(Feb 27) – Sound artist Diego Stocco has spent his life exploring sounds from everyday life, from everyday objects to organic sources. A passion for music that he defines “unorthodox”. Born in Rovigo in 1976, he lives in California, in Burbank, where he works as composer for film trailers and video games soundtracks. But his lesser known production is unique: in “Music from a Bonsai” and “Music from sand” he experiments with alternative sounds, using sand and bonsai trees as instruments. The Italian musician talks about his last work, “Music from a dry cleaner”: “Almost everyday, on my way to a local bakery, I walk in front of a dry cleaners. When they have the front door open, I hear a lot of interesting sounds coming from their work equipment. Eventually, the different mechanical and steam sounds sparked something in my mind, so one day I asked the owners if I could record a piece of music by using their machines as musical instruments”. Stocco explains the sampling process: “I used a puff iron, press and dry cleaning machines, a washer, clothes hangers, and a bucket full of soap. The bass and lead sounds were created from the buzzing tones coming from the conduits and engines. There are no additional sounds from any traditional or electronic instruments”. Not only has Stocco looked to different objects and materials for unique sounds, but he has also created his own instruments. “It’s basically curiosity,” Stocco reveals. “Creating sounds with unusual techniques is a process that can produce not just interesting sounds, but also a lot of insights about how certain things works. It started with simple customizations of traditional instruments. To me music is a amazing form of expression based on sounds – Stocco Concludes -, and since sounds keep evolving and transforming into new forms, so does music”. (Peg)
FROM EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC TO HOLLYWOOD
Despite his young age, the artistic career of Diego Stocco boast admirable collaborations and productions. He scored the film trailers such as “Terminator Salvation”, “2012”, “Eagle Eye”, “Lady in the water”, “The Uninvited”. He is author of popular video games soundtrack, as “Call of Duty” and “World at War”. His passion for customized and hand-built instruments led him to work with Hans Zimmer as soloist in the original soundtrack of the box office success “Sherlock Holmes”.
