1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
D: Paolo and I have known each other for several years. We previously collaborated on various projects and, in 2014, we published "Burnout (August Sessions)", then in 2020, "Burnout II" together. These works are entirely instrumental and are composed, essentially, with our two guitars and with the addition of rhythms/glitches/noise placed in throughout.
P: Burnout is an openly “side” project with no pretensions whatsoever, except to produce good music and play together when we feel like it. It is a concept inspired by the burnout syndrome, a specific psychophysical attribute to which socio-health workers like me and Daniele are subjected to every day.
2. So far, you have worked on 2 albums together. Musically, how do they both differ from each other?
D: The first is more rarefied; it was more a work of subtraction than of addition, lean and dry sounds, clean guitars and short-lived songs. The second, on the other hand, has more distorted guitars, that cement-walls-of-granite sound on obsessive arpeggios... long, heavy and hypnotic droning doom pieces.
P: Right. In the first release, the songs are almost small "songs", each with its own aesthetic and color. In the second release, we let ourselves go to these long streams of consciousness instead, closer to concrete flows. We have grown up.
3.This is also the first album you’ve worked on together in 6 years?
D: Yep.
P: Yes. As I said, both of us also have other jobs, in addition to our respective solo projects. There is no planning and no rush in Burnout. When we want to make a record, we do it.
4. Since both members are also in other musical projects, how does this project differ musically from your other work?
D: I must say that in recent years, aside from my solo project, I have not worked much with other side projects... The Spaccamonti/Brusaschetto synergy is one of the very few collaborative "things" that I carry on with pleasure. Burnout always starts from improvised guitar parts recorded in studio, which are then cut/mixed with the computer over months or even years. Brusaschetto solo, on the other hand, is a rigorous machine of precise and iron guitar composition that finds full development in the rehearsal room with my wonderful power trio. Here, I dedicate myself to a more "usual" metal math stoner style...
P: Each of my projects has its own specific ritual and method. In my solo records, for example, almost everything is written. Improvisation is more part of collaborative projects, like the one with Daniele or the one with Jochen Arbeit (CLN). The common thread that binds all the works in which I am involved together lies in a certain underlying melancholy, which I just can't get rid of.
5. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
D: The artwork was entirely made by Rosa Lavita, a talented Italian graphic artist. A skull-balloon consumed in a slow and tiring escape from reality, but escaping is useless as he is already dead... I like to think of it so.
P: Rosa has been collaborating for years with Toten Schwan Records, the label that produced the album. After listening to the tracks, she sent us two drafts and we liked them both. She immediately understood the mood, hitting the target. We were lucky, as it is not always so obvious.
6. Have you done any live shows together or open to the idea?
D: No gigs carrying around the various Burnouts; never been done. Yes, of course, it would be interesting…but only if there is a fair and certain economic compensation.
P: Surely it would be interesting, but in fact, there has never been a real and sensible occasion... I can’t hide the fact that I like the idea of not offering the album live. For once, let's bypass the promotion nightmare. Burnout is born and dies as a cassette only.
7. The new album as released on 'Toten Schwan Records'. How would you compare working with this label to other labels that you have both worked with in the past?
D: I've always worked with small independent labels that produce music out of pure passion. Toten Schwan is one of them, and it was a huge pleasure and honor to have come out under the protection of its energetic wings. Covid permitting, everything went smoothly, and Marco was extremely available to all our proposals, opinions, inquiries and second thoughts... Thanks, Marco, for your patience!! ;-)
P: We had a great time with Toten Schwan. Although the album is admittedly 'carbonaro', Marco has managed the various passages with all the precautions and care possible. It was certainly not an easy year, and this also affected our release, but for this reason it was even more precious to release it. A breath of fresh air in an otherwise impossible year.
8. On a worldwide level, how has the reaction been to your recordings by fans of experimental music?
D: The world is so big, and we are so small... As far as we know, those who have listened to the album liked it. The specialized journalists have reviewed it very well and the general feedback seems more than positive to me.
9. What is going on with some of the other musical projects these days that both of the band members are a part of?
D: Eh…we rehearse in the rehearsal room as much as possible. Many new songs have been composed... And I can't wait to be able to play live again!
P: I'm completing a couple of new projects in the studio, which I hope will see the light in 2021. And then I'd like to resume the live soundtrack of the film Vampyr, with Ramon Moro and of “The Man with the Camera" with Stefano Pilia. We hope to be back on stage as soon as possible; we can't take it anymore.
10. Are there any plans to team up again on another album in the future?
D: It would be very, very nice. It only needs a lot of time and expendable energy... The right conditions are there, but for now we have to keep the listeners on their toes.
P: I'm sure it will happen sooner or later. But for now, it is still too early.
11. What are some of the bands or musical projects that have had an influence on your music, and also, what are you listening to nowadays?
D: The artists who have influenced me are many...and they cover a bit of all musical genres. I am particularly attached to everything that is extreme music, from metal to industrial, electronic, exasperated psychedelia etc. But for some time now, I have mainly listened to classical music, very little else.
P: The same goes for me. I travel a lot in periods. In these past months, for example, I’ve been obsessed with the soundtracks of the latest films by Jarmush (Sqürl), some electronics (Autechre, Nicolás Jaar), black music like the Sault collective and the good old Dj Muggs, which never disappoints.
12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
D: Buy the "Burnout II" cassette before the copies run out! :-D
P: Remember to support art. In a world dominated by the poor in spirit, there is a great need for beauty.
http://paolospaccamonti.com/
http://www.danielebrusaschetto.net/
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