I was first going to meet two brother Francesco (Kekko) and Federico (Kikko). Together they are in a band called Montefiori Cocktail. A Dj friend in Vancouver, Clarence, first turned me on to their music; I picked up their first album on RACCOLTA N. 1 and came to really like their music. I also had the fortune to see them play in London at Club Indigo at Madam Jojo's in Soho a few years ago. What a fabulous night that was. I went up to the brothers after the gig and introduced myself and I was evening speaking some Italian. I am always looking for a chance to speak my broken Italian; attitude and a bit of melodrama are key I find when speaking Italiano. I have known these two gents for a few years now. We have stayed in touch with each other via the intraweb. It has been a few years now since they have played London - times flies can it be over four years already since I first met them?
April 7th, I fly out of London to Bologna. It was a fairly easy going flight. As the flight was coming to an end; I looked out the window and thought is that snow I see on the hills? Sure enough, Italy had been hit by the coldest April in years. There was patches of snow on the ground. My destination was Forli a town near Bologna. I disembarked the plane and bus and train made my way to Forli. I was met at the train station by Federico. We went on a little tour of Forli. One thing that struck me was all these rainbow flags with the "Pace" on them. Pace means peace. This was during the time of the conflict in Iraq.
We drove up to a hotel. And I have to say it was very comfortable charming little place. It was old enough that it had an old style elevator that goes up through the centre of the building with iron doors that you pull shut. Federico commented on the elevator as you don't see ones like these so much. He wanted to go on ride in the elevator with me. We both grinning like we were on a ride at an amusement park as we ascended in the elevator.
We went for a drink in central Forli and had some really fine local red wine. That is one thing about Italy and places like Spain. They will have all kinds of finger food lined up on the bar for you to eat. Suffice to say I nibbled on a few savory pastries and ate some olives as I sipped a glass of wine. It felt good to be in Italy just chilling out.
Kikko took me on a short tour of Forli. We drove me around town and he told about me the peculiarities of the architecture dating back to a recent period of Italian history. Buildings that viewed from above would look like a large M.
We went to then went to the studio. Francesco was there working on the album. The two of them have been working intensely on the album for months and months. This was the moment that I was waiting for a chance to hear some of the new music. Their music is not just kitsch but uber-kitsch. At that time as they were creating an albums worth of material, they were looking for a record label to release the album on. The album has since been released. On every album there has been a lounge music version of a well known TV show or movie theme. They have done Star Trek and they have done a Spaghetti western version of the Star Wars Theme. On this album they have done an adaptation of the theme from the sixties TV show U.F.O.; it is a punchy and taut version that grooves.
We left Francesco in the studio; he has been slaving away on the album; you know how people get in the zone and deeply into their work. I think Francesco was past the zone and somewhere else like the twilight zone (just kidding); he was a man driven; crafting the songs and getting them just right. I know a few songwriters who take a good amount of time crafting their music; like anything creative you want to get it perfect; the creative process... it can drive us a bit crazy but it is worth it. Some of these guys have trouble letting go; they will just keep working on the music without ever releasing it. Not in this case, the Montefiori Cocktail album did come out in 2004.