio Lab01 sewn the two sides and did an important mix of mix, and Michele Nicolino at Mam Recording Studio who put his final stamp by taking care of the master's degree.

Of the current Italian music scene with who would you like to duet with?
It would be a dream duet with Caparezza. We dream!

What are your musical references?
Various enough, certainly one of the main references is the Italian songwriter of the 60s/70s. However, the listeners of the US blues from the 1930s onwards were dazzling, not to mention the British Invasion. I think they were of inspiration for me also artists such as Paul Simon, Ben Harper, Glen Hansard, Peter Gabriel, Fleet Foxes, David Crosby and many others.

What relationship do you have with social networks that, in recent years, have they become important tools even in the musical field?
If I didn't make music I would probably have taken off. And I think it would have been a mistake, I intend to exclude from social networks, beyond the utility that may have to be there to promote a creative form such as music. It is a parallel world that influences the so -called concrete world and pretending that it does not exist, perhaps, is not the right solution. As a tool should be used correctly, balanced. But the temptation to vanish from there is very strong, especially in the moments in which celebrations of appearances, incitements to badness and a string of solitudes on display parade in front of your eyes. In any case, I admire so much who manages to parade, not to join, and detoxify at least for a certain period.

In addition to writing music and stories you are also an actor, which of these talents do you feel more yours?
The theater is perhaps the engine and the thread that connects everything. In a sense, everyone unites them, but I must say that writing, music, acting, video are all different ways to achieve the same purpose, that is, telling a story, of the characters. In the end, it is a question of revealing collective symbols and emotions, dreams and nightmares or desires that we human beings hatch or chase.

Describe Mareamare with three adjectives
Immersive, labyrinthine, liberating