{"id":15349,"date":"2026-03-26T17:52:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strettoblaster.com\/?p=15349"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:17:07","slug":"novenove-interview-horror-tiberino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strettoblaster.com\/it\/pieces\/novenove-interview-horror-tiberino\/","title":{"rendered":"novenove, the capital sound beneath the surface"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not NoveNove. It\u2019s novenove<\/strong>. The detail matters. And it only truly matters to those who have the patience, or the will, or the awareness \u2014 or all of the above \u2014 to read it between the lines of a broader context.

In the ripples of the sound, for sure. In the subtext that runs underneath, unnoticed by the distracted. In what remains unsaid, yet speaks volumes to those who have ears to hear. Entire worlds are expressed there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenting novenove is no easy task, but precisely for that reason, a welcome one \u2014 especially in times of copy-paste press releases written by AIs trained to imitate imitation, to reduce the margin of error, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a creative undergrowth rich with ferment, like the Italian scene of recent years, from the mental ghettos of the provinces, comes a producer I\u2019ve been following for a while with curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scarcity of information about the man, paired with the unwillingness to present his face, matched with the abundance of music he\u2019s produced in recent years \u2014 partly out of expressive necessity, partly as a way to soften the weight of a far-from-simple historical moment \u2014 has kept that curiosity intact, and the listening sharp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After several releases which, to my personal taste, have been more or less successful, yet always musically compelling, the latest one hit the mark \u2014 and pushed that curiosity to the next level: deeper inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After receiving the press kit for Ghiaccio Blu<\/a><\/em>, the latest release by Horror Tiberino and novenove, listening to the record closely, and noting with pleasure that no AI was misused to write nonsense (I\u2019ll accept nonsense too, but only if it comes from a human hand, let\u2019s be clear), <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I set up a call with the elusive producer based in Citt\u00e0 di Castello, Italy, to understand what moves the sky of the mind behind one of the most gracefully funk-leaning products made in Italy that the SB editorial desk has received in at least the past five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where does your musical journey begin?<\/strong>
Very young \u2014 I was around 14 or 15. I came across hip-hop almost by chance: I bought La Morte dei Miracoli<\/em> da Frankie Hi-NRG MC<\/strong>. Then I found out he was based in Citt\u00e0 di Castello, basically right behind my house, even though he was originally from Turin. Quelli che ben pensano<\/a><\/em> was on heavy rotation on TV, and both the video and the message completely blew me away.

His lyrics, for a middle school kid, were anything but simple. But you could immediately feel the depth, and it hooked me. I wore that record out, listening to it over the years and discovering new nuances every time. I could map Frankie\u2019s stories onto the province I was living in \u2014 and that stuck with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, I started writing, like all kids do when they feel the need to say something. But I didn\u2019t have beats. The internet was just starting in our country \u2014 you didn\u2019t know where to look for instrumentals, and often they didn\u2019t even exist. So I figured I could do it myself, using a computer. I started with Fruity Loops, putting together my first ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, I got into it: I began making beats for friends, once I discovered some of them were into this too. At the beginning, I was completely on my own, with no older brothers or \u201cmentors\u201d as references. I learned everything by myself. Then I met other people with the same \u201cdisease,\u201d moved from machines to digital, then to a hybrid setup. That\u2019s how it all started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I produced for myself \u2014 yes, I also have a past life as a rapper \u2014 and at times for others, too. It was the early 2000s: we listened to everything, from hip-hop to indie rock. We had a band, kind of like The Roots \u2014 a mix of live instruments and vocals. We started more on the funk side, then shifted toward sounds influenced \u2014 with all the necessary caution \u2014 by Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead. Never reaching those levels, obviously, but that was the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always been someone who listens to music across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"novenove<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the first production you released or placed commercially?<\/strong>
Crash Test<\/em> with Barra1. I had this beat and started looking for someone locally who wanted to work on it, but I couldn\u2019t find anyone really interested. Then I met Barra1 \u2014 he got hyped immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We met and made the track together. It all happened during a very particular personal period, which strengthened my connection to that piece.

I have huge respect for Barra. It was an important imprint: I came from nowhere, nobody knew who I was, and he \u2014 who had already done things, even with Esa<\/a> \u2014 gave me total trust. No questions asked, only what he felt mattered. For someone coming from the province, where everything is more closed, it was almost disorienting. But powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we made another project together, Sottocassa<\/em>: I had beats that I knew could work for him. We worked on it for a long time, with pauses and other projects in between, but in the end, it came out because we both really cared about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since you started producing, how long did it take before you made something you were satisfied with?<\/strong>
Honestly? It still hasn\u2019t happened. Every time I listen back to something, I think: \u201cnot bad\u2026 but I could\u2019ve done better.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an ongoing challenge with myself. It\u2019s not so much technical \u2014 it\u2019s more expressive: \u201cI wanted to say this in a certain way, I didn\u2019t manage, I\u2019ll try better next time.\u201d
Total satisfaction doesn\u2019t exist. It\u2019s always a work in progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for me, it\u2019s also a driver: I like discovering new things, stepping out of my comfort zone. When you find a formula that works, the temptation is to repeat it. I try to do things I don\u2019t know how to do. If I had to keep repeating myself, I\u2019d probably stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you listen to today? Where do your inspirations come from?<\/strong>
Funk<\/a> is home. The whole world of George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Parliament-Funkadelic \u2014 that\u2019s a deep root, and maybe you can hear it in Ghiaccio Blu<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I go into jazz as well. I was lucky to have a musician friend, a double bass player, who opened that world for me. I listen to the classics: John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans. But also more modern artists like Immanuel Wilkins and Theo Croker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my absolute references is Flying Lotus \u2014 genius, recognisable, out of scale.
Then Knxwledge \u2014 underrated, but with an unmistakable groove \u2014 and Kaytranada, who really opened my mind with that mix of dance and funk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also had a strong electronic phase \u2014 Daft Punk, for example, had a big impact on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not a musician in the classical sense: I play by ear. But I work a lot on sound, on synths, on plugins. And especially on bass: for me, it\u2019s a narrative instrument. It shouldn\u2019t just fill space; it has to say something. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve always loved G-funk, like Dr Dre \u2014 the bass leads, it doesn\u2019t accompany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s your production setup?<\/strong>
It depends on what I need to do, but I almost always start from a sample.
I work a lot on the SP-404: I chop, loop, dirty it up, and even destroy it if needed. I don\u2019t like things that are too clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I decide: either I continue there, even drumless<\/a>, or I move into Ableton and build drums and arrangements. Typically, I play on the SP and arrange in Ableton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent find that stuck with you?<\/strong>
The soundtrack of Sapore di Mare<\/em>. It was given to me as a joke by Giovanni Normale<\/a><\/strong>, my partner and art director in Horror Tiberino<\/a>. He bought it almost jokingly at a flea market, saying he thought I\u2019d find something in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then at home, listening with my wife, that masterpiece started playing \u2014 Mi sono innamorato di te<\/em> by Luigi Tenco, reinterpreted by Ornella Vanoni \u2014 which everyone knows, but on that vinyl soundtrack it\u2019s a third version I personally didn\u2019t know. And there\u2019s an incredible loop in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made a beat out of it: it became Battuta di caccia<\/em> by Comanche Hooks, Butch and Hiro Savastano.
Sometimes the best things come like that \u2014 Sunday morning after breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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