Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview Pietro Cariga from The Underbellies
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Probably from 1973-1974 an ugly looking, and even worse sounding 45 vynil single portable player, powered by 6x 6V batteries, compact, single mono speaker enbedded in an orange rough plastic casing. You had to slot the 45 vynil through the “mouth” and hope it would jump out when the song ended. To me it was a state-of-the art marvel though.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I formed my first band around the age of 20, and at the beginning we only tried to play (badly) our favouite covers. At the time I thought that being a proper musician and writing songs was a supernatural talent that only a chosen few possess and all the others can’t fathom. After a while I thought “what the hell, I might as well give it a go and make a fool of myself” so started jotting down a few riffs and lyrics, put them out to the the band, and to my amazement a few good songs started to take shape.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
I have been in and out of actively playing music over the years, and 4 years ago I joined my co-founding mate – a brit, Lodge, who like me migrated as far away as possible from the place where he was brought up. We started as a duo, writing a few songs and performing mostly with the help of backing tracks. We performed at this informal New Year’s Eve multi-acts gig and we had to hurriedly choose a not-so-serious name for our act. We somehow came out with The Underbellies. The name just stuck and when we formed a full band we felt it was too late to change it. I don’t regret it though, it has a visceral, deep vibe to it. Performing as a duo was good but things picked up when we slowly selected good people, good band members, first Uncle, then Andy, and recentlyTerry. They are musicians at heart who reflect on what the contribute to the song and to the sound, each to their strength, and stuck with us through the usual pitfalls of starting a band, not losing enthusiasm at the first sign of impasse.Long may it last.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
Ah… in our band we have three members writing music and four members writing lyrics, so the range is wide. To hit the middle I’d say pop-rock and, while we wink at rock blues, prog, and industrial rock, I would say that a synth-rich pop-rock fishing from the eighties is our signature sound and vibe.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music? Listen to everything and everyone, then throw the book out of the window and do what
you like.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process? I mostly jot ideas with guitar and piano, but take care to record a track or I will forget
anything decent. I have the memory of a fish.I use a very cheap laptop and free software for sound processing and mixing. Most importantly, I have taken the habit of keeping pen and paper by the bedside table as the weirdest ideas for songs and lyrics have come to me on a few occasions when I woke up in the middle of vivid dreams, which I would otherwise forget by the morning.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Of the ones currently issuing music, Franz Ferdinand and Tame Impala come to mind, though my prototype of indie act has always been, and I don’t see that changing, Talk Talk.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision? I grew up with prog rock and the revolution of synths in rock music to me was always as
big as the advent of the electric guitars. It has certainly influenced my idea of the perfect, immersive sound. I also find that, with none of the band members being spring chicken, our lyrics are quite mulled over, at times dark and deep, smiling or grimacing at the concept of death. I think some of our songs give a snapshot of that shivery feeling you get sometimes, when you realise you have not found the answer to everything yet, and 42 (the answer given by Douglas Adams, not an age) is probably still the best shot you have at keeping sane. See our sound and lyrics for some of our tunes, i.e. Song for John, Time to kill time, Resolve, Who am I, and many more. They tend to provide a glimpse of doom, but almost with a sense of anticipation. Weird and quirky, I like that.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work? As long as it is emotions and messages, I am happy to provoke any form of thinking,
reflection or feelings – through sounds, but also lyrics, double entendres. While I regard all forms of art as a language, or at least a form of communication, to me the point of music is to generate thoughts in the receiver, which are not necessarily the ones originally intended, nor exteriorly manifested by the author. Personally I always try to make sure my lyrics have multiple or ambiguous reading keys. I try to be provocative but in subtle ways (I am not a punk), leaving it to the listener whether they would like to relate to my dark side or or blissfully ignore all that and enjoy other aspects of the song. And I am slowly finding that my band mates tend to do the same. Our music style is often hybrid and equivocal.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
There is always room to improve and things will always change. Opportunities are endless if you feel like chasing them. Like life, it is a journey, not a target. And
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
I would be delighted to perform at my funeral. As a matter of fact, I think I would give my life for it.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why? Having Stuart Copeland on drums and Steve Lukather on guitar could be fun. I’d like to
say Neil Peart, but I think I would be unable to do anything as I’d be standing there with my jaw dropped open like an idiot all the time.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links) https://www.youtube.com/@theunderbellies
https://www.facebook.com/TheUnderbellies
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
I would love a slow, consistent progress with the band as is, enjoying a long journey together, with little changes in what we do every now and then. If we kept writing a few songs per year that reach only 200 people around the world and make even one of them say “hey, this gives me something”, I’d be a happy man.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way? That we do try to convey thoughts and feelings.
