Track Talk with My Friend Dario on Senza Estate: Summer Sounds!

Hey everyone, I’m excited to share with you a deep dive into the latest project by the incredibly talented My Friend Dario. His upcoming album, Senza Estate, is more than just a collection of tracks, it’s a journey through the lost summers of his life, a bittersweet blend of nostalgia and hope. Dario, hailing from the sun-soaked island of Sicily, has crafted a soundscape that transports you to sun-drenched shores and warm, starlit nights. It’s personal, it’s dreamy, and it’s something you won’t want to miss. Let’s explore the stories behind the music that defines summer 2024.

“For five years, I worked in a shop six days a week so despite living on a Mediterranean island I could never enjoy these things. Instead, I locked myself in the studio and jotted down the ideas, sensations, melodies and rhythms I had about another lost summer.” – My Friend Dario

We asked My Friend Dario to talk to us in depth about the tracks on Senza Estate.

“Senza Estate – Is a subtle, melancholic scent but full of hope for a summer not yet lived….”
My Friend Dario

KEEP ON CRUISING

Keep on Cruising is MFD’s vision of Lucio Battisti. The intro is like when you place the boat on the shore, and the waves wash over your feet. Midway through the piece, the harmony changes and the strings come in; like in a dream, it’s no longer a boat but a ship out at sea, this is the beginning of the journey.

ZINGARELLA

I created this piece thinking of a dear friend of mine, a flight attendant, always in the air. I liked the idea of a journey from Italy to Brazil. The groove is South American, but the melody is Italian, reminiscent of soundtracks from the ’70s. This time, the percussion is live, not sampled. I love the blend of my guitar with the flutes played by Mario Filetti, one of my old friends with whom I’ve made music for various projects.

SENZA ESTATE

I wrote this track in 2022, just as we were coming out of lockdown. The feeling this track gives me, describes the melancholy but also the hope of a summer to be lived intensely. I played the percussion with a Moog DFAM, the melody theme with a Moog Mother 32, and the bass line with a Novation Bass Station. These are instruments I often use in my productions. The vocals are a special by Daren Obika, which I found in my library among many forgotten vocal tracks.”

MARITTIMO

“Marittimo is a more jazz-funk version with what I consider a post-rock drum beat. I wanted to give a different feel to a track released with Hell Yeah, both the original and the Eddie C remix, which I always play in my DJ sets. The piano is played by Daniele Salamone, keyboardist of Cratere Centrale. Compared to the original version, I added a chord change, with drums by Antonio Calandra, who plays with Club Rivera.”

WHAT YOU NEED

“It’s the love song of my album. I wrote this ballad during a time in my life when I was very much in love. I told Daren Obika, a dear friend and singer, about what I did for her, what I felt for her, how I had changed my life for the better, and how my greatest pleasure was giving her pleasure in every way, in everyday life and when we made love. I was deeply involved; she was a muse for me. Daren immediately wrote the lyrics and recorded them, and the first take was perfect. It’s not easy for me to listen to this song now; it speaks of love, sex, sharing, and complicity. All that remains of a love without love, like Senza Estate, is this song.”

FALO

“Falò is like when you light a fire on the beach at night, and a guitar strums a few chords. You drink a beer; someone is about to find love, someone else is about to lose it, while another person sits alone with their thoughts, staring at the sea. Maybe they want to leave and never come back, imagining a different life far from home. The theme played on the synth makes you feel like you’re in an old Italian movie.

ILL PIANETA PROIBITO

The track’s name comes from a painting in my recording studio, a poster of an old 1950s sci-fi film by Fred McLeod Wilcox. I wanted to create a more dancefloor-oriented track without sacrificing a soundtrack-like melody. I took the groove from an old breakbeat record, where a voice says “computer,” and played over it with a crazy, psychedelic jazz piano that leads into the main break, where a drum solo builds up before the beat kicks back in.

ACID PANORAMA

The idea was to revisit the melody of “My Friend Andrea,” which was also released with Hell Yeah alongside Horn in 2020, and transform it into a track without a beat. It features an acoustic guitar that vaguely resembles “Animals” by Pink Floyd, a piece I’m very attached to. The track was envisioned as the final piece of the album, as if it were the last track of a DJ set at dawn or the first one at sunset.

Thank you and conclusion.

Thank you, My Friend Dario, for taking us through the captivating world of Senza Estate. Each track offers a unique blend of emotions and memories, making this album an unforgettable experience. Don’t miss out on the chance to dive into these summer sounds, buy the album here and let Senza Estate become the soundtrack of your summer. Listen, share, and let the music take you away.

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Kono Vidovic

DJ | MUSIC CURATOR & SELECTOR | PODCAST MAKER | BLOGGER Professional online interpreneur. Coffee practitioner. Electronic music culture maven. Total music guru. Infuriatingly humble problem solver. Food & sports fanatic.

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