Interview with Noctae

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

• I think I really have to thank my family members for giving me a vast musical culture since the first days of my childhood, ranging from romantic classical music performed in the 19th century, to avant-garde genres from electro to hard rock. My first contact with a very strong internal feeling happened in 1996 when I was 8 years old when I had the chance to see “The Beautiful People” video by Marilyn Manson for the first time. It has been completely mind-blowing. It was also the time of the satanic-themed first-person shooters and I was basically playing all of them as the nineties kid that I was. It was the kickstart for a culture that perfectly mixed music, visuals, and interactivity, with a splash of dark-themed concepts... and, what if I had not gotten into music? I'm not really able to figure out what and who I could be today... Maybe it's better not to think about it too much, lol

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

• I devoted my life to many kinds of arts and sciences since my very early days, all of them created by mankind with the purpose of spiritual expansion and communication. In a range of studies and years spent practicing martial arts, Buddhism, visual arts, graphic design, tattooing, and being part of Freemasonry. Swimming on the shores of the occult philosophy helps me create a distant reality close to some sort of utopia, that gives me the chance to use all those tools needed to create a better reality here in the real world.

How long has your band been around?

• We started in 2018, then the pandemic arrived and forced us to “sleep” for a couple of years. Then we came back, bigger and stronger.

Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

• We're all based in Rome, Italy. I have to admit Europe in general is pretty much opened up when it comes to music. I have been personally raised in a very multicultural and intellectually sparkling context, so I cannot really blame my roots. Every experience I made here and abroad has been crucial to develop my musical influences, orientations, and tendencies.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

• I was thinking of something feral, easy, short, and threatening. Our name basically means “night” in latin, so this specific term used as a “symbol” or “container”, recalls different emotions in the person who reads it. The darkness associated with the night is often related to a sense of fear. Fear about what you don't know, about the things you're not allowed to see. Then when you get initiated into the mysteries, you simply overcome fear and become one with light and darkness itself.
  Tell me about your most memorable shows.
  Oh, there's plenty of them! A couple crazy ones I can surely tell about Bulgaria and Rome. WEIRD things can occur in these two old cities!

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

• The Balkans are always stunning, so I usually love Eastern Europe in general. We would really love to play in Japan. Let's see what Tetsu (our Japanese manager from BIJRecords) can do for us this year after all the pandemic mess that denied us from playing there!

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

• Motionless In White, 3Teeth, Psyclon Nine, Asking Alexandria, Bring Me The Horizon!

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

• YOLO. 

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

• Take things less seriously and do not put always everything you have in what you do. Spare your heart and your internal resources as they are not unlimited.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

• Not to sound arrogant but there are a few of them... If I should be forced to choose one, I think it has to be Psychometrical. I wrote the lyrics for that song in a very particular moment in my life. It was in fact, a kind of ritual that I used to ERASE a particular moron from my life. And needless to say, the magick totally worked!

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

• I really love to play Kings, Blossom and Psychometrical. But I think Everything You Know is the most sung in the crowd and requested one...

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

• Until now, we just followed a stream of consciousness that lead us to compose material in separate ways. Then usually I listen to the demos that Daniele writes and start to create vocal lines and lyrics upon them. This, when all of our material has been processed by the massively creative anvil owned by Becko. This is how we forge our songs...

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

• I'm not a huge fan of thinking of specific messages prior to the creation of music. But mostly, everything we do is a shout-out to self-expression, an internal path across one's feelings and despair, a deeper exploration of sexuality even in its darkest twists, many universal questions that could never receive an answer. The main thing is: you guys are not alone. We understand what you're being through and you have to feel free to express it in any circumstance.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

• I think bands are like relationships. Most of the important steps are built on an intelligent resolution of disagreements, leading to collective, bright resolutions. We are very talkative and opened up, even if sometimes we can be real bitches lol

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

• I quit thinking about the future some years ago and it's working really well. At this point, our new record just came out with a video released for the song “Blossom”. This is just the beginning of a new era that I still cannot see properly, but I can truly feel growing in the inside of my consciousness