Inspired by an Erasmus exchange, 21-year-old Andrea Portelli recently released a 44-minute-long solo album that was entirely produced on a DIY basis. He tells Ramona Depares about his music and about a sophomore album in the offing for later this year.
How did you make the leap from enjoying music to wanting to create it?
I actually started creating music quite early, at the age of 12. My brother had installed a basic music production software on the family computer which I used to experiment with.
In time, through trial and error, I began to understand how the different software could be used for recording. Since then, I have always created and recorded music, exploring different techniques and mediums to obtain various sounds and ambiences.
How do you describe your music?
The album Echoes is only a slice from the cake of music genres that I dabble into. However, I think even this particular album covers a lot of ground in terms of music styles, moods and soundscapes.
I usually describe the music on this album as ‘laid-back indie rock’, as the album is slow- to medium-paced with clean guitars and ‘spacey’ synths. With that said, I think that every song brings something new to the table while keeping an element of coherence.
How did your Erasmus exchange help inspire these works?
For most students, myself included, an Erasmus exchange is the first opportunity to live independently for a few months. I was very lucky and had the opportunity to study in Ireland and the Czech Republic during my third year studying engineering.
Exploring different cultures and learning about other countries’ history was very inspiring along with their natural beauty. As an artist I always drew inspiration from nature as it sparks my imagination.
During my time abroad I also learned to appreciate my family more, and that in itself also inspired me, particularly when writing the lyrics for this album.
Is this the first time you’ve actually shared your music?
In my early teenage years I used to upload electronic songs under an alias, but they would probably make my ears bleed if I were to go and listen to them again. With that said, I believe that that phase was instrumental in developing an understanding of melody writing.
Echoes is the first album I have released officially under my name and on mainstream streaming media.
What have reactions been like so far?
I honestly did not know what the response would be like as I had no point of reference and was not sure how the album would come across to the average listener.
However, I was pleasantly surprised by the overall reaction as the album is being streamed more than I was expecting and the feedback was very positive and constructive.
It was also very interesting to see that literally every song on the album was chosen as a favourite by some person or another, which in my opinion shows that the album is well balanced and covers an array of genres and musical tastes.
You’re a solo musician, yet your sound is very ‘full’. How do you manage this?
The advantage of being a solo musician is that you are not restricted to a ‘band’ format. This allows the artist to create guitar parts that have multiple layers, or a large number of synths playing at once, for example.
The next release is very different in terms of genre, and it’s somewhat more ambitious as it involves multi-layered orchestrations combined with a heavier sound
Another part of it is understanding the soundscape of a song and filling in the voids without ending up with a muddy or chaotic sound. These two concepts go hand in hand mostly at the songwriting phase, but also in the dialing of effects during the mixing phase.
The downside to this, of course, is that most of these songs would be difficult to replicate in a live setting. However, I think if the songs were to be played live they would be less ambient but brighter, which would be an interesting experiment if the opportunity arises.
On a technical level, what were the biggest challenges of recording yourself?
Recording acoustic drums was by far the biggest challenge. Even in professional studios, drums are quite possibly the toughest instrument to record.
Starting with a great-sounding drum kit always helps, but the sound of the room, the microphone placements and processing effects play an important role in achieving a good sound.
As I recorded in my bedroom, which has no soundproofing or acoustic treatment, I had to be creative and actually placed bedsheets along the walls to reduce reverberation, used blankets to muffle excessively bright sounds, etc.
A lot of trial and error was involved, and even then there were recordings that I had to redo because a car passed by and was picked up by the microphones, for example, which was at times frustrating but also funny in a way.
Your music is available on a number of online platforms. Do you feel that the proliferation of digital music has helped the industry, or hindered it?
The ability to stream music online has definitely hindered the industry in terms of record-sales. However, I do think that streaming has allowed every artist to be available to a much larger audience.
A few decades ago the only ways of hearing music was either by listening to the radio or by buying a casette, and those artists were what was referred to as the ‘mainstream’.
Another drawback is that musicians cannot make a living through album sales nowadays, but have to perform live more than ever before... which can also be seen as a good thing for music-lovers, I guess.
Given your experience with this album, how realistic is it for a musician to take a completely DIY approach as you have?
Thanks to the advances in technology and music software, it is quite doable to take a DIY approach, and there are popular artists who are doing so, and achieving high-quality results.
However, one has to be aware of the possible limitations of DIY in terms of knowledge and experience, especially with regard to the production aspect.
I personally enjoy experimenting and exploring different techniques and methods so I am more than happy to put in the work and try to learn and improve, as a song-writer, producer, and ultimately, as a musician.
What’s next for you?
Echoes is actually the first of four projects I am working on. I will be trying to finalise and release the second album in late 2018.
The next release is very different in terms of genre, and it’s somewhat more ambitious as it involves multi-layered orchestrations combined with a heavier sound.
I am also very excited to invite guest musicians to perform on the upcoming material, and I hope to up the ante with each album in terms of songwriting and music production.
https://andreaportelli.bandcamp.com/releases