Amek nl_33: Lorenzo Abattoir live in Sofia

We’re starting the year with a concert and a distro update.

Lorenzo Abattoir and сбогом хиляди at Fabrika Avtonomia, 14/02

On February 14, the Italian sound artist Lorenzo Abattoir will play in Sofia for the first time. сбогом хиляди will play before him.

RSVP here.

Distro update

We have the latest issue of Untitled Zine. Drop us a line for a copy. Or get one at the gig this Friday.

Noise Without Distortion - An Interview with Lorenzo Abattoir

Lorenzo Abattoir is a sound artist whose work combines noise, poetry, and avant-garde electroacoustic music. The Turin-based artist's compositions and concert performances are made up of sounds and noises captured with a microphone and created through different breathing techniques, body sounds, and other amplified objects.

For those who are yet to get familiar with your music, could you present yourself and the body of work you’ve accumulated throughout the years?

Sure. My name is Lorenzo Abattoir. I've been an audio engineer and sound artist since 2008.

I have never studied music, having always had a greater interest in the use of microphones and the amplification/recording of the strangest sound sources I could find. I have worked with many different artists, from the noise scene to the theatre, without excluding anything.

I know you from projects like Nascitari, which were exploring far more aggressive, noisier, and static sound territories. Nowadays, you seem to be inhabiting a calmer but more dynamic music world. What did you take from noise music that you still apply to your current work?

Basically, everything. Nowadays, for me, there is no particular distinction between noise music and other genres. When I started Nascitari, it was important for me to learn how to express myself, and noise was the easiest way to do it, but at the same time, it was something that limited me. Let's say that I still play noise but without distortion pedals.

Could you tell us more about your latest LP “Mess (Akt IV)” released in 2024 on Planam? 

My latest LP was born from a residency I did in Pistoia at NUB Project Space in 2023. After conducting some studies on the sound of breathing, I decided to combine movement and breathing (how they affect each other), so we built some wooden panels to create a sort of path where I could move and breathe (you can see it on the cover of the LP).

In your most recent tours, do you stick to presenting material from a current release or do you improvise?

Both. I like to work on a general structure for a live performance, always leaving some space for improvisation.

This time you are traveling solo, but throughout the years have been involved in various collaborations, which have been your favorites. Were there any artists that you managed to achieve a great synergy with?

Yes, I really like to collaborate with different kinds of artists, and I found great synergy with all of them. I remember a very good multichannel set with my friend Francisco Meirino in Milan in 2022, but the strangest collaboration was with Hermann Kopp, known for composing the soundtrack of Nekromantik. We worked together on weird psychological concepts under the name Psicopompo.

Last year you performed at Noise Istanbul alongside a great lineup of artists, including Stephan Goldman. Now you are about to visit Sofia. Are these your first journeys to the Eastern part of Europe? Which have been some of the most exciting places you’ve visited with your music?

The Noise Istanbul was an amazing experience, with a great line-up and a fantastic city (one of my favorites). I did a tour in Poland (a lot of years ago) and also Prague, Bratislava, Vilnius, and Budapest in the past. This is my first time in Sofia, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's very hard to say which one was the most exciting.

There are many live videos of your performances on the internet, but can you share with us what your studio process looks like? What kind of work goes into preparing an album like “Mess (Akt IV)” with all of its subtleties, space, and dynamics?

My studio process is very straightforward technically: I just connect some microphones to my sound card and start the recordings. The difficult part, in my opinion, is deciding what to record and why. Usually, it all starts with an idea or a random situation.

Some years ago, for example, a local independent radio called "Fango Radio" asked me to do a track for a compilation, but I had no equipment with me to generate sound, so I decided to try to just breathe inside a microphone, and that was the start of the whole process that brings me to my latest work, "Mess (Akt IV).”

Your work is inspired by sound poetry, what are your other inspirations? Maybe you can recommend some pieces and artists that will make the local audience better understand your own music?

Oh, I have to warn you, my inspirations are very eclectic. Kurt Cobain is at the top of my list, for his way of using the voice and writing the lyrics. I think he was simply impressive on various levels. But of course, this is not helping to understand my music (hahah).

Maybe it is better to say that Henri Chopin was also a huge inspiration for my work.

You are based in Torino, it’s a part of Italy whose scene we’re not really familiar with. Could you share some of your favorite local artists, venues, collectives, etc.?

Yes, many people don't know much about the scene in Torino, but there are a lot of great artists who influenced me here. My favorites are: Father Murphy, Ezio Piermattei, Francesco Cavaliere, and Elisha Morningstar (to name a few). We have several historical occupation movements in Torino which have generated over the years venues, collective, and independent radio still active today, like Radio Blackout. They still organize most of the noise gigs in the city, so I strongly suggest you check them out.