In this interview spotlight, I chat with DKANDLE about the Mondano album, dream collabs, favorite memories and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
What’s something you’d like readers to know about your debut album?
The album is called Mondano, which means ‘worldly’ in Italian. It is a tribute to worldliness. I think it is by having worldly experiences that we can actually have the best opportunities to grow spiritually. The world should be explored, not denied. Let’s enjoy the world to the fullest, that’s what the album is about.
How does this project compare with your other release(s)? Was there anything specific you were trying to accomplish?
Before playing as DKANDLE, I played in several other rock bands. We played this grungy punk-rock with pinches of industrial, with shoegaze in the background. With DKANDLE, I kind of reversed this: shoegaze now prevails in my music, while grunge and industrial went to the background. There was a shift in the way I make music, I think due to two things that happened in 2020: the pandemic and a surgery to remove a skin cancer. Because of the pandemic, I had to stay indoors many days, so it inspired and gave me the time I needed to write, record and produce. In addition, I had this surgery that fortunately was successful and it made me see things differently. I had new kinds of thoughts that made me want to take a different path, reflecting my current spirit. I consider 2020 a game changer in my life.
What motivates you to create music?
My intention is to make people feel the state of ‘taaser’ with music. ‘Taaser’ is a word I learned in Oriental Philosophy classes. It is a kind of trance that you enter through music in a meditation fashion. The sound drives you to a state in which you remove your thoughts and become one with the music. This brings a sense of pleasure through the glimpse of the oneness awareness brought by the music. It’s really another state of being. It takes your thoughts away, but at the same time it brings you great valuable epiphanies. This is the state called ‘taaser’. Through music, one can reach ‘taaser’, this elusive quality able to reach the core of the listener’s soul. I am always in search of ‘taaser’ through music.
What’s one of your first or most powerful music memories? Did that play any role in driving you to create?
I’ve always been one who loves music passionately, since I was a kid. It brings me a strong connection with the universe and my innerself, and my life flows better through it. I love the natural ecstasy feeling that music is able to bring.
The most powerful music memory I have is of something that happened when I was 18. Back then I decided to do an exercise: I would spend one whole month without listening to music. The idea was to have a kind of vacations away from music so that when I listened to it again, I would feel great pleasure. It was easy in the beginning, but with the passing days, it became increasingly harder… I almost quit several times. But somehow I endured, and after long thirty days, the exercise finally came to an end. I was longing for this day. When I finally got home from work, I prepared everything like a ritual: I grabbed a cushion, turned off the lights, turned on the sound stereo and put both speakers right beside my ears. Which record would I listen to first?… After a long deliberation, I decided to listen to the album Incesticide by Nirvana, which had been released recently and I really loved it. So I grabbed my vinyl, put the needle on the beginning of the record, laid my head down between the speakers and closed my eyes. When Dive started to play… No words can describe the immense pleasure that I felt. It was a really beyond-words experience. You would have to be in my position to really understand how good it felt. You forget about yourself, time and space.
I consider this Epicurean experience the peak of the ‘taaser’ state I’ve ever been. You don’t really need drugs to achieve it. Some years later, I even tried to repeat the exercise twice but failed, because it is really hard to go through 30 days with no music, at least for me… But I may try it again in the future, because it is totally worth it. You don’t have to go through Epicurean exercises to achieve ‘taaser’, though. All you need is to concentrate in the music, preferably with your eyes closed and feeling very comfortable, with no worries or disturbances. Do this and ‘taaser’ will meet your soul, with any music you like. ‘Taaser’ is one of the most pleasurable feelings a human being can achieve. I wish more people would realize this.
This experience had such a strong impact in my life that in every music I write, I try to drive the listener to this ‘taaser’ experience. This is my way of bringing new and defying ideas that hopefully will annoy the establishment.
If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why? If it’s an indie/DIY artist, please include a link so readers can check them out.
There are many musicians I would love to collaborate with, but If I had to choose one, that would be Kevin Shields, the guitar player in My Bloody Valentine, a shoegaze band that is a major influence for me.
What was the last song you listened to? And who is one of your favorite all-time bands/artists?
I’ve just listened to ‘Evisceration’ by Wry. By the way, it is a cover song of another band called Killing Chainsaw, both from Brazil. A really nice song, I like how slow and mesmerising it flows. It is featured on the album National Indie Hits.
The great musical masters of my life are (in this chronological order): Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, My Bloody Valentine, Dead Can Dance, and SPC ECO. I became a huge fan of MJ when I was 9. When I was 17, I discovered Nirvana and really dug it. About the same time, I got to know two other great bands: Nine Inch Nails and My Bloody Valentine. My grunge, industrial and shoegaze initiation started with these bands. Later, in the beginning of the 00s, I discovered Dead Dan Dance, and their ethnic fusion sound really hit me hard. More recently, I became a super fan of SPC ECO, a dreampop band from from London.
Where is the best place to find you and stay connected?
At dkandle.com. I am constantly updating it with new music, videos, news, blog posts and so on.
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
I want to thank you for the visibility you give to indie artists, this is vital for the scene!
Before signing off, I would like to mention my two electronic projects, Colortronic and Aliencore. I released the album Sonic Rainbow under Colortronic in 2007 and the album Over The Moon under Aliencore in 2019. You can listen to and download both albums and Mondano on Bandcamp, as well as future albums. Enjoy!
