As featured
in Unfolded Magazine Issue 07 Marco Selvaggio is an amazing
drummer who plays the 'hang' to House music. We asked him where he
works and call home? Apart from being a musician, I’m a lawyer
and an artist also. I live in Italy, in Sicily! Catania is my city
and it is where I work and play music. It’s not easy to have a
double life, but there is a lot of progression during this period.
I travel a lot in search of the perfect sound. This continuous
search for new sounds has taken me around Italy and beyond,
playing my music in a lot of clubs in Sydney, Munich, Paris,
Milan, Rome, London.
How did you learn to play the hang and what other instruments do
you play? I started playing African traditional
music about 10 years ago. I mainly played the djembè (the classic
African drum) and some other instruments of the African tradition
like dun dun and krins. After this I met the hang for the first
time about three years ago in Rome! It was played by a street
artist from East Europe and when I saw it I was shocked and
hypnotised. I immediately asked him how to get it and the rest is
history. I discovered that the hang was an instrument made by two
artisans in Switzerland, in Bern. When I got my first hang, I spent
all day at home playing it and since that moment I was in love and
experimented with a lot of different music. I participate in many
different events such as theatre, dance, fashion shows, concerts
and I work with many clubs and DJs playing my percussion set live
on house music tracks. I am the only one in the world that plays
the hang live to this type of music. Where do you draw your inspiration
from? My life is music! There is no time of my
life that passes by without music! About house music, I create my
own music extemporaneously during my performances. Every time it is
a new, different experience. Depending on the track I get, I create
rhythms with my djembe and other percussion's or with the melodies
of the hang inspired by the context around me. I love being
near the sea and in Sicily we have wonderful place where I usually
go with my friends musicians… Inspiration is all around, from
where I stay or travel Growing up, what music and books
were you obsessed with?
I really love rock music and especially folk music. One of my
favourite artists is Nick Drake. I find inspiration from his music
and from the books of Milan Kundera. He is a writer that I really
appreciate for his style. In a few words, how important is
music to you? In my life there are no days without
music. I play about 2 hours every day and I listen to music when I
drive and before I go to sleep. I often write lyrics and let people
listen my ideas through social networks such as facebook,
using my page for feedback to improve my music. Music
is everything for me. Are there any people who you would
love to work with? Of course. There are a lot of DJs I really
appreciate. I think my music will be of course compatible with
David Guetta or Bob Sinclair. I also like Ben Harper, I think that
if he could listen to something of me and my hang, it would be a
dream for him to realize some collaborative tracks. We came across one of your videos
of a beautiful performance at Teatro Massimo Bellini, tell us about
the experience, was you nervous? Yes. I was paralysed when I walked into
the theatre. It was full of people, all looking and listening at me
play. Massimo Bellini’s Theatre is one of the most beautiful in
Europe. It was an amazing experience and I’m looking forward
to playing there on 15 april this year. How would you describe your main
musical style? Depends. I do different kind of music
actually. Working with house music live is fun and I like to create
loops during the track and sometimes virtuosisms. When I play with my musicians, we play the
tracks we studied before in the recording studio. I think it is a
new kind of music with the hang as the main instrument and centre
of everything we do. Have you drawn from other cultures
and experiences, from your travels? Sure. I went to Australia for a few
months, taking some didjeridoo lessons there and discovering a lot
of local musicians and artists also. I lived in Paris also where
I’ve taken African traditional music lessons because of the African
community that live there. I think everyone could learn something
new from different countries and cultures. This is what life offers
and it is what we should make more time for to make our life
full. What plans do you have for 2012
and beyond? I’ve a lot of projects in my mind that I’m
trying to realise. Playing the hang over house tracks is something
totally new, a musical revolution, something never seen before! The
instrument is unknown to most people and it paralyses and
hypnotises the public. It’s magic! So I’m planning a lot of gigs in
Italy and Europe. I’m also realising an house EP with a dj
producer, and a chill out EP also. I’m working for a new
instrumental album and I would of course come again to play in
London. www.facebook.com/pages/Marco-Selvaggio/74021884174
Photographer and Journalist
specialising in art and fashion. Former editor of Unfolded
Magazine.