INTERVIEW: Perdurabo drops new single

Based between the German capital of Berlin and the northern Italian city of Turin, Davide Arneodo is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist and electronic music producer who shares his visionary sonic works under the Perdurabo alias. Also a member of the Italian alternative rock outfit Marlene Kuntz, he’s a prolific musician who’s renowned for his songwriting talent.

Releasing his debut single as Perdurabo in 2015 with “Leads Me Outside”, he’s since shared an astonishing catalogue of music that’s seen him work both in the studio and on the stage with leading artists in the electronic and rock music spheres including members of Apparat, Einstürzende Neubauten and Placebo along the way.

Now with a new forthcoming record lined up, he brings us the first single from the release with “Hopes”, featuring Daudi Matsiko, Tom Adams and Miro Shot on vocals. Produced by the pioneering electronic artist and producer Gareth Jones and mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios in London, with “Hopes”, Perdurabo unveils the next chapter in his riveting sonic evolution.

Opening with a moody synth-based arrangement tinged with atmospheric textures, the song erupts into a dazzling chorus full of driving drums and uplifting instrumentation to spin a dazzling and euphoric energy. Making a truly compelling statement about what listeners can expect from his upcoming album, on his new single Perdurabo lays down a mesmeric and memorable sound of alternative electronic pop music.

We caught up with Perdurabo to find out more about his musical journey, his new single and his upcoming album. Check out our interview with Perdurabo below.

How did you first get into making your own music?

I started experimenting with sounds even before I began my violin classical studies, by the time I was 10. I always thought there was something magic in bringing my dad’s Tascam 4-track cassette recorder to the river, recording natural sounds, and then going back home and playing some synthesiser or piano on top, all instruments I already had at home – I was dreaming with that. If you’re referring to Perdurabo instead, I started producing my own electronic music when I first moved to Berlin in 2013, when I decided to work on new music together with Jörg Wähner (Apparat), but between this fact and my first attempts as a child, there’s so much more… a long journey made of projects, records, bands, tours that made me who I am today.

What was your highlight of 2022?

For sure the moment I realised I couldn’t wait any longer for a label and I decided to produce the debut album myself. I contacted Gareth Jones (a legendary UK pioneer electronic artist and producer who worked with Depeche Mode, Yann Tiersen, and Apparat just to name a few), who I previously met in his studio before the pandemic, I flew to London and we started working together on the first single “Hopes”. It was like fresh air to me, a revelation, I clearly pictured myself that I needed to release all the music I’d been working on all these years.

Which artist first made a lasting impression on you?

There are so many artists who had an impact on my way to think as a musician and even as a human. To name a few: Brian Eno, Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich, Massive Attack… but one artist who concretely changed my view on music is Sascha Ring (Apparat). It was 2011, and I already knew his work with Moderat, that’s why I decided to go to a show he was giving at Teatro Carignano in Turin, Italy: that night changed my life, I can say there is a before and an after to this show. After the concert I went backstage to express my gratitude, that’s how Sascha and I met for the first time and this is also how I met Jörg, his drummer, who later became my music collaborator and friend. Later, when I was already living in Berlin, I discovered Nils Frahm, another incredibly inspiring artist who had a great impact on my way to think about music, piano recording techniques, and production. Basically are all singular artists who have a clear vision and strong personality, this is what inspires me, I’ve never been attracted by scenes.

How do the Berlin and Turin music scenes compare?

Just said I’m not attracted by scenes haha… well, that said, I understand for artists it’s important to live in an environment where their views and inspirations can find fertile ground and lookalike people, that’s also one of the reasons why I first moved to Berlin, but that is where real artists emerge, people who stand over all the others for their talent, for the things they have to say: you can live in Berlin or Turin but if you have nothing to communicate, it doesn’t change much. What I think really changes in this case, comparing the two cities, is people’s attitudes. Turin still has that provincial vibe, a closed and rooted middle-class mindset that is hard to change, and even if it did over the last few years, I still see things that I honestly can’t understand, especially in the electronic music scene. In Berlin, on the contrary, you can breathe more international air, people judge less, and are much more open and friendly – of course, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, Berlin can be tough, but this less polite and more open view of the world is the main difference between the two cities.

Which artists do you draw the most inspiration from today?

As I said there are a bunch of enormous major artists who inspired my view on music, but what is interesting is also the incredible amount of smaller or independent artists who are defining electronic sound over the globe like Son Lux, Rival Consoles, Alessandro Cortini, Caterina Barbieri… but there are so many more, who I esteem and personally know, can’t name all of them.

How else do you find inspiration for your music?

For the exception of those few names, I rarely directly take inspiration from other artists at least in a conscious way, so what drives me the most is my constant curiosity for discovery: new musical instruments, new places, new perspectives, languages, traditions, and foods – that’s what really makes me feel alive as an artist and inspire my process of creation.

What would you say is the perfect setting for listeners to enjoy your sound?

I don’t really care how the listener is experiencing my music, the important thing is that it goes somewhere deep into that person, possibly returning emotions. Of course, I put so much effort into production, to reach the best result possible, but that kind of quality is for very few people: I’m talking about very expensive monitors or headphones, audio drivers, a/d converters, a kind of gear that people usually can’t afford. So what I really wish is that whatever technology listeners use, they will put their attention and heart into listening to my music, as much as I do into producing it. The average listening time on streaming platforms is so low, attention is a real problem today, we live in such bulimic and consumeristic times.

How did you find making your latest single “Hopes”?

This song has a very complex and difficult story behind it. Everything starts when Warner Chappel asked me to write a few demos that were going to be used for some “X Factor” winning artist during the final, but I loved this track so much that I decided to keep it for my record. From that moment I started to search for features, asking friends and singers I was collaborating with at the time. The first one was Tom Adams, who made a great version that I loved, but he was never really happy with it, so I moved forward. Roman, a long-time collaborator tried as well but had some problems with the structure, there were some incredible bits, but not enough to create a song. So after a few years, I met Daudi Matsiko a talented singer-songwriter from Nottingham, who finally recorded a beautifully complete song, but when it was the moment to mix it with Gareth in London, I realised that deep inside I still had the memory of the first powerful Tom’s chorus and those haunting Roman’s backing vocals, so, at the very last minute, I decided to go for some madness, using all the three singers that contributed to making this song as it was – this is a short version of the story and the reason behind the multiple features.

What was the message you wanted to get across with this song?

The first demo was named “One” simply because was the first of three demos, but it suddenly became “Hopes”, this song gave me this feeling of hope from the beginning. I love how Daudi and Tom developed the lyrics starting from the music, from this constant contrast between light and darkness. The story is about someone who suffers from depression and wants to escape from his past “I’m tired, I don’t try / Everything is untied” so over the chorus has this positive feeling of hope and wants to redeem himself “I’m alive, I’m alive / Try and escape the past”, but that condition is very hard to overcome. It’s a metaphor for our existence, constantly divided between light and darkness, and only if we reach a different state of consciousness we can aim for a realisation of our own identification – avoiding a relapse into darkness.

What can listeners expect from your upcoming record?

A dense record with more guests. Songs produced layer after layer, creating awareness. Not all songs need to be overproduced, indeed, but this record represents my personal growth as a producer.

A personal message of resilience to the world, hopefully, a lighthouse helping people navigate the times of darkness we’re living in.

What’s the main thing you want people to get out of listening to your music?

Someone many years ago told me with coldness and contempt: “you see, I work with people (doctors) who save lives every day, those are real men, what do you think you do with your music, is that even a job?”. Despite this painful and unfortunate event, I made my belief in music even more strongly, so this is what I desire listeners to find in my music, something deep, something comforting, and why not, even a medicine that can inspire, cure, and make them feel better.

Do you have any advice for a new artist wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Hard to say, even if I have a long and multi-faceted career, as Perdurabo I still feel like a new artist myself. I would just advise staying true, there will always be someone out there telling you how you should be: find your inner voice.

Finally, what do you have lined up for the rest of 2023?

I’ll release a few more singles and then finally the record, I’m really excited about it. I’m also developing a new multimedia idea that will bring Perdurabo live to a totally new level. But there’s so much more music and collaborations – this is just the first of a series of upcoming releases.

Listen to Hopes below