Interview — Deep Samadhi

Skratch Magazine

Deep Samadhi is an alternative rock band out of Senigallia, Italy. Jacopo Gambini Rossano (guitar/vocals), Matteo Sideri (drums/vocals) and Niccolo’ Urbani (bass) have a lot to offer. “Our alternative rock sound revolves around a tight rhythm section, enveloping chord progressions, powerful solos, melodic, grooving bass and catchy vocal melodies.” And that’s not all. “Our lyrics span from social life themes to intimate reflections,” Check out what else they had to say to Skratch Magazine.

Skratch: How did you become interested in music?

J: Each of us always played since childhood so it was a really natural process to get interest in composing and because of living in a small city we don’t have so much to do so music become a good way to change our reality

Skratch: What is your song writing process like?

J: Usually we work on rough ideas , we talk about the meaning of each song , and what we want to communicate , the theme. Doing this we find ourselves to change the rough idea in a more complete structure to create a sound atmosphere that we can literally “feel” when we play. All get born from the communication between us and the aim to be a “wall” sound, to give a unique and strong energy. We’re not happy when we sing a sad song, we’re hopeful if we sing a happy song!

Skratch: What artists or musicians inspire you?

J: We’re always discovering new music, chuckling a lot about new and old stuff!
Basically the common roots are rock ,pop, punk scene from the last fourty years with a specific attention to the trios (Police , Muse , Hendrix , Nirvana).
I personally take a lot of inspiration from poets ( Eliot , Hikmet , Gibran , etc..) , from all the artists that lived their life as “Art” so Dalì , Sting ,Pat Metheny , Gershwin, Kerouac , Mc Cartney-Lennon , and many others…

Skratch: Where do you take musical inspiration from? Your environment? People? Explain.

J: I take musical inspiration from the accents of people’s speaking , from friends , trips , films , newspapers, from all the other music and from all the hidden things that come across a human being in his little ordinary days and change his perceptions of what’s “ordinary”.

Skratch: What is your musical background?
J: The drummer Matteo obtained the diploma of sound engineer in England in 2005 and the specialist certificate “Sound Design Using Reason” through Berklee University in June 2009.
He played with a lot of bands, from punk , to rock , to singer.songwriter style , from England to Italy.
The bass man Niccolò has a degree in Environmental Science and he has a specialization in Acoustics. He studied classical piano when he was a child and played with many cover bands so is the guy in the band that knows more than any other all the songs in the world!
I studied as well classical piano when I was a child and then studied two years guitar in Milan while I was doing the Music Manager for a disco.

Skratch: Tell us about how you got started as a band.

J: In summer 2008 i recorded something in my home and sent it to a contest. Sometimes I was playing with Matteo just to enjoy being together doing our stuff. Then the songs were selected and we felt happy to go to the contest as a band : Niccolò came on our way and we got second amongst 108 bands in the competition!

Skratch: What is the most rewarding part of playing in a band?

J: Being part of something that gives you emotions. You can feel the power of the sound go in your stomach , you get your head up and see your mates feeling the same. Sometimes it’s nearly like make love to someone.

Skratch: What challenges have you faced as musicians?

J: Playing in three persons in three meters? Playing in front of eight children looking at you in a serious way? Playing in a festival with just four rehearsals before? Anyway , for us the biggest challenge now is to bring our music out of Italy , where our style could be more appreciated and where the music culture is often directed to the “new” than the “old”. So we’re trying little by little to get audience abroad.

Skratch: What would you say is your best song to date? Why?

J: Always the last one we’re working on because thats how we feel when we create it!

Skratch: Do you remember the first album you ever bought? What was it?

J: I remember stealing the Hendrix’s BBC sessions from my best friend and listening to them quite all nights and days, even when I was in the shower I used to put the stereo in the bathroom! Then i gave them back to him, he understood my possessive love…

Skratch: Where do you see your band in five years?

J: Playing and recording as hell!

Skratch: Would you say your goals as a band are long term, or short term? What do you ultimately hope to achieve? Explain.

J We choose to take two years to see if our project could be a real work to live with. One year is passed , we have a management contract, we played forty gigs , we won a festival , so it’s not so bad! What we want to achieve is the possibility to play, play , play…that’s the real thing : we want to achieve the possibility to spread our message.

Skratch: How has your band evolved since when you first formed?

J: Before we were just playing songs without regarding too much of the sound. Now we ‘re a lot about atmosphere , dynamics , lyrics , integrity , energy and presence on stage.

Skratch: How often do you practice? What is your rehearsal time like?

J: We play four days a week and with gigs even more.

Skratch: What would you say is your band’s motto? Explain.

J: I would say “ Waves don’t wait in vain the time to cover you” : it’s a phrase from a song of us and it really catch the meaning that musical waves for us are something coming from inside to outside , often without a rational process, they just “cover you”!

Skratch: What shows/album releases/plans do you currently have set up? Tell us about them.

J: We have just come back from six gigs in London ; now we’re going to record three songs because we won a contest in august and the prize was four free days in a studio!
We’re promoting our first EP “This is now” and searching for a label abroad interested in us and most of all we’re trying to organize more gigs as possible for 2010.


Skratch: Where have your performed? Tell us about the experience.

J:We have performed in different kind of places : little bars , clubs , festivals , contests , places on the beach , acoustic shows , Londoner pubs and clubs…we want to be more adaptable as we can and never complain

Skratch: What sets your stage show a part from all the other bands making the rounds at venues?

J: I think the “Samadhi atmosphere” we create… in our gigs you can jump and scream with us but there are also some parts where you can relax yourself and just listen . On stage we’re focused to get people involved in what we are feeling, so that’s what sets us apart from the majority of other bands: the communication.

Skratch: Anything else you think we should know about the band?

J: Just one thing: We long for touring abroad with other bands so if you like what we do don’t hesitate to contact us ,we need just ten dollars per day to eat and a stage : Samadhi doesn’t need anything more!

To learn more go to www.myspace.com/deepsamadhi or
www.sonicbids.com/deepsamadhi

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