Valerio Tricoli

The multi-talented Valerio Tricoli was born in Palermo, Italy in 1977. As a self-described late bloomer, Tricoli first began experimenting with sound and more specifically recording devices at 18.

The young guitarist/bassist began preparing his instruments with different objects, and came to possess a Korg MS-20 synthesiser and four track recorder. Two years later he bought his first computer and audio card, and the sound possibilities opened up even further. In 2002 he formed the improvising trio 3/4HadBeenElminated in Bologna with friends Stefano Pilia and Claudio Rocchetti, with Antonio Arrabito joining in 2004. Fast forward to the present, and Valerio Tricoli is a critically acclaimed composer and sound engineer, with his group 3/4HBE unquestionably one of this century's finest avant-rock ensembles. Tricoli's engineering credits include Dean Roberts' epochal 'Be Mine Tonight' (2003) and Autistic Daughters' 'Jealousy And Diamond' (2006) and 'Uneasy Flowers' (2008). Tricoli will visit Australia for the first time at the invitation of the Melbourne International Biennale of Exploratory Music organisers Anthony Pateras and Robin Fox.

Tricoli's solo works, such as his debut 'Did They? Did I?' (2002) and 'Metaprogramming From Within The Eye Of The Storm' (2006) share certain traits with his work as part of 3/4HBE, namely the meticulous editing, and subtle bows of noise that emerge from slowly-blurring drones and electronics. Tricoli describes the two differing sound approaches.

"My compositions are the product of my imagination. 3/4's stuff is the work of different people with different attitudes as well. 3/4's sounds are quite 'musical', whereas the rough material of my compositions is quite much un-musical. Group improvisation is the starting point of 3/4's music, 'microphone improvisation' (open mic recording of whatever I think 'makes sense') is the starting point of my solo work."

Even with Tricoli's recent move to Berlin, 3/4HBE is still very much active, its last two records - the paired releases 'Theology' and 'The Religious Experience' - further accentuating the group's expertly-crafted compositions and almost psychic playing relationship. The records - one of them a CD, the other an LP - come in deluxe hand-crafted packaging, from a hand-painted hinged wooden box for 'Theology' to a sugarcane fibre jacket and perfumed inner sleeve for its vinyl 'daughter' release.

"I am not that much into making a lot of gigs. If I wanted to, I could have played one hundred improv gigs and collaboration concerts just in Berlin in just one year but I don't like to do that. I'm not into jazz culture at all, into jamming with the first good musician around", Tricoli reveals. "I like to play with people with whom I share something that goes beyond music. On the other hand, strange as it may seem, I'm playing more in Italy since I live in Berlin. Nemo propheta in patria, as the Romans say."

As it happens, Tricoli will collaborate with an old friend in Melbourne. He will join forces for the second time with leading free improvising punk percussionist Sean Baxter in what has been billed as a "rhythmically complex free-goredub" duo. In Adelaide Tricoli will be using a bevy of analogue electronics including, he hopes, his vintage Revox tape machine. Basically, he'll try and bring whatever the Customs Department lets him. He will also utilise electric guitar, CD player and vocals, each of which he will process live, and if it becomes available, a stroboscopic light - something not many people would have seen used as a sound device before. "I travel with a pocket strobe that I use in case I can't find a proper one. I use strobe lights not just for the cool effect but I amplify their electric signal to obtain a rhythmic structure."

Where he admits his recorded solo works are darker and perhaps even more psychedelic than his group works, Tricoli's live sets tend to more closely resemble the 3/4HBE sound, albeit in a more introverted manner. Tricoli is a perfectionist, confessing that the composition process has always been a daunting task. "Well, I am not at all comfortable in making music! It's hard. I am very demanding with myself; it takes me years to finish a composition and in the meantime I shift from states of anxiety, paranoia, sudden enthusiasm etc. etc. It's quite stressing." A planned trip to Kangaroo Island with girlfriend Manu to see and record wildlife is sure to calm him at least until the next time he hits the studio.

Lenin Simos

Valerio Tricoli plays Gallery de la Catessen on Mon 7 April supported by Kynan Lawlor and InterZone eXpress.