Raffaele Pezzella (Sonologyst): I'm mainly inspired by what I can't explain with evidence, by the mystery of things and of reality

Do you like to work alone?

I basically work alone. Collaborations are just for single parts of tracks, but not for whole projects.

What is Sound to you?

I'm sure that Sound is in our minds before birth. Afterwards we just make it free.

What are the main themes of your music?

In my specific case music is a constant obsession. It helps me to communicate what I would tell in words, but I'm not able to tell it as I wish. Music bypasses these limits of mine.  It's a language I feel natural, immediate and most deep of any else. So, any concept or theme I feel the need to investigate, I do it with music, limiting words to track titles and some short introduction.

Those themes included, during years:

- The ancient astronaut’s theory;

- The ancient Death cults and beliefs;

- J.L. Borges’ literature and the "Dream inside a Dream" idea;

- The conspiracies theories.

I'm mainly inspired by what I can't explain with evidence, by the mystery of things and of reality. So I love scientific and historical documentaries, and take inspiration from those, as in certain measure the writer James Ballard did with his tales. But as I told before, I'm not brilliant with words and writing, so I save my honor with music :)

Do you have a favorite composition of yours?

I couldn't tell a single favorite composition of mine. But I'm much satisfied of last album "A Dream inside a Dream".

It's base on J.L.Borges’ idea of "Dream inside a Dream". Borges said:

“You have wakened not out of sleep, but into a prior dream, and that dream lies within another, and so on, to infinity, whicih is the number of grains of sand. The path that you are to take is endless, and you will die before you have truly awakened.”

This work also is a voyage into the dream and its various forms, from psychological side to paranormal aspects to the hallucinating aspects of dreams with open eyes.

Is silence a Sound?

When there's no sound there's silence. And the silence is another form of vibration, another state of energy, and in last term, another form of sound.

What is art?

I prefer to let the expert professors talk about what is art and what not.

Is computer music a real music?

Computer in music creation is a reality impossible to change. Music is going towards a new evolution since some decades, and computer is inevitably part of it.

What about the new musical trends?

All these music tendencies are in part a trend with a little identity, but the best part of those is the base of a new music coming out since last 30-40 years. And it'll be the best source of future musical movements.

What do you know about Lithuania?

I've never been in Lithuania (I really would like to do it), and I don't know the Lithuanian scene very well, but I was really touched in deep by music of Lithuanian project Sovijus.

But in general I'm very interested into Eastern Europe’s alternative music scene. With my label Unexplained Sounds Group I edited a survey focused on that area music, entitled "Eastern Europe experimental underground 015 survey" and I'll go deep into that exploration next times.

And Sovijus was one of best act of the compilation and this was their description on the page: All what Sovijus is – sounds, tunes, performed by Electronics, vocal improvisations and live instruments (flute, drums and guitar) – always balances between ambient and something upbeat - dreamy and beautiful, although at the same time quite threatening. The style of Sovijus music successfully combines experimental, ethno, ambient and even noise genres. This band is unique phenomenon able to connect past and present, different cultures and people in to one integral audio - visual experience of Sovijus. Name of the band came from ancient myth. Sovijus - in Lithuanian mythology - guide for souls of the dead, who founded the tradition of cremation.

What are the three of your favorite books, movies, musicians, painters?

My favorite books are short novels, tales and philosophy /scientific essays; if I could "Aleph" by J.L. Borges to which I dedicated my album "A Dream inside a Dream", "Le chute dans le temps" by E. Cioran, "The Mind of God" by P. Davies.

About movies (always difficult to quote just three of them), I'd say "Stalker" by A. Tarkowski, ", "La Jetee"  by C. Marker, "L'annee derniere a Marienbad" by A. Resnais.

For music it's almost impossible to fix three titles, but let's say the first I have in my mind now: "Vernal Equinox" by Jon Hassell, "On Land" by Brian Eno, "Atem" by Tangerine Dream (but I'm suffering cause the exclusion of a couple of dozens...).

In the visual art field I appreciate a lot some abstract / expressionism Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana, the photography of Moholy Nagy and Man Ray. I'm not attracted a lot by sculpture, while I love video art.

Do you have a favorite saying?

My favorite saying is from American writer W.S. Burroughs: "A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on".

What is your favorite poem?

My favorite poem (and as consequence the favorite poet) is "Equador" by surrealist poet and painter Henry Michaux.

Pop music was always in various forms. Is it a necessary thing for underground music to exist? I mean there are two sides of Music, from one something is classical music (Strauss), from other - it's pop. Prince is both pop and jazz/funk/...

Every kind of music has its own reason to exist. Personally I don't listen to classical music before Debussy. Maybe it's a limit of mine, my western music before XXth century is too magniloquent for me. On the opposite side I listen to pop music just in the measure it reminds me to my youth, but not for other reasons. Maybe it's another limit of mine.

What do you think about Emptiness, Nagarjuna's teachings, Buddhism? Is there life after death, in other planets and maybe even in our planet?

I quite believe that there are other life forms on other planets, as well as on our planet too. I'm going to publish a release entitled "Silencers - the conspiracy theory dossiers", that is a sort of investigation in music, a music documentary, about the existence on Earth of a Breakaway Civilization, made by high advanced humans, who learnt technology and knowledge by aliens. And I'm sure they both live on Earth in a mutual collaboration, while "normal" people are clueless of that. Or at least the most part of normal people are.

About life after death, sincerely I don't have idea. 

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