Dear readers, we are pleased to offer you in this article an interview with an Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist with Progressive sounds contaminated by the Canterbury Scene. We welcome Federico Fantacone of the Orcheste Celesti project.
Hi, Federico how are you?
“Fine, Jacopo, thanks to you and PRJ for the invitation!“
You are an eclectic composer and multi-instrumentalist, how did your passion for music start?
“You said it right, mine is a passion for all music, beyond genres. It comes from many stimuli: listening to the minimal music composed for piano by my uncle, a very creative non-professional musician… classical music commented in middle school by the music teacher (music in Italy is formally studied only in middle school, it seems incredible…)… vinyls exchanged with friends of bands that seemed “strange” but were shocking for their originality and technique, especially Genesis and EL&P… So I got my hands on the first keyboards after a few music lessons and basically immediately I started playing in more or less improvised bands in high school… Studies that I resumed more seriously later… I have always alternated periods of study and periods of self-learning.“
You started the project Orchestre Celesti, what is the meaning of this name and how did you create the band?
“I read somewhere that a practice called “Orchestre Celesti” (roughly translated into Italian) was disappearing in the Far East: large flocks of birds were trained to describe evolutions in the sky, small flutes of various sizes were applied to the legs of the birds and therefore capable of producing different notes. During the flight the wind entered the “flutes” and
therefore the flocks of birds played like an instrument, like an orchestra…. Exactly, Orchestre Celesti. It seemed to me the most suitable name for the solo project that I started in 2007 when life events made it increasingly difficult to play in real bands. I wanted to compose and produce mainly instrumental music with an orchestral approach, inspired not only by Prog but also by New Age, Ambient, Electronic, Canterbury and last but not least, the soundtracks of films or television series.“
You play Progressive Rock contaminated by sounds reminiscent of the Canterbury Scene, how did your passion for these sounds come about?
“I have been fascinating for a long time by the fact that the Canterbury “School” combines great compositions, technique, experimentation with irony and extravagance, in music as in lyrics. Henry Cow, Caravan, Hatfield and the North, National Health are my favorites. But also in Italy there is an important tradition of musicians who keep the Canterbury approach alive, I think for example of Homunculus Res… A bit of Canterbury is often found in my music but I also definitively dedicated to that style an entire 30-minute album, an extended EP, called The Big Carrot“
The new album “Cornwall!” was released in January 2024, how would you describe this laovor?
“The inspiration for Cornwall is driven by the need to integrate jazz, prog and folk for “telling” stories and legends of Cornwall: tales of freedom, epic battles and sieges, heroes and heroines, Phoenician and Celtic ancestry, hard work in the mine, but also beautiful romantic literature. Dominant instruments: Bagpipes, Canterbury organ, Harp, Harmonium,
rare Flutes, Pianos. Once again, a completely different concept and sound than the previous album, “Anarchy”: here the idea was to have a contemporary jazz quartet playing together with a folk ensemble influenced by the Canterbury sound…“
Long, elaborate and intense tracks, how does the creative process of your music take place?
“The initial ideas come from two different sources: improvisation or study. I immediately capture these ideas by recording them and developing them roughly, then I leave them to “decant”. After about a year I usually have a sufficient number of recordings, then I take and re-listen them one by one and I develop completely those that I still like, “curving” them on the concept that I have chosen for the new album: for example, for the next album I am thinking of an imaginary film on the dramatic historical, revolutionary and bloody experience known as “La Commune de Paris”, around 1870, so the related imaginary soundtrack will develop the ideas in a dramatic sense and with a French mood in the sounds and harmonies…“
Being the only artist on the album, will there be a chance to hear your music live or is it just a studio project?
“For now it remains a studio project, it is more compatible with my life, it allows me to take advantage of “time snippets” of 10-15 minutes! Even if years ago I brought my solo project live, on a couple of occasions and it didn’t go badly at all! It all worked out!“
You have released several albums since 2007, how has your sound evolved over the years?
“All started with albums that combined 70s Prog and New Age, such as “Compi La Tua Magia” and “Black & Red”, then to become more strictly Prog and Neo-prog in albums such as “Transition Of Power” and Quattro”, finally the sound was progressively contaminated by jazz, electronics and soundtrack composition, maintaining a prog matrix but less “orthodox”, up to “Anarchy” and “Cornwall!”
Given your experience, what advice would you give to young artists approaching music in a more elaborate genre such as yours?
“My humble suggestion to the “not-easy-listening” young musicians is to study continuously, even using the numerous video courses that can be found online and that have revolutionized the way of learning harmony and composition, making it less expensive and more practical. From there will come not only the improvement of musical culture and
technique, but also the quality of their original compositions. And then, trivially, but not too much, listen to everything and continually look for new artists, and have unexpected experiences. In all genres today there are truly original and
niche artists.“
Music is constantly evolving, how do you see today’s scene both in your country and in the world in general?
“In the world the scene is really constantly evolving, also prog is made to evolve in an increasingly hybrid sense (a bit like it happens for me) by very “fresh” and highly skilled young bands, capable of interesting contaminations, I think of Meer from Norway for example, who were in Italy at the 2024 Veruno/Revislate Prog Festival, which every year in addition to the sacred monsters proposes new non-conventional bands. This also happens in Italy, where however there is a tendency to reason schematically, especially in the world of Prog enthusiasts (“but is this Prog or not? And how much is Prog? etc.) and this in my opinion limits musical imagination and makes new productions (which are in any case few, for reasons of cost and cost/benefit ratio) voluntarily or involuntarily derivative.“
Do you have any other artistic activities or passions outside music?
“I have been producing a podcast for 4 years on Learning and Learning Innovation, and I am a binge watcher of TV series!“
I thank Federico for the interview, wishing him all the best for the continuation of his artistic career.
Read our Review of the new album “Cornwall!” here: [Review] Orchestre Celesti – Cornwall!
