Solo indie electronic musician Amberhaze (www.myspace.com/amberhazemusic) or better known to his mum as Giuliano Gullotti speaks to Aging Youth about his debut EP, the freedom and restrictions of being a solo artist and durian.
‘Bird’s Eye’ has this swirling build-up. It sound great and is pretty much steeped in the post-rock ethics. Post-rock is a dirty word nowadays. Don’t you think?
It definitely has its excesses but I see it more like a way of expressing concrete feelings in a more abstract way, without lyrics and in a form that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Maybe it’s because I grew up listening to a lot of classical music. There is a certain mathematical precision in post rock that I appreciate and respect. It’s quite easy to get self-indulgent though. So I actually restrain myself a lot in the process and throw away a lot of ideas. (Ideas) I thought could work during recording but then they overload the track unnecessarily.
That’s a very interesting train of thought. How do you decide what stays and what goes?
Usually, after a few evenings spent mixing the same track over and over, you realize that something has got to go. I don’t think I ever listened to one of my songs and went “Yes! That’s exactly what I thought it would sound like!”. So the mixing is usually a long process for me but I like the discipline. I focus more on the overall sound and then decide that some tracks don’t do much for it. And they quietly disappear from my hard drive!
How have parenthood changed your perspective as a musician?
Well, less time for recording and gigging especially, that’s for sure… But it comes a constraint that I appreciate; it has helped me (work) faster and be more accurate. I know I don’t have all the time I want, so I really concentrate on whatever track I’m doing and get the ideas down in a few good takes. Having a kid also shows you that no matter what, your kid is still the most beautiful thing you could ever make. It does wonders when you go through one of those ‘I don’t think I’m that good’ phases!
The vibes which I get from ‘Welcome’ is a cross between French electronic act Air and Radiohead’s ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’. I love the pulsating beat and hushed vocals on the track.
Thanks! Actually, in Ok Computer I would have thought more of ‘Airbag’, the opening track, because it’s more hopeful and open. Maybe I feel about the song differently because I wrote it for the birth of my first son. And I wanted it to represent the way I feel: excited, scared, but ultimately hopeful about the kind of world he’s going to grow up in. These days I’m working on a song for the second kid who’s due in June…
Congrats! That’s really great to hear. You mentioned about hope and fear. Are those recurring themes you explore in your tunes?
I wouldn’t want to say recurrent but there is definitely an undercurrent of unease, by default. Maybe I watch foreign news too much but it affects me in a way. But I don’t want to channel too many precise messages. I don’t think it’s that interesting when it’s too obvious. But yeah, my tunes are rarely about love and relationships, I guess…
I keep hearing Explosions In The Sky and The Album Leaf as major influences in your tunes. I’m not too sure if I’m right to assume that.
It’s funny because until I started playing my music to others last year, I hadn’t really heard of these bands. Some people came up to me and said the same thing. I see what you mean, what with The Album Leaf being mostly a solo project as well. I don’t know if I can name bands or artists as influences but I definitely feel inspired by certain sounds or labels which I identify myself with.
‘Beautiful Design’ has this morose undercurrent to it.
Well, I guess it’s the way we all feel sometimes when things around us don’t seem to make much sense. I mean, most of us have a day job, the whole rat race… I think it’s pretty easy to feel that way. The challenge is in getting out of that state of mind and find your own meaning for yourself.
Joanne is credited on vocals for that song. How did you start working with her?
By proposing to her! She’s my wife. She used to sing a lot in Junior College and then in the university in the United States where we met although it was more classical. We recorded a few covers of songs we both really like and we have a couple of more originals. This is the first one that we completed all the way.
Cheap labour! And she’s a great cook to boot.
Cheap labour is the best labour. Being a solo act, how do you juggle between giving your tunes a more electronic feel or a rock vibe?
I don’t think I ask myself that question at first. In fact, I often start a track and change it midway into the recording, so I often have a few different demos. Some sounding more rock, and some more electronic. It’s just that I listen to a few very different styles and I am equally influenced by them. But I won’t do romantic Italian songs!
I get this feeling that you are a reluctant solo artist.
(grins) I am also quite ambivalent about this. I like the freedom to be on my own and the fact that I don’t have to go through the whole ego thing in bands. But I have never ruled out the option. The biggest drawback for me right now is that I can’t really perform live yet, because I don’t want to be on stage with just a laptop. I am in a band actually. It’ a French cover band and we gig regularly. So I like the ‘live’ feel and I would like the same for my music if I were to play live in the future.
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