Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Zanzara
1 — What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Beppe: When I was a child… Raised to the sound of traditional songs and tarantellas, I grew up with the idea that singing is a way to bring people together and share something real. My love for intense, dramatic melodies also comes from that time. These traditional songs express genuine emotions — they talk about life, love, desire… the everyday joys and sorrows we all go through. Sometimes filled with cheerfulness, sometimes nostalgic, a bit rebellious or tied to identity, but never hollow or sugar-coated. I lived in that musical culture all the way into adulthood, when I discovered blues and rock. They hit me like a flashback, bringing me right back to the music that shaped my childhood. I found something familiar there — the same intensity, the same depth…
David: I was lucky enough to grow up with a musician father. He was part of a rock band called The Closed, which had some success at the time. So I grew up with Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin playing around the house. I come from a culture deeply rooted in blues and rock — a music that carries rebellion and a thirst for freedom.
As a teenager, a bit rebellious myself, I wanted to be like them. I got my first guitar and started expressing my young adult emotions through it. At the time, I was fascinated by technical playing — those endless, fiery solos — but I quickly realized that it wasn’t really where I belonged. With time, I understood that what truly made my body resonate were simple, repetitive riffs. Patterns that create a natural groove, a steady rhythmic pulse that makes bodies move without even thinking about it. That’s where I found my musical truth.
2 — How did your passion for creating music begin?
Beppe: It started very early. When I was just a little kid, I used to sing with my father and my mother.
David: Eventually, it all began the moment I started learning music. I always struggled to play other people’s songs — it didn’t feel natural, it never matched my own inner pulse. So I had to create my own.
3 — What’s the story behind your current music project?
David Sala and Beppe Abissi have been playing together since their teenage years. They’ve also worked on their own. Three years ago, they decided to come together to create a new project.
From the start, their intention was to tell their stories through songs. There was no plan, no set path — just the desire to play, to share… to meet each other musically and to feed off the musical experiences that shaped their individual journeys.
This is how Zanzara came to life: out of a meeting that wanted to be simple, stripped down, without complications — a guitar, a voice, and nothing else. A sound, an atmosphere, a melody, a text. A simplicity, a truth, a kind of bareness in the way of expressing oneself that feels a lot like therapy.
4 — How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
It’s a music that wanders on the borders of rock, blues and soul. With Mediterranean accents, and sometimes rhythms borrowed from the waltz. It’s an acoustic music that’s vibrant and intense, filled with silences and raw edges, with a rare dynamic for a simple guitar/voice setup.
That’s what makes Zanzara unique: a music with rock heritage but without embellishments, without the usual codes that dress it up. Raw, a jump without a safety net, a bareness without protection… an inner journey, a lifting of the veil.
Even though our music is simple, raw and built on guitar and voice, we’ve started exploring new arrangements to enrich that intensity without losing the essence of our project. Sometimes we imagine a lot of sonic relief around us — layers that enhance the emotion while keeping the core intact.
5 — What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
Beppe: One day, I realized that the essential thing is to express things in a simple way, without camouflage, so they can sound true.
David: It’s not the number of notes that makes hearts vibrate — sometimes one single, true note is enough. And the body never lies. When your hair stands on end and you get chills, you know you’re on the right path.
6 — What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
Beppe: Nothing more than a guitar and a voice.
David: I mainly compose on acoustic guitar. I play a Yamaha Compass CPX15, which is thin and precise, and a Taylor 210cc for a rounder, more powerful sound.
Sometimes I come up with electric riffs on a Telecaster or create a few bass loops on my Jazz Bass.
I use Logic Pro for the creation and arrangement process.
7 — Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Beppe: This week, I really enjoyed listening to Rival Sons, Hozier, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave and Björk.
David: I went back to my classics this week. I’ve always been a Radiohead fan — they never stopped surprising me. I love their atmosphere.
I also revisited Pearl Jam and their legendary early-90s album Ten.
8 — How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Beppe: In a world where appearance often takes precedence over authenticity, I’ve felt the need to take a sincere artistic path. For me, an artist must be able to express a true vision, without masks, without artifice. It’s this search for honesty that has shaped my approach.
David: I’ve learned to feel music. When it’s true, it turns into raw, honest emotion. When I feel that alignment within myself, I understand why I play.
9 — What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
Zanzara likes the idea of stirring people’s awareness. We talk about emotions, relationships, sometimes sex, but also rebellion.
What we want is to sow inner questioning — to invite the listener to think about their own place in the world, and to identify, to name what shapes them and their journey.
10 — What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Beppe: Music has taught me to look at the world around me with sincerity. It’s a form of sharing. It brings people together, it gives meaning. Sometimes it even helps to identify lost emotions and give them a name.
David: Music taught me that this language is powerful and universal. It can lift crowds and shake our hearts and emotions. We can make it our own, share it, love through it, scream through it, cry through it.
The power of seven notes to shape the rhythm of our lives.
11 — What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
One of our dreams is to play on Taratata, a French live music TV show — precisely because it’s the only show in the French-speaking media that offers music in real live conditions.
And it would be incredible to stand on a big festival stage with nothing but a guitar and a voice.
12 — If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Beppe:
Janis Joplin or Jim Morrison for their authenticity and intensity.
Jacques Brel or Alain Bashung for the depth of their lyrics and the inner journey they offer.
Alice in Chains with Layne Staley for its profound sincerity.
David: A collaboration with Eddie Vedder would be incredible, especially for a song in English. I’d also love to build a connection with the film industry — I feel our music naturally lends itself to that world.
13 — Where can our listeners follow and support your music?
14 — Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
We want to be heard by as many people as possible, play on beautiful stages, and maybe be used as background music in a movie or a TV series.
15 — What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
I hope listeners will discover our sincerity, our way of expressing things without masks or artifice. That our music invites them to question themselves, to feel, to recognize their own emotions.
