VOV & Steve Forrest - Amarsi a Gomorra
- By Julija Kaselyte -
- May 24, 2012
Italian artists Davide Arneodo and Marta Mattalia, known to the public as VOV band, united with Placebo drummer Steve Forrest for the music project 'Amarsi a Gomorra'. It turned out to be a long, hard slog but at the same time a very worthwhile project.
We got in touch with the VOV duo and talked about the highlights of Amarsi a Gomorra. While speaking to us they reminisced about the hours of tough recording sessions in London and revealed why the lyrics of this record are in Italian...
Red Room: Why and how did you three come together and decide to make a record?
VOV: Last year we won the Think Tank, an international contest that gave us the possibility to work in studio with Dario Dendi. At that time he was finishing working on 'Battle for the Sun', the last Placebo album, and contemporaneously we were working on a 360° project called Amarsi a Gomorra, about degradation resulting from the opulence of Western societies, that included music of course, but also social themes, a short animated film and photography.
We needed to record some drums, we asked Dario to let Steve hear the songs. He was very interested in the project, and we were happy to have him on the team with us, also because we think that ideas of Amarsi a Gomorra could be important to other countries, too.
Red Room: Any special memories about this project?
VOV: When we were arriving in London from Stansted Airport to Liverpool Street, after traveling all the night, and after a week of hard recording sessions in studio, Davide said that he lost the laptop with all the recorded files made up to that moment.
We spent a day in panic running from a place to another hoping to find it without any results. Then at night we received an unexpected message on Facebook from a guy that had found it on the train after the Tottenham football match! Amarsi a Gomorra had to be done.
Red Room: How long were you working in the studio?
VOV: The process was long and complex. At first we started to compose and play live about four or five songs and later with Dario we have chosen the best three ones. After that we have worked hard on the songs’ structures to make them as direct as we could.
Once this process was completed, in September, Dario came to Cuneo to begin the recording sessions. We have recorded all instruments and vocals in a week. After that we went to London all together to record Steve’s drums.
Red Room: The lyrics in all three tracks are Italian. Did it come natural? Did you consider using English as well?
VOV: Our band’s songs at first used English and French languages too, but in this case we felt the necessity to write in Italian in order to be more direct and intimate with our audience. So this project, coming from the idea of Gomorra by Roberto Saviano, was automatically created in Italian.
But we are open to write songs in English once there will be an opportunity.
Red Room: Are you satisfied with the result?
VOV: We put all our passion and effort in it. So yes we are. Now let’s see what the audience thinks.
Red Room: Do you have any plans to record a full-length album?
VOV: Sure. This is a very nice question. Amarsi a Gomorra represents the first attempt to make us known to people. We are already working on our first album and we are going to record it next autumn. We were waiting for a long time for the right moment to make it, and this time has arrived.
By Julija Kaselyte. Tweets at @julijaka
