My Extra Life Time 99
MELT99

My Extra Life Time 99 is an electro-rock project with post-punk and industrial influences created by the duo Cristiano Neila and Luca Salvati (ed.).

Interviewing Criss can be a challenge; he is always busy.
But you just need to promise him something that'll make his mouth water. Like couscous or a Weiss.
At first glance, he seems like a shy guy, smiling with his half-closed black eyes, but after a while, he warms up and starts talking about himself, and you realize appearances can be deceiving!

Criss picked up the guitar for the first time at 14 and never put it down again. He has always been passionate about music; it's said he was humming the tune of "9½ Weeks" at the age of four! -Is it a passion for music or something else? (ed.).
After taking some lessons with a teacher, he continued his theoretical and practical studies as a self-taught musician, causing some disturbance to his parents and neighbors. His musical taste manifested itself from the outset: as soon as "Ok Computer" was released, he started obsessing over the world. After a year of playing guitar, Criss also started playing the bass in a Punk band with some schoolmates, then joined various formations.
He played Rock and Hard Rock with "Gli Avvocati," performing at various venues (like Stazione Birra and Horus Club).
He then ventured into Indie with the "Stone Cold," landing at Circolo Degli Artisti.

Over the years, he created a small rehearsal room to immerse himself in his world, and that's where he produced his first significant work (after Silent Breathing - 2006, and Mind - 2008) with Melt99, self-produced. The album title (and band name) sounds very 90s, and the artwork confirms this first impression. Melt99 stands for My Extra Life Time 99, where My Extra Life highlights the fact that this music was produced in a sort of parallel life, and Time 99 is a nerd-only treat!

Upon first listen, the piece that struck me the most was "Fatless L7." I found it full of sounds, never boring, hypnotic, and electronic but rough at the same time. The distorted voice and the guitar, sometimes delicate and sometimes gritty, made me fall in love immediately. As a big fan of Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode, I appreciated the genre right away, but I felt there was something more.
Later, I paid more attention to the other tracks, which I hadn't memorized initially, and found out that there was actually much more than I remembered. The electronic sounds mix well with the guitar, and the almost total absence of vocals makes them ambient just right, rhythmic, and industrial, with various speed changes that help keep the listener engaged. The sound is round but sharp, and at times betrays the musicians' tastes (Cristiano Neila and Luca Salvati).

When I share my impressions about the album with Criss, he jokes and downplays it, but I believed he was worth keeping an eye on since the first time I saw and listened to him.
Currently, after earning a degree in Computer Science, he is studying to become a Sound Engineer, and soon he will be working on some Lives and a new work.
Shortly, the second self-produced video will be published, following "Where Are My Emotions?".

Meanwhile, let’s enjoy some of the tracks and hope to see him play and sing soon!