Lucio Barbarino – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

Lucio Barbarino – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: I know when pitching it helps to tell someone it’s “this meets that.” So let’s try that with you. If you had to give me two bands that meet each other in your sound, what are those bands? More than two bands?

LB: Well, just a few months ago I played a show and someone came up to me and described me as R.E.M. meets the The Rolling Stones. I’ll take it! (laughs). But really, I am a very casual fan of those two bands and I definitely would not call them major influences. Honestly the two bands that I think have had the most direct influence on my songwriting and playing are The Beatles and Dave Matthews Band. The Beatles have been an influence from a very young age. I remember hearing She Loves You for the first time (I think) in my Aunt’s car on a family trip. I was just mesmerized by the catchiness, the harmonies, the groove. Since then I probably haven’t gone a week in my life without listening to or playing a Beatles song, and certainly not a month! In high school I latched onto DMB pretty hard. I think Dave is such an influential and unique guitarist and songwriter, and at some point around the age of 20 I basically could have stood in for Dave in concert, I knew the songs so well. (Laughs) I think if you are being a totally authentic songwriter and truly embodying your most honest expression, your influences will just naturally rise to the top. They have to! So if I had to name 2 bands that mixed together would form something like my sound, I’d say it would be the Beatles and DMB. If you wanted to hone in on the Lucio algorithm a little deeper you could pepper in some Eagles, Gram Parsons, and more generally, classic country.

RRX: We let it out differently when we play music. The happy, sad, good and back; it can all be put out musically. Overall, do you feel better when you sing about the better times, or the worser times? Is there a difference you can describe?

LB: I have often described my music as “dark.” I don’t know this for a fact, of course, but I often feel that people who have casually heard my music are surprised to hear me say this. I think that with a casual listen, “dark” might not be the first word that would come to mind to describe my music. But there is definitely a bit of an undercurrent of heartbreak and sadness if you listen a deeper under the surface. I have always been more creatively driven by these types of emotions than I have by the “good times.” Breakups and resentment are the things I thrive off of. (Laughs) Part of me hesitates to even say this, because my self-critical and second-guessing mind worries that someone may read this and think “oh geez, that sounds like depressing music.” But really, it’s not. It’s also filled with hope and humor and self reflection and childlike wonder. I guess I could put it in another way: for me, personally, as a creative person, if life is going great, I’m happy, I’m in love, whatever, I will want to be living in that world. I don’t really feel a need to write music about it. Does that make sense? My creativity and songwriting is an outlet, so if everything is going great (which is rare) I don’t have as much of a need for that outlet. That’s not to say I haven’t written happy love songs, as I most certainly have! I would just say that it’s not my usual modus operandi in terms of songwriting.

RRX: What instrument would you add to the band if you could? Is there anything you are trying to do musically that would be helped with one or more additional players?

LB: Full orchestra, of course! I kid. But really my dream band would probably consist of myself on (mostly) rhythm guitar, a bassist, drummer, and cellist or violinist. I just love the sound of a well-placed violin or cello when placed in a rock/pop song. I think the violin family of instruments sonically just work so well at filling in the texture/mood of a song. My album The Blue Evenings features some violin and cello and I generally use those instruments to add harmony or accentuate a melody. By doing so you can really strengthen a feeling or emotion you’re trying to elicit or convey. Also, in a purely sonic sense I think it’s just a lovely counterpoint to the combination of human voice and guitar.

RRX: Every band has a song that they really thought was going to be popular, but it wasn’t. What was that song for you? Did you have a song become popular that you didn’t expect?

LB: Well, speaking in a microcosmic sense, I have several songs that are popular. My song Wasteland is a fan favorite, as is Coal Black Coffee, both off my newest album The Blue Evenings. Unfortunately, so far, I wouldn’t say I have any songs that are popular in a more… anywhere approaching global, or even regional, sense. (Laughs) I do think I have many songs with potential to be big hits. I do often say that Wasteland would be my radio hit. It’s very groovy and infectious, and has an… edge of cynicism about it that I think strikes a chord (no pun intended) with people. It was definitely a personal “breakup song” and people have found it relatable on that level.

RRX: Would you rather have one of your songs blow up and make you a one-hit wonder and household name, or would you rather have all your songs be solidly received, but no chart-climbers? (You have to pick one or the other here.)

LB: I’d really have to choose the latter. I mean what is the point of having just one song blow up if people are only aware of that song and don’t delve any deeper into what you have to offer? I consider myself a pretty multi-faceted songwriter and would hate to have people only see me from one angle. I can have one song straight out of 50’s rockabilly, another that is very Beatles, another that has a more modern sensibility. I want to give people all of that. And although the $ that would come along with a one-hit wonder song would be nice, that’s not really what I’m in this for. Nor is it to become famous. I do this because I have things I want to say… no, I have to say, and I don’t feel I can (or want to) do that all in a single song.

RRX: It’s a lot of fun living in the present, but we all collect memories and give birth to dreams. We’re talking dreams here. Where you see yourself next year? In the next five years?

LB: Well, if you had asked me about 6 months ago my answer probably would have been a little different. Initially, when I moved to the Capital Region, my plan was to hit the ground running and form a band ASAP. Since then, I have jammed with some people but nothing has really clicked. Lately though I’ve decided to put that idea on hold and playing solo shows and meeting people organically. I am confident that other musicians will hear my music and be drawn to it, and see the potential (for a band) in it. So my goal is to let that happen organically, and over the next 5 years my dream is to have garner a real, genuine following of people who appreciate great songs. My dream is is really rather humble, eh?

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