Slow motion und Techno kollidieren und paaren sich mit Artefakten von dem, was einst Gitarren waren. Mit Spuren von Krautrock und Shoegaze entstand hier irgendwas zwischen flächigem Ambientsound und drückender Bassdrum. Walls haben bereits 2010 mit ihrem selbstbetitelten Debütalbum die elektronische Musikwelt verzaubert und 2011 folgte ‘Coracle’. Daraufhin begab man sich auf lange Touren durch die Klubs der Welt, unter anderem zusammen mit den Mathe-Rockern von Battles. So erklärt sich wohl auch, dass der Interview-Bogen starke vier Monate verspätet im Hause Bedroomdisco eintrifft, trotz ‘Mahnen und Schimpfen’ von Labelseiten. Die Musik hat aber seit ihrem Release im September nichts an Spannung verloren und so wollen wir doch nach wie vor zum besten geben, was Alessio Natalizia and Sam Willis zu sagen haben.

© Robert Bellamy 2011

1.) Steckbrief:

– Name: Walls
– Bandmitglieder: Alessio Natalizia und Sam Willis
– aktuelles Album: Coracle

2.) Fragenkatalog:

– Both of you come from a different musical background. As I would say: Sam, you’re more rooted in techno and Alessio has a background in dream-pop. In your productions, the energy of techno and the relaxation of dream-pop seem to collide and build something in between. Is it sometimes hard for you to find the balance between energy and relaxation?
I guess you could say that but at the same time things are not really that way. We really share a lot of musical background and even if people like to think that one is the indie guy and the other is the dance guy that is not entirely true. We do come from different backgrounds but we do love a lot of the same bands which makes things super easy when it comes to make music with someone. We make the music we love to listen to… we love records that are able give us energy and relaxation and that’s the only music we can make.

– What are your main influences? Did they change since your first album?
Oh man it’s always hard to answer to questions like this. The simple and elusive answer is everything. You just have to constantly be open to creatively possibilities, and sometimes not even musical ones. We love bands that always evolve and are not afraid to risk and make mistakes. Probably in a way making mistakes is one of out biggest influences.

– In general: what is the main-difference for you between the first and the second album?
You should tell me!
I think the difference is that this is a proper album whereas the last one was something that came very instinctively and very loosely. ‘Coracle’ is a more considered record, in that we wrote a lot more songs, we didn’t use them all, we structured it in a way that it had more of a narrative flow as a listening experience.

– At which point did you know that your record is finished?
In a way you could say that a record is finished only when you try to convince yourself it is finished. In that the fact that it’s two of us helps in the way we can stop each other to stop working on a song we would go on working on forever otherwise. I think at some point you have to decide “ok, that’s it… let’s bounce the project!”. We do spend a lot of time working on a song but we try to still keep the natural feeling of it in place of just making a perfect finished impeccable track.

– What new instruments/elements and production methods have you employed in order to produce this album?
The instruments are pretty much the same ones we used for the first album. Guitars, lots of pedals, drum machine, samples, real synths and soft synths… I think we became a little better with our production… sometimes we go back and open some projects from the first album and we ask ourselves ‘did we really do that?!’.

Do you think that since Kompakt Pop and the Pop Ambient-releases, Walls fit normally in the rooster of the label? Or do you have a special position?
We feel great being part of the Kompakt family and feel we definitely share the same sensibility when it comes to pop music, melody and rhythm.

Your Top 3 records of 2011 up to now?
The Field – looping State of Mind
The Beach Boys – Smile
Roberto Cacciapaglia – The Ann Steel Album

Which artists have been prominent in the development of your personal taste in electronic music?
Arthur Russell, Cluster, Aphex Twin.

Thank You
Thank YOU!!

Am 16. Januar haben Walls ihre zweite Single-Auskopplung aus ‘Coracle’ via Kompakt released.

‘Into our midst’ als Reprise-Version: