Steeplejack
editSteeplejack are an Italian indie rock band formed in 1986 by guitarist/singer/composer Maurizio Curadi: they are considered one of the most important band in the Italian neopsychedelic scene of the eighties.
History
edit“Steeplejack’s music is intense. And also strange. Son of California and Texas, of primitive blues and R’n’R, of folk and psychedelia, and yet not at all confusing in its amalgamation of so many diverse sources of inspiration. The demiurge of this creature so marvellously contorted and visionary is Maurizio Curadi, whose unique handling of shapeless matter springs from an innate talent that manifest itself in his rare ability to transform notes into subliminal messages, intuitions into imaginative polychromes, and creative fervour into art.” This is what Federico Guglielmi of the Italian rock magazine “Mucchio Selvaggio”(“The Wild Bunch”) has written in the inner notes of the anthology “No-one’s Land” (Goodfellas/Spitfire 2011), capturing the essence of Steeplejack, an enigmatic Italian cult band that has always been out of categories. In the sonic language of Maurizio Curadi and Steeplejack – beyond the cliché of the genra – are present diverse echoes: Syd Barrett, Captain Beefheart, 13th Floor Elevators, primitive and minimal blues, John Coltrane, the space, oriental and Mediterranean patterns, the Out There.
Steeplejack was started as one man band in 1986 by Maurizio Curadi after Useless Boys and Birdmen of Alkatraz. The first studio recording (June 1986) was the criptic “High and Shakin’ Trees”, a self-produced master that was not published at the time and that finally appeared as part of the anthology “No-one’s Land” in 2011. Basing in Pisa, Tuscany, Steeplejack debuted on record in 1987 with “Serena Maboose”, an enchanting fresco of acid and visionary R’n’R, followed in 1988 by the “Pow Wow”, a record praised also by the USA magazine Spin, and considered one of the most important Italian psychedelic albums. Others tracks (“Tin Soldier”, “Baby Blue”) appeared on the compilations “Eighties Colours vol.2” (1989) and “Apocalisse di Diamante” (1992). In 1994 Maurizio Curadi collaborated with the Italian theatre ensemble “Infidi Lumi”, recording with Elio Gavarini the music for the performances of “Gerusalemme Liberata” from T. Tasso and Brecht’s “Baal”.
The present line-up of the band includes Maurizio Curadi (guitars and strings, echoes, vocals and various oddities), the bass player Alessandro Tellini and the long-term drummer Elio Gavarini. Balancing between composition and improvisation, form and abstraction, Steeplejack may give their best in their live performances, when Curadi’s visionary songs become raw materials for unpredictable deformations and derailing collective creations. “6 Fishes From Unknown Seas”, a limited edition EP of six personal cover versions, from Barrett to Captain Beefheart, was recorded in 2004. In 2011 “No-one’s Land” was published by Goodfellas: the 2-CD anthology gathers the first two albums remastered from the original tapes, enhanced with never previously heard studio outtakes and live recordings from the period 1986-1990.
Line-up
edit- Maurizio Curadi (guitars & strings, vocals,echoes,various oddities)
- Ale Tellini (bass guitar)
- Elio Gavarini (drums,percussions,sampler)
Discography
edit- Serena Maboose (mini LP Electric Eye, 1987)
- Pow Wow (LP Electric Eye, 1988)
- Tin Soldier (split single b/w Soul Hunter, Electric Eye 1989)
- Apocalisse di Diamante (sampler Toast records, 1992)
- Six Fishes From Unknown Seas (CD AUA 2006)
- No-one’s Land (2CD Goodfellas/Spittle, 2011)
References
edit- Enciclopedia del rock italiano (Arcana ed., 1993)
- Enciclopedia del rock italiano (Arcana ed., 2006)
- “Eighties Colours” by Roberto Calabro’ (Coniglio ed., 2010)
- “In No-one’s Land” by Federico Guglielmi (review included in the booklet of “No-one’s Land”, 2011)