Coffee break with Underspreche
The Italian duo of Marika and Simone, also known as Underspreche, built their name by creating immersive soundscapes with emotional undertones that can bring a cinematic atmosphere to any dance floor. Despite having released their music on some of the scene’s hottest labels, they have managed to maintain an air of mystery and privacy throughout their career. Off the back of their successful Poet Ease EP on Maeve, Underspreche give us a rare glimpse into their creative process and inspiration.
How would you introduce yourselves to the world?
We are two persons who dig deeper into music to find themselves.
How did you start making music?
It came naturally from both sides. I (Marika) started to sing and play the guitar and Simone started DJing when he was very young, and then learned to play piano. When we met it was obvious that we should combine our forces.
How has Italy influenced your career?
Italy is definitely a beautiful country and we are constantly influenced by its natural energy for sure. Lately we’ve been discovering our territory more than ever, getting great energy and resources from the beautiful landscapes.
How do you work as a duo in the studio?
We usually prefer to work on our own at first to follow our own ideas, but still continuously exchanging feedback and suggestions. Then we finish the production process together for each track, until we are both satisfied with the result (this is the most difficult part).
And how do you split time between the studio and real life?
We are a couple in real life and we also do music together, we have many interests in common so I don’t think there’s a real split. We are together in real life and in the studio and vice-versa. As Louis Armstrong said: We play our life.
Your latest release on Maeve has been blowing dancefloors away, and it's been on the sticks of many DJs around the world. Were you expecting it to be this big? Can you sense if a track is going to be a success or not when you're making it?
We felt such a positive energy from this EP from the very beginning. It really defines us and our aestethic, but we had no idea we would get such positive feedbacks. And this is always a dark horse…To be honest we are quite satisfied with this EP, and the fact that people appreciate it doubles our joy. Also sometimes we wait a week or two to listen to a track again to get a better feeling of whether it’s a strong one of not, and it’s a good sign if we still think it’s good. And this is what happened here.
In the Poet-Ease EP sleeve notes, you say you took inspiration from Alejandro Jodorowsky. Could you elaborate a little bit?
A friend of mine (Marika) suggested a book by Jodowrosky about the Psychomagic Act, which I really recommend if you are interested in creative ways to improve your life. He basically gives advice to cure inner sorrow. I will not tell you more about his methods but trust me when I say that they work! I went through a very bad period in my life and I felt like I needed to do something good from that bad episode to get it over with… And this is how we started working on this EP, trying to bring positive energy from something not so happy. We realized we managed to do so when we started to get positive feedback from people, which was really nice.
What else inspires you?
Art in general, TV shows, cinema, books, but also getting ideas from other artists’ work, walking in nature, fashion and all things futuristic.
Was there a moment for you where you said "This is it, we've made it?" If no, what do you think this moment will feel like?
We both agree with the fact that one of the hardest aspects of being an artist is that you never feel 100% satisfied with your work. But this is also good because this is what makes you want to get better and better and what makes you grow. We were really happy to release our album ‘Invito Alla Danza’, but it was only a start.
You've described Keith from Optimo as a 'musical father' to you, tell us a bit more about how you met and how your relationship developed.
We sent an e-mail to Keith in 2015 with our demo looking for nothing more than a feedback, and he gave us a chance to release our first vinyl splitting the EP with Muslimgauze music. From that point we started to produce a lot and sent him more music, which he decided to release. We were really lucky to start our career on a label as Optimo which believed in our music and let us experiment whatever we liked. We started to think of an album without real limits and he really appreciated our open-minded approach of dance music. This is the reason why he’s like a musical father to us, someone who’ll be strictly connected to our music forever.
Besides Maeve, you've released on some of the Melodic Diggers favourite labels, like Innervisions, Permanent Vacation, Optimo Trax, Correspondant and Permanent Vacation. What's your secret?
There is no secret, or maybe we can’t reveal it :). We always try to do our best and we are happy when our music suits a big label like these ones. Above all we have fun!
What advice do you have for producers out there?
Be creative and be yourself, do not copy others.
Who's the next big thing in electronic music?
Basically electronic music is going to be bigger and bigger…And what was considered underground for the past 10 years is becoming mainstream, it may even become the new pop music if we keep going in this direction.
Playing live or djing?
Both.
Pasta or pizza?
Both.
How do you like your coffee?
Simone:
With milk and black sugar.
Marika
Bitter and strong.
What's next for Underspreche?
We’ll release something very soon but it’s still secret… :)