Matteo Alien fled the Pop plastic factory

“I got a little stewed about what I see around. Only memes, stars, playlists », reflects Matteo Alieno someone will remember him in the time of participation in X Factor (but here in Rockol we had already followed him for much earlier): it was 2023 when the Roman singer -songwriter managed to conquer one of the available places to participate at the Sky talent show.

Taken under his protective wing by Ambra Angiolini, he made himself wide among the competitors with the rock’n’roll attitude of his reinterpretations of “my god no” by Lucio Battisti, “is not forever” of the afterhours, “and touched The Viole ”by Rino Gaetano. He slipped, if this can be said, when he found himself confronting a world to him as that of the 883, of which he reinterpreted “with a Deca” in a Max Pezzali themed heat linked to the promotion of the Sky series “killed the Spider -Man – The legendary history of the 883 “: it was eliminated. After a year and a half the 26 -year -old Roman songwriter, a real name Matteo Pierotti, returns with the single “For our age”, a small punk rock gem, pure and scratchy, who seems to represent his escape from the factory a little plastic of pop. Meanwhile, in Sanremo it will be among the authors of “The rhythm of things”, Rkomi’s song.

Where does this frustration come from?

«It seems to me that many and many of my age begin to be tired, but without anger. It is simply as if that world was stopping being interesting, assuming it was. “

Which world?

«The decrease in the music of the music of these years. The paradoxical thing is that the spaces to do something different are there, but the artists care too much about understanding what works and to replicate it and feed the car even if the car does not ask to be feeding. The hamster by force to run in the wheel realizes that it is running in a wheel. When this is the case, either you go out or become part of that wheel ».

Did you come out of the wheel?

“Yes. X Factor, paradoxically, helped me understand what I don’t want to be ».

And what do you don’t want to be?

«I don’t want to be a character: I want to be a person.

I went to record new music in London. I wanted to escape, breathe new air and have fewer mental stakes. London is a city that has always fascinated me on an artistic and musical level. At a party I met Luca Caruso, a musician who collaborated with giants like Rick Rubin, Lewis Capaldi and who currently plays with Beabadoobee, a brilliant promise of the British indie. I made him listen to the demos of the songs I was working on, including “for our age”. It was like starting to make music duck. The song Mizato and burned Tom Archer, who worked with Rex Orange County, Slowthai and Tom Odell ».

How “for our age” embodies that frustration you were talking about?
«In sounds and references. For the battery we inspired us “All I Want” of the LCD Soundsystem. And then Ezra Furman, who a few years ago composed the soundtrack of the “sex education” series. And the dear old Strokes, always a lighthouse for me. In the text, however, I was inspired by the cosmic pessimism of the Baustelle, in telling my growth and my maturity. It was of inspiration to work with people who make records that I listen and who seemed so far from me. The beautiful thing is that they see Italian music without preconceptions. They don’t devalue it, on the contrary. They are fascinated by it ».

Are you worried if this new sound identity can have a record location in Italy or not?

“No. But I feel I am doing something that is not there, right now. It is not songwriting, it is not indie, it is not pure pop. Solo sound, but I have the sound of a band. I’m not framed, but things that you can’t frame are liked to like me: it means that there is something wrong. And it is stimulating ».

When will the disc arrive?

«Further on. I will do it in London. I decided ».

With Rkomi, together with which you signed “The rhythm of things”, how did it go?

“We exchanged messages on social media. He wanted to involve me in the things he was writing. The song is strong, it tells a change that must take place (“it is no longer clear to me if it is music or bureaucracy”, editor’s note). He is in a moment of his career in which he is realizing many things and holds a status that allows him to inspire the new generations. As a music listener, I would like someone to talk about this. But it’s not there. It is difficult to find someone who takes on the task of talking about the most critical sides of this system. The only person who talks about things as Marracash are, who is over 40 years old. In my generation there are no exponents that are responsible for saying how things are. But I feel that something is changing. I hope”.