New upcoming album
Some months after the international presentation happened last February in London and Los Angeles, the new album by HYPNOISE (Hypnotic - Noise), “St. Valentine’s Porno Bar”, finally arrives in Italy. The Venetian trio presented some excerpts live at the Portello River Festival.
Who’s Hypnoise?
The trio consists of P. Mike III on vocals, guitars & tape effects; Frez on drums, percussions & b. vocals; Sanze on bass & b. vocals. The band who started its promotional tour in festivals, clubs & radio stations, is one of the most promising bands in the Italian music scene and again worked with Los Angeles based producer-guitarist Ronan Chris Murphy who has also worked with King Crimson and Robert Fripp.
The Album
It’s an international concept album on American label Veneto West Records, which is distributed by Discipline Global Mobile / Inner Knot and Ma.Ra.Cash Records in America, Japan and Europe; the album was recorded in historical Italian places.
The concept came to life in an afternoon of 1999 on St. Valentine’s Day. Places, things and many people contributed to the recording of the CD; Venice with the noise and words of its Rialto fish market, and its foggy narrow ways; the echoes of a medieval church and a 17th century Italian Villa, the sound of “historical” and glorious old tube radios like a ‘35 Magnadyne S53.
Then, the emotional and original gospel parts as sung by American Gospel singer Cheryl Porter, as special guest on the album along with part of the international gospel Messengers, a very well known Italian spiritual and gospel group.
The concept is a story of personal re-invention and inner revolution. It follows the journey of Ceasar, who leaves his past in search of a new life. He travels until he finds a mystical place far from the plastic life and modern stress he has known. He descends into a world of decadence where he finally feels free enough to take off his social masks.
Despite his apparent freedom in the world of depravity and temptation, he ultimately finds peace and happiness in the purity of nature.
And the sound fits this personal re-invention: Ronan Chris Murphy has been able to fine tune the artistic and technical process to meet the emotional needs of Mike, (who was deeply inspired by important musical works by Pink Floyd, which heavily influenced the album), and company.
Even an old demijohn contributed to the creation of some of Sanze’s particular bass sound.
To record the 14 tracks a reel to reel 8 track tape recorder was used (like the one used by The Beatles to record Sgt. Pepper’s!), and just 4 microphones, purposely in contrast to the modern plastic digital recording techniques; no digital effects at all were used, even in the mix, in which you can hear the psychedelic, Blues, gospel and garage influences.
The record was artistically conceived even in the artwork, which was done in a historical square of Venice, (Campo della Bragora), where one of the Doge’s buildings is and also where Antonio Vivaldi had been baptized and where Bandiera’s Brothers were born.
The basic idea for the artwork was to create a living St. Valentine’s Porno Bar.
