Feb. 6 – Released last January 24, the band’s self-titled album, Utveggi, was first introduced to the world at the Rai Auditorium in Palermo. But in a few months – this autumn – the band takes it to Japan for a promotional tour that will start in Tokyo. “The tour in Japan – said Valerio Mirone, voice of Utveggi – represents for us a real investment that has a dual function: on the one hand, we want to see if our music can be appreciated in the Japanese market; on the other, we hope to have good media feedback, essential considering the excellent competition in the field of music.” Utveggi’s music draws from various genres, offering a repertoire of unreleased tracks and reworkings of classics with a decidedly ironic tone. The lyrics are in Italian, except for a few songs in Japanese. On this, Mirone comments: “We hope to get receive good feedback from the Japanese public, which is known for appreciate the concept of ‘progressive’ music put forth by historical Italian groups such as Le Orme and PFM. Precisely for this propose, our repertoire ranges from rock to punk, from swing to reggae, in the hope of bringing a form of entertainment that is a kind of glue between the Italian and Japanese cultures.” Mirone’s passion for Japan and its language spread easily to the rest of the group. “I’m a fan of oriental culture, and I graduated in Japanese in 2009, then worked for a period in an Italian Cultural Institute in Japan. The idea to create lyrics in Japanese – confirmed Mirone – began as a sort of joke, a play on words. Our first experiments brought us to create a song like ‘To’ which consists of a recursive count from 1 to 10 alternating with two simple questions.” The Utveggi are is a group formed by Valerio Mirone (vocals), Simone Giuffrida (guitar), Bruno Pitruzzella (guitar), Luca La Russa (bass) and Giuseppe Montalbano (drums). The band was born in September 2012. “Each of us – said Mirone – comes from different artistic paths. But what unites us is definitely a strong friendship, we’ve know each other since we were born. Despite having different backgrounds, we decided to form this rock band with the desire to write songs together. Utveggi, our name, comes from Castello Utveggio, in Palermo, on top of Mount Pellegrino, from where you have an impressive view of the entire city. The name Utveggi is a clear reference to our roots.” The group’s music draws from various genres: “Usually there is nothing autobiographical in what we write – said Valerio – let’s say that we usually put in a blender our differences. In this album, we give space to scratchy punk rock mixed with some historical reconstructions with a more dreamy tone, imaginative but also ironic.” As for the group’s future engagements, they know well that “before departing for Japan, we are planning an Italian tour that will start in February from Sicily, ending in June in Northern Italy. And maybe we’ll participate in a couple of Festivals. We’re open to possible collaborations. For the moment, we collaborate with other musicians from our area, who, like us, rely on an independent production by Almendra Music. Based on the feedback that we get in Japan, organized by the promotion agency EtalentBank, we’ll see if you can become part of a wider music scene.” (Paf)
