Welcome to Tune Hear!

This is a weekly series to be hosted by Prepared Guitar. It is my hope that the

following information would not only highlight the artist, their techniques, and their
musical endeavors, but also cause others to reach for their own goals in a realistic
way. It is my hope that this will be an international site where guitarists worldwide
would not only have the opportunity to listen but also be motivated and inspired to
follow their dreams. With that being said, lets begin!

Let me introduce Joel Gilardini from Zurich, Switzerland.

Q: What led you to choose the guitar for your own musical expression?

A: I think, it was more a matter of chaos and random choices. As a child I first took
some piano lessons but after 2 weeks I got fed up. Then years after I wanted to play
the trumpet, so I started going at the philharmonic orchestra of the village I used to
live, but after months spent only on solfeggio (without never touching an
instrument) I quitted that too. Eventually when I was 13, my parents brought me my
first guitar, and from then on I slowly got addicted to the instrument.

Q: Was there a particular guitarist, other musician, movie, art, sound, life event that
caused you to hear music differently?

A: I could list many of them... When I started playing guitar my main heros where
Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. Then I went into new/alternative metal
stuff like Deftones and Soulfly, but also alternative rock and some first hints of
electronic music. With 19 I moved to Zurich, and by then I started to expand my
musical knowledge. I went to a lot of concerts in squats, where you could listen to
any kind of bands ranging from punk, metal, noise, but also indie and stuff like
electronic and dub, sometimes rap too.

Bands and musicians like David Sylvian, Japan, Killing Joke, Sigillum S, Eraldo
Bernocchi, Bill Laswell, Nik Brtsch's Ronin, Crisis, Ephel Duath, Isis, Eivind Aarset,
Markus Reuter and Einsturzenden Neubauten are some of which pushed me to
listen, play and think differently about music.

Sometimes I tend more to appreciate and listen to musicians who don't play guitar,
like for example trumpet players like Toshinori Kondo or Nils Petter Molvaer or
looking/listening how drummers play their kits, in a way to me it is more inspiring to
listen to a different kind of instrument and its own voice.

Q: What specifically about that appealed to you?

A: They showed me that different ways of playing and experimenting with music are
possible and that there aren't any limits to one own creativity. And that the main
point about music is trying to move people emotions, it is a continuous path, which
brings you to new places and discoveries in terms of sounds and inner feelings too.

Q: As you were trying to find your way, were there particular sounds or gear that
helped you to achieve your sound?

A: A main problem I have to deal with is that I'm lefthanded. So, since it is quite
difficult to find lefthanded guitars, at some point I started to concentrate more on
guitar effects, pedals, and experimenting with sounds. Which resulted in this way
and attitude to work with sounds and textures. I always like when my guitar starts
to sound no more like a guitar. Sometimes you might think it's a synth, but the main
sound generator in my chain is a guitar, which I treat using different stompboxes
and effects. That's how I see sometimes guitars: sound generators, like, lets say, a
synth's VCO or LFO.

I use extended range guitars, especially 7 strings and/or baritones. With the time I
started to love down-tunings and got addicted to the low frequencies side. When I
switched to the 7 strings I liked how the added string gave me a new perspective to
work on the instrument too. You can play more on a vertical way and achieve these
extended voicings, which sometimes reminds the range of a chord played on a
piano.

4 years ago I started to experiment with live-looping and loopers. This has also
become one of the many ways I use to created music. My live-looping sets are fully
improvised. I love to play this way, because you know where you start, but you can't
predict which directions things will take. The only thing I prepare for these sets is
the setup I'll use, so that depending on the situation I have to play or on the mood, I
use selected sounds.

Times to times I like also to use other instruments like mini/toy synths (Monotrons,
Volca, Nebulophone, etc...) or also this Dronin, which is a kind of archaic
instrument built by Massimo Olla (of Noisedelik https://soundcloud.com/noisedelik).
It has 3 strings, 2 springs and a piezo pickup, pretty limited you might think, but you
can use it in many many ways, and treated with effects it's wonderful!

http://youtu.be/Ry0j9LqUggY

Q: Can you give an example of your work where it (pedal or technique)is being
utilized?

A: This is an example of a live-looping set using treated guitars and the dronin.

http://youtu.be/554bFrs0KaA

Q: How have you been able to build upon those early experiences to what youre
doing now?

A: A constant will to experiment, try new ways und push the limits. Sometimes
things also happens by them self alone, unexpectedly! Of course you need a lot of
passion, never give up and stay on the ball.

Music has this human aspect which is really important, too. Thru music I was able to
meet and knew people and musicians, I would never have the opportunity to
without it. And this also pushes me to go on.

Q: Lets take a moment to highlight some of your current work.

A: At the moment I have 3 projects running in parallel.

The first is The Land Of the Snow, which is a one-man-band and a state of mind, it's
based on treated guitars and drum programming. Basically it is a kind of
experimental jazzcore metal that I'm playing on this project, with post-rock and
doom metal shades too, but since TLTOS it's myself, it's open to every kind of
experimentations. With this project I'm working a lot on odds structures and
metrics, and also on feelings and emotions. With the time TLTOS to me became not
only a medium to explore music, but it's also a medium to seek and develop one's
inner-self. In 2012 I started a collaboration with visual artist Petulia Mattioli
(http://petuliamattioli.com/), which resulted in 2 peculiar music videos.

http://vimeo.com/52922050

In 2013 I released my first EP Belonging To Nowhere, which features 3 songs and

also both Petulia's video. Its artwork was created by Karyn Crisis (former Crisis and
Ephel Duath singer, http://karyncrisis.net), and its was mixed and mastered by Andi
Pupato (Nik Brtsch's Ronin, Colin Edwin's Twinscapes, Mich Berger,
http://www.andipupato.com/). So at end this EP turned out to be a kind of artistic
collective!

http://thelandofthesnow.bandcamp.com/album/belonging-to-nowhere

For 2015 I have in plan 2 new releases for TLTOS, these are 2 collaborations with
friends from Italy, the first will be a noise/drone album with Sshe Retina Stimulants
(http://colloidalsemantika.blogspot.com/) and the second an ambient album with
Mingle (http://andreagastaldello.blogspot.it/).

Second we have Mulo Muto a noise/industrial/doom project: MM is a 2 headed

monster created and (un)directed by myself (treated guitars, loops, noises) and
Attila Folklor (synths, noises, loops, percussions). MM is a ritual trip inside your
worst nightmares and an unpredictable mix of doomed noises! We started this
project in May 2013. At the beginning Attila was playing drums, so it was more
doom metal oriented music with grafts of ambient and noise. Everything was (and
still is) fully improvised, as we want to keep things always fresh and unpredictable.

http://mulomuto.bandcamp.com/album/distorted-rituals

After one year we decided to leave the metal-driven part to concentrate only on the
noise/industrial side, so that now MM music is based only on treated guitars, synths
and loops. Which is a big plus because now everything is more unpredictable than
ever, and also more dynamic.

http://mulomuto.bandcamp.com/album/gutting-pieces

At the end of December we released a new split tape with BETA

(https://www.facebook.com/vibesofbeta) on Old Bicycles Records
(http://oldbicyclerecords.bandcamp.com/), and now we are looking and planning
new releases and live shows.

I play also ambient sets, based on treated guitars and loops. With this setup I play
since 3 years on a regular basis in Zurich clubs as an opening act for Nik Brtsch's
Ronin (http://www.nikbaertsch.com/ronin/), who are playing gigs in Zurich clubs
every Monday, since 10 years now!

https://soundcloud.com/jgilardini-music/sets/exil_loops

Actually I always found important to have so many different projects, because it

gives me the opportunity to experiment and develop my playing stile on a broader
palette of genres.
Q: Is there a sound youre still trying to achieve or are you satisfied with where you
are now sonically?

A: At the moment I think I'm really satisfied with my sonic/noisy tools. Actually lately
I sold a lot of stuff which was superfluous or I barely no more used, so that I've kept
only the main core pedals. I keep always my setup really flexible, adapting it to the
situation and the sounds I need. Lately I started to minimize my live setups, the less
you have at your feet the more you can concentrate on the sounds and playing
dynamics.

Q: What can we expect to hear from you in the future?

A: For 2015 I have 2 The Land Of the Snow releases to come out. Both are
collaborations. The first will be together with Sshe Retina Stimulants (aka Paolo
Bandera of Sigillum S) and will come out soon on the american label BloodLust
Records.

https://soundcloud.com/jgilardini-music/sshe-retina-stimulants-the-land-of-the-snow-
preview

The second collaboration is with Andrea Gastaldello aka Mingle. But the schedule for
this work is still open, I suppose during the second half this year.

https://soundcloud.com/jgilardini-music/mingle-the-land-of-the-snow-preview

With Mulo Muto, as I already said, we are also planning some new releases and
splits.

Otherwise, if you happen to be in Zurich on a Monday evening, you should find me

playing at the Exil Club.

Q: If readers are interested in checking out your work further, where can we direct
them?

A: I have a few links to redirect you to my works. First there is:

http://joelgilardini.wordpress.com

which is the main base, here you'll find infos about all my projects, concert
schedules, discography, and so on...

Soundcloud is also a good link to follow me, since normally I upload new sounds
almost every week (i.e. parts from the live-looping sets I play on Mondays and parts
from Mulo Muto's sessions). http://soundcloud.com/jgilardini-music

For the videos you'll find an account on youtube too:

http://www.youtube.com/user/joelgilardini

Then if you want to know/listen more about The Land Of The Snow and Mulo Muto, I
can suggest you these 2 links:
http://thelandofthesnow.bandcamp.com/

http://mulomuto.bandcamp.com/

Of course you can follow everything on facebook too.

Thank you very much for your time and participation in Tune Hear.

In closing, one final fun question:

Q: If you had an opportunity to ask any guitar player a question, who would it be
and what would you ask?

A: Nice difficult question! Mh... let me think... Maybe I'll ask Geordie Walker of Killing
Joke if he wants to take a coffee and talk about the weather... eheheh ;) I don't
know, actually I was thinking more about musicians who don't play guitar! It would
be cool to have a chat with Bill Laswell, he is just brilliant and all his work is just
impressive, in terms of quality and numbers too! Or to go back to a guitar player
(but not only): Teho Teardo. He is a brilliant Italian musician.