FLEWID VOLUME ONE
Photographer: Angelo Cricchi
Fashion Editor: Valeria J Marchetti
Writer: Valeria Montebello
“The Weinstein scandal” and the cases that continue to come out have radically changed the way men are seen in the world of cinema and, starting from the world of cinema, we’re beginning to question the role of men in general. There are women who demonize it, others who absolve it. What do you think about it?
The abuse of power is always something loathsome, in all environments and in whatever form it may take. If a man harasses, humiliates or attacks a woman, it must be condemned. There’s no justification or extenuating circumstances for violence, so I totally support all the women who have the strength and courage to report it, no matter how and when. I don’t demonize all men – you can’t tar everyone with the same brush, but I think it’s a cultural problem affecting society and men in general. I believe the role of education in schools and the family to be fundamental if we’re to have any hope for real change. In some respects we’re still living in the dawn of civilization where the law of the jungle, typical of animal instincts, reigns.
Total look: Gucci
Have you had similar experiences in the world of music?
No, I’ve never found myself in situations as bad as these. I’ve only had to reject some insistent advances, which, fortunately ceased after I said a firm “no”. And that’s how it should always be. Knowing how to listen, understand and accept. That should be normal.
It’s often said that the world of music is dominated by men. Is it true?
If I think about, for example, the team around me during a tour with Baustelle, including musicians, management, roadies and others, I would say it is. There are certainly more men. Sometimes it isn’t easy even for me – I grew up as a bit of a “tomboy” and have always had many friends of the opposite sex. The world of music is still a rather chauvinistic environment, due to a series of stereotypes that have not yet been overcome, but I really believe in the power of women.
Total look: Gucci
What music are you listening to in your earphones at the moment?
I like many different things, from classical to electronic music, also trip hop, French music, soundtracks, singer-songwriters… But I do not manage to listen to many albums in a short period. I go very slowly, I fall in love with just a few things at the same time but I gain nourishment from them for quite a while. My earphones, which I regularly lose around the place, are something I can’t leave the house without. They are my armour and my imagination. With music, the world appears more beautiful and bearable to me. “Rest” by Charlotte Gainsbourg is my album-love at the moment.
What is it like being a musician in Italy?
If you mean what it is like being a female musician, I would answer by quoting P J Harvey: “I don’t worry about being a woman when I make music”. Actually, I don’t worry about many things when I make music, I only think about what I want to do and what I don’t want to. I let myself go. I’m self-critical. I go with my instincts. I reflect. I try to give a sound to my world. The important thing for me is to stay true to myself, in my incoherence and irrationality, even if what I see around me, at times, seems to go elsewhere and may make me feel inappropriate, old-fashioned, out of date. In spite of everything, as Baustelle sing, “It’s necessary to believe, you need to write, it takes courage”. For better or for worse.
Reading the lyrics from one of your songs is like reading a page from a newspaper (I’m thinking of the lyrics inspired by the article by Lodoli) or a page from a novel. What are your literary points of reference?
Reading is good for you, like the cinema, it allows you to travel and find out more about the world without having to move. It brings you closer to but also further away from reality at the same time. I must say that I tend to watch more films, TV series and musical documentaries. But going to a bookshop makes me as happy as a child, it’s a special place and even if lately I’ve been finding it hard to finish the books I have started, I’m always buying more. I’ll get round to reading them sooner or later. Right now I’m reading two books – “Ennio Morricone – Inseguendo quel suono”, and “L’altra verità. Diario di una diversa” by Alda Merini. I like coming-of-age novels, biographies of artists who, in some way or another, I feel close to. I like looking into the life of a human being, seeing their transformations, their ups and downs. I like identifying with them or recognizing myself in them.
Dress: Piccione Piccione.
Socks: Model Own.
Where did the need for you to write a solo album come from?
Rather than a real album, “Marie” is an EP, a small creative explosion that suddenly came to me after writing and singing “Mon petit ami du passé” for a RAI television drama that was set in the ‘70s: “Questo nostro amore ‘70”, by Luca Ribuoli. I played the role, so to speak, of Marie, a singer-songwriter maudite who had abandoned her husband and child in Italy to start her career in France. Slowly, but not too slowly, I found I needed to find out more about the musical personality of this character, to let her express herself and sing again. I wrote on an impulse, as if I were writing an intimate diary. Marie became my alter ego; she took possession of me, giving me the strength to put myself to the test on my own for the first time. It was an amazing experience which has spurred me on, given me greater strength, made me embrace my insecurities and fears.
Make-Up and Hair: Francesca Petrangeli.
Photographer’s Assistant: Martina Bifolchi.
Special thanks Contemporary Cluster.
