written by Marko Jakob
Pix666: Hello Filippo, hey Seth. Thanks for your time. How are you doing these days, are you alive and well?
Filippo: Hello! Thank you so much for giving us the possibility to talk about our project!! In these days we’re thrilled because at the end of November our new album will be released!
Seth: Thank you for your passion. As of lately, I’m doing my very best to stay safe and protect the people I love.
Pix666: Please introduce your band to the readers in a few short sentences. How did you meet and what was your inspiration to become a musician? What kind of music does Iamnoone make?
Filippo: around ten years ago we met because of a collaboration of my previous band with the label Seth was working with. Then we started collaborating to this project in 2019 for the release of the first EP DVPLEX. We say we met at a cross-road. We like to define our music as a mix in between dark wave and post punk with a cold attitude but a lot of electronic spices. In just one word our music is “synesthetic”.
Seth: we met along the chaotic paths of life. Only when it was time, we started to write and play together. To me, playing music is like speaking the tongue of my soul. Iamnoone expresses those feelings that cannot be kept inside, anymore.
Pix666: How did your band name come about and what meaning does it have for you?
Filippo: who we are? We are no one. When we compose our songs we try to detach our ego from what we’re doing. We’re no one in front of our music.
Seth: giving up our ego is the only way we found to be reliable messengers of what our music wants to say.
Pix666: Later this year your new album ‘Dead Seasons’ will be released. What can fans expect and can the album already be pre-ordered, and if so, where? Are there any special versions of the album available, bundles or something like that?
Filippo: pre orders will start November the 5th via our fantastic label: ‘Cold Transmission Music’. This album will be released in CD, digital and coloured Vinyl. We’re sure the label will organize something interesting for the fans. Then, we wrote around 20 songs for the album and so there will be also space for special releases in the future. We like ltd edition with hand printed artwork for example … our EP’s DVPLEX and ‘besides’ were released with this special format and the music lovers liked them a lot. Let’s see!
Seth: he said it all…
Pix666: On November 5th your new single ‘Labyrinth’ will be released. What is the story behind the song and will there be a video clip?
Filippo: The clip was shot in a magic and mysterious place, the ‘Labirinto della Masone’ near Parma, our hometown. It’s the biggest labyrinth in the world and made all in bamboo. It’s a wonderful and symbolical place. Perfect for what we had in mind. In this place we felt an incredible and dark energy.
Seth: the song talks about how we very often get lost inside of ourselves and the more we struggle to make sense of our feelings, the more lost we get. It’s incredible how often it is enough to make peace with the feeling of being lost, to find the solution to a lot of our problems…
Pix666: How do you generally create your songs? Is there a certain plan? Who in the band is responsible for what?
Filippo: we like every aspect of what we’re doing. Composing, recording, arranging, producing, mixing and mastering .. And we share everything 50-50. For the new album, because of the pandemic restriction we worked almost all the time remotely recording demos and exchanging the ideas. In the future our goal is to compose the new album together note by note.
Seth: there are no roles…at times Phil comes up with rough ideas that I refine, but it does happen the other way around, just as often. We both are responsible to deliver the original message of the song in the best possible way we can come up with.
Pix666: I’m a fan of statistics of all kinds. What about you, guys? Do you look at the numbers of streams, or the views on YouTube, or do you know, for example, in which countries the people who listen to your music live?
Filippo: we’re not obsessed with numbers … we prefer to check and answer to the comments of the people who like our music.. we have a great respect and gratitude for them. Sometimes I look to the comments and also the shares and the visualization of the songs to know what is better to play live, for example. And we’re also curious to know about where our music is streamed. For example we have a sort of attraction for the south America, and we saw we had a lot of stream there.
Seth: I’m clueless, in this field…
Pix666: You work together with the German label Cold Transmission. How did the contact with the guys come about and what advantages does that have for you as a band?
Filippo: at the time of the release of our first ep, I was following the C.T. page, loving their way of working and the bands in the roster. So when we were recording ‘a primitive trinitas’ we said: ‘we want to sign only for C.T!’. So we sent the album and it happened. We’re proud to be part of the C.T family. They are helping us a lot. They are doing a great work for all of us in the roster. You can breathe a great atmosphere at C.T!
Seth: I have the feeling that persons meant for each other, end up meeting, sooner or later. That happened with me and Phil, and it happened again with Suzy and Andreas. They’re like-minded persons, friends and wonderful partners in this incredible adventure together.
Pix666: Were you allowed to play concerts during the pandemic, or did everything have to be postponed?
Filippo: when we released the ‘a.p.t’ album in Feb 2020 we were going to play several concerts in Italy and in Europe that were canceled. After that we had the luck to play a live show in Germany in October 2020, and to hit the stage again at the end of this summer.
Seth: of course everything we planned went south fast, as soon as we enter lockdown mode, so we had to be creative…we released a couple of videos for songs recorded “live” from our homes (distant enough not to be allowed to meet)…and also we got lucky being able to play some real gig when it was possible and soon after the restrictions ended.
Pix666: Did you guys maybe play some streaming concerts in the past, and if so, how was that different from a normal concert with an audience? Do you already have plans for concerts in 2021, maybe around the time of the album release?
Filippo: we played some ‘quarantene session’ during the first pandemic wave, and it’s totally different then a real concert. The live show is like a ritual. The best moment for a musician. We love to play live and we’re are going to play a couple of shows in Germany and Switzerland for the release of the album the 26th and 27th of November. And more will be announced.
Seth: we’re gonna play as much as we can, and we will do our best to transmit to the audience all those feelings that are lost in words…
Pix666: Social media and music streaming are both a blessing and a curse for bands. From your point of view, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this development for your band. How much do Iamnoone use social media and where are you represented?
Filippo: We worked at our new album during the lockdown here in Italy, and we had the possibility to work on it because of the technology exchanging files and making long skype calls during the production sessions. It helped a lot also to feel alive during these hard times. So the technology was good with us during this dead season.
Seth: I personally would be happy not using social media platforms, but I realize the world has come to a point in which portals like Facebook or Instagram are pretty fundamental for the promotion of a project, as they help tighten the gap between new music and people looking exactly for that kind of expression…
Pix666: From your point of view, what are the milestones in Iamnoone‘s history so far – but also the experiences that you will never forget, such as funny moments during video shoots, etc.?
Filippo: we have yet to reach our milestone, maybe it’s in a crossroad far away from here. Maybe hidden in the labyrinth. We don’t know. We want to continue our wandering like Odisseus, the one who said to the Cyclope that his name was ‘no one’… At the same time during this trip we’re living a lot of funny moments … for example we passed a great week end at the ‘dark in park’ festival with our bosses of the C.T this September.
Seth: for sure there are loads of moments worth remembering, lots of laughs and lots of alchemy, riding the waves of chaos of these strange times. All of these memories have the faces of people we love.
Pix666: Do you have any wishes and dreams for the future. Maybe a festival you would like to play, a band you would like to tour with or a duet with one of your favorite singers?
Filippo: our wish is to have the possibility to make our music and play live again and again. And maybe to share the stage with a lot of great bands… on my side as a huge The Cure fan, my dream would be to play as opening act in one of their shows.
Seth: I don’t have particular preferences. I’d just like to share the stage with souls that get me and allow me to get them.
Pix666: Do you have any other news about the band or some interesting personal things about you that you would like to share with the fans?
Filippo: for us making music is not only to compose and record songs but a way to immerse ourselves in a different dimension. We are doing this to better know our self and the universe around us.
Seth: music was the first language I learned. It still beats words, when it comes to express my true self. I just wish I can “talk” to the hearts of as many persons I can…I hope to share the feelings we wanted to convey with these songs.
Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – Good luck with the new album and stay healthy!!!
https://www.facebook.com/iamn8ne
https://iamnoone1.bandcamp.com/
photos © by Regina Zverkova and iamnoone
