Interview with Pulcher Femina
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Leo asked Roberto about his new album, some past things and of course about the new album "Darkness Prevails".
Hi Roberto, "Darkness Prevails" will be your third album since 1999. Can you feel a development or progress in the time inbetween?
Roberto: I'd say it's inevitable, time ends up affecting everything. I was afraid that over time I would lose the ability to write songs, but this hasn't happened so far. Technology keeps improving too and even though my music is fairly simple, it too changes with the technology.
What does the name Pulcher Femina means to you and why did you choose this as a band name?
Roberto: It represents beauty and harmony, both characteristics which I find and appreciate in music. It is the name of a flower which is the symbol of these qualities. It's a Latin name and it gets pointed out that it is grammatically incorrect. But it doesn't really make any difference because the substance is more important than the form.
What are the tracks of the album about? Is there a core theme?
Roberto: It's no secret that the lyrics are less important to me than the actual music. However hard I try, I always end up talking about love and the pain it causes. Who knows? Maybe it's a reflection of some major unresolved issues of mine.
In what kind of context do the 13 tracks are related to the album title?
Roberto: While many of the songs talk about love going wrong, the darkness ("oscurità") mentioned is the result of the absence of love.But I also mean the darkness of the mind when it doesn't manage to learn life's most difficult lessons.Inside the booklet though, the album title ends with "...in absence of light" - what I'm saying is that any light can bring balance and harmony between lightness and darkness, people are then free to decide for themselves what this light may mean.
You merge styles like Pop, Electro and Alternative. How do you describe your music with some own words?
Roberto: Human..
There has been a break of seven years. What were the reasons for this long time of silence?
Roberto: I've had many failures in my life, but with each step back I've taken two forward; this has taken time! The process of evolution is by no means finished and there are more failures to come, because without failure I cannot improve!
What made you come back to musical creativity and revive the band?
Roberto: I wrote the material in "Darkness Prevails" a long time ago. But it doesn't matter how long it's taken to get it published, what counts is that you can now listen to it!
Why do you write music instead of, e.g. becoming a painter or sculpturer? What do you think is so special in music for yourself?
Roberto: The answer to that is "I don't know!". Music has the capacity to symbolise everything that exists without having any shape, without being seen of touched, without being explained; it's like feelings, like the concept of the soul. Music is air vibrating, you know it's there even though you can't see it. You can explain its physical nature but you can't explain the emotions it arouses in the listener. Art for me is an expression of the divine within man, more than of technology (but less than of love).
What is your attitude towards commerce in music as art?
Roberto: I'd prefer music, all music, to be freely available to everybody. I'm only interested in profit if the music is used in an advert, a film or in any other commercial operation requiring music.
In your biography one can read the name Anna Cerichelli. What can you tell us about her?
Roberto: She was in Pulcher Femina for my first record. Her "lyrical opera" type voice was perfect for the "darkware" style of that record. The 2002 record had a synth-pop style, and so I decided to go on alone.
How did you get in touch with Volker Lutz of Evil’s Toy?
Roberto: My record label knew him personally, because in the past he'd organised live shows in my home town. We really liked his sound and so it seemed a good idea to "pinch" some of it!
You are now working as a solo project. Do you choose that as a preferable way of working or are you actively looking for other musicians to participate in Pulcher Femina?
Roberto: Writing music is a very intimate process and I'm only ready to share it once the job is complete. It's as if you decided to paint the walls of a room orange, but then your companion convinces you to use yellow instead. Then your friends tell you how nice it looks but you're not truly pleased because it doesn't look the way you really wanted!
Let’s get back to the new album named "Darkness Prevails". I want to pick five songs and like to know more about them: Why did you write them, what is the meaning behind them, what can you tell us about the emotional content of them and the connection to your own experience?
Bio-illogical Progress:
Roberto: it's as if over thousands of years humanity has only evolved in terms of technology but spiritually has remained the same; why is this?If everything that happens is right, why are things going the way they are? Maybe because I'm wrong and it's not true that there has been no spiritual development in man...
Tragic Heroes:
Roberto: the very fact that we are alive makes us all some kind of hero; when I wrote these lyrics, the hero I had in mind was not so much the average man, the town man, but rather people who are fleeing from serious situations, where they have no rights and are left with no choice other than to run and risk their lives, to have the chance to live a simple life with dignity.
Holy War:
Roberto: the eternal fight between good and bad, trying to distinguish between the two, afraid that your own truth may be the wrong one, how hard it is to accept that to have good you probably need bad, the fear that our concept of good and bad is no more than the result of a long process of moral and psychological conditioning which began long before our own birth.
Out Of Control:
Roberto: anyone can lose control: alcohol, drugs. You end up saying and doing things you regret, of which you're ashamed. No, it wasn't us, it was the drugs. But no, it was us. Maybe that part of us which feels so suffocated that it eventually explodes in all its brutality, reminding us of the very lesson we refuse to learn.
Face the Fear:
Roberto: once again love seen as the only thing that can save us when fear prevents us from being happy: fear of making a mistake, fear of suffering, fear of being alone, of failing and then the greatest of all fears, that of dying.
Okay, talking about the new album, the next question is, whether or not you will bring the new songs onto stage to a broader audience in a live-setting?
Roberto: I want to feel again the emotion you feel when you sing your music to people who appreciate it. But I don't know if I'm ready yet...
Do you like to perform live and who is supporting you on stage? What can we expect from a live-show of Pulcher Femina?
Roberto: Unfortunately, as I said before, it's too early to answer that question. I do want to play live though.
What do you expect in regards of the success or impact of the album on the scene?
Roberto: I expect someone to cry, someone to get shivers down their spine, someone else to work up a sweat dancing (and trying to get the attention of the girl/boy they like), and someone to have no idea that a Pulcher Femina song is playing..
Do you think you are in a disadvantageous situation by being an Italian band to become famous and commercially successful compared to all the German electro and synthpop acts?
Roberto: It took me a while to understand, but I'm now pretty much convinced that the important thing about any "creation", in this case art and more specifically music, is to share it. If you have a child, you will share your life with her or him. If you love someone, you will share yourself. However small, it's good to share your talent. I no longer feel the need to be popular and to make money from my music. The problem is that being popular helps when it comes to many people hearing your music and being able to share the emotions, the only thing that really counts.
Many thanks for answering our questions and we’d like to wish you all the best for the release of the new album and beyond!
Roberto: Thank you for taking interest in my music.
PS: When I talk about music being "mine" it's like life itself; can I really say that life, this life is mine?!
Hi Roberto, "Darkness Prevails" will be your third album since 1999. Can you feel a development or progress in the time inbetween?
Roberto: I'd say it's inevitable, time ends up affecting everything. I was afraid that over time I would lose the ability to write songs, but this hasn't happened so far. Technology keeps improving too and even though my music is fairly simple, it too changes with the technology.
What does the name Pulcher Femina means to you and why did you choose this as a band name?
Roberto: It represents beauty and harmony, both characteristics which I find and appreciate in music. It is the name of a flower which is the symbol of these qualities. It's a Latin name and it gets pointed out that it is grammatically incorrect. But it doesn't really make any difference because the substance is more important than the form.
What are the tracks of the album about? Is there a core theme?
Roberto: It's no secret that the lyrics are less important to me than the actual music. However hard I try, I always end up talking about love and the pain it causes. Who knows? Maybe it's a reflection of some major unresolved issues of mine.
In what kind of context do the 13 tracks are related to the album title?
Roberto: While many of the songs talk about love going wrong, the darkness ("oscurità") mentioned is the result of the absence of love.But I also mean the darkness of the mind when it doesn't manage to learn life's most difficult lessons.Inside the booklet though, the album title ends with "...in absence of light" - what I'm saying is that any light can bring balance and harmony between lightness and darkness, people are then free to decide for themselves what this light may mean.
You merge styles like Pop, Electro and Alternative. How do you describe your music with some own words?
Roberto: Human..
There has been a break of seven years. What were the reasons for this long time of silence?
Roberto: I've had many failures in my life, but with each step back I've taken two forward; this has taken time! The process of evolution is by no means finished and there are more failures to come, because without failure I cannot improve!
What made you come back to musical creativity and revive the band?
Roberto: I wrote the material in "Darkness Prevails" a long time ago. But it doesn't matter how long it's taken to get it published, what counts is that you can now listen to it!
Why do you write music instead of, e.g. becoming a painter or sculpturer? What do you think is so special in music for yourself?
Roberto: The answer to that is "I don't know!". Music has the capacity to symbolise everything that exists without having any shape, without being seen of touched, without being explained; it's like feelings, like the concept of the soul. Music is air vibrating, you know it's there even though you can't see it. You can explain its physical nature but you can't explain the emotions it arouses in the listener. Art for me is an expression of the divine within man, more than of technology (but less than of love).
What is your attitude towards commerce in music as art?
Roberto: I'd prefer music, all music, to be freely available to everybody. I'm only interested in profit if the music is used in an advert, a film or in any other commercial operation requiring music.
In your biography one can read the name Anna Cerichelli. What can you tell us about her?
Roberto: She was in Pulcher Femina for my first record. Her "lyrical opera" type voice was perfect for the "darkware" style of that record. The 2002 record had a synth-pop style, and so I decided to go on alone.
How did you get in touch with Volker Lutz of Evil’s Toy?
Roberto: My record label knew him personally, because in the past he'd organised live shows in my home town. We really liked his sound and so it seemed a good idea to "pinch" some of it!
You are now working as a solo project. Do you choose that as a preferable way of working or are you actively looking for other musicians to participate in Pulcher Femina?
Roberto: Writing music is a very intimate process and I'm only ready to share it once the job is complete. It's as if you decided to paint the walls of a room orange, but then your companion convinces you to use yellow instead. Then your friends tell you how nice it looks but you're not truly pleased because it doesn't look the way you really wanted!
Let’s get back to the new album named "Darkness Prevails". I want to pick five songs and like to know more about them: Why did you write them, what is the meaning behind them, what can you tell us about the emotional content of them and the connection to your own experience?
Bio-illogical Progress:
Roberto: it's as if over thousands of years humanity has only evolved in terms of technology but spiritually has remained the same; why is this?If everything that happens is right, why are things going the way they are? Maybe because I'm wrong and it's not true that there has been no spiritual development in man...
Tragic Heroes:
Roberto: the very fact that we are alive makes us all some kind of hero; when I wrote these lyrics, the hero I had in mind was not so much the average man, the town man, but rather people who are fleeing from serious situations, where they have no rights and are left with no choice other than to run and risk their lives, to have the chance to live a simple life with dignity.
Holy War:
Roberto: the eternal fight between good and bad, trying to distinguish between the two, afraid that your own truth may be the wrong one, how hard it is to accept that to have good you probably need bad, the fear that our concept of good and bad is no more than the result of a long process of moral and psychological conditioning which began long before our own birth.
Out Of Control:
Roberto: anyone can lose control: alcohol, drugs. You end up saying and doing things you regret, of which you're ashamed. No, it wasn't us, it was the drugs. But no, it was us. Maybe that part of us which feels so suffocated that it eventually explodes in all its brutality, reminding us of the very lesson we refuse to learn.
Face the Fear:
Roberto: once again love seen as the only thing that can save us when fear prevents us from being happy: fear of making a mistake, fear of suffering, fear of being alone, of failing and then the greatest of all fears, that of dying.
Okay, talking about the new album, the next question is, whether or not you will bring the new songs onto stage to a broader audience in a live-setting?
Roberto: I want to feel again the emotion you feel when you sing your music to people who appreciate it. But I don't know if I'm ready yet...
Do you like to perform live and who is supporting you on stage? What can we expect from a live-show of Pulcher Femina?
Roberto: Unfortunately, as I said before, it's too early to answer that question. I do want to play live though.
What do you expect in regards of the success or impact of the album on the scene?
Roberto: I expect someone to cry, someone to get shivers down their spine, someone else to work up a sweat dancing (and trying to get the attention of the girl/boy they like), and someone to have no idea that a Pulcher Femina song is playing..
Do you think you are in a disadvantageous situation by being an Italian band to become famous and commercially successful compared to all the German electro and synthpop acts?
Roberto: It took me a while to understand, but I'm now pretty much convinced that the important thing about any "creation", in this case art and more specifically music, is to share it. If you have a child, you will share your life with her or him. If you love someone, you will share yourself. However small, it's good to share your talent. I no longer feel the need to be popular and to make money from my music. The problem is that being popular helps when it comes to many people hearing your music and being able to share the emotions, the only thing that really counts.
Many thanks for answering our questions and we’d like to wish you all the best for the release of the new album and beyond!
Roberto: Thank you for taking interest in my music.
PS: When I talk about music being "mine" it's like life itself; can I really say that life, this life is mine?!
