This year Austin-based music festival South By Southwest witnessed an unprecedented Italian invasion. Among the talented flag bearers of the green-white-red indie scene, I was particularly drawn to Birthh, aka Alice Bisi. This 19-year-old Florentine musician is already making a name for herself in the international press with freshly released debut album, Born in the Woods, a shimmering neo-folk horizon of haunting lyrics and downtempo pop nuances. I spoke with Alice as she tackled the festival life.
Meet the 19-year-old Florentine musician making waves on the international music scene.
Michelle Davis: How does it feel like to be at SXSW on the verge of your American live debut?
Alice Bisi: We’re so excited! Our apartment is on the outskirts of town, so today we decided to take a nice three-hour walk to reach the centre… The surge of energy left us breathless. The streets are buzzing with people and sounds. SXSW offers so many opportunities, not only for audiences but also for musicians and music professionals.
MD: By looking at your nom de plume and the title of your debut album I guess you’re fascinated by the concept of origin.
AB: Lavoisier’s law of conservation aside, I believe that everything has to come from something, even thoughts. I see birth as perhaps the most paradoxical event in life: its certainty is undeniable—everything is “born” somehow—but at the same time it sets off a process of ever-changing development that strays farther and farther away from our origin. So the name Birthh embodies my musical research, personal fascinations and philosophy.
MD: NPR listed you among the top 100 artists to watch at SXSW and your debut album is drawing rave reviews, although few know that your previous solo folkstress experience as Oh!Alice was quite different. Tell us about this decisive change in style.
AB: It was an incredibly natural process. I started “hearing” sounds and instruments in my music that I’d actually never used before. The main reason behind this change probably lies in my personal discovery of ambient and downtempo music, especially the works of Jon Hopkins, Trentemøller and Son Lux. When we were in the studio recording the album I tried to blend my previous folksier approach focused on lyrics and harmonies with a more electro-driven attention to song structures (especially climaxes) and sounds.
Alice Bisi, aka Birthh
MD: The titles of your songs address the Loveless, the Lifeless, the Hopeless, the Heartless…the structure of the album makes me think of Dante’s “Inferno”, where each canto enters a circle of the damned. Does the album revolve around a concept? And what about that flawless English of yours?
AB: I believe that music has the comforting ability to make you feel less alone, especially when it comes to matters of love, life, hope or the heart. I wanted to dedicate Born in the Woods to people in need, so that they could embrace their pain and try to understand it instead of living in denial. As for the choice of composing in English, it came quite naturally, given my love for Anglophone music.
MD: How did you start collaborating with your label, the We Were Never Being Boring Collective? Are there any Italian bands that you particularly like?
I loved the work they had done with Be Forest, another Italian band, so when all my demos were ready I contacted them and to my surprise, they actually replied! That’s how it all started. I love their passionate approach. It’s great to know that there are still people who believe in what they do and genuinely love music. I’m a huge fan of Setti, a songwriter from Modena, and I also love the Milan alt-rock trio Any Other.
MD: What do you think about Florence? Any upcoming concerts?
AB: Florence is and will always be my home. It’s so full of potential, even music-wise, but it could have an even richer scene if people invested more on going to concerts and supporting local acts. I sometimes get the feeling that very few people are genuinely interested in listening to new music or discovering new artists. As for me, I will be playing at Glue Alternative Concept Space on November 5, 2016. Performing in my hometown is truly a dream come true, I’m looking forward to it.
Want to know more about Birthh’s music?
Visit her website: www.birthh.com
