French Saints: “Today the songs only aim for virality”

The French Saints have covered a lot of kilometers since their victory two years ago on the X Factor. Between tours, the participation in Sanremo Giovani last year which opened the doors to the big category of the Sanremo Festival (where with “L’amore in bianca” they placed eighteenth out of thirty, in the middle part of the ranking, ahead of – among others – Negramaro and Rose Villain), the concerts in deconsecrated churches last spring, the Piedmontese duo composed of Alessandro De Santis (born 1999, voice and guitar) and Mario Francese (born 1997, keyboards, synthesizers and bass) hasn’t stopped for a moment. And now the EP “Could not have weight” is released, six pieces, including the single “Ho fear of everything”, available from Friday 8 November: “80% of the songs heard today are written with a different purpose from the communication of a concept: they only aim for virality and do not communicate anything. If you don’t realize this, it’s a problem,” they say.

And what do you want to communicate?

A&M: “The importance of taking your time, today that we live in a bulimic time that tends towards ostentation and simulation.

To record the album we didn’t go to a trendy studio, but to a villa in the hills of Parma, together with our drummer Daniel Fasano. We brought our instruments with us: the pieces were born in seven days, all recorded in the same room, with the same reverbs. We have given value back to the sound of the instrument, without tricks and without deception, driven by our expressive urgency. These pieces are all played live, there is nothing programmed. And we often kept the first take.”

Who – or what – inspired you?

A: “To the alternative rock of the early 2000s. We come from that world, after all. When I was younger I played hard rock and heavy metal from the 70s and 80s, Mario instead played prog. We looked at the Killers a bit. We have surrendered to our most hidden musical tastes.”

In “I’m afraid of everything” you sing: “I’m afraid of everything I know, of losing myself in pop”. What did you mean?

A: “It’s not that far from what we say in the lyrics, literally. We are referring to social exposure. We are invaded by an incredible amount of input: now we have the feeling that everything must be known, known and that there must be an opinion on everything. I asked myself if it was really normal to receive so much information, to know so much.”

And what does pop have to do with it?

A: “It represents the idea of ​​putting on clothes that aren’t ours and making pop that isn’t really what pop should be: we’re against it.”

What should pop be?

A: “I think of the Killers themselves, Lunapop. We are pop, we don’t do black metal. But in recent years the margin that divides hits from pop has diminished. Today pop wants to be cool. Instead we want to bring out elements that are not exactly cool or catchy, more authentic.”

Authenticity and genuineness are two words that are coming back into fashion in music today. Maybe the market was saturated with unauthentic projects?

M: “But ours is not a pose: we don’t want to give ourselves a tone or feel better than others. We just like making music this way. Artists should want less and respect each other more.”

Are you back competing in Sanremo?

M: “We don’t know. Just as a year ago it represented neither a point of arrival nor a starting point, the same is true today. With the right piece we won’t rule it out.”

Are you following X Factor? Do you like the change in the program, with less arguments behind the judges’ desk and more attention to the artists?

A: “Yes. It is right that those who do that job respect the role of the artist who is on stage and who is trying to promote their music.”

Speaking of stage: what have you prepared that is special for the club tour that will start from Venaria Reale (province of Turin) on November 20th?

M: “There will be four of us. In addition to the two of us and Daniel on drums, there will also be a guitarist, Domiziano Luisetti. He was our technician on the tour of the deconsecrated churches, then we discovered that he played the guitar and we said to him: ‘Why don’t you join in?’. The songs from the EP will find their natural dimension in the concerts”.