SHERPA - Kim and the bomb

20. September 2018

Sherpa Underground

SHERPA - Kim und die Bombe

The rugged landscapes of Abruzzo with its national parks and nature reserves are the home of the Italian psychedelic band Sherpa, which, after the cheerful, almost cheerful debut "Tanzlinde" (2016), now follows the dark successor "Tigris & Euphrates". Singer and guitarist Matteo Dossena explains the reasons for the change of mood and the concept behind the new work.

eclipsed: The new album "Tigris & Euphrates" is much darker than its predecessor "Tanzlinde". What made you do it?

Matteo Dossena: "Tigris & Euphrates" originated from a completely different perspective than "Tanzlinde". Our debut was influenced by the mountains and the lake here in Abruzzo and by love and personal development. So all positive topics. Tigris & Euphrates", which arose from the fear of a nuclear war, a general concern and the feeling of being deceived and lied to. No wonder the sound is much darker and the album much slower. There are more distortions and more instrumental parts. But there is also light and hope.

eclipsed: The first half of the album is actually brighter and friendlier. In the middle of the song "Abscent To The Mother Language" comes the change to the dark side. How important are these two different aspects to you?

Dossena: Such things happen all by themselves. When we start playing, we try to put ourselves in a state of peace and inner peace. We don't think about any topics or certain sounds. We simply want to preserve our freedoms

eclipsed: What other changes have there been since the debut?

Dossena: Things have changed. The most important thing, of course, is that the line-up is different. We're just a trio now. There were still five of us on our debut "Tanzlinde". We'd all known each other since high school. But apart from that, I believe that "Tigris & Euphrates" is a further development of our approach. We're not looking for the songs anymore, we're looking for the right sound. We want to make the sound as clear as possible.

eclipsed: And how is your music created?

Dossena: I (vocals and guitar) compose the music and the vocal parts. But also Franz (bass, electronics and vocals) and Pilù (drums) actively participate in composing and arranging. So we have a lot of fun together.

eclipsed: "Tigris & Euphrates" has become a concept album about the origins of human languages and their influence on the development of mankind. Explain that, please.

Dossena: We look at the development of language from the Paleolithic and Neolithic with the first Paleolithic and Neolithic societies about the first legislation in the so-called Fertile Crescent[Note: The region that stretches crescent-shaped from the Persian Gulf along the Euphrates and Tigris via Syria to Israel], where people have learned to lie and cheat until today, when we are dealing with mad people who can start a nuclear war. All this shows how lonely we are and how important it is that we unite and form a community again.

eclipsed: Is the song "Kim (((O)))" also a reference to the US band Sunn O))), which is notorious for its extremely dark sound?

Dossena: No, this is an anti-war song that also turns against any form of dictatorship and racial hatred. "Kim" is of course an allusion to the North Korean dictator and the"(((O))" is supposed to symbolize an explosion. There is no connection to Sunn O)))), although this is a band we love very much

eclipsed: There are different influences in your music. What do you see yourselves as?

Dossena: Oh, a difficult question. While working on "Tigris & Euphrates" I heard a lot of Earth, OM, Kikagaku Moyo, Robert Wyatt, Dead Can Dance and the like. But I don't think we tried to imitate those musicians. Each one of us has let his own influences flow into the album. If I had to name our style now, I would say: Soft-Psych-Doom.

eclipsed: Melodies and atmosphere - you have both in abundance. What comes first?

Dossena: I grew up with pop music. I also like songwriters like Badly Drawn Boy, Elliot Smith or Alexander Tucket very much. All of these have the ability to pack melodies in wonderful moods. This is also what I have in mind. "Tigris & Euphrates" is focused on sounds and atmospheres and at the same time there is pop music in it. These two aspects go well together and also suit me personally.

eclipsed: In 2013 you have already released an album as Edith A.u.f.n. Then you changed the name of the band to Sherpa. Did you need a new beginning back then?

Dossena: Yes, it was simply time for a change. When we were still Edith A.u.f.n., we noticed that we should no longer focus only on Italy, but on the whole of Europe. Hence the renaming and the change to English. In addition, there is the wonderful opportunity to be signed by Dave Schmidt's Sulatron label. We are very grateful to Dave and his partner Lulu for everything they have done for us

Sherpa/Kim (((o)))---Official audio

*** Interview: Bernd Sievers