Hello everyone, they are Barnumโs Freak, a Neapolitan band born in 2012 who enjoys merging countless musical genres in order to make life difficult for playlist curators! ;-). Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
BARNUMโS FREAK: Certain, we are a group of Neapolitan musicians, each coming from previous musical experiences. In 2012 we decided to merge our experiences by generating a new music project under the name Barnumโs Freak. In 2015 we created our first record work, โREVOLUTION LOADINGโ and today we are working on our second project โODISSEYโ.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
BARNUMโS FREAK: We have all always been great music enthusiasts, our formative path has developed starting from listening to the most diverse musical genres. We donโt come from academies, we come from rehearsal rooms, what we are today as musicians we owe it to our great passion and to the research that has always accompanied us in our growth path as artists.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the nameโBARNUMโS FREAKโ?
BARNUMโS FREAK: We are all children of a very flourishing musical period, a period in which music was played and not sampled and creativity was at its peak. Our influences are linked to the world of progressive Rock, instrumental music and New Age. We are not easily channeled into a musical genre, for us music must make us emotional, and we would like it to get straight to peopleโs hearts. Why Branumโs Freak? we represent the world of otherness, the continuous contrast between being and appearing, the need to face a path of inner growth that leads to maximum freedom of expression. Our message is an invitation to respect diversity (gender, thought, social condition), to tolerate behavior or thoughts that may appear uninformed to the masses and therefore risk producing social marginalization. For this reason our musca is a kaleidoscope of sounds, it is a metaphorical embrace of humanity, in the hope that everyone listening to us can feel at home with it, can recognize a part of themselves.
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
BARNUMโS FREAK: The music of Barnumsโ Freak is like a river flowing in its bed and it canโt always do it the same way or at the same speed. In our music there are very reflective, intospective moments, there are others that are very energetic and epic, others romantic and still others dramatic. We would like our Sound to be enveloping, we take great care of the arrangements so that the listener can feel at the center of the scene and above all we want the listener to remain curious to find out what will happen a minute laterโฆ.
5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as ROCK?
BARNUMโS FREAK:
Any artist undergoes the imprinting of the music he listens to, it is a process of natural selection during which you form your own style over time which can have a thousand contaminations and undergo great evolutions over time. The Barnumโs Freak project is difficult to label as it is the result of multiple musical suggestions, at the beginning we embraced the world of progressive rock and Math rock, today we are moving towards New Age & post rock sounds. Itโs a continuous evolution, we really like experimenting with new sound paths and embracing many different genres.
6. Whatโs your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles โ and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
BARNUMโS FREAK:
As already mentioned above, for us music must first of all excite. We do not deal with political issues, we are more focused on spiritual issues, but without directing the listening in a too forced way For us, music must not create divisions, if anything it must unite people in a common emotion regardless of the political positions or social conditions of each.
7. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
BARNUMโS FREAK:
Both aspects you mentioned are an integral part of the daily life of an artist. The creative part, the inspirational part, the birth of a new song is always something exciting, at the same time sharing it in front of an audience repays you for the emotional energies expended in its creation. Oh yes, making music involves a huge expenditure of emotional energy; music is a very demanding lover! :-)
8. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
BARNUMโS FREAK: This is a period of hyper music offering, and the overall quality of the music suffers. The habits of listeners are changing, it is increasingly rare to find enthusiasts who are dedicated to listening to music and do not use it as a mere sound accompaniment while carrying out other activities. I think that for music outside the Mainstream it is difficult to build your own niche of Followers even though today you can have access to millions of potential listeners. The problem is identifying them and getting them what they are looking for, in an ocean of proposals that often overlap and cannibalize each other. Itโs not easy but we go our own way.
9. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
BARNUMโS FREAK: Our Creative process often starts from a Concept, from a universal message that we choose to share as in the case of โRevolution Loadingโ, other times (as in the case of ODISSEY) from a literary work that we want to translate into music in our own way to share the contents, the inspirational side, the suggestions that the work itself has transmitted to us Our music is also performance music, in some cases combined with dance choreography, and other forms of stage performance.
10. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
BARNUMโS FREAK: Both in fact. We think that above all music must flow freely in everyone, without too many conditionings, without too many explanations. For us, music shouldnโt be explained, it should be listened to. Everyone can feel free to give it the meaning he prefers, according to his mood at that moment or according to his personal historical moment. At the same time itโs also nice to direct the listening in some way, but these must be delicate suggestions; a song title, a story, a book, an epic, but the bulk must be done by the music and the sensitivity of the listener.
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