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Rating: A musician like Massimo Zamboni needs no introduction. For over thirty years, he has been a symbol of a certain kind of auteur rock, and the former guitarist of CCCP and CSI, on the occasion of the now traditional concert at the Carroponte in Sesto San Giovanni, tells us about his new projects, from the album "Un'infinita Compressione precede lo Scoppio," signed with "colleague" Angela Baraldi, to the various shows involving the old traveling companions from CSI. Enjoy reading.
1) RR: Last year, there was a concert-dinner in Bergamo during which you explained that you had no contact with the various former members of CSI since the late nineties. The only person who had relationships with one of them was Angela Baraldi, involved in a tribute to Joy Division with Giorgio Canali. However, a year later, there were "30 Anni di Ortodossia," "Il Fantasma dell'Opera," and "Ciò che non deve accadere accade," all shows involving Giorgio Canali, Gianni Maroccolo, and Francesco Magnelli. I was wondering how this reconnection happened... MZ: In life, never trust definitive words; even I never trust definitive words, life is much more beautiful and complex than we think... Well, it all happened quite by chance: one day Francesco Magnelli called me to propose that Maroccolo and I play together the soundtrack of "Il Fantasma dell'Opera." In the meantime, I had already met Giorgio Canali thanks to Angela, so it was quite simple to think of calling him too. These things go quickly when they happen, then there is also a custom, when there is a friendship, that skips many steps. This year it is not yet certain that we will be able to do it, but in September we should do four or five concerts together. We were supposed to do one in Padova on the 5th of July (it was "Ciò che non deve accadere accade," with Zamboni, Maroccolo, Magnelli, and Canali playing the CSI repertoire again, ed), but we had to give it up: it was really too complex, between rehearsals and personal issues. So we will do an evening that is "30 Anni di Ortodossia," in which Magnelli and Maroccolo will also participate as guests. We are here, like everyone else, living our lives... 2) RR: "Il Fantasma dell'Opera" had already been scored by Magnelli in the nineties. However, nothing came of that project, partly because CSI had debuted in the meantime. Is your intention to take that show on tour and develop that project, or for the moment will it be confined to just one evening? MZ: Well, we are already doing a small tour, by the end of the year there are already four or five dates, all very beautiful, very important. It is very pleasant to play for images, so I don't think this story ends here. There should be "Il Fantasma dell'Opera" and in a year we'll have the title of another film.. it is very nice, it's stimulating, there is no reason not to do it. 3) RR: Speaking of the new album, "Un'infinita Compressione precede lo Scoppio," it stands out that it is credited to both you and Angela. Why this decision? A new acronym wasn't used; it almost feels like you wanted to highlight your personalities to the fullest... MZ: Well, we didn't want acronyms, band names, and the like, but to expose ourselves personally, so names and surnames and nothing else. The CD was thought out together: I wrote the songs but Angela reinterpreted them and this is not a minor role, it is an equal role from my point of view: that's why the album bears our names. 4) RR: Your solo work is usually characterized by a minimal sound, high emphasis on words, and little emphasis on music. For what I have heard from the new album, it seems there is a more "classic" sound, closer to that of the CSI. I wanted to ask you how you worked on the record and how you achieved this sound. MZ: Well, this is a very natural sound, Angela's voice has significantly changed my way of composing and thinking about songs, which needed to be "turned" to her voice and not mine. I need expanded and not too noisy music; I wouldn't be able to have a voice suitable for that kind of music.. Angela is versatile, much more than I am from this point of view.. this allows a broader range of songs. Once composed it was easy to think of drums, bass, guitars... 5) RR: Considering the soundtracks you have written, based on what do you choose which films to work on? Starting from a predefined context, that is, images that flow on a screen, is it a stimulus or a limitation for you as a musician? MZ: Usually, I don't choose the films, but the films choose me, in the sense that the proposals that come, I think, are already very precise, already gauged to the type of music I can compose. I think I've never refused a soundtrack; usually, the proposal comes to me from someone who knows me well and would like to work with me.. and it becomes easy for me to think that I would like to work with him.. we find ourselves agreeing very much from this point of view.. then you wait for the images and the script, but usually, just the script is enough to understand what film to score it is.. 6) RR: CCCP was born in 1982 in Germany; in the same period, Litfiba composed "Rotterdam," Diaframma "Amsterdam," and Pier Vittorio Tondelli said that, thanks to the Autobrennero, Emilia almost became a gigantic suburb of Berlin. During those years, what was the fascination for Northern Europe given by? Was there actually something more compared to Italy, or was it just a "youthful" feeling, a simple desire to leave home? MZ: Let's say that besides all these things, there was also the fact that we come from a country of sun, sea, and laxity. Thinking of reversing these conditions and seeking coldness, discipline, austerity, but at the same time the ease of living allowed by Nordic countries, was much envied as a choice. That's why many of that generation from those years turned to Northern Europe.. 7) RR: These days I'm reading a book of yours from a few years ago, "Il Mio Primo Dopoguerra." It seems to me that, with CCCP first and then CSI, there was always a sort of fascination for everything that is the cause of doubt, of uncertainty. I think, for example, of songs like "Per me lo so": "In a present that you don't know how to understand, the last time never comes." Why? Was it a push to constantly challenge oneself? At the same time, however, I think of pieces like "Linea Gotica," where there was the push to take very clear and precise stands... MZ: I think it is also the allure of our musical stories.. on one hand, seeking orthodoxy and rigor, very determined positions, and on the other hand knowing that life offers such complexity to which it is worth surrendering. Therefore there are positions of absolute, like those we mentioned before, "I will never play again with.." and then months later you see that they mean nothing anymore. This is very beautiful, it's a constant stimulus, I like this idea of thinking about my music and my books as if I were constantly packing for a journey that I know will change me before it changes anyone else. Writing books, in particular, and writing songs is a way to change who you are, personally this, in my opinion, also helps others to think about themselves.. 8) RR: Still quoting "Il Mio Primo Dopoguerra," there is a reflection of yours where you point out how very often we Italians would like a "more Nordic" Italy, better governed, better managed, more efficient. Considering the current situation, could something change, or is the situation bound to worsen? I remember your optimism a couple of years ago right after the victory of the referendum on public water, but from a distance, I don't see great improvements.. MZ: No, it's worsened. In a sense, the Italian people are increasingly stripped of holding their own lives. It seems that, even though we live in a context that is democratic, with elections and basic guarantees that are untouchable, at the same time, I believe that never have so many Italians felt so cut off from every possible choice and any chance of collective participation. We are truly on the margins of the ability to choose and this is terrible.. 9) RR: And finally, a historic band and an emerging one that you would recommend. MZ: It's difficult... there is a historic band, speaking of Northern Europe: Kraftwerk comes to mind. The idea of rock that they have and are able to pass down was very strong.. it seems to me I can feel the beats of ancient Europe in their songs, which yet are so modern.. they are almost machines that transit.. I don't know about modern music, I listen to so little of it, I would say a series of nonsense, so I don't know.. I like it when music comes to you by chance, for example, someone who gives you a CD and thinks it's suitable for you or you hear some music on the radio that strikes you.. but more than the search I like to be listened to.
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