Interview by Si Smith
“It exists a girl who lives on the moon, her name is… LUNAINFEA“. So begins the Lunainfea biography and it is at this point that we greet the band in their creative process. Italy has produced many high-calibre bands recently and Lunainfea are the latest to hit the big time. Femme Metal had a word with Katla Hausmann, to find out more.
First of all thanks for making your EP, and thanks for this interview. Welcome to Femme Metal webzine. Lunainfea is a new band to many of us, please tell us how you formed and introduce the other band members to us?
The band was born in the 2005 from the intimate vision of the music by Julian Nardi and Kaio Karras, which began to create a background blues sound. After Alessandro Rubin gave a stoner boost, I became the Nymphet moon’s Voice that completed the alchemy that burst into our best sound.
The moon is a very strong symbol on your album cover and CD. Where did the fascination with the moon begin?Conceptually, the moon is a far away symbol from demeaning stereotypes that we are surrounded to this day: it’s distant but present and strong. In this point of view research of sound and themes began.
The story concerns a girl who lives on the moon – what is her story, briefly?The loneliness’s Daughter, Lunainfea spent her childhood in the lunar desert where the scent of nothing enveloped and protected her. In this absolute silence she evolved in a shell where she could feed herself of her being, feeling the deepest and the most intimate emotions of human beings, coming to pick an unknown flower to many : the purity is the metaphor, the idea behind our music.
When you started putting music together for this release, did you always know that it would be a conceptual album or did that come later?The music is without limits and we knew before starting our EP, that we don’t know where it will lead us.. thankfully.
Musically your influences appear to be many, from blues to psychedelia to stoner. Are there any bands you as a band like to follow or style yourself like? What music do YOU appreciate?I started singing in childhood and in this moment I needn’t rely on a definitive style, what matters is to express the energy inside me.
Your voice is very soulful and expressive when you sing. How did you get into singing, and how has your voice changed over the years?My voice is something connected to my Island homeland, to the deep of the volcano and the screaming earth, a lunar earth that tells stories. My voice is the same through the years but the essence has changed, today I breathe on a stone … while the moon shines.
There has already been quite considerable positive critical reaction to the album. How have the reviews been so far for you? Has the coverage spread much outside of Italy?Once we were convinced of the potential of the songs, we needed to record with someone who knew how to model, not just digitalize, the disk and Giulio Ragno Favero was the ideal person to entrust this task. This choice allowed us to receive good reviews from both public and professionals.
The following sentence is “I am your secret mirror”, and a mirror never lies to old and new fans.
“In the Cage” is one of the more soulful and jazzy numbers on the EP. What style do you prefer to sing? Are there any favorite songs of yours you would love to cover on a future release?I let myself go, will you put me in a cage for this??? Now we are focused on the new songs since we have a lot to say. We’ll think about a cover later on.
On “Letter to Hell” there are more discordant musical tones in there and it has a harsher feel to it. Were you happy with how these songs sounded in the final mix? Does any one member of the band have the final say as to when a track is complete and if there is more work that needs to be done?Each of us is born and lives with a distinctive character. “Letter to Hell”, like other songs, is a statement written by four hands. My smile so benevolent and evil at the same time is what is that now.. and in the future.
This song is followed by a short spoken interlude entitled “It has arrived”. Does this track and the arrival of winter represent a particular part of the Lunainfea story?The winter’s coming is experienced not as a cold signal but as an opportunity to see things through another point of view.
The EP seems to end on a hopeful note, except that Lunainfea cannot forget the events of “Winter ’85”. What is your hope that a listener will feel by the end of the album? Do you think you have achieved this?“Winter ‘85” speaks about a child who for the first time has seen snow. This EP contains , not only songs but also an album of old pictures where many people can recognize and find themselves.
The music sounds like it would be a blast live. Have you more songs to fill a live set? Is it your intention to play live soon?Together we are developing our label Nomadism live-promotion but now we are focused on the disc to give visibility to the band.
Finally, are there any secrets about the band you would like to reveal for our enjoyment?Lunainfea is a declaration of love for the music and emotional challenge to ignorance. A search with no stereotypes, with a broad creative. This closely inspires us to a symbol, free and pure as a girl in nothing consciously represented by the lunar desert, brings us to rediscover sensations and memories simple, but for us, essential.
Thanks again for the interview and the great music, we wish you well with the EP and future projects.Thanks you! it was a pleasure.