Interviews: Nautha

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Psychedelic Rock band, Nautha from Italy. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, did you plan it or came out just like that?

We were obviously looking for something original and not "already heard" but which contained some essential aspects of our musical proposal. The name NAUTHA derives from Etruscan mythology, and precisely from Cautha, sister of the Sun god, often depicted as a woman rising from the ocean. We replaced the initial letter so that the sound itself could somehow evoke an ancient and unknown version of the Italian word 'nascita'. NAUTHA for us is a female entity, the explorer of the psyche of the human being, specifically what makes us artists and dreamers. In our new album “Metempsychosis”, to be released by Argonauta Records in spring 2023, we finally managed to convey the idea that underlies our music: it draws its inspiration from water, the amniotic fluid, from which the first image of man derives and whose fluidity refers to the movement of thought and sound.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Perhaps it wasn’t a rational choice, we never planned to start playing progressive metal or psychedelic rock, it simply came naturally to us by merging ideas and closing ourselves in a room to play together. I suppose how every band does before eventually finding its own defined musical identity. Basically, we like to shuffle the cards and escape the "genres" a little, but rather experiment with sounds in search of what attracts us the most. We ourselves are the first to get excited when we understand that a sound works and we follow that stimulus sound to see where it takes us. We are very prone to experimentation and to the construction of sound cells that do not recur but overlap, creating wide-ranging layers, and sonic spaces rather than "riffs" or "power chords" as in traditional rock. We are not very interested in the conventional song form and therefore progressive rock, progressive metal, and psychedelia immediately seemed to us the areas in which the three of us naturally moved and expressed ourselves better together.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Giorgio (drums) and Pierpaolo (guitar) have been friends since they were kids, they started playing Pink Floyd songs in high school and have never lost each other. Instead, I met Giorgio in 2015 while he was engaged in a stoner project and I collaborated with him by providing the voices for his album as 'Heliodome'. But the NAUTHA project took shape from a handful of song demos composed by me (Antonio: bass, guitar, and vocals) and that I had been keeping in store for a while waiting to find the right people to play with. We immediately thought of something new and at the beginning, we were simply an experimental duo. After a series of rehearsals with some guitarists in 2016, the natural choice inevitably fell on Pierpaolo, to whom we proposed to join the band, becoming a trio to all intents and purposes. It was love at first sight, we sent him by email the first versions of the future songs that made up our debut album "Tutti i Colori del Buio", and since then we have always played and arranged everything together.

4. What bands have inspired you the most?

From the beginning, we have had an understanding and a very strong bond both as musicians and as friends in life, and in NAUTHA we have been able to totally pour out the passion for a certain type of progressive rock/metal and psychedelia that has its roots in the 70s (King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Peter Gabriel's Genesis) but there is no doubt that today we are interested in the more sensual, dark and also lyrical aspect of these genres. Bands like Opeth, Devin Townsend, Mastodon, Enslaved, Katatonia, and Motorpsycho, but also the esoteric mysticism of bands like Tool and A Perfect Circle. In our free time, however, we also have different stories and tastes. I'm a big fan of black metal and death metal and extreme music in general. Giorgio listens to a lot of new 'contemporary classic' electronic and ambient music, and Pierpaolo is a huge fan of the 90s grunge scene. All elements and tastes that we share with each other. Basically, we always try to flow our listening into ideas for something that is musically organic for us and "resounds" with our passions.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Life. Experiences, memories, and hopes. Condensed in the notes and lyrics we always try to talk about ourselves and the world around us. This is the strongest inspiration. Artistic creation seems to us to be the maximum expression of mankind and the three of us would be truly different if we didn't have our own instruments and the ideas that come from them. Through this different lens that is Music as an approach and representation of the things of the world, we would like the listener to make his own image of our songs, get a sensation, an emotional state, and therefore a thought. In a certain way, our inspiration is Music itself and the images that we can derive from it and give to others.

6. Where was your last gig?

It's incredible looking back on it today but the last concert was in Rome in January 2020, at the Alvarado (a historic place that has always hosted us with pleasure and that reminds us of a small roman ‘Cavern Club’). We had other gigs planned in the following months but the disaster of the pandemic and lockdown years blocked everything. It was an experience that tested us as a collective and as a band but we knew how to make the most by taking advantage of it and preparing all the new material which then merged into the new album “Metempsychosis”. It reflects a lot of the sense of restlessness, the profound transformation, and a “year zero vibe” that this historical period has now marked for everyone. "Metempsychosis" is a complex album full of sonic facets. We would like to get back on track in a great way, so we are taking some extra time to prepare a new live set with the addition of a new live member in the band that gives us support and helps us to perform the songs at their full sonic potential. We'll be back on stage in the spring with some surprises.

7. Where would you like to act?

We are obsessed with the wild iconography of the first experimental Pink Floyd, those of Live at Pompeii. We would like one day to be able to play in the Ancient Roman Theater of Ostia, in general to be able to listen to our music outdoors, in places that emanate their own history, where we can hear our music in harmony with nature and with the surrounding space, with the active participation of the audience.

8. Who would you like to feature with?

There are a lot of bands that we love and respect, both friends and historical giants who have formed our musical imprint. Perhaps a realistic choice could be ELDER whom we admire very much. They are one of the bands we feel closest to, fantastic guys, humble, courageous and experimental, they have always played what they wanted without any compromise and have reached a large audience today. We have so much respect for them. After Elder probably the biggest dream would be to open a concert for the immense Mikael Akerfeldt’s OPETH and then MOTORPSYCHO which personally are one of the bands that pushed me to take up the instrument and without whose primary inspiration perhaps Nautha would not exist.

9. Whom not?

It's hard to say, there aren't any bands or artists we don't feel particularly in tune with. We think it's all very relative and subjective when it comes to both musical tastes and collaborations and musicians should be able to be creative no matter where they belong. Certainly, we would not be at ease with those who make television (and not music) and only sell their image and their body, completely losing sight of the Sound and the Content.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

No, we have never been afraid. We started playing on stage when we were all very young and often with a good dose of chutzpah and recklessness. We think that to be an artist, and in particular to be a musician who performs, a certain amount of healthy narcissism is also necessary. The artist has to have the ability to take what he is proposing because it’s always something deep and personal. Perhaps this is what mainly determines the 'stage fright', communicating something deeply personal. A human matter is nothing to be feared or to be ashamed of.

11. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

We have never received particularly strange requests. In some live performances, we remained completely in the dark while we played and projected psychedelic liquid shows: some viewers then joined us to thank us for having a "good vibes trip". We didn't know exactly what they meant but we loved it.

12. What do you think of your fans?

As an independent band, we produced the first album with complete autonomy, from the recording to the graphics. We also managed to create a vinyl edition through crowdfunding. If it hadn't been for the fans and friends who have supported us from the beginning, we certainly wouldn't be here today for this interview. We would like to thank once again all those who have contributed and supported us warmly. It is clear that artistic expression in music cannot be separated from a minimum of feedback from the outside, a participating audience that shares ideas and passions with us. We are lucky and devoted to the people who follow us. We personally took care of the promotion of the album through social channels and the sale of physical copies during live shows and through our bandcamp page. Now the support of a label, Argonauta Records, undoubtedly allows us to get in touch with other musical realities and for the new album "Metempsychosis" the possibility of having a greater distribution, reaching more people.

13. What do you think of our site?

Absolutely flawless and very accurate, divided by band, genre, and even by country. Congratulations! In today's music scene, it is always difficult to find realities that don’t follow commercial logic. The very same concept of 'breathing the core' in your name belongs to us and we feel close to you. It was a great pleasure for us to have answered your questions and we thank you for the opportunity you have given us to make our music known. Thank you! Antonio Montellanico