Interview - LA CRUS the reunion we all expected

It often happens now that news of reunions of groups and bands comes out. Second thoughts, overcoming misunderstandings, maturity and sometimes even real marketing operations.

When the news of the La Crus reunion reached me I was enlightened. It was one of the ones I was looking forward to the most.

I stayed with them at the Arcimboldi Theater in Milan on 4 December 2008, one of the most exciting and heartfelt concerts I attended.
Then Gio and Cesare’s appearance in Sanremo in 2011 with “Io Confesso” and then their paths finally parting ways.

Giovanardi with his solo career and Malfatti with his various parallel projects.
Now, after more than a decade, the circle is closed and “Io Confesso” is released again, but in a new version featuring Carmen Consoli.

Gio and Cesare together with their trusty Alessandro Cremonesi, here they are again in band format and ready to continue writing new pages in the fantastic history of one of the most experimental and innovative groups of Italian music of the late nineties and two thousand.

To better understand the boundaries and contours of this new restart, I had a long telephone chat with Mauro Ermanno Giovanardi, who told me what we should expect from this reunion of spirits, passion, artistic sensitivity and of course music.

I got covid. I have a terrible sore throat. I’m a little worried!
I have to start rehearsing because next November 25th we will participate in the Il Rumore Del Lutto Festival in Reggio Emilia.
It is an evening shared with Paolo Benvegnù. We will have an hour-long concert where we will play our historical pieces and at least three unreleased songs.
It will be like our zero date, an opportunity to try out the new band and to get the rust off us a bit.

Speaking of concerts, I remember your last one, on 4 December 2008 at the Arcimboldi theater in Milan. A special evening!

I also have beautiful memories of that evening. I still remember when Nada sang “Il Vino” which was the last song of our last concert. There was the whole audience singing with us and she whispered in my ear that I had given a wonderful gift to Piero (Piero Ciampi is the author of the piece) who in his life has never had 3000 people singing the songs by him. A magical, thrilling emotion.

Think of that concert we also have the recording ready, both audio and video. We could release a record tomorrow!

Moving through time we go to your debut in 1995. Almost thirty years of music. What has changed in music since those years?

The main differences between 1995 and today are fundamentally two.

The first is the way our generation made music. We did it to affirm that we were somehow different and unique.
It was like putting on a uniform. That musical season was truly crazy, because certain revolutions can only succeed if there are favorable astral conjunctions.

In that period, the late nineties, there was a ferment of bands and artists arriving from the cellars, playing and imitating English and American groups. In those years we became aware of how important it was to return to singing in Italian.

The record labels understood that this undergrowth could be interesting and the public immediately followed us. We were inspired by the Bristol scene, but singing in Italian. I don’t think any of us started making music just thinking about money.
We had to do this because it was necessary.

The second big difference is the internet. The Internet was a watershed. We need to distinguish the way of making music before and after the birth of the internet.
The way we enjoy it, think about it, conceive it and create it has changed.

Can there be a parallel between singing in Italian in those times and that of today?

I believe that the new songwriters are rappers. There are many very strong artists who write very interesting lyrics.
However, the thing that makes me saddest is the need to get likes at all costs, especially among kids, trappers.
It seems like a lot of kids make music just for the money, for visibility and to become a public figure.

How did the new album come about?

He wasn’t born much different from the others. We met a couple of times in the past, but it wasn’t the right time.
Then we took advantage of the lockdown to work on some ideas and put everything in a shared Google Drive folder.
Inside we put suggestions, sketches, texts, music, songs and melodies: if something good came out, great; if not, it wasn’t worth it to anyone.

When we started looking at the material in the folder, we realized that there were some interesting things and we worked on them.
At the last kilometer of this route, however, we found ourselves, as usual, Cesare and I, who didn’t agree on some things.
We were stuck again.
Cesare is the most punk of the group, I am the most fussy and perfectionist.
The problem was how to close the disk. We didn’t agree!
We then had to impose rules on ourselves and hire an external producer, Matteo Cantaluppi, to mediate between the two of us.
With him everything was easier and in the end he succeeded in this job.

The result is a La Crus album that sounds current. I feel that in this album there is a lot of La Crus, but with a more contemporary look.

In terms of lyrics instead?

It’s not nostalgic or rhetorical at all. There are no love songs but we address the theme of time passing.

In my opinion it is one of La Crus’ best albums.

The last time you were together was in Sanremo. Have you thought about it?

Everyone thinks about Sanremo. It’s the only show left to get some exposure.
I think that Warner, our record company, played some songs for Amadeus.
I don’t want to think about it and I don’t want to believe it, but never say never!

When will the album be released?

Now another song will be released with a historical piece by La Crus, then a few other songs with guests and, in February or March, the actual album will be released.

Will a tour then follow?