Before we start this interview, we’d like to introduce Uncodified. Who are Uncodified? This amazing project is represented by Corrado Altieri, icon of the major protagonists of the Italian experimental music scene. With a career spanning different genres from post punk to power electronics and experimentation. His music paints a visionary interpretation of a society ( with its disastrous results). Alien and sometimes violent musical atmospheres, accompained by background voices and distorted impulses, are the main features of his music. Features that paint contemporary society and its ghosts. Let’s get to know Corrado then…
Hello Corrado. First of all, when did you start to get involved with experimental music?
I think it was an absolutely natural way. It’s true , I come from experiences in wave and post punk , but I’ve always been fond of unconventional sounds and in particular of everything that came out of the first industrial scene , that of Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, SPK, Whitehouse and many others .Since the early nineties and onwards I’ve been completely dedicated to experimental electronic sound, that the day of reckoning has always been what stimulated me most .
Can you explain to us how the ‘Uncodified’ project was born and the motive behind it? The evolution from Monosonik, Candor Charma?
Uncodified was simply born from the desire to carry on as a solo project . Maybe subconsciously it was a sort of a bet with myself . I wanted to test myself, to see what I could come up with only lonely working in areas related to the extreme electronic noise. I do not think it is evolution. Perhaps there may be some point of realtion to Candor Chasma, but definitely Monosonik is a world apart , most linked to certain forms of techno , as well as to certain own atmospheres of micro-electronics.
Please discuss the evolution of this project from the first days until today. From the very first work (‘Involucri’, 2011) , I have followed a path focused on the composition of total contamination processes, also to break down certain standards that unfortunately sometimes in this kind abound. Do the same things just to make people understand that ” belonging ” to a certain scene does not interest me. Moreover, even different working methods are part of collaborations. For ‘Vindicta’ (with Wertham) for example , I take care of the structure of the pieces and programming, while Marco follows all the vocals and samples.
Are you planning a new album? If yes, what should we expect?
Yes, I’ve just finished the new album. It’s called ‘All Is Maybe Not Completed’ which I think sounds completely different from ‘Hardcore Methodology’. I’m quite pleased with the result. In addition, I am working with Wertham to the third chapter of ‘Vindicta’ trilogy that always come out to Old Europa Cafe.
If we take a look through your discography, we can see albums released on tape format. Why do you choose cassettes? Is there a particular reason?
The tape format was not actually my choice, but that of some labels I worked with. You are ceratinly referring to ‘Drug Street’ for Nil By Mouth Recordings and the split with Simon Balestrazzi for Old Bycicle Records, two releases that I cared about a lot, because they were supported by packaging and level artwork .
Can you explain how you ‘build’ your tracks? Your inspiration?
Good question. I never follow strict rules or exact composition methods. Let’s say that I like to change depending on the type of work, also it depends on the type of equipment I use. In the first production there was definitely an extensive use of samplers, not strictly software, while more recently I prefer to create sounds with synth, tapes, contact microphones and several effects. The computer I use is only for recording and editing. In the future maybe there will be other news.
Now I’d like to talk about your live performances. I was lucky to see your performance at ‘XI Congresso Post Industriale’. What do you think about the event and your performance?
Playing at the ‘XI Congresso Post Industriale’ was a fantastic experience, plus the line-up for this edition was truly superb. Sharing the stage with names such as Slogun, Sutcliffe Jugend, The Rita and No., really says it all. Rodolfo festival then, is perfect from all points of view and is one of the few occasions at the international level for the lovers and fans of this scene. I had to test the new live-set, one that then I also presented in London for the Unrest Festival, the third of the ” Edition United Forces Of Industrial”. It went really well, because I think I found the kind of live sound I was looking for some time.
Can you describe the panorama of industrial and noise scene in Italy? Can the Congresso help people to get to know these genres and the Italian scene in general?
I have always followed the Italian scene and I can tell you that since the early eighties there were Italians in this scene, names that I think certainly exceeded quite famous foreigners. I can recall MB, T.A.C., Tasaday, Sigillum S, F.A.R., Capricorni Pneumatici and many more. Today there is still a lot of activity and it seems it is almost back to the period of the “tape -network” post -industrial, which gives us hope. There are many names that I really like a lot and some have also become important friends and collaborators. Check Simon Balestrazzi, Marco “Wertham” Deplano, Paolo Bandera, Gianluca Favaron, Satanismo Calibro 9 among others. The work that Old Europa Cafe has pursued for years is truly remarkable and I hope to contribute in an important way to the “rebirth” that many expected. Italy has a scene that must have absolutely the support it deserves.
And what about your region (Sardinia)? I know there are a lot great artists. Can you talk about them?
In the experimental field, when I started in the early nineties we were really very few and far between, while in recent years there has been a singular “awakening”, even by youngsters, who have experienced the birth of many ideas and interesting projects, even at the level of events. The things that mostly impressed me are those that came out of the Trasponsonic label. Get yourself a copy as soon as their records are released, they deserve it very much.
In your discography we notice great collaborations, in particular with Maurizio Bianchi, Gianluca Becuzzi, Simon Balestrazzi and Paolo Favati, Satanismo Calibro 9 and more. Can you describe these experiences? Are we going to we see such collaborations in the future?
All the names you mentioned were very important to my education. and have influenced me much but particularly Simon Balestrazzi, who besides being a great musician he’s a great sound engineer too from whom I never stop learning. With him we have created Candor Chasma and we are close to the release of a new album. Apart from the work with Wertham, I don’t think there will be other collaborations in the near future. Uncodified is my main project, but am also busy on other fronts: Candor Chasma, work in duet with Gianluca Favaron, an album with Gianluca Beluzzi , the new Monosonik and more.
We know you like literature and arts. So your music “paints” its own pictures and “tells” its own stories. Can you talk about this?
Art and literature are a continuous influence and often also part of basic concepts from which delivers before writing an album. The idea for ‘Enclosures’, for example, came to me while reading “House Of Leaves” by Mark Z.Danielewski and while I was recording I was still leading the different environments of the story. Sometimes I ger more inspired by a work of art, a movie, a comic book or a book, rather than a record that maybe I have for years ‘consumed’. Other names to which I owe a lot in no particular order: Clive Barker, Lucio Fulci, Francis Bacon, Dino Buzzati, Mario Bava, John Carpenter, Albert Caraco and I will stop here because there’s not enough space.
Thank you so much for providing this interview. You are welcome to provide a conclusion of your own.
Nothing more to add . Many thanks to you for the space allotted and for the nice interview .
Antonio Cristofaro