A few weeks ago, I was pleased to discover an extraordinary talent: a man who created music out of the most obscure and wonderful instruments. I discovered Diego Stocco. I first shared with you all his “Music from Sand” creation. A few days later, I posted a few fresh tracks that Stocco himself recommended to SuperForest! Today, I’m very pleased to share an exclusive interview Mr. Stocco was gracious enough to grant us!
I knew Diego Stocco was an incredible artist, but reading the responses to the couple questions I sent him showed me how incredible he really is. We are all familiar with his work from my previous posts so I’ll just dive right in and present the interview straightaway!
SuperForest: The readers of SuperForest know you as a sound designer and a composer. They’ve seen you make music from sand and a picture of you burning a piano. It’s quite obvious you aren’t just any sound designer or composer. How would you describe the work you do?
Diego Stocco: I would describe it as a journey into sounds, as a possible way to know more about the world that surrounds us.
At the basis of my works there’s a simple question like: “how would that thing sound if…?” That’s always the first step, trying to see objects and instruments under a different light.
SF: What inspired you to take such a unique approach to music?
DS: It’s basically curiosity. Creating sounds with unusual techniques is a process that can produce not just interesting sounds, but also a lot of insights about how certain things works.
It started with simple customizations of traditional instruments. For example, using thick piano strings on an electric guitar instead of regular strings. Then the process evolved into more articulated experiments like “Carbon Cello” where I was recording the sound of a cello transmitted to a cooking pot, or the “Typosonic Machine” which took me quite some time to build.
I’m always experimenting with sounds, there is so much out there that can be recorded and manipulated into something musical.
SF: What do you define as music?
DS: To me music is a amazing form of expression based on sounds, and since sounds keep evolving and transforming into new forms, so does music.
SF: What type of music would you listen to when you were younger? What sort of influence has that had on your music or work today?
DS: I was listening to pretty much everything I was getting in contact with. I had phases where I was listening to all the Beatles albums, Lucio Battisti, Bob Marley, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Peter Gabriel, and Mike Oldfield.
Later on I listened to Jamiroquai, tons of film music from various composers, classical and contemporary music, dance and ethnic music. I was also playing in different bands since I was 14 and that helped me get in touch with different musical styles too. I had a friend that owned a gigantic collection of music from all over the world. He would give me albums to listen to and each one of those became a piece added to the mosaic of styles I’ve been in touch with.
SF: You’ve experimented with a lot of unique sounds in your compositions, which so far has been your favorite?
DS: In general I prefer the ones where I’m playing with acoustic sources, but I don’t really have a favorite one. Everytime I can’t wait to finish the one I’m working on so I can start the next : )
Grazie, Diego! A big hug goes out to you for taking some time to talk to SuperForest. You can learn more about Diego Stocco by reading his biography here. And if you’re curious to see some of the work he’s been involved in over the years, check out his impressive credits list! And images like the ones pictured above can be found on Stocco’s flickr photostream!
Love to all,
Carla
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