The Kolors: “Daniele Silvestri gave us the blessing”

Six years after their participation in Sanremo with the song “Frida (mai, mai, mai)”, The Kolors return to the competition at the Festival with the song “A boy a girl“. Guests of the Rockol Lounge, at the Club Tenco headquarters, on the occasion of the seventy-fourth edition of Sanremo, Stash and his associates talk about how their new Sanremo song was bornfrom the craziest thing that happened during the Festival and theirs first date at the Assago Forum on April 3rd. During the chat the band then promises: “We don’t know the right time of year yet, but this year I feel like saying yes: this year there will almost certainly be a new album“.

Rockol : How did these first evenings at the Sanremo Festival go?
The Kolors : I would say very well. Summary: super great. We had great fun. We managed to communicate, through our sound, to the whole of Italy, because we also did well in terms of ratings. And for us it is already a great achievement, a great victory.

Rockol: Can you tell us the genesis of your competing song “A boy a girl”?
Stash: Milan central station, we were on a train and we practically photographed with our eyes a scene that distracted us from our super technical conversations, because we were going to Rome to work.

And we see this guy who was trying to approach. We stopped because we wanted to know how it would end, given all the difficulties that a boy can have in this historical moment, in which often the first contact, the first approach is virtual, online, a comment, a like – a like to history it is already a declaration of love. Seeing the part offline gave us the inspiration to take the direction of the text, which Davide Petrella, who is our brother, wrote above all. We have united our two worlds more and more in recent years, and a song has emerged that aims to be sincere and fun.

Rockol: You also proposed this song to Amadeus last year, and it wasn’t chosen. What happened?
Stash: There is some confusion on this aspect. In reality the song had not been presented: we had sent more things, more ideas, to Amadeus, because we consider the Sanremo of recent years to be the Champions League of Italian pop. Among these things there was also an embryo, a few seconds, the beginning of the refrain that goes: “A boy meets a girl”. Which was the first verse we wrote, which then became the chorus, and that thing was then kept in the drawer. Fortunately, I feel like saying, because in the meantime we then brought out “Italo disco”, which certainly prepared a playground favorable for us. “Italo disco” made it clear what we want to do, and we hope “A boy, a girl” confirms it.

Rockol: Can you tell us the musical references of this song?
Stash: There’s definitely a Prince guitar sound in the verse of the song. There was really a super detailed, almost maniacal research: I wanted to have the guitar sound of Prince’s “Kiss”, but with a nod to the INXS world in general. The bassline remains close to the world of urban funk, including “Italo disco” as a genre.
Perhaps for the top lines, unconsciously, or perhaps consciously from the subconscious point of view, something came out that was a bit reminiscent of “Salirò” by Silvestri, and for us it was a great reference: we also played it at Daniele Silvestri.

Now I don’t remember the words he said, but it was super positive, because our manager has been working with him for twenty years. He gave us the blessing, let’s say. As a sound world, we try to have as many nuances of our sound palette to stay on The Kolors theme, and also confirm a sonic identity, because we are a band and we want to do that stuff.

Rockol: The craziest thing that happened to you here in Sanremo?
Stash: It’s not worth seeing people sleeping outside the hotel, this thing here is not absurd, it has now become normal.
Dario Iaculli: I would say dinner. That we had to leave early.
Stash: Ah yes, we were at Villa Nobel, at a party of many radios. I was out smoking a cigarette with Ghali and Gazzelle. And suddenly, we see the police arriving: “You all need to get out in five minutes.” I immediately thought: “Ok, Fantasanremo definitely, someone must have invented something”. But I saw the state police too involved. So I thought: “The scene is fine, but it’s not like they put twelve police cars to do this thing.” It was actually a real bomb threat.

Rockol: The song from the history of Sanremo that you are particularly fond of?
Stash: In this period I would say “I will go up”, but having already mentioned it I feel like saying “In the blue painted blue” because it is perfection. It’s just perfection in terms of metrics, melody, harmony. All perfect. And then Domenico Modugno’s interpretation was something spatial.

Rockol: You have an important appointment in April.
Stash: I compare it a bit to the milestones of the journey, those points that you want or don’t want mark the before and after in the journey of a life, not just artistic. And for us the Assago Forum, on April 3rd, I’m sure it will be something that will create that pre and post. That structure is a bit of a temple, because you go there to see concerts of a certain level. The last one I saw was Roger Waters. So, not that I want to compare ourselves to him in the slightest, but to make people understand the importance that the Forum has in my life and in general.

Rockol: Will there be other news, an album maybe?
Stash: This year… We don’t know the right time of year yet, but this year I feel like saying yes. Not really with 100% certainty, because you never know, but I feel like saying that this year there will almost certainly be a new album.