A little over a year ago, ⁄handlogic was but a dream in the minds of its founders – now these young Florentine musicians are marching their über-talented creation out into the world. Powerfully contemplative in its elegant rhythmic patterns and full-grown sound, ⁄handlogic‘s eponymous EP strikes the imagination with a beautifully balanced mix of brit-pop, jazzed-up beats and dreamy vocal melodies. In just six months since its release, their debut has garnered a number of positive reviews, contest winnings (Controradio’s Rock Contest, Toscana100Band) and live performances (Don’t miss them live this evening at Florence’s Combo Club with Bologna-based band Ofeliadorme!). We met up with the band to pick their brains and find out the secret behind their dazzlingly fast-paced rise to success and, as it turns out, they haven’t sold their souls – they’re just really good at what they do.
All-round dreamy atmospheres!
Michelle Davis: It seems like only yesterday that you guys first came together… yet you have already done so much! It’s been a pretty fast yet eventful ride since your 2016 debut… tell us a bit about it!
⁄handlogic: You’re right, the past six months have been pretty intense! We started working together on this project a little over a year ago, as a trio composed by Lorenzo, Vieri and Leonard. We worked on writing songs (and adapting material from a previous project of Lorenzo’s) and arranging them in a purely digital form, working strictly on the computer. We recorded our debut EP – titled, perhaps without much inventiveness, “EP” – during the summer of 2016; at the same time, we started rehearsing our tracks for live shows and it was at this point that Daniele and Alessandro (drums & bass) joined the line-up. In the months since, we played at Controradio’s Rock Contest (which we won!) and we are just now starting with the proper live shows, across all Italy. Super excited!
⁄handlogic frontman Lorenzo Pellegrini live at Controradio’s Rock Contest – Ph. Michelle Davis
MD: What’s the meaning behind your peculiar name?
⁄h: It’s a question many people have asked us… The idea is that its two elements, hand and logic, represent a dichotomy: on one side the intellectual, “cold”, side of composing and working on the tiny details of a song, on the other side the human, warm and fallible element brought by the hand that plays it. We found that this expressed well the way we conceive music: we like to think about all the aspects of it, to break it to bits using our intellect, but without a live touch it would be incomplete.
MD: Give us an idea of what it means to be a “young florentine musician” and the relationship you have built with your hometown and its indie scene (venues, bands, rehearsal rooms)?
⁄h: We must say, we are grateful to this city! At the moment this particular project is still quite short-lived, but we all have a (relatively) long story in the city’s underground scene, from high school bands to small clubs and music contests. This common ground is what brought us together as individuals, and it also brought us our first “fans” – not even the live crowds, but the lively and warm environment of musicians that thrives in this city. We also discussed recently in a radio interview the influence that English-language music (especially from the UK, but from the US as well) continues to have on Florence and, through it, on us: our main musical influences and interests all come from those countries, and this perhaps mirrors the general feeling you get in the florentine musical world. Somehow, this town has always had eyes good enough to look beyond our close, cozy Alps and Mediterranean Sea…
MD: Where do you find your musical inspiration in Florence? Do you have any insider tips for our music-loving readers on where they can enjoy an authentic experience, far from local tourist traps?
⁄h: There are several very small venues in Florence that act as a melting pot for several musical experiences. A few that come to mind are NOF Club and the Jazz Club, but there are many others: in these small places different musical experiences and personalities – including but not limited to those coming from jazz, hip hop and some kinds of electronic music – mix and bring to life new and unforeseen realities. As we said before, we are sons of this process: we owe are existence as a band in this form to the fact that we had a chance to get to know each other and mix right in this live settings.
MD: Are you already working on new material? Are you ready to set out to conquer new countries and audiences?
⁄h: As we like to think our city does, we too are aiming for “the world out there”… Megalomania aside, since our musical influences come all from abroad, it is natural for us to look for feedback and possible new collaborations in other countries. We are currently working on an LP, taking it slowly so we can be sure that it will only come out when we feel it is ready and when we have found the right “family” around us to nurture it (we’re thinking about labels, booking agencies but also musical collaborators). We would like this to be an international group of people!
MD: What can be expected of your gig tonight at Combo Firenze?
⁄h: Love, excitement and new songs! We have worked on fine-tuning our live show for the past couple of months – the process is still ongoing – and we are looking forward to bringing it back to the city and crowd to whom we owe pretty much all we have (be it a lot or not). We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Find out more about ⁄handlogic on their website and facebook page!
