• Search
• Subscribe

Luca C & Brigante are men of the moment. Their recently - released mini album, 'Invisible Cities' on Southern Fried, is a seductive collection of white island - inspired vignettes that effortlessly throw prime cuts of disco, soft rock, synths, sea, sex and sun into a metaphysical melting pot, the result of which is an effortlessly fused alchemical compound imbued with a poetical invocation of the cosmos.

Right, now I've got my breath back after that over - expressive description, it's also worth saying that they collaborate regularly with Hot Creations associate Ali Love, the best known example of which 'Different Morals' has probably bought them to more ears than any other work thus far.

They know how to put a decent set together too, as listeners to any of their mixes available online will attest. One typically cold winter's day I flung some questions across cyberspace to balmier climes, possibly, and Luca took some time out of his no doubt hectic schedule to answer them.

'Invisible Cities' your latest release is described on its press release as "Balearic disco pop that nestles somewhere between the shoreline and the cosmos." How apt is this?
I don't know about the disco tag but there's definitely some pop in the mix and it was made in Ibiza so Balearic is apt.

Fleetwood Mac are often mentioned when searching for comparisons too. Who are you influenced by?
Fleetwood Mac is definitely one of the biggest influences. I love the 'Rumours' and 'Tusk' era Mac mostly, but there's good songs in almost all of their albums up to 'Tango in the Night'. We're also influenced by various other things such as Pink Floyd (Syd Barrett era mainly), kraut rock and various types of experimental electronic music made in Europe in the late 70's and early 80's, as well as English and European folk music from the 60's and 70's.

You seem to have a good working relationship with various members of the Hot Creations roster: Ali Love has contributed vocals to a few tracks, while one, 'Different Morals' was remixed by Danny Daze and Clockwork. What is it that appeals to you regarding that brand of house?
Although most of the music we've released has little to do with the Hot Creations sound, I think we share a similar approach to music in that we're not afraid of being accessible and we have an ear for melodies and vocals. I can assure you that Ibiza is still full of the people that define that spirit of freedom that you are talking about and as long as these people are around it's enough for us...

Ali Love worked together with you as Infinity Ink and 'Games' received some very positive feedback. The first of many?
Ali and I have been playing and writing music together for nearly ten years, this is the first time we have a project that isn't just Ali guesting on one of our tracks or me co-writing something for his solo album... it's an exciting project and there's a lot more to come, but I can't tell you much more about it yet.

On the other hand Sebi (Brigante) has been producing some dirty house tracks for Ali for a release on n.19 that sounds like nothing you've heard before

You recorded most of 'Invisible Cities' on Ibiza and Brigante lives there. How far do you think it still embodies the spirit of freedom in the face of rampant commercialism?
You're certainly right in having doubts about it but I can assure you that Ibiza is still full of the people that define that spirit of freedom that you are talking about and as long as these people are around it's enough for us.

The album is a great piece of work. How do you think it might transfer to live performance?
Thank you..I think the only way to perform those songs live would be with a full band, it's something that we kept in mind since the beginning and we'll begin working on very soon

What's your approach when DJing? You've had some very positive feedback regarding podcasts you've done, and there aren't enough examples of your sets around.
We haven't dj'ed much as Luca C. & Brigante yet, as we've spent so much time in the studio... we're in Brazil now playing a few shows together, and it's the first time that we're properly doing it.

We'll be playing pretty much anything we like within the spectrum of dance music but the set will mainly consist of unreleased material that we've been working on together and separately over the past few months

If you were asked to compile an all-time musical top ten, regardless of genre, what would be your picks?
In random order

• Sister of the Moon - Fleetwood Mac
• Walk on Gilded Splinters - Dr. John
• Tears - Robert Owens
• Thoughts - Green Velvet
• Rain - The Beatles
• Love on a Real Train - Tangerine Dream
• Shine on You Crazy Diamond - pink floyd
• Moments in Love - Art of Noise
• He Not In - Chicken Lips
• I,I,I - The Osmonds

Who do you regard as your music-making peers?
The people that are part of the Invisible Cities project, Zeben Jameson (A Mountain of One), Finlay Brown, M Craft, Roisin Murphy, Robert Owens, Baxter Dury and the omnipresent Ali Love are our closest allies as far as Luca C. & Brigante is concerned.

We also admire the work of Metronomy, a lot of stuff on Smalltown Super Sound, Slow Hands, the Hot Natured crew, James What, Art Department and the Life and Death guys, Mathew Jonson and all his projects... also we just heard the new Hot Chip album and it's unreal.

How far does your artistic vision extend?
We want to produce music across the board, that's why we feel the need to have different projects in order to express the different sides of our musical minds... so far we think we've managed to give people an idea of what we're about, but there's a lot more that we've discovered in the meantime and it will all come together on the next long player.

I have the impression that your music comes together by osmosis rather than being forced under pressure. What is your approach to work?
Haha.. that's definitely true! Our approach is usually us two or us and Ali hanging out in the studio playing a few records and jamming on synths and drum machines until something good comes out, at the same time we come up with a rough idea of the vocal melody... the lyrics are usually written with whoever sings on the track either during or soon after the music is made

Luca C & Brigante Online