Interview: 5 minutes with The Ghibertins
‘The Less I Know the Better’ is the new single from Milan-based folk rock band The Ghibertins, taken from their upcoming album by the same title. The single has been described as pure and simple modern folk rock. We caught up with them in the wake of their release for a chat about being old fashioned and their take on the genres of music out there.
It’s been quite a journey for you guys. Where’s your head at currently?
We are doing great. Finally after six months of studio, we are playing our songs and we’ve never had such a deep empathy with our audience before. We’re already look forward to writing new stuff.
How do you label your sound?
Our sound can be quite melancholy but it can also suddenly turn angry. We always like to “play” with these differences both on our albums and during our gigs. We like to define ourselves an Alternative Indie Folk band.
What are the 5 albums and artists that have influenced you the most?
Paul Simon – Graceland
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
Ryan Adams – Gold
John Mayer – Where The Light Is
Father John Misty – I Love you, Honeybear
What other artists do you really like at the moment and why?
We always loved Alt-J. They created a new sound and were so brave to release an 8 track album (Relaxer) with a cover inside. Their sound is always evolving, we love them.
Bon Iver – Justin Vernon is a musical genius and 22, A Million is the proof. It’s a musical milestone and it will change the rules of music arrangements. There was music before 22, A Million and there will be different music after 22, A Million.
What are some of the key pieces of gear you use to write your tracks in the studio? Or do you prefer to use software and plug ins?
We are old-fashioned; one acoustic guitar, voice, one microphone and hours and hours of hard work inside a smelly, dirty room.
What are your thoughts on some of the following genres?
Drum n Bass:
There’s a lot of drum and a lot of bass.
Deep House:
It’s not really our type of music, but after a few Gin and Tonics, I guess that we can give it a try.
Classical:
Relaxing and emotional.
Braindance:
We had to go on Wikipedia to understand what you are talking about.
Trap:
God bless Wikipedia.
If we gave you the budget to put a line-up together for a mini fest, who would you book and where would you play?
Let’s assume that we had a HUGE budget. First of all we would play in Italy, our country. Unfortunately most of the artists we like don’t come here, though there are thousands of people that would come to the mini-fest. It would be great to welcome the artists here and show them that Italy is not only “Music Talent Show” oriented. Here’s the lineup:
Father John Misty, Bon Iver, John Mayer, Mumford and Sons, The War On Drugs, Ryan Adams.
Do you enjoy playing to an audience or working in the studio?
We need the audience. If we could rehearse in front of the audience we would. We play way better during our gigs.
Has your arsenal of equipment changed much since you first started?
One big difference; the previous work “Square The Circle” was recorded with the guitar case used as a percussion. On this album we have drums and a lot of strings and brass arrangements.
Do you have any information regarding upcoming releases, projects, or collaborations in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?
In September, we are going to release our third single and video and during the following months we will release three live videos of us performing inside a Marble cave in Carrara.
