Name: Massimo Silverio
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, composer
Current Release: Massimo Silverio's Hrudja is out via Okum.

If you enjoyed this Massimo Silverio interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I listen to music both ways, without preferences, choosing what comes naturally every time.

Closing your eyes, you voluntarily shut out reality, to see more clearly your personal reaction evoked by the music. It’s about facing your dreams, fantasies, and inner images, surfing in the direction of what you’re listening to. It’s about experiencing your soul with someone’s guidance.

When you listen to music with your eyes open, you’re look at the reality that surrounds you from different angles. A brighter and deeper colour, the perfection of an ignored daily object’s shape. Beauty is everywhere, and music can show it to us.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?  

Headphones are like a three-dimensional whisper, something said straight to the source.

A stereo system can turn any place or object into an instrument, even your body. It’s something capable of making music more physical.   

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

Mezzanine by Massive Attack is an album that surprises me every time I listen to it. The perfect balance between acoustic and electronic timbres, alongside the great songwriting, make this record one that never gets old.



Another one is The Seer by Swans. It’s incredible for me to dive into the depths of this record’s sound.  



Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?  

I love bow instruments, especially the old ones with strings made from horse's hair. Maybe because they remind me of a frail and universal timeless tune never written but sung by everyone through the ages.  

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both?  

The prevaricating sound of huge motorbikes (or powerful engines in general) makes me sick because it imposes itself with such intense violence.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?  

Wood’s movements, caused by temperature, age, or people, are like a lament. This includes floors, ceilings, doors, windows, beams. But also cellars, corridors, empty rooms.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

Once I sang inside a huge dam’s pipe.

It was like singing within a colossal body stuck in the insides of the mountain. My voice became his.  

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

Churches, old, abandoned bunkers from WWI (there are many in Carnia’s mountains), and forests.  

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

It is. It’s about imprinting something so intangible like feelings, memories, or ideas in a tune.

The material dress of this “work” is perfectly explained by the human voice and how it constantly changes through our moods.  When you sing, you’re a tool yourself.

Using other instruments is about using tools. To carve, shape and fix something here.  

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?  

Sound in general is what makes all reality relatively more real, so it’s a pillar in our society.

But again, it's a tool. If you, for instance, create music in spaces and rooms designed for war, like the already mentioned WWI bunkers, but you create a completely different kind of message to the one they were created for, you’re affecting reality in a positive way.

Silence is another sacred pillar, often painful to break.  

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds?  

Every non-human sound is astonishing. The sweetest and the most ferocious; the closest and the farthest; the well-known and the mysterious.   

Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?   

Of course, it’s possible. It happens every time there’s respect between species.

Unfortunately, it’s something that us humans are stupidly forgetting or, most of the time, confusing with something less noble.   

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

Staying away from noisy places and listening to music at a proper volume.  

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

It’s a higher delight and, if you think about the concept of silence, you know that’s something that you can’t reach deeply or naturally. Maybe in the middle of a peaceful snowfall away from humans and animals.

But otherwise, there’s always a tiny sound that sings to you. Maybe your own.  Enjoying the incredible dynamic of universal music in all its ups and downs can be very uplifting.     

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

More relaxed and especially fairer.   

For interested readers, what are books, websites, articles or other sources of information you recommend for them to educate themselves on the topic?  

The most educational way is to listen carefully and deeply to the naturality of Life.