Eight years after they last released new music, this month saw the return of Stubborn Heart – Luca Santucci and Ben Fitzgerald – as they unveiled their new album ‘Made Of Static’ last week. The overall sound of the collection fits somewhere between R&B and cold wave, and has a much fresher, yet rawer sound than their debut release. PopWrapped caught up with the band to find out more about the creative process to and behind the album and their future plans.
What makes ‘Made Of Static’ different to your debut album in 2012?
LS: The real difference between this album and the last is the title. No, not really. It’s the sound. We wanted this record to sound rawer so there are less effects on the vocals, there are hardly any backing vocals and we’ve left a few mistakes in. We thought that might give the album a little more of an emotional punch.
BF: Yes, for me there are four main differences. Faster tempos, more noise, dry vocals and on a personal note.. grey hair!
The visuals behind your singles “Talking Gold’ and “Against The Tide” are incredible. What bought these about and what inspired them?
LS: The videos were made by a mate of mine from Manchester called Michael England. He spent a lot of time in New York and would roam the streets with a camera in hand. I’d seen some of the footage ages ago and was blown away and, much later, a mutual friend of ours, Leila Arab, said I should ask Michael to make a video. I did and he came back with two, one being NY by day, the other NY at night. He was inspired in places by the words in the songs but really the lyrics and images have nothing in common yet still complement each other beautifully.
You’ve both worked with an impressive list of collaborators, which one’s stick out in your mind and why?
LS: I have to say Edwyn Collins stands out because he really inspired me with his positivity when I was going through a tough time. He went through something much worse but never stopped smiling. I think Ben might nominate Julian Lloyd-Webber because he got a free holiday in Barbados out of that working relationship.
BF: Ha. I was pretty lucky with that gig. Let’s just say that my live sound engineering career was rather short lived. Joking aside, it’s pretty hard to choose one really but I would have to go with my friend, electronic music producer, Johan Blende. I moved to Manchester from London in 2007 and had pretty much given up on music. Johan got in touch with me and asked if I would like to play some keys on a track of his. It was so refreshing just to pick up a synth and rattle out some chords and lead lines rather than get into the production and mixing side of things. Anyway, we ended up writing a load of material together and had great fun doing it. I truly believe that this was a massive turning point for me. It reignited my passion for making music again.
Something we love about ‘Made Of Static’ is how well the musicianship and vocals seem to work together in a kind of juxtaposing, tense harmony. How do you create this? What’s your process?
LS: One reason for this is that I purposely sing softly on Stubborn Heart songs and that gives Ben the space to get quite aggressive with the sounds. Because I’m often singing about love and worried that it might come across as a bit twee, I want the music to be extra gnarly so it has a bit more of a bite to it. If you listen to it full blast, it should rip your ears off. We want it to be an intense experience but if we can’t tear your heart out, the least we can do is rip your ears off.
BF: I’m a massive fan of Latin percussion rhythms and the relationship between the different instruments and the various patterns each one plays to make up a groove. It’s something that has influenced the way I programme drums, bass & synths. It gets a bit claustrophobic in there sometimes but with Luca’s ‘bel canto’ singing on top.. it strangely works.
What key artistic influences do you cite for the making of this album? Who were you listening to a lot at the time?
LS: There are no key artistic influences for me, maybe Ben had some sonic target in his head, I’m not sure. I know a lot of so-called artists who just sit around ripping off other people’s ideas but that’s not our style. The three constants in my listening are 60s soul, 80s hip hop and The Beatles, so I suppose they must have all influenced ‘Made Of Static’ in some way or other.
BF: I like the fact that we both have broad tastes in music and that all those sonics in the memory banks filter into the music. It’s hard enough to write anything original these days; I think it would be even harder if you set yourself artistic influences to follow. Since the album took so long to make, there were probably a load of artists I listened to in that time period. The most memorable I can think of were Death Grips, Pavement, and Run The Jewels amongst a whole load of instrumental electronic library music on YouTube. It’s quite possible that some of this filtered into ‘Made Of Static.’
What other plans do you have for the future, near and far?
LS: We’ve made a big pile of music in the 8/9 years since the last album so we want to get it all out there and then do shows again when it’s possible. Ben made a jazz album, I made a folk album; there’s a whole load of dancey shit and lots of Stubborn Heart. So much to wade through – we’ve got our hands full.
Check out the lead single from Made Of Static’, “Talking Gold”, below and for more information on Stubborn Heart, give their page a like on Facebook or follow them on Twitter and Instagram.
