Not Me But Us

When two very different musicians meet it’s always possible that something magical can happen. This is very much the case with Bruno Bavota (the pianist and composer who records for Temporary Residence and Believe) and Fabrizio Somma (a producer and composer known by the moniker K-Conjog) and their new collaboration, Not Me But Us.

Both born under Vesuvius, the two musicians met on the island of Procida, creating a common song as part of the Capital of Culture events in 2022. The interaction was so natural and playful that it quickly evolved into something much more serious and complex that led the two to work together in the studio for several months.

The result is an album simply titled Two, which will be released by the acclaimed British shoegaze and experimental indie label Sonic Cathedral in 2024. It is a compendium of Bruno and Fabrizio’s influences with echoes of ambient, techno, 2000s club culture, post-classical and vague hints of post-rock. This implies something icy and cold and not particularly ‘fun’, but the great strength of this duo is precisely the balance of an apparently serious sound with something extremely vivid and vital.

On Two, the air of ethereal melancholy contrasts with a palette of bright colours which, in their own way, reflect the environment where the music was born. Naples is a lively city where in recent years anything can happen and most often does, where apparent difficulties turn into new opportunities.

Playing with sounds, existence (and quite often Mario Kart), Not Me But Us is already so much more than just a side-project for Bruno and Fabrizio. It’s a proper band which has its own life not just on record, but also for live experiences.