Italy-based multi-instrumentalist musician Federico Calandra, aka Virus expresses his emotions through music. With having experience playing with bands, Federico Calandra has collaborated as a producer and is now a brilliant emerging artist.
See our exclusive interview with him below:
If someone has never heard your music, which keywords would you personally use to describe your overall sound and style?
I think the words that best suit my music are Calm, impetuous, loud and dreamy
Tell us about yourself. How did you get into music?
I started playing the guitar when I was very young, watching Brian May of Queen on TV and thinking “Okay, I want to play too.” In those years, my parents bought me my first guitar. From that moment, began a passion that has accompanied me for 15 years now
When you compose and produce tracks, do you make music for yourself or do you make it with others in mind?
I always compose music thinking about my emotions with the aim of making as many people as possible understand what I am experiencing while I compose. When composing I often think of people, landscapes and the weather. In this time of quarantine, I often think of my girlfriend, whom I won’t be able to see until who knows when
What key pieces of gear/software are you using to define your sound?
I use my faithful Ipad and guitar for pre-production and finalize everything in my trusted studio, in this period of quarantine, not being able to go to the studio, I had to produce everything in a home-like way
Has your arsenal of equipment changed much since you first started?
Over the years I have only changed several guitars. The first ones were clearly very cheap, but with time and many attempts at finding the perfect one, I finally settled on my faithful Gibson Meldoy Maker. The means of production are always in my trusted studio, which over the years has become a reference point for various known and emerging artists
Three favorite tracks of all time?
Very difficult question! I think of Sigur ros’ Glosoli, it brings to mind a lot of memories and it literally makes me fly … then kings of Leon’s waste a moment, I think I have consumed that record. Last, but not least, I would say Innuendo by Queen. It’s an incredibly accurate song if you look at the composition
What inspires you outside of music?
As already mentioned before, I often think of landscapes. I try to connect to nature even just by being in a field listening to “the music” that comes from the wind between the trees, but also the water that flows on the stones in a river … As for the weather, I think I have thought millions of times about raindrops falling on a roof or on the asphalt, marking the passage of time. Nature, in general, gives me rhythm and imagination.
What is the best or strangest reaction you’ve had to your music this far?
I heard from a fan, mother of a little child, that my music helped her son fall asleep and find peace at certain times of the day. This literally enchanted me and filled me with joy: my music was having a positive effect on a person
What, in your opinion would be the perfect genre fusion?
I would be curious to hear an opera singer on an ambient or post-rock beat, something similar probably already exists, I don’t know. However, I think that every genre could be mixed with each other to create unique musical compositions
Do you consider the Internet and social media as fundamental in building a career in music today, and what is your personal relationship with the new technology at hand?
Technology has become fundamental in every aspect of everyone’s life, for music, for work for everything. I am 26 years old and I literally grew up with the phone in hand so I would say that I absolutely feel part of this technological and “social” world. Especially for music, social media are a continuous source of new knowledge, fans and beautiful discoveries
What can we expect from you in the near future? Any upcoming projects or releases in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?
On March 25th my new EP “Eudaimonia” was released, available on all digital stores. At the moment I don’t plan on new releases, but I always work on new music!
Follow Virus online
