Pitchtorch – “Pitchtorch”

Pitchtorch, an alt-folk trio with members of The Gutbuckets, Guano Padano and The Vickers, will release self-titled debut album on September, 20th 2019

“Pitchtorch is the ideal fusion of two words– pitchfork and pitch torch – and represents music as a light that can guide you through these dark times, not just musically speaking. Pitchtorch is a tuning fork but it’s also a lantern that marks the path to be taken”.

A tuning fork, a torch that radiates bright sounds. This is in the Pitchtorch logo, made by Nazario Graziano. Pitchtorch is the new project that “tunes” together, for the first time, three musicians – based between Florence and Milan – with relevant and different experiences: guitarist, composer and session player Mario Evangelista (The Gutbuckets, as well as author of music fort short films and commercials), bassist and double bass player Danilo Gallo (Guano Padano) and drummer Marco Biagiotti (The Vickers).

“I wanted to set up a band free to play, able to handle the most disparate influences. I listen to every kind of music – having graduated in Musicology and being an omnivorous musician. I chose to work with Danilo and Marco for this reason: Danilo appreciates both punk and free jazz, Marco deals safely with various musical situations. Both of them pay much attention to the sound, a fundamental component for me” (Mario Evangelista)

So, the three musicians put their respective backgrounds in a new common creature, at its firt self-titled album, Pitchtorch, to be released on September, 20th 2019 – a self-production with IRD distribution – and anticipated by the confessional single Not On Sunday. Acoustic and electric strings, banjo, mandolin, piano, harmonium, percussion and electronic effects contribuite to outline a sound design with warm colors, made of Americana, folk, psychedelia and improvisation. Among the main references, there are songwriters such as Bert Jansch, Nick Drake and Ry Cooder, the blues music of the origins and Celtic music, The Allman Brothers Band, Calexico and Wilco. But also classical, jazz and post-rock influences, or the Beatles vintage pop.

In the tracklist there are eight tracks, divided into three instrumental episodes (the programmatic Pitchtorch, Seashore and Actually Is Fading) and five proper songs (Perfectly In Tune, the already mentioned Not On Sunday, the articulated and cinematic Pictures Are Going Wild accompanied by the splendid video-short film directed by Erika Errante, Dear Old Seagull and Between You And Me), although the distinction is not clear-cut: “All tracks are conceived as songs, but some of them are simply textless because they don’t need them. When they are there, the lyrics on the opposite side evoke cinematographic images, almost if they were instrumental themes”.

nticipated by the extended and single cinematic A accompanied by the splendid short video directed by Erika Errante

The songs, written and produced by Evangelista, were arranged by the band in collaboration with Antonio Castiello, who also recorded, mixed and mastered the album with Aldo De Sanctis at the Jambona Lab Studio di Cascina (Pisa), between May and June of 2018.

The record is made more precious by the wonderful artwork realized by Ver Eversum, available in two versions: digipack CD, including booklet, or folding poster with coupon for digital download. We’re talking about a welcoming and traditional artwork, yet prodigal of mysterious elements: an authentic Wunderkammer, populated by some animal figures that – in the midst of unnatural solid forms, contrasting forces of gravity and pseudo-alchemical symbols – discover Pitchtorch’s light energy!

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