Nachdem wir uns bereits im Januar intensiv mit der Welt vom Album Challenger beschäftigt haben, ist Luca Fogale mit seinem neuen Material nun auch live in Europa zu erleben. Während seiner aktuellen Tour hat er sich Zeit genommen, um über die Reise hinter dem Album zu sprechen und darüber, wie sich seine Songs auf der Bühne zu einem großen Ganzen zusammensetzen.
Im Gespräch wird deutlich, wie eng Kunst und Identität bei ihm miteinander verwoben sind und dass Musik für ihn vor allem eines bleibt: ein Ausdruck von Dankbarkeit und ehrlicher Auseinandersetzung mit sich selbst.
Luca Fogale im Interview
Thank you so much for coming.
My pleasure.
First of all, how are you? How has Europe treated you so far?
It’s been great, always great. It was my first time in Scandinavia. We had three shows in Scandinavia, and I’ve always wanted to go there. But to be back here in Germany feels really familiar, so I’m having a great time.
That’s great to hear! So, who have you been listening to a lot lately on the road?
The record I’ve been listening to the most lately is, it’s an old record, Donny Hathaway – Live At The Bitter End. It’s a live set from the early 70s. And the other album I’ve been listening to is Rosalía’s album Lux. It’s creative beyond belief.
Do you feel inspired by these albums? Or is there anything else you’re currently inspired by, musically or beyond?
I’m mostly in awe of these albums. When I listen to music, I’m usually just a fan. So I don’t listen to a lot of music in my genre. The music I make sort of just feels like it – it doesn’t really get influenced by anything, it’s sort of just my music in a strange way, if that makes sense.
Yes, it does.
People are always surprised by what music I listen to because I don’t listen to, you know, I get called indie-folk or contemporary, and I don’t listen to that kind of music (laughs).
Any particular reason why you don’t listen to this kind of music?
I don’t think so (laughs).
Speaking of music, you released some new music at the beginning of this year. Congratulations, first of all, it’s a very beautiful collection of songs. The title track Challenger had been with you for about five years – what made it take so long to release? And at what point did you feel the song was finally finished and that this album was the right place for it?
The older I get, the closer I got to what the idea represented for me, which was someone who is deconstructing themself, sort of taking a step back from who they are and wondering what it was that made them that way, you know, wondering what shapes us into the people that we are. And thinking about what we want to leave behind and what we want to carry forward.
And so, the older I get, the more I think about how I show up in this world, what I contribute to it, and how much influence I can have over that, how much care I can have over that. I feel like we’re all nudging this world in a direction, every one of us has their own little tiny influence on it and so I am thinking a lot about my place in this world. I think it’s just a symptom of getting older and wanting not to get caught in patterns that aren’t serving myself or anyone else.
So with getting older, this realization came and you felt like the track found its place?
Yeah, absolutely.
„It feels purposeful“
Talking about finding your place, finding who you are – you seem like a very calm and grounded person in conversation. Do you think that translates into your songs? Or would you say your artistic expression is different from how you come across as a person?
Well, I think that music occupies a large part of my life and also a large part of my identity. Obviously, I am a person outside of my music, but I’ve noticed the longer I spend in this career, the more fused my identity is with my music.
So, when I think of myself – what do I think of when I think of myself? I think about music, mostly. But of course I have my bad days. I think I am becoming more one thing with this project in an interesting way. I’ve heard it recommended a few times that being a professional in the arts – you want to separate yourself from your art so that no matter how another person feels about what you do, it doesn’t have to represent everything that you are, it doesn’t have to impact your identity.
Not on purpose, but I’ve gone the other direction, and I’ve gotten so close to who I am in a song, who I am on stage. And getting closer to that, it does feel a little bit vulnerable. There is less room for error, I think.
So I think that the way I am in life and the way I am in music are quite close in that sense. It’s a product of spending so much time thinking about all these songs and about these shows. And also recognizing the gift I am given by having people’s attention, which is so special and so sacred. So I am wanting to honor that by paying really close attention. There is a lot to think about, obviously, but it feels good, it feels purposeful.
I can see how it’s difficult to keep these two apart, but I think it’s important that you’re not one hundred percent the same because that is impossible.
Your whole life would be a performance, yes.
Besides the calmness – are there other states or emotions that you bring into your songs or that you find yourself returning to in your songwriting?
I think I am trying to reflect gratitude and hope more lately. It also feels real and honest to represent anger and hurt and frustration, kind of the full spectrum of who we are as people. I am trying to lean further into – and I talk about this in the show – sort of the brighter emotions in life. I don’t see myself ever making an album of songs that feel purely positive because I don’t expect, but I also don’t want my life to be that way. I feel like the spectrum is getting a bit more dynamic.
„It’s so beautiful to share something with people“
That is sort of where my next question comes in…
These are excellent questions, by the way!
Thank you so much. So, comparing Challenger and Run Where The Light Calls, what would you say has changed or evolved in your sound or perspective? Does that have to do with what you just said – the spectrum getting broader?
Yeah, I think so. RWTLC felt or feels a bit more lost, a bit more desperate.
I feel like I am slowly becoming more confident in expressing the ideas that I have. I’ve spent a lot of my writing expressing questions. There are a lot of open-ended questions in my music that I don’t think ever conclude, but I am finding more answers in songs now, which in some ways are answers to the questions I used to have, too.
Challenger feels more of a complete thought, a bit of a closed loop. When I finished writing it, I had the lyrics in my notebook, and when I looked at all of them, it felt like it made sense as a story. And that was really special. So I think that’s where they’re different. RWTLC feels a lot more open-ended. Challenger is a loop that’s closed, it’s circular.
That’s what it felt like to me too when I listened to it. So now you’re performing the album live for the first time, and yesterday was the first show with a band. Is there a reason why you’re bringing a band now? How does touring and being on stage with a band differ from performing solo for you?
They are very, very different. So I’ve fallen in love with touring with these guys and the band. It’s so much more restorative and energizing to be able to share everything with other people, in the same way as friendships, family, and relationships. It’s so beautiful to share something with people. And that’s what we do here, too.
There is always gonna be a part of me that wants to tour solo because it’s such a different experience. Being one with an audience – that’s all that the show is. It’s sort of one dialogue. Having these shows in Scandinavia solo reminded me of that. We did some small album listening shows in Vancouver, and it was really cool, really emotional, and very special.
In the most simple way, it feels like a one-on-one conversation with an audience. Everyone is an individual in the audience. For me, here with the band show, it feels like we are all in the same room together. It feels like a collective experience versus the individual experience. This I could do forever with the band. I could go all year. There is a certain amount of solo touring that I can do before I get a bit too far into myself, I sort of start to collapse. Because I am not just alone on the stage, I’ll be alone in the hotel, on the drives. So it’s a big shift to have company – the best company – here.
So in the most simple sense, it’s an individual experience versus a collective experience, which is why this can feel so sustainable.I love traveling the world with these guys, it’s so amazing.
Also, when you’re on stage with a band, your songs are closer to what they are on the album than when you perform solo. So far, we heard an alternate version of “Horizon” – can we expect more alternate or acoustic versions of your songs from Challenger in the future?
Yes. Thanks for asking.
Do you think your relationship to performing live has changed over time with the albums or in general?
It must have. That is a great question.
I think so. I feel like singer-songwriter music is inherently honest because it’s just one person singing. Nothing to hide behind. I think the music is the music, and that’s one thing. I play the songs that I’ve written, and I feel more and more comfortable playing them.
But I think the dialogue has changed a lot – what I say in between songs. I think about that just as much as I think about the songs because I want it to feel like a holistic experience.
Like I really love film, I love theater. And mostly what I love about that is that there is typically an unbroken line of a story. I think what I used to do at shows was try to lighten things up in between songs, lighten the mood and take the tension off if I thought I was falling too deep into the melancholy of the songs.
Whereas now, because of my catalogue changing a bit, I don’t ever want someone to be pulled out of the experience of the music. So when I think about the show now, I think about how far can we go together? I think it’s important to be expressing oneself to an audience in between the songs, I think it’s a very important part. But my fear is that I don’t want to lose anybody.
Let’s say someone drops a bottle, the audience gets pulled out of the show. What I want is – well, you have to be in the film. Like you’re really watching it and you never feel as though the line gets broken. So in a perfect world, there’d be staging and more lighting; sort of what we do in North America with bigger shows. Obviously, we have to take a smaller version here. But to give the audience that unbroken experience of one story. That is what I am trying to build. I am trying to take care of the songs and the dialogue in a way that it feels as though they are one piece.
Because musicians are always storytellers, right?
For sure.
Where would you want to tell your story then? Is there a venue or festival you would particularly love to play at one day?
I don’t think so. I am happy about everything. I love it all.
And the last question – if you weren’t making music today, what do you think you would be doing instead?
I think about that a lot. First of all, if I wasn’t playing music, I would find another way to express the same ideas. I always thought of writing as very pure. Any kind of authorship, writing a novel or something. But if I wasn’t working in music, I think I would want a job that was outside. I fantasize about being an arborist. Yes, something outdoors. I think I am understanding how special it is to be outside a lot. So I am trying to do that more regularly, but I spend a lot of time indoors with music. In the studios, writing at home, touring – you’re in a van, you’re in a hotel, or in a theater. Always inside. And I think the opposite is attractive to me.
Well, thank you so much for taking the time.
These were wonderful questions.
Thank you again. Very kind. I am super excited for the show, and it was lovely to meet you.
Hier könnt ihr „Challenger“ von Luca Fogale hören:
Fotos: Raunie Baker, Brandon Artis
