Shut Up & Listen, the brainchild of Dom Benigno and Siri Linn Brandsoy, is a unique event that allows you to listen to acoustic sets undisturbed by the banalities of other people’s conversations and daily dramas. There is one simple request that while the artists are performing, the audience remains silent. We interviewed Riccardo Moretti & Fracesca Krnjak from the Italian indietronica duo Legoloop who will be preforming at it’s a house Wednesday 3rd April, they let us in on their many layers as street artists and musicians, TribalNeed and Parolabianca, and their love for each other and Cape Town.
Can you give us a short introduction of one another?
Riccardo: Francesca is the most talented artist I’ve ever met! She can do almost anything that involves creativity. I’m more in the technical side and I’m a trained musician. I’ve studied Jazz and play in many many different bands.
Francesca: Besides being a phenomenal musician, a multi-instrumentalist, eclectic, precise and brilliant at the percussive element of the band, Riccardo is undoubtedly the practical and grounded element of our duo. His elements are definitively fire and heart and this blends perfectly with my dreamy and otherworldly nature. I love the way he is passionate about surfing and kitesurfing, and when he plays sometimes I feel that we’re kind of surfing the waves of sounds.
...
Can you give us a short introduction of one another?
Riccardo: Francesca is the most talented artist I’ve ever met! She can do almost anything that involves creativity. I’m more in the technical side and I’m a trained musician. I’ve studied Jazz and play in many many different bands.
Francesca: Besides being a phenomenal musician, a multi-instrumentalist, eclectic, precise and brilliant at the percussive element of the band, Riccardo is undoubtedly the practical and grounded element of our duo. His elements are definitively fire and heart and this blends perfectly with my dreamy and otherworldly nature. I love the way he is passionate about surfing and kitesurfing, and when he plays sometimes I feel that we’re kind of surfing the waves of sounds.
...
How did you meet?
Riccardo: I met her long time ago in fact almost 15 year ago for the first time. Then 10 years ago we saw each other again while I was playing at the Busker Festival and I invited her to come to visit me in Cape Town. We’re a couple in love since then.
Francesca: At the time I was already interested in street performances, especially circus and clowns acts. That end of summer Saturday while I was walking in the hot, busy streets of Ferrara, full of people and attractions, I was hooked by a didgeridoo sound and I spotted TribalNeed playing. Immediately, there was an intriguing connection. Months later when I came to visit him here in SA we started our creative adventures together on different projects but on the same path. I was more focusing on my theatre and dance studies and research and my solo music project as a busker. There have been many opportunities to improvise and work together and it was always good, but it’s only recently that we decided to give a name and more attention to Legoloop and it seems to be working well. There’s no rehearsal time because we’re both very busy with others projects, so everything we’ve been putting together has been created live on stage in front of a crowd. It’s really here and now.
And for how long have you been performing together as Legoloop?
Riccardo: About 3 years.
How would you say your soundscape has changed and developed since you first started the duo?
Riccardo: It used to be a very electronic act in the beginning because it was based more on my tribal-electronic act TribalNeed. I think we’ve incorporated more indie-rock influences from Francesca and that’s why we now call it indietronica.
Francesca: The sound as not changed so much, but the ability to improvise, use the effects, understand each other, read the crowd and build a song from nothing has expanded more and more. I love the intuition that we’re experiencing now. It’s great fun.
There seem to be many other interesting layers to you as artists. Can you tell us a bit about your solo projects TribalNeed and Parolabianca?
Riccardo: I started developing TribalNeed about 10 years ago when I was playing with a very well-known act here in CapeTown called MoodPhase5ive.
Francesca: My passion for music is not less than that for theatre and dance and Parolabianca is a mime fairy poetry creation that was born along the way while I was doing my studies in dance and theatre, and from the desire to have a solo performance as a buskers. It also comes from a passion for stories and picture books for children. I’ve been working and traveling all around the world with this character and now it’s been growing and transforming into a big family called Moonlight Invasions. You should check the video here: it’s magic, and lunar light is also my creation.
What do you take with you as a street performer on stage?
Riccardo: Almost everything! The vibe, the energy and the improvisation with the looper. We want to follow the vibe of the people instead of driving the crowd from stage. If you’re not interesting enough on the street people won’t stop. It’s a great “gym” for a performer!
Francesca: I bring with me the attitude, the ability and adaptability that you learn from performing on the streets to the stage, and there of course it becomes something else.
A great lesson from the road is definitely the ability to be humble and in control of the situation and also another gift is the ability to use all the little “accidents and mistakes,” basically there’s no right or wrong, there’s just “ being rather than doing.”
What and/or who inspire you?
Riccardo: Many many different kinds of music and artists (not only in the musical scene). From the music side I used to listen to jazz a lot, then moved to funk, hip hop and in general electronic music in all its aspects. Just to name a few artists: Miles Davis, Bill Evans from jazz, Bach and Satie from classical till my electronic gurus: Felix Laband, Matthew Herbert, Goldfrapp. But also a lot of rock like Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Jimi Hendrix and of course all the members from my band MoodPhase5ive really influenced me a lot.
Francesca: My great inspirations are dance, especially contemporary dance, and physical theatre, Pina Bausch, Carolyn Carlson and many other choreographers, street performers, clowns, illustrators for children books like Rebecca Dautremer, poetry, life. (You can see that I bring a lot of this into our visual as well). Also beautiful music. I listen to many different genres, over the last few years a lot of instrumental music. For hours I’ll research music and sounds that I might like for a dance choreography or my street performance. When I was at the university Dams Bologna I had the opportunity to see Carolyn Carlson teaching a workshop. A musician was playing for her and her students, a guitar with effects. He was composing more and more sound watching the dancers so I realized I want to dance to better understand my music and I want to play music to enjoy and express myself dancing. It was a great lesson that I had at the time.
What are your favourite sounds and/or instruments?
Riccardo: Still the piano and the Fender Rhodes, then I’ve really fallen in love with the didgeridoo and lately the hang drum.
Francesca: I like many sounds and instruments. I love the electric guitar because I can express my rock vein. I grew up with Grunge’s sound from Seattle. I love piano, I just love it, but I also love the synth and what you can create with it, and I really enjoy my delay pedal. It’s an extension of my body and my voice, and it’s incredible what I can do with just one effect. A lot of people use very complicated and articulated effects on their voice, but I’m very happy just with the Line 6 delay pedal. I’m also exploring the hang drum.
Your show at it’s a house will also include visuals. What can people expect on Wednesday?
Francesca: Yes, we love working with visuals. It gives more depth to our music. As I told you,
I love telling and reading stories. We research and find images, colours and details The visuals are important, seductive and a fascinating journey together with our music and sounds. Plus we make it work with the bits and the float of our music.
Riccardo: A beautiful journey of music and images.
What has it been like performing in Cape Town?
Riccardo: Cape Town and SA in general is one of the best place to perform!!! People really appreciate music much more than in Europe for instance.
Francesca: We love performing in Cape Town, and we would like to explore more of SA. People are really appreciating our work. I must say that I ‘m enjoying the mix of cultures and I’m glad to make many different kinds of people happy.
In what way is the audience here different to the one in Europe?
Riccardo: People are warmer in SA and really get involved in the performance.
Francesca: It’s a great pleasure to play in front of a crowd ready to be playful, let themselves go and dance. Actually I realized that even people coming from Europe here are much more playful and ready to shake and move their bodies. It’s cool!
What plans do you have for the rest of the year?
Riccardo: We are about to release our live album ‘The Mahogany Room Session,’ then performing and… surfing.
Francesca: We will be back in Europe this May, based in Italy and Berlin. I will be quite busy with my new group of performers and dancers Moonlight Invasions. I’m organizing tours, festivals and private events for them and I perform with them as a dancer quite often. Plus I have my solo acts and Legoloop, and I’m managing everything on my own. We would like to let more people know about Legoloop in Europe. So ready to explore!
Do you think you’ll return to Cape Town?
Francesca: Yes I think we will be back in CT, maybe next Summer. It’s our second home. We love Cape Town.
Riccardo: I live in Cape Town for 6-7 month a year, the rest in Europe or around the world. This is the place I love the most!
Interview by Siri Linn Brandsøy
Like Shut Up & Listen on Facebook / Fb event here / Like Legoloop on Facebook.
Link to original post: http://itsahouse.co.za/shutup-listen-legoloop/
Riccardo: I met her long time ago in fact almost 15 year ago for the first time. Then 10 years ago we saw each other again while I was playing at the Busker Festival and I invited her to come to visit me in Cape Town. We’re a couple in love since then.
Francesca: At the time I was already interested in street performances, especially circus and clowns acts. That end of summer Saturday while I was walking in the hot, busy streets of Ferrara, full of people and attractions, I was hooked by a didgeridoo sound and I spotted TribalNeed playing. Immediately, there was an intriguing connection. Months later when I came to visit him here in SA we started our creative adventures together on different projects but on the same path. I was more focusing on my theatre and dance studies and research and my solo music project as a busker. There have been many opportunities to improvise and work together and it was always good, but it’s only recently that we decided to give a name and more attention to Legoloop and it seems to be working well. There’s no rehearsal time because we’re both very busy with others projects, so everything we’ve been putting together has been created live on stage in front of a crowd. It’s really here and now.
And for how long have you been performing together as Legoloop?
Riccardo: About 3 years.
How would you say your soundscape has changed and developed since you first started the duo?
Riccardo: It used to be a very electronic act in the beginning because it was based more on my tribal-electronic act TribalNeed. I think we’ve incorporated more indie-rock influences from Francesca and that’s why we now call it indietronica.
Francesca: The sound as not changed so much, but the ability to improvise, use the effects, understand each other, read the crowd and build a song from nothing has expanded more and more. I love the intuition that we’re experiencing now. It’s great fun.
There seem to be many other interesting layers to you as artists. Can you tell us a bit about your solo projects TribalNeed and Parolabianca?
Riccardo: I started developing TribalNeed about 10 years ago when I was playing with a very well-known act here in CapeTown called MoodPhase5ive.
Francesca: My passion for music is not less than that for theatre and dance and Parolabianca is a mime fairy poetry creation that was born along the way while I was doing my studies in dance and theatre, and from the desire to have a solo performance as a buskers. It also comes from a passion for stories and picture books for children. I’ve been working and traveling all around the world with this character and now it’s been growing and transforming into a big family called Moonlight Invasions. You should check the video here: it’s magic, and lunar light is also my creation.
What do you take with you as a street performer on stage?
Riccardo: Almost everything! The vibe, the energy and the improvisation with the looper. We want to follow the vibe of the people instead of driving the crowd from stage. If you’re not interesting enough on the street people won’t stop. It’s a great “gym” for a performer!
Francesca: I bring with me the attitude, the ability and adaptability that you learn from performing on the streets to the stage, and there of course it becomes something else.
A great lesson from the road is definitely the ability to be humble and in control of the situation and also another gift is the ability to use all the little “accidents and mistakes,” basically there’s no right or wrong, there’s just “ being rather than doing.”
What and/or who inspire you?
Riccardo: Many many different kinds of music and artists (not only in the musical scene). From the music side I used to listen to jazz a lot, then moved to funk, hip hop and in general electronic music in all its aspects. Just to name a few artists: Miles Davis, Bill Evans from jazz, Bach and Satie from classical till my electronic gurus: Felix Laband, Matthew Herbert, Goldfrapp. But also a lot of rock like Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Jimi Hendrix and of course all the members from my band MoodPhase5ive really influenced me a lot.
Francesca: My great inspirations are dance, especially contemporary dance, and physical theatre, Pina Bausch, Carolyn Carlson and many other choreographers, street performers, clowns, illustrators for children books like Rebecca Dautremer, poetry, life. (You can see that I bring a lot of this into our visual as well). Also beautiful music. I listen to many different genres, over the last few years a lot of instrumental music. For hours I’ll research music and sounds that I might like for a dance choreography or my street performance. When I was at the university Dams Bologna I had the opportunity to see Carolyn Carlson teaching a workshop. A musician was playing for her and her students, a guitar with effects. He was composing more and more sound watching the dancers so I realized I want to dance to better understand my music and I want to play music to enjoy and express myself dancing. It was a great lesson that I had at the time.
What are your favourite sounds and/or instruments?
Riccardo: Still the piano and the Fender Rhodes, then I’ve really fallen in love with the didgeridoo and lately the hang drum.
Francesca: I like many sounds and instruments. I love the electric guitar because I can express my rock vein. I grew up with Grunge’s sound from Seattle. I love piano, I just love it, but I also love the synth and what you can create with it, and I really enjoy my delay pedal. It’s an extension of my body and my voice, and it’s incredible what I can do with just one effect. A lot of people use very complicated and articulated effects on their voice, but I’m very happy just with the Line 6 delay pedal. I’m also exploring the hang drum.
Your show at it’s a house will also include visuals. What can people expect on Wednesday?
Francesca: Yes, we love working with visuals. It gives more depth to our music. As I told you,
I love telling and reading stories. We research and find images, colours and details The visuals are important, seductive and a fascinating journey together with our music and sounds. Plus we make it work with the bits and the float of our music.
Riccardo: A beautiful journey of music and images.
What has it been like performing in Cape Town?
Riccardo: Cape Town and SA in general is one of the best place to perform!!! People really appreciate music much more than in Europe for instance.
Francesca: We love performing in Cape Town, and we would like to explore more of SA. People are really appreciating our work. I must say that I ‘m enjoying the mix of cultures and I’m glad to make many different kinds of people happy.
In what way is the audience here different to the one in Europe?
Riccardo: People are warmer in SA and really get involved in the performance.
Francesca: It’s a great pleasure to play in front of a crowd ready to be playful, let themselves go and dance. Actually I realized that even people coming from Europe here are much more playful and ready to shake and move their bodies. It’s cool!
What plans do you have for the rest of the year?
Riccardo: We are about to release our live album ‘The Mahogany Room Session,’ then performing and… surfing.
Francesca: We will be back in Europe this May, based in Italy and Berlin. I will be quite busy with my new group of performers and dancers Moonlight Invasions. I’m organizing tours, festivals and private events for them and I perform with them as a dancer quite often. Plus I have my solo acts and Legoloop, and I’m managing everything on my own. We would like to let more people know about Legoloop in Europe. So ready to explore!
Do you think you’ll return to Cape Town?
Francesca: Yes I think we will be back in CT, maybe next Summer. It’s our second home. We love Cape Town.
Riccardo: I live in Cape Town for 6-7 month a year, the rest in Europe or around the world. This is the place I love the most!
Interview by Siri Linn Brandsøy
Like Shut Up & Listen on Facebook / Fb event here / Like Legoloop on Facebook.
Link to original post: http://itsahouse.co.za/shutup-listen-legoloop/
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