Duncan
Fletcher talks with Tobia Poltronieri, founding member of Italian
psych-collective C+C=Maxigross, about their new album and
self-curated festival.
“Since
we were kids we organised illegal parties in the hills, in basements
and in the mountains… After many years we decided to do our real
thing, Lessinia Psych Fest was born in 2014 in a garden of a friend's
house in the mountains. Jennifer Gentle and Miles Cooper Seaton from
Akron/Family were the headliners. We met Miles at that festival, he
was touring Italy by himself at the time. Now he lives in Verona with
us… Just to make you understand that the vibe here is REALLY GOOD!…
Finally the festival is growing! Next year you’re invited, and your
readers too!”
Anyone
craving a unique boutique festival experience is advised to accept
this invitation from Tobia Poltronieri, founding member of
C+C=Maxigross, an ever mutating collective who organise their own
festival each July in the mountains near Verona. The band (whose name
is taken from a local cash and carry) have a sound that mixes the
organic mushroomy goodness of the early '70s, with the playful
wide-eyed wonder of contemporaries such as The Flaming Lips, Devendra
Banhart and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Their willingness
to experiment and improvise, coupled with state-of-the-art pop
production marks them out as standard bearers for 21st
century freak-folk.
Their
recently released 2nd LP Fluttarn is titled in
Cimbrian, an arcane local language found only in the Lessinia hills.
Fluttarn translates as "to flutter, to fly about or fly
away". “For us Lessinia is pure magic and mystery”, say
Tobia, “and one of these strange sides is this ancient and almost
dead language, “Cimbro”, from the German people who came here in
the Middle Ages. Sadly almost nobody’s talking in this language
today.”
The
language may be in danger but the beauty of their homeland remains a
more permanent inspiration - “Only people from Verona go there…
sad cos it's definitely worth a look! These mountains are amazing,
gentle pre-Alps, wonderful and magic! This place has been the shelter
for our relaxation and creativity, where to go when we want to escape
the city and its hustle and bustle. With our label, Vaggimal records,
we started to record other bands in our studio in the mountains, we
spent a lot of time there, creating and exploring music, letting the
good vibes take over.”
Aside
from the hills the band cite their prime influence as Os Mutantes,
one that extends beyond music - “Their music is amazing! Crazy,
free, colourful, unexpected, melodic and groovy. Our vibes! But also
the context where they grew up: a nation under a dictator, far from
the Anglo-American scene they loved (from Haight-Ashbury to Swingin’
London, you know better than me)... Starting from Brazil, they
created their own world, so strong and unique that still now has lots
to say. It’s the thing we like to do: mix cultures and inspirations
to create something new. I mean, we’re a free form band from the
north of Italy, singing in English, playing crazy psych vibes and
always travelling Europe with different musicians and artists... At
least we try to do our thing! Then we will see... Bat Macumba!”
Fluttarn
is out now on Trovarobato/Vaggimal Records.
Can you tell us
about how you met and formed the band.
The original band
started as a bunch of friends around 2008… We have know each other
since we were kids. Then many many other people have been involved…
We changed line up so many times, for that reason we’ve always
defined C+C=Maxigross more as a project and an artistic collective
than a standard band.
C+C=Maxigross is an
unusual name, how did that come about and what exactly does it mean?
Oh yeah, for us it’s
really funny… We chose this name just before starting to play as a
band, only for fun ‘cuz we stole it from a Cash & Carry Company
based in Verona. So far they’ve never called us to talk about it so
I think we’re ok…
Is this your first
band or have any of you been previously involved with other acts?
Me, Tobia, as a founder
member I’ve played in other two bands from Verona, Ancher &
Klein Blue. With Ancher I played a bit around Italy and in Europe,
but only with C+C we started to play a lot! Filippo the bassist is
founder as me! The other members, always changing, have been involved
in many other acts… Niccolò has played with The Lovecats, Camillo
in Hardcobaleno right now, Giulio in Ancher too and many many other
different projects.
Lessinia is an area
of Italy that not many of our readers will have heard of. What makes
the place so special?
It’s absolutely
unknown just outside of our city Verona. Only people from Verona go
there… And it’s sad cos it is definitely worth a look! These
mountains are amazing, gentle pre Alps, wonderful and magic! For us
this place has been the shelter for our relax and creativity, where
to go when we wanted to escape from the city and its hustle and
bustle. Then with our own label, Vaggimal records we started to
record other bands in our studio in the mountains so we spent really
a lot of time there, creating and exploring music and letting the
good vibes take over it.
Some of the songs on
your first album were recorded by Marco Fasolo from Jennifer Gentle,
how did that pairing happen?
Jennifer Gentle has
been always one of our favorite bands… So after we released our
first ep (recorded by us under Vaggimal records) we decided to try to
work with an artist we liked. So we contacted him and it’s started
an amazing friendship with this unique artist. We’ve learnt so much
from him, and we’re so grateful to him for being so inspiring for
us. In our last album he sings in the second song “Born Into It”.
It’s an immense pleasure and gift.
The song titles on
Fluttarn, Ruvain and your first EP Singar are all in Cimbrian, can
you tell us a little bit about the language and what made you decide
to use it for your titles?
For us Lessinia is pure
magic and mystery. And one of these strange sides is this ancient and
almost dead language, “Cimbro”, from the German people who came
here in the Middle Age. Sadly almost nobody’s still talking in this
language today. Titling our first three operas in this language have
been an humble homage to this land. There would be so many others
crazy aspects and story about this place to tell… Next projects
maybe!
How have the locals
reacted to your music?
I think good, they know
there’s a band of freaks who love their mountains and spend time
there… I don’t know if they like our psych folk stuff, but
sometimes happened to playing popular celebration of some small
villages and it was real fun!
You've previously
cited Os Mutantes as a big influence, what is it about them that you
like?
Os Mutantes have been
always a huge influence for us for many reasons… First of all their
music is AMAZING: crazy, free, colourful, unexpected, melodic and
groovy. Our vibes. But also it’s really interesting the context
where they grew up: a nation under a dictator really, really far from
the anglo-american scene they loved (from Haight-Ashbury to the
Swingin’ London, you know better than me)… Starting from Brazil,
they created they own world, so strong and unique that still now has
a lot to say. It’s the thing that we would like to do with our
project: mix different cultures and inspirations to create something
new. I mean, we’re a free form band from the north of Italy,
singing in English, playing crazy psych vibes and always traveling
Europe with different musicians and artists… At least we try to do
our thing! Then we will see… Bat Macumba!!!
How did you come to
start your own festival?
Since we were kids we
organised illegal parties in the hills, in some basements and in the
mountains… But then after many years we decided to do our real
thing. Lessinia Psych Fest was born in 2014 in a garden of an house
of friend in the mountains. Jennifer Gentle and Miles Cooper Seaton
from Akron/Family were the headliners. We met Miles in that festival,
he was touring Italy by himself at the time. Now he lives in Verona
with us… Just to make you understand that the vibe here is REALLY
GOOD and pretty impressive! Now we’ve just finished the third
edition, some weeks ago… Many many people wow! Finally the festival
is growing! Of course next year you’re invited, and your readers
too!
Similarly what are
the joys or running your own? And also difficulties and downsides?
It’s a huge amount of
energies, pressures, risks and of course money to invest by
ourselves. But on the other side if you don’t take risks by
yourself nobody will take them of you. So it’s something we have to
do it. The first year we lost a lot of money. The second edition we
only covered the costs. This edition we earned some money to invest
in the next edition. That’s life.
Your favourite
festival highlights so far?
Jennifer Gentle always
amazing, Miles Cooper Seaton so strong, Lino Capra Vaccina a true
legend, Krano so chilling, The Pussywarmers real fun and IOSONOUNCANE
is the best italian act since Lucio Battisti (Italian pop legend).
He’s the one.
What can people
expect at your festival that they wouldn't find elsewhere?
Imagine a forgotten
green valley far from everything where 1500 people spend three joyful
days, with artists from all over the world, wild nature, cows and the
best local food and the strongest drinks you can find. It’s unique
and you’ve to suck it and see.
If you could have
anyone in your dream line-up (acts past or present)?
Talking about legends
we need Sun Ra Arkestra. About present acts we would like to have
Mbongwana Star. We’ve seen them at Primavera Sound and they’re
the THING everybody needs in their playlists.
Any plans for
further recordings? How might they differ from from your first two
albums?
Oh yeah, we’re always
working on new stuff… I don’t know when we’ll start to record
‘cuz in this period we’re touring a lot but now we’re a five
pieces band with two drums and sometime we play in sextet with Miles
Cooper Seaton so I think this is the right direction to go higher
than the sun!
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