Welcome to In Conversation, a special interview column on the site where we sit down with artists and dive deep into everything music. This week, Dobbin sat down with Urlo, Levre & Poia of Ufomammut to discuss Levre joining the band, their latest record and pedalboards.
Dobbin: Your new drummer Levre was known to the band before he joined fully, tell us a bit about your shared history and what he brings to the table?
Levre: I remember that I first met the band in late 2014, while they were recording the Ecate album. Then I started to work as audio technician in Circolo Magnolia (which is a big live venue in Milan) where I met Ciccio, who was their live Sound Engineer, and after several months I asked him if I could join the upcoming european tour as backliner and merchandiser, and they said yes. So after that tour with Poia, Urlo and Vita we became all close friends.
Poia and Urlo started a side project with me but we never released anything.
When Vita left the band, after a period of deep thinking the guys asked me to join the band as the new drummer. Honoured and over the moon, I accepted and we started working on new material: the result is Fenice.
Urlo: Levre already told the story.
He was the natural choice for us, we’ve always considered this band as a family, so, having Levre, already a friend and a part of us, was the only thing we considered to bring on this sonic adventure that is Ufomammut.
Poia: Levre, besides being a talented drummer, is also into electronic music. So his perspective and approach is a new, positive thing in the composition sessions. We already had the chance to test our “team spirit” during the past European tour and also our harmony in playing music together with the side project we had, so asking him to join the band was the most natural thing to do.
Dobbin: Since you were without a drummer for a short while, did you consider doing an album without traditional drums – focusing on your psychedelic soundscapes for example? Or are drums simply a key part to your approach?
Urlo: I think drums are a key part of our approach, even if we worked on a lot of parts on Fenice in which drums are not present. There’s not a rule, of course, but we tried to create a multiform album, with different parts and atmospheres. I worked a lot on my personal project called “The Mon” while we were on a hiatus. And I explored a lot of soundscapes without drums in it.
Dobbin: It’s been a few years since you (or anyone) toured, and you’ve got plenty of shows this summer, do you think your approach to playing live has shifted in this time?
Levre: Since I haven’t done any live shows with Ufomammut yet, as a drummer, I cannot compare with the past. But I only think that this forced stop we had in these past two years made us want to play live even more, with more energy to share on stage with our fans. I think it will not be easy to come back on stage, it will be strange for sure. But we can’t wait to do it this spring/summer and to play our new album Fenice live.
Urlo: Surely things have changed. I think it’ll take a little to get used to what was once normality. And I’m very excited about it.
Poia: The gig last Saturday was the very first, after 2 and a half years. I discovered that my live approach is still the same, even if I am a little bit older. It is like riding a bicycle, or swimming, a classic muscle memory.
Dobbin: With Måneskin reaching popularity, could the interest in Italian heavy rock bring a new era?
Levre: Could be! I don’t like so much Måneskin music but even if they are a “commercial product” and very mainstream I comprehend that they’re very good rock musicians, cool looking and they can transmit a great energy in their live shows. And they are so young! So all these things are positive things for sure. But actually I don’t really know if these aspects and only one band could bring the Italian heavy rock scene into a new era. Måneskin can influence young musicians, for sure, who want to start playing an instrument – it’s possible because they are able to “talk” with this new generation.
Poia: It could be a positive thing, for encouraging young people to keep the rock scene alive, of any country. I wish them luck to carry on with their global success!
Urlo: I think Måneskin is in a different world than heavy music. I’m happy that an Italian band is so famous, but I’m not sure they’ll bring interest to Italian heavy music for their audiences.
Dobbin: Have you embraced digital gear over the years or do you prefer analogue, or does it not matter?
Poia: We prefer our analogue brain and ears: they are the main instruments. Apart from them, there are no strict rules, since we are living in a technological era and we can use things from the past, but also explore the new possibilities of today.
Levre: We always prefer to use analog gear and, let’s say, conventional instruments like drums, bass, guitars, synths. During the synths and effects writing process we can use some VST, but Urlo’s studio has plenty of great analogue synthesizers so we usually prefer to play and record them live. In general, we always want the freedom of experimentation so we don’t really want to stick to the process just saying “no, this is not good because it is digital and not analog”.
Urlo: I think the most important thing is “HOW” you use things. It doesn’t matter if it’s digital or analogue. The main thing is the final result. I love synths and I have quite a lot of them, but I use VST instruments too. They just have to help in the process.
Do your pedalboards change a lot between albums?
Poia: Not that much. The main core is still pretty stable… For instance, I’m using the same distortion pedal from many years ago, but we can add or change something every time. Especially if we find some new interesting effects.
Urlo: For sure. Lots of effects broke, lots of them have changed. Only one remains and it’s my distortion – it was originally an Italian pedal called “UFO OCTAFUZZ”. When it broke, T-pedals helped me to get out of my desperation by building a clone of it. And it’s still there, since the beginning.
Dobbin: When you’re performing live it sounds as though you keep the soundscapes going even during your heavy parts, how do you manage to balance all these elements?
Levre: I remember that I noticed this, when I first saw live Ufomammut some years ago as a big fan of their music. I think that the Ufomammut music is something organic and now playing it behind the drums I can experience this aspect more: when you play this music you have to feel it. I also think that the synths parts that Poia and Urlo launch live using the MIDI controllers help a lot with the sonic mix between the instruments and, in general, the songs’ parts.
Urlo: As Levre said, we feel what we play. A very important part of music is the feeling, what you give to people in order to get a vibe back. It’s a sort of communion between us and the crowd, something magic. The best part of playing live is to give something, to vibrate with music.
Poia: We have always tried to keep all the sounds we have on the record for the live set too. We use midi pedalboards and our analogue bass and guitars to keep that balance working. And then we trust Ciccio, our live sound master.
Many thanks to Urlo, Levre and Poia for sitting down for a chat with us, and make sure to check out our full review of Fenice here.