Photo credit: Charlie Davoli
Trail-blazing producer Matilde Davoli has released her latest single, ‘Il Coraggio di Provare’. The single is the third to be taken from her upcoming album, Home slated for release on the 5th of November via Loyal To Your Dreams, which marks Matilde Davoli’s return after a six-year hiatus. Her first solo album earned her a place on the Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona in 2016 along with significant support on the airwaves.
Born in Salento, Italy and based in Lecce (Puglia), Matilde Davoli spent five years living in London, where she began to truly embrace her solo work after partaking in several collaborations. The artist is formally trained both as a producer and as a resident sound engineer, helping build her reputation as one of the most established personalities in the Italian’s independent music scene and working with several international artists.
What’s your story as an artist?
It all begins with my father, a Hi-Fi sound fanatic with a huge collection of records and these weird, big stereo systems at home. I spent many long afternoons listening to music with him.
At a certain point me and my older brother started learning to play the guitar and piano hanging around in our home. This is how Studiodavoli (my first band) came to life.
Since then I had many other music projects, until eventually I studied sound engineering and started my solo project, which brings us here.
What inspired this single?
The title says it all (in English “The Courage To Try”). I was in a difficult moment when I wrote it, I had some health issues and I was feeling very down.
Turns out that I had all the strength to get over it but it was the courage that was missing. Ultimately it’s just fear that keeps us prisoners of ourselves, we need to find the will to try to change our life, to be free and happy.
What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?
I’m always focusing my attention on emotions, so I almost never talk about the events as much, but rather about the feelings. Everybody has emotions to connect to: sadness, anger, love, hope… we need to understand them, tame them, sometimes fix them in our heart and mind to better understand ourselves and others.
Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing the album?
Well yes! In “Home” (the album title track) my voice is pitched down a little. Many close friends were convinced that this was my husband’s voice (Daniele, has his own project “Soul Island”). Turns out our voices are incredibly similar if you just pitch mine down, or his up. Weird and funny! Maybe we are the same person.
Tell us about the music video and the idea behind it ?
I met the director, Niccolò Natali, through a past collaboration.
We like each other’s work and I felt he was the person with the right sensibility for this video. We had long chats about the song and what it meant to me, what he would feel when listening to it. A few days after he ran me through the beautiful story you can see in the video, with a lot of detail about the scenes as if he had already shot it. He also told me his grandmother would have been the main character! I was so moved when I watched the final edit the first time.
What’s a record that shaped your creativity?
There’s many, but Son Lux “Brighter Wounds” has probably been the most important influence when I wrote “Home”. It’s an incredible album, with many touching moments, great sound and progressions. The drumming is majestic, Ian Chang is my most favorite musician right now. The record is both big and intimate, pop and experimental at the same time. A Perfect balance.
Who is an artist or band you look up to today?
n/a
Any future projects?
My new record is gonna be out soon, on November 5th.
The next step is to bring this record to as many people as I can. It will be my mission! Get away COVID.
Top 3 dream collaborations?
OMG: Feist, Bon Iver, Kae Tempest.
What does music mean to you?
Everything, really. I do music for myself of course, but as a sound engineer and producer is also my job and I’m so happy and grateful to do it for other people as well. My life is totally filled with music, which is so amazing and I know I’m very lucky. Me and music are like two tender lovers.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
Shaping the sound is part of my writing process, especially as a sound engineer and producer. It is a continuous research of atmospheres and ways to amaze and keep the attention high. I try to push the listener into a limbo made of smoky sensations, in an attempt to let his imagination run. It’s very difficult to give the above a name, a genre. I could say dream pop… but it’s definitely not just that.
