Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Novo Pilota
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
When I was a child, I had trouble traveling in cars, especially in the back seat. To keep me calm, my parents realized that turning on the radio or putting on a cassette was the only way to distract me and keep me from feeling sick. It was the cure for car sickness.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I believe that creating is the first thing a person does when learning the elements of a language. Mixing, modifying, and distorting are basic human actions. Composing music was something I enjoyed as soon as my harmony teacher asked me to compose a melody line on a classic C chord progression.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
As we used to say at university: everyone has their own story. The Novo Pilota project began around 2012, when I started my academic music studies. Writing and composing my own material, as opposed to what I was learning or being asked to perform, has always been my goal. I have always tried to use what I was taught.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
The music I compose reflects my personal nature. Like everyone else, we all have certain predominant characteristics. Until now, I have preferred to have a sound that tells my stories, even musically speaking, mixing elements of my musical growth: modern and electric jazz, bossa nova, as well as noise and electronic music. My writing reflects my passions for 20th-century Italian, German, and American literature.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music? Nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, everything is transformed. So never stop at the first
idea. This is something I understood very early on and it has allowed me to be more relaxed when composing.
On the other hand, I have also learned to record, put a full stop, share and let a song run its course. It is nature that will change later, improve and evolve.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process? First of all, I start with my instrument: the guitar. I try everything on it, even rhythms. Then I
need to see my ideas fixed on a stave, often thanks to music notation software. I can explore them and develop the idea, adding new parts and timbres, always using the guitar. For the lyrics, I’m still loyal to pen and paper, jotting down lots of ink in a recursive process.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
This year, I listened to the latest album by Milanese band I Fiumi. I really love Xavier Iriondo’s guitar sound, not only on this specific album, but throughout his entire career and his exploration of sound and composition. Outside Italy, I’ve always been very fond of trip-hop, krautrock, and Brazilian folk music.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision? Every stage of my life has left a mark on the way I make music: the people I’ve met, the
places I’ve lived, the relationships I’ve had, a book I’ve read.
Sometimes I realize that a song comes from something I experienced years ago, and only through music can I truly understand what it meant to me.
I think that’s the power of music: helping you make sense of experiences, even when you don’t realize it right away.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work? I sincerely hope that those who listen to my music can find their own experiences and
emotions in my words and notes. The messages that accompany my music are aimed at introspection and reflection on one’s daily life.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Music has taught me many things: concepts, notions, emotions. It has taught me to be with other people, to build things together with them. The most important thing is that music can be your mirror, both as a writer and as a listener.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
I would like to play in intimate venues, such as private homes, gardens, or museums, where the audience listens attentively. Also, I dream of participating in large-scale indie festivals, especially to meet other artists.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why? Without giving free rein to my wildest dreams, I would have liked to collaborate with
Frank Zappa and experiment with his idea of music. Among contemporary artists, I would like to collaborate with someone like Piero Pelù, Francesco Magnelli, Gianni Maroccolo, or the late Paolo Benvegnù.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links) Bandcamp is my preferred channel, especially for getting support and communicating
with my fans. Of course, my music is distributed on Spotify and the most popular streaming services.
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
After embarking on a solo career, I would like to return to having a band to collaborate and compose with, almost like a small orchestra. My other dream would be to compose music for films or short films, something I have already done in the past.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way? I hope they can sense the honesty behind my music, that it’s not just about sound, but
about the process of observing, transforming, and accepting life as it comes. I’d like them to discover a person who seeks beauty even in dissonance, and who uses music as a way to understand himself and connect with others.
