Marco de Noya He came out with the new song created with students of the Design School at Politecnico di Milano. After Innovative Recording Projects”Electro Water 3D“,”Leonardo da Vinci in pop music“And the”The lordship of robots“, Marco de Noya back with “Camille Volt‘, the musical score for a university research project with the School of Design at Politecnico di Milano. Written by himself out of boredom and arrange them Alberto Catullo“Camille Volt“Represents the conclusion of a research that demonstrated the collaboration of the Milanese singer-songwriter with young designers EDME Lab subordinate School of Design at Politecnico di Milano In order to create a new and contemporary carnival mask of the Lombard capital, in the style artistic comedy. The protagonist, baptized the students”Camelvolt(Which, inspired by the Milanese dialect and meaning ‘who has a thousand faces’), depicts a shimmering and frantic Milan, a cross between stereotypical sounds, colors and characters.
“Camillevolt” is a song born out of a wonderful joint creative process – Marco de Noya explains – I liked the idea of starting from the Commedia dell’Arte, as a traditional form of presentation capable of talking about Italy and our cities, and reaching our days, in this case, the city of Milan, with the eyes of young students and the use of descriptive forms of design. It is an experimental project in which song is equally considered a form of artistic expression and a means of disseminating culture and scientific research.”
“CAMILLEVOLT” The many faces of Milan, the many faces of many Italian and non-Italian cities. Is it an analysis, criticism, or a simple observational text of the panorama of life today?
The text is inspired by the city of Milan, seen and described by young designers at the Polytechnic, through the methodology of ethnographic analysis. I tried to put together the mood boards and multimedia details given to me by the boys, to take a snapshot of the Lombard capital, through the eyes of the young people, who are not originally from Milan, but who live there every day for study reasons. However, however I try to be separate, my vision of the city – where I was born and where I live – has balanced their vision, I hope, in a realistic description of Milan today. The goal was certainly more analytical than decisive.
Was the decision to create this project by collaborating with the design school at Politecnico di Milano a targeted choice or was it built along the way?
This artistic adventure was born after a call to present the EP “Robotics Rule” at the Polytechnic’s EDME Laboratory. On this occasion, after being questioned by Prof. Luca Foa, accompany me on a tour of the university’s sewing, carpentry and photography workshops. The experience was wonderful and inspiring, moreover, it gave me the opportunity to meet volcanic professor Mario Besson and Professor Stefania Palmieri, with whom this project was born.
I know the starting point for this piece was the Commedia dell’Arte. Wonderful and creative idea in a very special way. Why Commedia dell’Arte?
for various reasons. First of all, as already the case with Elettro Acqua 3D, which combines 3D sound and rare synthesizers, or for La Sovranità dei Robot, in which iCub and Teotronico robots participated, I looked for an interesting subject of study, in order to combine fun mainly to expand My knowledge of artistic expression. Therefore, I thought that Commedia dell’Arte, in addition to being an attractive subject, could well combine design, music and local traditions. Indeed, traditional carnival figures such as Nordic Harlequin or Neapolitan Pulcinella have iconic costumes – in a sense comparable to design work – specific to specific Italian cities and have appeared on the streets, among music and parties. In addition, the project combines tradition and modernity, in a mixture that I personally find
Interesting and innovative.
Noise recordings of sewing machines, milling machines, presses, photo flashes and other machines that bring us into the various fashion and design industries are put to music with the sounds of electronic rock. But I don’t think you can fit into a particular musical context. Your experiences make you swing above all that is called. Was it always this way or was there a time when you tended towards one type of music or the other?
When I discovered after the age of twenty that I had special vocal skills I took it to interpret other people’s songs, of various genres: rock, hard rock, power metal, musicals and even opera. However, since the first original projects, from the songwriting matrix, I gradually found myself less well known, with the advantages and disadvantages that this entailed. In all honesty, it was not a deliberate path on the table, but a completely natural process, guided by the freedom of wanting to be an expression of myself and a cultural context.
Diverse and portable Is this how you see music now?
On the contrary, I see music nowadays somewhat uniformed by standards meant to turn web or TV influencers into potential artists, not the other way around. Unfortunately, it is no longer the content that sells, but the format. Many of the artistic proposals are nothing more than a remix of what has been done in the past, covered in pseudo-originality with the sole purpose of attracting young people, while making sure to generate a monetary income. But this is entertainment marketing, it is not art. There is also the outline craze: this is digital marketing in constant pursuit of views and likes, forms of promotion that have to adapt to the trend or social platform of the moment, and even talent that appears every year celebrity out of date. It’s certainly a diverse world, where it’s easy to get lost, or worse, get burned.
Do stereotypes bother you?
The tendency to create stereotypes in itself does not bother me, because I consider it a natural tool of human knowledge useful for approaching what is not yet known. Being trapped in a stereotype is a lot more annoying. In addition, in the musical field, certain limits are imposed by sensibilities that are certainly not artistic, such as, for example, the age limits of emerging singers. As if real art had an expiration date. Among other things, it is a dogma entirely associated with pop music, since art history is replete with painters who flourished in maturity, beginning with Van Gogh who began painting at the age of 27. Unfortunately, the world of music is too attached to commercial dynamics and too little to artistic dynamics. There is little interest in the artist and his maturation process and what this can lead to; “Culture insiders” (quoted) are more concerned with how well a particular character is able to draw crowds of teens into scriptwriters, perhaps simply thanks to a pleasant presence or a particularly eccentric appearance.
In 2019, I brought instruments designed by Leonardo da Vinci to play with modern instruments, I think for the first time ever. I think one of the things that fascinated me more than anything else. How did you manage to implement this project?
Yes, I think it was the first time ever that these instruments were played on a non-Renaissance music album. The idea was born from the desire to dedicate an EP to Leonardo who spoke about the artist and inventor, but also about the man with his weaknesses and fears. So, with a developing vision, she proposed the project to Adriano Sangineto, who married her enthusiastically, playing the paper organ, the piva continuous bassist and violinist rebuilt by his father, Michele, starting with the original projects of the Italian genius. Curious about it: in the videos for “Stella del Pop” and “L’Uomo Vitruviano (3D version)” there is also a “engraving” of the harp of a horse’s skull, which was made by Michele Sanginetto for the Luca Argentero movie on Leonardo.
In the song “Stella del Pop” singing that today Leonardo would be a pop star, I think I imagined him as one of the most rock-solid men in history. Why pop?
Leonardo was certainly a rocker, having broken the molds and expectations of many of his contemporaries. In my article I mention the commercial success of some of his works that have become modern commercial objects, and a springboard for best sales or reworks by other artists. I saw him as a pop star, but he could easily have been a rock star, both being mass genres, and that’s the concept I wanted to get into. In this case, I chose “pop” instead of “rock” because I was thinking of Andy Warhal’s colorful Mona Lisa, the king of pop art. And here, too, out of curiosity: when writing the script I invented a series of “gadgets” with works by Leonardo, which I later found out already existed, so much so that I was able to find them all on Amazon and include them in the video for the song. As proof that if Leonardo were alive today, he would be one of the most famous stars on the planet; A situation which, unfortunately for him, he could not face in life, when he was known more than anything else as a theater director and painter in experimental style, was initially called into question by his clients.
To what extent did your study influence your literature?
My PhD studies on mythological and literary archeology have entered the work of JRR Tolkien directly into a single piece entitled “The Last March of the Ent”, in which I express the ecological thought of the Oxford professor. In a broader sense, I owe my study paths an understanding of research methodology and a readiness for hypertextual texts, which I often give several levels of interpretation.
And how much did Milan do that?
He did it by tilting 360 degrees. I am from Milan, and with the exception of six months of studying in the UK, I have always lived in Milan, specifically in the province of San Siro. I was born surrounded by the aesthetics, words and rhythms of this city, offering great possibilities for those who know how to absorb it. Milan opens the doors of many acquaintances to its children with its numerous and well-known bookstores, excellent art galleries and concerts with international stars. From this point of view in practice, it is self-sufficient. Even the absence of the sea has a strong artistic effect, because it leaves in your heart that desire for immensity that pushes you to seek it, in my case, by exploring new sonic worlds.
Any new music projects in the pipeline?
With the EDME Lab at the Polytechnic, we hope to replicate the work done by Camilivolt in other Italian cities, to come up with new masks and carnival songs dedicated to the major city centers that host design schools. About a month ago, my team and I went to Palermo, where university students presented us with their works and a new Palermo mask, and also accompanied us through the markets and streets of the center recording the distinctive sounds of their city. Moreover, I am working on some songs with the great Piero Cassano, the founding member of Mattia Bazar and the historical music composer for the songs of Eros Ramazzotti, Anna Oxa, Mina etc. I am also meeting with an Italian alternative rock artist, with whom I will probably start collaborating, although at the moment I cannot reveal anything to you. Finally, I just got back from a demo concert at the Light Bulb Factory in Milan where, with my electronic rock band, I dueted with instrumental pianist Teotronico, Sangineto’s Leonardesque instruments and sang some songs with 3D sound on a holophone. The hope is that you’ll be able to stick around with this special, based primarily on Elettro Acqua 3D, Leonardo da Vinci in Pop and The Sovereignty of Robots.
