Erika Cecchini

ERIKA CECCHINI

Singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, videomaker.
Born in Rome, she lives in Milan, Italy.

Ten years after recording a studio album produced by an independent record label run by the American arranger & composer Mark Harris, one can say that probably a funny misunderstanding took place then, or if you will, a happy tangle of events -mainly caused by a set of existentialistic provocations she consciously put in place in spite of any common sense- which, on the other hand, led to a noteworthy event: the signing of a contract.
A random, surprising incident for a young artist who would not have fancied herself in the role of a singer, who had never aimed to the show biz, but only played and composed her music for the sake of beauty, and for the pure need of expressing her own self.

However, during the process, while recording the album, all the typical situations that are common in such circumstances occurred. The kind of things that describe, in someone's life, a parable drawing the path from illusion to disillusion. Quite a decorated parable, though. The initial moment of elation was followed by several emotional stages -causing her increasingly weird hairstyles. No one knows at what point in the process, she seemed not to feel any more interest in what was going on, although the album itself could have meant her future singing career.

The day came when she had to face the mirror. Probably while adjusting her dreadlocks, not without a hint of pain. On that occasion, it demanded from her a brutal frankness.
Did she or did not she want to be a singer? Well... nope. She didn't want to. All she wanted was to purely and simply express herself through the musical and vocal skills and talents Mother Nature had bestowed her.

Art is a mistress who chooses her own servants, and she will torment the chosen ones until they bend and fall down on their knees in front of her. Some do not want to become slaves to her, and laugh at her face, that they are free and always will be.

She knew that art demands your soul. It's about the whole of you, not just some part. It changes your plans and perspectives, controls your actions, demands from you all kinds of sacrifices that you don't want to perform, at so green an age, full as you are with the hedonistic nature which is prerogative of youth. She stayed a wild bird for quite a long time... until one day she surrendered.

It is unclear how it happened, but apparently the slow trickle and the non-stop insistence finally led to the bitter confession.
The confession that, yes: once you heard the call of art, trying to ignore it will only make you unhappy or perhaps you'll learn how to be happy, but you will always feel like you have no foundation, no strength, no purpose, and moreover, that small woodworm that gnaws you inside will chew chew chew your peace of mind day by day... therefore, not entirely happy.
Maybe a few tears were shed...

From silence to sound.
A couple of programs were downloaded for her from the Internet, by her Alter Ego, who loved her and pointed the way. Sleepless nights followed, and days and hours of forgetting about everything else.
During the creative process, she learned the technical use of software. Learned how to split the sounds into stereo channels, how to transform instrumental files into different formats, how to record acoustic instruments and her own voice properly, and so on.

IN GOD MODE
The first bunch of songs that were quickly collected that way, ended up in the album "In God mode" (2007). For her, it was like waking up in the shoes of a god of music, with unlimited power despite the scarce technical knowledge and the great difficulties she had faced and still she was to face.

Making sophisticated, complex, intellectual music with a couple of free software and a handful of plug-in's is, in fact, quite a crazy thing to even think about.

She writes down, note by note, all the instrumental parts in her songs. She has become like the conductor of her own orchestra: a broad minded, idealistic, demanding conductor; her wide, complex, baroque imagination is capable of building up a contrasting, modern world of sounds that's made out of pure melody, harsh vibes, and pitiless noise.

IN AN ALIEN WORLD
In the following year, 2008, Erika Cecchini releases her second self-produced album, "In an Alien World." Even on this occasion, she shoots videos to her favorite songs, in which she ironically disguises herself, sometimes aping the typical half naked pop star, almost in defiance of the introspective, philosophical lyrics content (Yin & Yang).
On the other hand, sets are minimalist, shootings pretty hasty. Her look is variable, often performing a camouflage. Self-representation is capricious and, in some cases, deliberately unrealistic.
The CD is a concept album about the world's alienation and about the alienation of the self from the world.
From the musical point of view, the previous theoretical pillars remain unchanged: a strong rhythmic base on which rests a complex construction of vertical layers. The technique has been refined and the sound often shows an industrial connotation; the orchestration is based on a rich mixture of classical and acoustic instruments mixed up with some synth instruments and noise; her singing is flexible and versatile; as a singer she is a warm, rich-toned rock contralto with a strong vibrato and remarkable expressive skills, ranging from folk to soul with most intimate virtuosity. Growing emphasis is being put on background harmonies, which often become solemn, so much that they recall sacred music.
Vocals are always measured in the expression and intention. No acts of ostentatious virtuosity can be found. Cecchini's undeniable prerogative is that you can not identify, in her work, anything that make you think “Italian music”: no trace of the typically melodic traditions, which have their roots in melodrama and make nowadays average Italian music still so distant from pop, rock, innovation, and experimentation.

NEW TRACKS
"Follow Me Home" (2009). Harsh electronic sounds meet “sweet” vocals and simple lyrics, resulting in a less intellectual, and a more introspective approach. The video to the song was shot by herself (again with the help of her inseparable Alter Ego) in the cemetery of charming village Crespi d'Adda (UNESCO World Heritage Site).
No trace of artificial disguise here: this time Erika's look is simple and real.

FOLLOW ME HOME

May 2010: new album “Save Yourself” is ready. It includes 12 brand new tracks:

1- Need a Friend

2- Scars, The Cutter

3- Save Yourself

4- Follow me Home

5- Pandora's Jar

6- Not Only You

7- The Change

8- Sic Vivamus

9- Sounds Say it All

10- High On

11- Wind Sleeve

12- Any Artist's Muse

"Need a friend" (2010) Video: Time is still. Colors faded. Music alone fills up the space, and the silence, with a thousand delicate arpeggios, and words that sound, by contrast, harsh and pitiless. In the escapeless stasis is the existential movement. The relationship with the other is infertile projection of the Self. Solitude becomes the only possible condition of the being.

NEED A FRIEND

Erika Cecchini doesn't want to live on music. She wants to live on life and make music