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clustersun04 bySimoneContiInterview with

Clustersun

I first met them - and saw them live - in Wroclaw during one of the Batcave Productions events, late in 2022, and I must say their show was a blast: vibrating, engaging, boiling with incredible energy, it caught my attention on the spot. But about a bit of history first: Italian Shoegaze, Post-Punk and Psychedelic Rock band CLUSTERSUN formed in 2013, bringing together a group of friends who shared a passion for creating music that delivered “massive walls of fuzz, otherworldly reverberations, and psychedelic trips”.

Their debut single ‘Be Vegetal’ caught the attention of Italian indie label Seahorse Recordings, who released their first album ‘Out of Your Ego’ in 2014. Their second album ‘Surfacing To Breathe’ followed in 2017, with their latest album ‘Avalanche’ released in 2021 via Icy Cold Records (FR) and Little Cloud Records (US). CLUSTERSUN’s sound is described as a mix of Post-Punk, Shoegaze, and Psych that creates a unique, personal style. The band is part of the emerging Italian Shoegaze and Psych scene, also known as “Italogaze”, which is gaining recognition worldwide. In this interview the guys talk about their music, the current Italian music scene, and their love for interacting with the audience during live performances. And more…

Reflections of Darkness [RoD]: First of all, thank you for agreeing to have this interview - I realize you are busy with concerts and everyday life. Since it’s our first interview, could you please give me some more background as to how CLUSTERSUN was formed?
Clustersun: Huge thanks to you Karo and to Reflection of Darkness for this conversation, it’s really a great pleasure for us! So, we were born as CLUSTERSUN in 2013, when we were just a bunch of friends obsessed with Shoegaze, Psych and Post-Punk music, trying to deliver massive walls of fuzz, other-worldly reverberations and psychedelic trips out of our rehearsal room to the entire world. We were lucky enough to grab attention since the release of our first self-produced single ‘Be Vegetal’, which brought us to sign our first record deal for the debut album ‘Out Of Your Ego’, out for Italian indie label Seahorse Recordings in 2014. Then things become hotter with an amazing reception of our music both in Italy and worldwide, and the beginning of an intense live activity, with tours in Europe and United States. In 2017 we released our sophomore LP ‘Surfacing To Breathe’ (again for Seahorse Recordings), that pushed us between the most interesting new international Psych-Gaze acts, opening a new season full of gigs and contributions to a lot of compilations issued by the most revered label of the genre.

But the real key moment arrived in 2021, with the release of our third album ‘Avalanche’, via Icy Cold Records (FR) and Little Cloud Records (US), that featured mix and mastering by sound guru James Aparicio (known for his amazing work with MOGWAI, SPIRITUALIZED, DEPECHE MODE, NICK CAVE’S GRINDERMAN, THE CULT OF DOM KELLER, DEAD VIBRATIONS, PIATCIONS / THROW DOWN BONES, REV REV REV) and an iconic cover artwork painting by Marco Baldassari (founder of Italian Psych heavyweights SONIC JESUS). ‘Avalanche’ was highly praised and ranked among the best releases of 2021 on Italian and International press, and hugely enhanced the band’s status, leading us to a massive European tour, that is still on the run in 2023.


clustersun01 bySimoneConti

RoD: How would you describe the current Italian music scene? What is the most prevailing trend you would name?
Clustersun: If you take a look at the music that dominates the Italian charts and radio airplay you’ll find a lot of poor-quality mainstream Pop, mostly sung in Italian by people coming from talent shows, or rappers / trappers abusing of autotune and ghetto cliches. Well, definitely not our cup of tea, to say the least. But luckily, if you turn the focus on the underground scene, you’ll find that Italy is providing some of the most interesting and internationally acclaimed acts in the Shoegaze / Psych / Post Punk area: artists and bands that are signed by international labels, play extensively out if Italy and are regularly invited to perform in the main festivals around the world. Press is starting uses the term “Italogaze” to identify this kind of trend, because its relevance is becoming every year bigger and more recognized.

RoD: What drew you to shoegaze/post-punk music? Is it the music you have always listened to?
Clustersun: Well, all of us grew up listening to The Beatles, Pink Floyd and VELVET UNDERGROUND. Then we fell in love with bands like SLOWDIVE, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, RIDE, THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, SWERVEDRIVER, CHAPTERHOUSE, THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, THE BLACK ANGELS, SPIRITUALIZED, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN, JOY DIVISION, NEW ORDER, THE CURE, SPACEMEN 3, THE DEPRECIATION GUILD, NEU! and CAN…we could go on for years… We’ve always loved trippy, psychedelic and noisy soundscapes, so what we try to achieve in our music is to mix our different influences, moving from Post-Punk (especially in the rhythm section), Shoegaze (all the guitar work) and Psych, to reach a more personal, and hopefully “signature”, sound and expressive canon. It’s an approach that starts from the past and look to the future, in its own way.

RoD: I had a chance to see you in Wroclaw during one of Batcave Productions’ events. It was quite an intensive, beautiful concert. Do you enjoy interactions with your audience during live performances?
Clustersun: Oh, thank you so much, we had so much fun that night in Wroclaw at CRK for “Return To The Batcave”! Amazing people, amazing venue and the best vibes ever. And the best vodka ever, to. We definitely fell in love with Poland, with wonderful memories of our gig in Warsaw too! Indeed, we totally enjoy interacting with people in the audience during gigs. Before being musicians, we are concertgoers, and when we know well that there’s nothing better than watching a band that gives you 100% of energy and dedication, and that breaks the invisible barrier between stage and audience. So that’s the way we love to perform: we want to give people something unique, a “physical” and interactive approach that lets them enjoy the show at another level and, in the end, makes the gig memorable. Let us steal the words of Mick Jagger: “The only performance that makes it, that makes it all the way, is the one that achieves madness”. He NAILED it.

clustersun02 bySimoneConti

RoD: Do you actually have any particular, special memories regarding the places you played at?
Clustersun: We were so lucky to play in many different places and countries, coming back with exciting and lovely memories from each one of those. Not only for the gig itself but also because of the people we met, the connections, the food, the precious moments, the funny or unexpected things happened… we could definitely fill a book of tales with all of this. So, it’s quite difficult to pick up some specific memories because all of them are really special to us. No matter the big city or the small town, no matter the super pro venue with the most advanced stage or the dark, smoky tiny garage club, every place, every gig is really a gift to us. Anyway, there was something that we could consider a “one of a kind” experience: when we played at Psychedelic Umami Festival in Czech Republic the venue was a mesmerizing old church lost in the middle of a forest, called Soulkostel. The stage was super cool with top notch sound equipment and lights, and the atmosphere was absolutely unique: playing there was really mental and inspiring, one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever walked in.

RoD: Tell me more about your album ‘Avalanche’. What was working on it like and what are the most important traits that reflect your musical growth as artists?
Clustersun: ‘Avalanche’ is definitely the album we are most proud of, because it displays the most accurate and authentic essence of our band, both in terms of sound and mind. We feel like everything is exactly where we wanted to be, with a sense of focus and thoroughness never achieved in the past two LPs. A key role in this was played by a true sound master like James Aparicio, who had in charge the mix and mastering: his work was simply outstanding in capturing all our sonic nature just like he’s known us forever. He’s the best thing that could happen to a recording musician. Also, speaking about musical growth, we feel that our biggest goal in ‘Avalanche’ was being able to avoid any kind of compromise, both in songwriting and in terms of sound approach: something we’ve always aimed for and that now, for the first time, we perceive like a target fully reached.

RoD: What do you think is the most important when creating music or art in general? What are your personal inspirations?
Clustersun: For us the creative process is all about being faithful, sincere and true to yourself. If you do something to please someone else over yourself, you’re already corrupting the creative moment. You’re faking it and, in the end, this will be noticed. About us, we always write our music starting from free jams, and when interesting sections, riffs or sometimes just plain sounds come out, then we try to develop the song around these pristine elements, with the equal contribution of all of us. So, all our creative process is tailored to keep the most spontaneous intentions and is based on the interplay between us. And in the end, we could say that the interaction between us and the constant search for sound are our driving sources of inspiration. It’s all about putting out the joy and fun of making music together.

clustersun05 bySimoneConti

RoD: What are you currently working on? Is there any new release on the way by any chance? What can we expect from you in the upcoming months?
Clustersun: We’ll still be on the road in the next months for the last gigs of the ‘Avalanche’ tour, but meanwhile we are already at work on LP4: we’re actually completing the pre-production of the new songs and hope to go in studio for the recording session later on this summer. So, plans are to finalize everything before winter and maybe coming out with a single before the end of the year, to anticipate the new album’s release in 2024. But, you know, plans are made to be messed up.

RoD: Thank you very much for the chat.
Clustersun: Thank you so much for having us, hope to see you soon!

All Pictures by Simone Conti

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