Marco Galletti interviews Marco Galletti (in Jan 2005…)
Is this a Progressive Rock Album?
Not exactly.It's a kind of music rather difficult to label.Obviously I hope that it could communicate to the listener its own well defined personality.If you absolutely want to localize some references I would say that, in a way, it reflects what I call the four ‘directions’ of my musical background.​To the NORTH: the classic European symphonic tradition, in particular the Baroque music in the first half of 1700. J.S. Bach above all, with particular reference to the organ masterpieces that I studied in the past with sincere passion. Forgetting about almost all the nineteenth century I’d like to mention the influence of some contemporary composer such as Ennio Morricone.​To the WEST: the ‘true progressive rock’. I mean music produced between 1967 and 1975, in particular in the UK (Pink Floyd and Genesis above all) and Italy (Le Orme, PFM, Banco, etc…). I know that, in the past, someone compared the music I wrote for Arcansiel to IQ and Marillion sound, I just have to say that I don’t know these bands at all.​To the EAST: electronics. I mean the ‘analog-based’ cosmic rock of the seventies (some great German band such as Tangerine Dream and Popol Vuh). I like to consider the ‘minimal music of the eighties (Philip Glass and others) as its natural evolution.​To the SOUTH: the melodic feeling of some great Italian songwriters, in particular those whose creative work is mostly tied to music rather than to lyrics (Franco Battiato for instance)​Listening to the album, in a way, you feel like travelling in a sort of ‘no man’s land’ included among these four directions.On the other hand the album has got a peculiar musical character, perhaps due to the further development of an old concept that I’ve been used to apply since my earlier compositions.​I call it the ‘musical objects’ concept..
‘Musical objects’, what does it mean ?
I could define it a ‘particular kind of counterpoint’.
The album is made of a set of self-consistent ‘musical objects’, each one is a ‘melodic fragment’ in itself.
Different ‘musical objects’ are, then, combined together in the same track or even in different tracks.
Taking advantage from the technology they are, then, ‘dressed’ with different sounds and/or harmonies.
Sometimes they are overdubbed and create, this way, curious harmonic effects.​
I don’t want to get too much in the deep now, I’ll soon develop a website on the argument, with explanations, examples, etc… Whoever is curious will enjoy it…
(as a master of facts this website has been developed 20 years later…)
And what about the lyrics ? Aren’t they a little ‘cryptic’?
Maybe you’re right.
As a matter of facts they are conceived together with their music.
Usually I start working by taking tenth and tenth of ‘notes’ that are captured on the tape at the moment..
These notes have often a vocal part having some ‘blah...blah’ and some lyrics.
In many cases these primitive lyrics remain in the final version, often the title assigned in the ‘block note’ becomes the final title of the track.
The final and complete lyrics are developed further in time, often after the entire musical structure is complete, always trying to select the ‘right words’ taking in account carefully their ‘sound’
The choice of Italian language is not a final choice, I’ve always been creating ‘notes’ both in Italian or in English.
In the Arcansiel albums I preferred to develop tracks in English, now I tried with Italian, just to change (translations will obviously be provided in the CD pack…).
I think that this language is better suited for more complicated rhythmical and melodic solutions.
Probably in the future I will use Italian and English in the same album, depending on the ‘genesis’ of the song.
The contents are introspective and try to transfer personal emotions every now and then filled with a thin sense of melancholy.
To talk about the main sources o inspirations I like to think about Italian ‘crepuscular’ poets of the beginning of 1900.
Why not, a possible definition of my music could be ‘crepuscular rock’ (is it banal? well, I tried…).
Whoever played in the album, some ancient and disappeared member of Arcansiel ?
In the best ‘Oldfield-like’ tradition I made all by myself. It has been a precise choice.
My objective was to transform into waveforms the ‘sounding ideas’ I had, as they sounded in my mind, no compromise, no intermediation. I think it’s the dream of every composer.
Nowadays technology has got a great power: on one side can make things extremely complicated, offering a wide set of options to execute the same simple thing, on the other gives anyone the possibility to work in ‘virtual studios’ that, till a few years ago, were accessible only to heavily budgeted productions.
The instrumental set has been really very ‘poor’: and old master keyboard 88 keys, a hw sound canvas of Roland (containing two D70), a Fender Strat and its tubes pre-amplifier and, above all, a good PC notebook made in Taiwan with plenty of very good sw installed (most of it made in Germany).
Nowadays you, as a musician, have no ‘pretext’. A big budget and the support of a major are no more necessary, you ‘simply’ need some good ideas, plenty of time, and a great care and ‘love’ for what you are doing.
Anyway, I like what Arcansiel are doing at now, I think that last album is great and I told it to Paolo Baltaro. I wish them all the best.