By Nicholas Jason Lopez
A longtime fixture in the Italian underground scene, Le Capre a Sonagli haven’t been afraid to leave their comfort zone, evidenced by past releases where they’ve experimented with genres, sounds and influences.
This time around, in 2023, a new era was marked for the outfit, as they dropped the three-track ‘Funeral Rave Party’ self-produced EP in April – their first release in the English language.
The band described ‘Funeral Rave Party’ as a “psychedelic rhythmic ritual, a physical live projected into a dystopian, haunting future, the perfect soundtrack to a Cronemberg film.”
The Music Bugle had the opportunity to talk with band member Teo about ‘Funeral Rave Party’ and more.
Music Bugle – For those who don’t know you yet, can you tell us a little about your background and how you got into music?
Teo – The history of our band has ancient roots closely related to our birthplace. Three bandmates out of four were born and raised in the same street and they still live there. We met the “fourth goat” 12 years ago during some live shows around our province… and it was love at first sight. Here we are!
Music Bugle – How would you describe the music of Le Capre a Sonagli and what sets you apart from other bands?
Teo – There are certain common features between our different albums. There is a generous amount of psychedelic music, themes related to death in our lyrics and a huge research for original sounds and personal music solutions.
Music Bugle – Your new EP, ‘Funeral Rave Party,’ is your first music in English. What inspired you to make this shift in language and how do you think it will expand your reach?
Teo – The voice and lyrics are the protagonists of “traditional Italian music,” but our vocal approach has always been different. Our lyrics are hidden, visionary and bizarre; listeners are free to imagine and to interpret our songs as they wish. The English language helps us to do this better than Italian.
Music Bugle – Can you walk us through the creative process behind ‘Funeral Rave Party,’ from writing the songs to producing the final product?
Teo – Our first goal was to create our own version of “dance” music, so we started with drum and bass grooves and then guitars, voices and other sounds. ‘Funeral Rave Party’ is an attempt to combine tribal rhythms and horror suggestions. We are proud because for the first time, we took the recording and mixing process “in our own hands.” It was possible because we destroyed our rehearsal room two years ago and now it is a professional recording studio.
Music Bugle – You’ve said that ‘Funeral Rave Party’ is a part of a larger work. Can you give us any hints or teasers about what’s coming next?
Teo – We noticed one thing over the years – the main character in our music is deception. ‘Funeral Rave Party’ is the first episode in a series of musical works that will have deception – and doubt – as main themes.
Music Bugle – Your music is known for its genre-bending and experimental qualities. What inspires you to mix and blend different sounds and influences in your music?
Teo – Our research follows what we like – bizarre things, music out of the ordinary, imaginative and totally personal elements. We are very focused on what we like and this is possible because we have a long experience, which has codified our musical tastes. We stay away from certain corny songs, we don’t appreciate them very much.
Music Bugle – How has your past recording experience influenced the making of ‘Funeral Rave Party,’ particularly with regards to the self-production of the EP?
Teo – Our past recording experiences totally influenced the making of ‘Funeral Rave Party.’ During these years, we have gone deeper into the technical side of music production and the artistic direction. Our last experience with Tommaso Colliva – amazing music producer of Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Damon Albarn and more – gave us a plus. Now, we have the goal to maintain a similar quality standard and we want to do it independently. We realized that in order to give more quality to our sound, it was necessary to build a new recording studio and so we did.
Music Bugle – What message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from ‘Funeral Rave Party’ and what do you hope to accomplish with your music in general?
Teo – We suggest you to listen to our music not only with your ears and head. You should use your whole body to have a full, physical experience. Our music was born to make you dance, to make you get in deep contact with your body and its vibrations. We absolutely believe that our live show is unique, singular and really powerful, which is why we want to bring it everywhere.
