Podcasts

Sinchi & Friends 110 – Amarcord

Our latest instalment of the Sinchi & Friends series comes from rising Italian star Amarcord. Although he’s a relative newcomer to the scene, he’s already building an impressive resume with his distinct productions featuring on high quality labels such as Ombra, MeMeMe, Correspondent and Roam amongst others.  We’re reckon there is a lot more to come, so watch this space. In the meanwhile, enjoy this peach of a mix and get to know the man behind the music….

1) Please Introduce yourself?

Hi, I’m 23, I come from Italy and make music and DJ with the alias Amarcord as well as with other projects

2) With the never-ending  series of lockdowns and ongoing restrictions, how have you been spending your time in recent months? 

Watching a lot of movies, cooking, gardening, reading things, doing some renovation in my house and of course making new music as, on this side, I didn’t find myself to be even more productive than ever before.

3) In terms of new music / releases , what do you have lined up for the coming year? 

In the day I’m writing this (1st of May) I have a new tune (which you can hear in the mix) coming in few days for an amazing compilation on Eskimo Recordings curated by Curses that digs through around 40 years of wave-driven music from the early days to the present, then I’ll have some remixes out soon and I’m putting final touches on a new EP as well as trying to finish my first Album.

4) What can you tell us about the podcast? Was there specific inspiration or a particular vibe you were going for? Do you have a favourite track in there?

I don’t think there is a specific theme behind it, when creating a mix I’ll normally choose the music I appreciate or I’m listening to the most in a certain period of time but the final goal will always be the same which in my personal interpretation is that of giving life to a mixture of music that has to exist as a self breathing system with its own laws…I’m not saying I can make this happen but that’s what I try to do. About my favourite tune from the podcast, if I have to choose one, I particularly like the closing tune which is ‘Diagram Girl’ by the collaborative project of Erol Alkan and Richard Norris – Beyond The Wizards Sleeve.

5) How have your listening habits changed over the last year? Are you still actively looking for new music with the absence of gigs? Or perhaps feeling different vibes ?

Actually don’t think they changed a lot, I constantly listen to music whether clubs are open or not

6) Who or what are your biggest musical influences?

Brian Eno was surely the main influence when I started because of his wide approach to music touching many different worlds but then surely other artists that are a reference for me are: exponents of the so called Berlin school like Klaus Schulze and Krautrock bands like Neu! or Harmonia, then of course The Cure, Talking Heads, Joy Division (New Wave and Post-Punk in general), the music of Suicide as well as Alan Vega as a solo project, Nico, Andrew Weatherall, Curses, Alessandro Cortini and the list goes on forever…

7) Tell us about 3 DJ’s / Producer’s we may not know but should be looking out for?

I think you should pay attention to AlTutt, Dame Bonnet and Bleaching Agents.

8) What is your favourite Venue or Festival to play at and why?

I’ve not been a ‘touring DJ’ so far so didn’t have many big festivals experiences but I can say I particularly like to play in Berlin on one of those sweet summer nights.

9) Do you have a ritual before you start playing or straight after?

I usually have a good drink or two just to relax the nerves

10) What is your favourite bit of kit? 

Korg MS-20

11) What is your favourite film score?

This is a quite difficult question as movies are probably my 2nd biggest interest in life so I can’t say I have only one.I’d say the first one I think of is the soundtrack by Popol Vuh for Werner Herzog’s ’Nosferatu’ which is a timeless pearl. Then Edward Artemiev’s soundtrack for ’Stalker’ by Andrej Tarkovskij is a favourite too and same also for the music of Twin Peaks seasons 1 and 2 by Angelo Badalamenti (even if it became sort of a cliché apparently) for the combination between dramatic and romantic tones (without forgetting the work on Sound design by David Lynch himself on the 3rd season which was really out of this world).

I also really like all all the Italian wave of film composers of the 70’s like Piero Umiliani and Stelvio Cipriani as well as Noir films music and finally, probably from retro perspective, I like soundtrack music of 50’s\ 60’s American films by those old fashioned composers like Herny Mancini.

12) What makes you smile?

My two beloved dogs Argo and Andrej