2020 is a year that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. However, for us, it will have a memory of all the talented musicians who despite all the madness decided to launch their music careers.
We discovered singer-songwriter and musician Moscato while browsing MusoSoup for upcoming releases. From the moment I heard ‘Thamel’ I knew that I found heaven. It took me back in time to the moment when I was backpacking and living in South East Asia. You will be able to read our review of the song on New Music Sunday later this week.
Even though it is officially the first solo release for Moscato, he has decades of experience playing for various musical projects. While talking about the sound he mentioned that it combines the elements of indie-folk, electronic music, minimal instrumental music or in other words “electroacoustic sinfonic folk”.
We are thrilled and privileged to introduce you to Moscato.
Congratulations on your debut release! ‘Thamel’ sounds magical. Can you tell us about the journey until the release of the single?
Thank you very much! In the two years before writing these tracks, I had travelled a lot. ‘Thamel’ was inspired by one of the most difficult and beautiful phases of my travels, when I was at the beginning of everything. I found myself alone on the other side of the world, with no pre-planned destination nor reference point. I wanted to face my fears through solitude – as solitude is the best way to trigger all fears. The city of Kathmandu, with all of its contradictions, revealed itself to be the perfect place to fully experience this encounter with my inner demons and to then open myself up to the city’s beauty, which was new to me, different from anything I had ever experienced.
‘Thamel’ is the name of the neighbourhood in which I was living at the time, and it was within its blend of magic, poverty, spirituality and history that I found the key to write the single.
Moscato
Listening to the song, it feels very original and heartwarming. What made you decide to walk away from the lyrics and sing using the sounds that resemble the way the songs come to life? How did it all come together?
I have always loved melody and sound. The necessity to write impactful melodic lines with no compromise led me to renounce words, metric structures, and (most important of all) to walk away from explicit meaning. I did not want to lead the listener to imagine a story about me: I wanted to accompany them in their own journey inspired by the musical world of the track. It’s like when a beautiful movie makes us imagine incredible and wonderful things but then lets us down with explanations and endings that do not really move us in the same, deep way.
My desire is to accompany everyone in a world where the promise may be fulfilled by the intimate chords of each listener as if we were composing it together.
What is the song about? Can you share more about the inspiration behind the track?
‘Thamel’ was the second track I have ever written with no lyrics. As the others, it was born from a suggestion: in this case, I would say that
“Rebirth” is the motive behind the inspiration for this track.
Moscato
At the moment you are based in Italy, the song was inspired by the streets of Kathmandu and sonically it reminds of Icelandic band Sigur Ros. That’s quite a trip around the world. Would you consider yourself a citizen of the world?
Somehow, yes. Some places I have visited personally, others won me over with their atmospheres, as in the case of Iceland and the wonderful music it gave us lately. In my arrangements, I have opened myself up to all the instrumental music that had moved me in the last years, from those authors who were able to infuse their tracks with some essence of their places of origin. So, yes:
I would say that artistically speaking, I really feel like a citizen of the world.
MOSCATO
What goals would you like to achieve with your music?
I would like this album to lead me to play around the world, to travel, and maybe, in those travels, to find new inspiration for new music.
You are planning to release an album “The Path of Least Resistance”. What can we expect? From the EPK it mentions that it will vary in genre. Was it hard to select the songs for the album?
I wanted to explore different sound worlds, and there were some specific sensations I wanted to communicate: this guided me in choosing both tracks and arrangements. The album varies from dark electronic sounds to tracks with orchestral elements like ‘Thamel’, to small surprise with a more traditional folk nature. Moreover, then there will be several solo voices, as a composer, I have chosen to rely on more performers to have the best possible and expressive possibilities on each song.
Creativity is an unconditional surrender to what we feel in the moment an experience takes place.
Moscato
Where do ideas for songs come from? Tell us more about your creative process.
Creativity is an unconditional surrender to what we feel in the moment an experience takes place. The creative process always begins from a perception of connection with something I am experiencing and continues in the attempt to transform it into music.
What would you say to those who want to take that first step in creating and sharing music but are battling with their inner voices and delaying it?
I believe there are two very important moments: the first one is creation, which needs to be seized immediately and lived with complete freedom. The second one is the moment of sharing, which it’s also very important not to delay too much. If music is left in a drawer to wither, we risk to no longer feeling it as ours when we finally share it.
Do you have a song, that when you hear it, you’d say, “I wish I’d written that”?
”A day in a life” by The Beatles. I have been in love with it since I was little. It contains so many different kinds of magic, and it’s still able to move me and enthuse me deeply to this day.
Who would you like to collaborate with?
In a fantastic and imaginary world, I dream of making an album with Justin Vernon as producer, and to write with Hans Zimmer.
What are your plans for the rest of 2020 and 2021?
I would like to release at least three singles with respective videos online, then some “live in-studio” sessions. I would like to go back to performing live as soon as it will be possible.
