I first saw Carta d’Eritrea perform back in
February 2008 at Banale when they were taking part in the Italiawave
competition for emerging groups. Little did I know then that the group would
become such good friends, that I would see Elle (vocals) with or without Margano
(keyboards and synths) as spectators at
most of the gigs I went to from then onwards and that after a couple of months
my Wednesday nights would mostly be spent drinking wine and/or beer with both
of them in the centre of Padova.
The roots of the group go back to 1995, over
a decade before I met them. Dario (guitarist) and Cina (bassist) have known
each other for what seems like forever. Back then they played thrash metal and
grunge: Cina on rhythm guitar and ‘cello! The two of them were joined by other
musicians who came and went and they continued to play metal. Dario began to
accompany his guitar sounds with synths and Cina moved on to rhythm. Margano joined
the pair on keyboards shortly before 2000 with the sound direction of the group
beginning to take form and shape from there on with further use of synths,
computers, sequencers, and sampling technologies. Elle joined the group in 2004
in response to an advert placed by the group for a vocalist to replace Cina,
who had also been providing voice up to that point. Elle was from a rock/funk/theatrical
background and there was immediate chemistry with the band. Her vocal lines and
lyrics fitted easily with the interweaving sounds of the other three and this
gave shape to what is now the CDE project.
The band performed regularly in Padova, around
the Veneto area and in Bologna, but there has been a hiatus of about a year
with no gigs. “We’ve all been involved in different issues and aspects of our
private lives: newborn children, college stuff, work, etc” explains Elle “Big
changes always require commitment; once everything has settled down again we
got back to music with new ideas and feeling to express.” Although I do listen
to the band’s recorded music occasionally, I much prefer their live
performances and especially the raw energy of Elle’s voice. “We want to play
live: we are a live band,” she says “we create music but we also want the
audience to hear it directly from us – with many watts!” Their next gigs are on
the 20th January at Decadence, a goth and S&M party which takes
place bimonthly in Bologna – a venue which the group has played several times;
and then on the 4th February in Casalserugo, their home turf.
The band’s latest CD, Quattroquarti, has
received good reviews both on the internet and in the press, the most important
of which was in June 2011 in Rockerilla, a well known music magazine in Italy, which
described their sound as “industrial-electro-rock” in which the icy sounds of
the synth are counterbalanced by the metallic guitar riffs to produce a
polychromatic energetic sound. The album took quite some time to record and
produce: “It was a long process, rather like an elephant’s pregnancy” says Elle.
Self-produced, Elle explains that the band decided to do things this way in
order to experience the whole process of recording and production which are,
after all, part and parcel of an electronic musician’s job. They also avoided
the influence of an external producer in order to maintain exactly the sound
they wanted, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t use one in the future. “Although we
lacked high quality recording equipment,“says
Margano “we are very satisfied with the
final result: clean enough, but dirty too.”
I ask Elle what she thinks about the music
scene in Padova and Italy in general: “It sucks!” she says, laughing “No, just
kidding! We don’t want to be so negative. In Padova the music scene is quite
poor, but elsewhere in Veneto you can find some interesting gigs. In
Italy...honestly it depends on the area. If you are in a big city, like Rome or
Milan, you have quite a number of choices, if you live in the
countryside...you're fucked, kilometres await you! Also, the scene is quite
old-fashioned...people listen to Italian popular singers (who usually are not
music writers) or, if they're into foreign artists, they like best to see cover
bands of these, rather than independent musicians and bands.”
Elle sings and writes mainly in English: “Actually
I also sing in Italian,” she tells me “but most of our songs are in English. I
like the sound. It fits with rock music and even more with electronic music.
I'd like foreigners to listen to our music, too. Italian people are used to
listening to songs in English; there are no problems with that.”
Elle has been taking singling lessons now for about 5 years. “It's been very helpful because natural singing is very ‘expensive’, while educated singing allows you to get the best performance with the least effort,” she says, “Also, it has helped me to have a better understanding of my instrument, i.e. my voice, and I've been able to experiment and play with it more.”
Elle has been taking singling lessons now for about 5 years. “It's been very helpful because natural singing is very ‘expensive’, while educated singing allows you to get the best performance with the least effort,” she says, “Also, it has helped me to have a better understanding of my instrument, i.e. my voice, and I've been able to experiment and play with it more.”
Something the band has often mentioned to
me in the past is problems with their name. “We don't know why, the name ‘Carta
d'Eritrea’ sometimes makes people angry” says Elle “Carta means paper, and ‘Carta
d'Eritrea’ is an aromatic paper that we use in our rehearsal room, its scent is
very good and inspiring! Anyway, probably some people see a connection between
the African country and the fact that we are Italian... We had to delete some
comments from youtube and stuff like that. No big deal, just annoying.
Obviously we weren't thinking about fascism when we chose our band's name, and
maybe we were a little naive. But we'll not change our band's name, we’ve never
considered it. We don't have to make every dork happy.”
Elle tells me that 2012 will be a year of
gigging and perhaps a new album. The band are currently in writing mode and
have already got some new songs in store. It’s good to know that Carta d’Eritrea
is back on track and back on the live scene.
Carta d’Eritrea are: Elle, vocals, lyrics,
programming, Theremin, synth; Margano, keyboards, synth, programming, sampling;
Cina, bass, programming, sampling; and Dario: guitars, synth.
Contacts details and links for CDE:
website: http://www.cartaderitrea.net
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cartaderitrea
soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/carta-deritrea
press contact: press@cartaderitrea.net
bookings: booking@cartaderitrea.net
These videos are recommended by CDE
Sex, blues and rock'n'roll! Saves the world!
A good speech, it makes you think...
I love Tool. Ten minutes in Eden.
I chose this vid because of the subject, rather than the band: a film against
homophobia, with no anger, just poetry.
