This week, we caught up with Italian singer songwriter, Gab Cossu to discuss the Italian music scene, living in Liverpool and his latest single, ‘Rubbish Bag’ which was released in all major platforms last month. Have read below to find out more…
1. How did you discover your love for music?
I started playing bass when I was 15 because many of my schoolmates at my art high school were already involved in bands and music in general, and I just thought it was a cool thing to do to stand out from the crowd. It was not only the last couple of years that I realised how important music, and specifically songwriting, has become to me. It’s become more and more addictive, turned into a proper obsession. It’s the only thing that can bring me personal peace.
2. What’s the Italian music scene like?
I in all honesty, don’t know much about the Italian music scene; the big names are all hip-hop and indie pop mainly. I’m from Sardinia, an Italian island very detached, geographically and culturally, from the mainland. I’ve never lived on the peninsula, I think one of the weirdest things about being from a tourist place such as Sardinia is having an ID card issued by a country you don’t know that much about. Here in the North of the island there isn’t much going on music-wise; very few clubs, very few artists, and mostly hip-hop, hardcore punk or cover bands.
3. How would you describe your music to new listeners?
If I had to tell someone who’s going to listen to my songs for the first time what he should expect from my sound, it would be a very emotional, moving, genuine blend of nostalgia, melancholy, homesickness and pure sadness, aimed at people who feel the same way I do, introverts who are sick of wasting their time in things they don’t like, but at the same time are stuck in this strange limbo in which everything seems to be impossible. For people who know the destination but not the way.
4. You used to live in Liverpool – how was it living in a city so famous for its music scene?
It took me a while to get acquainted with a massive place like Liverpool (it is massive compared to my little 60k-people city), and took me even longer to get a grip on the accent. I couldn’t speak any English at all when I got there 5 years ago. But once you’re there you don’t need any languages to feel the magic, and being a big fan of the Beatles, the city really enchanted me. It was hard, as a foreigner who wasn’t there for Uni (I worked in Subway while playing in my electronic rock band Jean Foutre, we played a dozen of little gigs trying to get noticed in the UK scene), but in spite of that Liverpool managed to steal a big bit of my heart, and I still miss it so much everyday, I finally felt at home, for a while.
5. You released your latest single, Rubbish Bag last month… what was the influence behind it?
The three artists that influenced Rubbish Bag are by all odds Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake (I’ve literally been obsessed with this guy lately, so underrated) and Samuele Bersani, one of my absolute favourites Italian artists. You guys should really check him out, you know, I bet he will make you burst into tears even without understanding a single word.
6. Do you have a specific way of writing your music or is it something that just comes to you?
I’m only able to write music when I’m really sad. I’m lucky it happens quite often, I’ve got lots of tracks in the oven. I’m kind of afraid this thing will stop should I ever manage not to be sad anymore. There’s no danger of that for now though haha.
7. Who are your favourite current bands / musicians?
I’ve been listening to Salmo so much lately, he’s the number one hip-hop artist in Italy at the minute, coming from the very same area of Olbia (my hometown) I am from. He’s boss, give his music a listen and you’ll understand why, so much charisma.
8. What’s been your most memorable gig and why?
The best gig was surely one I played with my old funk-rock band back in 2011; a mid-summer concert at my town’s beach in front of 7000 people on the occasion of a national holiday. We were the last of four support bands before the headliners, and fireworks happened to start at midnight, exactly in the middle of our set, it was amazing. I got back home the next day only in my trunks, I lost both the top and the shoes I was wearing, that night.
9. What are your aims and ambitions for yourself as a musician in 2020?
Hoping that this virus thing will be sorted by the end of this spring (it’s been very bad these last few weeks down here, lots of people wearing masks and gloves, we can’t even go out except for buying food or working jobs in which you aren’t exposed to the infection), I’m looking forward to release a lot of new tracks (there’s one titled “Rain Jacket” coming out on April 14… you’re the first to know it , new videos, new collaborations with other artists, some gigs.) I’d love to start building a little fanbase of people who feel inadequate in this society, just like me. Because what we all need is someone who listens to what we have to say, isn’t it?
CHECK OUT GAB COSSU BELOW NOW …
https://gabcossu.bandcamp.com
INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/gabcossumusic
The Music Files 