"And in the end, the love you give is equal to the love you deny". With this laconic sentence of vague Beatlesian memory, Crevasses and Puddles, the first song of Ladybirds, the last album of the Twenty Four Hours, ends. If we think about it for a moment, the value of life has been deeply attacked and diminished in the last three years because the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have shocked us with (thrown in our face) its less acceptable and at the same time more natural aspect, namely death. And as a result, even the role of love has been profoundly downsized, sometimes flattening out by compulsion or, on the contrary, exploding uncontrollably in all its strength; a sort of coincidence of extremes and consequent loss of its enormous power.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hello Twenty Four Hours. What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
The main strength of Twenty Four Hours is not having to live on music. This is the basis of our independence. If you have to compose music that must necessarily be successful, perhaps because you've had it in the past, a very dangerous vicious circle is created, which clips your wings and can take away if not completely nullify your creativity. You become a mercenary, no longer an artist. Sure... it could also be that success never came because our destiny is to remain an underground band for a few close friends; on the Dutch webzine "Progwereld" that you surely know, in 2016, on the occasion of the release of our 5th album Left-To-Live, they wrote that the band would hardly have come out of anonymity, even in the future, except then weave the almost exaggerated praise of our latest work Ladybirds: reading is believing! Anyway yes, not having anyone following us to tell us what to do, what to compose and what songs or lyrics to do, is the greatest advantage for us; I think it's an added value and that we wouldn't exchange for greater wealth or notoriety if this were to limit our freedom. Another great advantage that we Twenty Four Hours have is that we all live very far away (except me and the bass player heh heh heh we get along very well anyway), so we don't have too many occasions to argue or get tired of each other, like in a long-distance marriage, which often works ;-)
Who inspired you to make music?
There are too many, impossible to mention them all! We have such different tastes (and this attitude is common to all members of the band) and eclectic, that naming all influences would become a sterile and futile list. I can name 6 artists who have definitely influenced our sound globally: Genesis, Pink Floyd, John Coltrane, Tuxedomoon, Stereolab, Pino Daniele, king Crimson... ah no, it's 7... oops, EIGHT ;-)
Your latest release is 'Ladybirds'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
During the horrific pandemic, our lives have been severely tested, ruthlessly attacked, placed in grave danger. Maybe we don't realize it anymore, but we've lived truly crazy moments, weeks, months, years, unbelievable! Not to mention the fucking wars!
If we think about it for a moment, the value of life has been deeply attacked and belittled in the last three years as the pandemic and war have slammed their least acceptable and at the same time most natural aspect, namely death, in our faces. And consequently, even the role of love has been profoundly reduced, sometimes flattening out of constriction or, on the contrary, exploding unchecked, in all its strength; a sort of coincidence of opposites and consequent loss of its enormous power. Both must regain the balance and role they had won in the pre-pandemic era; and this new album wants to be a wish in this sense.
Ladybirds is a testimony of all this and also of the efforts made by everyone to leave behind the worst period of humanity since the 2 great wars 1915-1918 and 1939-1945 and since the time of the Spanish pandemic.
Can you shortly describe each of the tracks that are on the album?
No. Excuse me and forgive me a lot, really, but I can't! Please go to bandcamp where you find lyrics and music! Don't take it as an act of presumption or rudeness, but I can understand if a song particularly struck you, then yes.. I'll tell you about it; briefly speaking about each passage would be first of all simplistic and secondly useless for the majority of who will read this interview; I can talk about something that struck you, that interested you, not all the songs without distinction... who might be interested? I see it as a game without stimulation. Sorry again!
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest musical trends?
Listening to everything, but really! I read many music magazines: our fantastic Italian ones: Rockerilla, Rumore, Ondarock, Blow Up and then also foreign ones like Pitchfork or more rarely Rolling Stones. Then I write for a HI-FI and music magazine, so I always have to be up to date in both Rock and Classical and Jazz.
What makes you different from others?
I believe nothing...
Maybe just the distance of the members and the fact that unfortunately we can't do concerts. This is a big and irreparable handycap. We only meet to compose new stuff and record; but when it happens it's beautiful! Yes we are an abnormal band ;-)
What’s an average day like for you?
I work in the hospital as an oncologist, so it's a beautiful and challenging thing, but sometimes it becomes hell!
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
Lately with Facebook and Instagram, but we also use other platforms like Bandcamp, Wix, YouTube, Wikipedia. Unfortunately the best means, that is to give concerts, is impossible for us; we all work and we are very far away, more than a thousand kilometers between Bari and Turin for example
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
I really don't think, given the results in terms of Audience, that I can give advice to anyone: indeed perhaps yes... if you want success DON'T BE LIKE US ha ha ha !!!
What are your plans for the future?
Playing, playing and playing again, having fun and always looking for even more eclectic and multifaceted music than the one made so far. Twenty Four Hours is a crazy project that very few understand and appreciate; but if they listen to "That Old House" or "Crevasses and Puddles" or "Ground # -3" or even "Adrian" they are amazed; but then everyone forgets about us; it is very, too frustrating! It all depends on the fact that we don't do concerts: if we did we'd be followed a lot more because we're fucking pain in the ass and we like to provoke...