{"id":4624,"date":"2023-08-21T18:49:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T23:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=4624"},"modified":"2023-08-21T18:49:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T23:49:22","slug":"how-the-new-west-was-won-an-interview-with-alessandro-mercanzin-of-delrei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=4624","title":{"rendered":"How the New West Was Won: An Interview with Alessandro Mercanzin of Delrei"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Interview by John Wisniewski for MK ULTRA Magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through a haunting and cascading landscape of electric guitars, shards of Americana and echoes of filmic gunfighter ballads, DELREI has presented a strikingly refreshing sound to a moment lost amidst a sea of contrived indie rock mediocrities, a zombie horde of ubiquitous cloned plastic pop divas and a dark music scene that needs to cast a light on its anemic overabundance of dimly dark synth suburban combos in Joy Division T-shirts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Italy’s own Alessandro Mercanzin is DELREI, who recently described his epic Projekt Records album “Desolation and Radiation” as “a wordless vision of a lost world from the future.” Further stating, “to me it’s melancholy, filled with lost dreams. With a ghostly sound in my mind, I wanted to pull off dark intriguing riffs, and I found I could say a lot of things with a few whispered notes from my guitars. These songs paint dramatic scenes that take me to a reverb-drenched wasteland in a parallel world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with producer Maurizio Baggio, who has also worked with moody acts like Soft Moon, Boy Harsher and Nuovo Testamento, Alessandro has delivered an album with an adventurous sound that features various guitars, vintage instruments, reverb and even a traditional Sicilian harp. We sat down with Alex for a brief chat about DELREI and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Wisniewski: Please tell us about the recording of “Desolation and Radiation.” What was the concept behind the album?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Mercanzin: It\u2019s a journey in a dystopian future told through 11 songs. A lone wanderer braves a merciless nuclear-blasted wasteland trying to survive his fate. Last year’s events inspired me greatly: the pandemic and the war at Europe\u2019s gates pushed me to make my solo project. My goal is to lead the listener to connect with it because of this crazy present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JW: Are there any composers or music artists that inspire you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AM: There are so many, I\u2019ve always been hungry and open minded about music, to me every decade is cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can say that 70s Punk rock, New wave and Post punk are the bones of my musical experience but I also love Country and Blues .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said at the moment I\u2019m listening a lot to Morphine, Wipers, Snakes, Guano Padano, they are perfect examples of \u201cstraight to the point bands\u201d . About the composers I would say that the combo D.Lynch\/A.Badalamenti is an endless source of inspiration, Woody Jackson, Daniel Lanois other greats that comes to mind .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was a kid I discovered the guitar sound of James Wilsey. He\u2019s famous for the 2 suspended notes from Chris Isaak\u2019s song \u201cWicked Game,\u201d and that\u2019s what hooked me from the very beginning. I like his solo album \u201cEl Dorado\u201d released in 2008 from Lakeshore Records. It\u2019s really interesting; his guitar voice is so recognizable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JW: What sort of reaction do you receive when you play live?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AM: I\u2019m not playing live at the moment, but I\u2019d like to in the near future – maybe just me with some visuals. I\u2019ll let you know next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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