When the drone took off above piazza San Carloat dawn in the sky of Turinno one knew precisely what he would immortalize below him. On the other hand, if writing on the ground is in any case already quite complicated, do it using letters 15 meters high each assumes the contours of the company. The Eugenio in Via Di Gioia, together with about 150 other young people, it took them a whole night to create the gigantic one, chalks in hand “I still love you” dedicated to the planet. “To think we got there with some sort of tea towel on an A3 sheet, quite inaccurate “, the frontman from the band tells us, Eugenio Cesaro, on the eve of the departure of the new tour. «We looked at each other with the manager and we said that even a boy, when he writes a statement on the wall to the fiancéea, it is not precise precise “.
On the other hand it was this: a declaration of love. For the Guinness world record, the largest ever made on the ground.
«The primacy was only the consequence: the idea was born from the story of love and the need for change, the revolution. An ephemeral installation, which the next morning was canceled because, despite having asked for all the permits and booked the cleaning in the following days, the news had spread that it was the work of some vandals. We did not understand how it was possible, but this chatter has increased the attention on the writing: which in the end lasted only 6 hours, but left a deep mark ».
Had anyone in the group ever made such a statement, perhaps on a wall, to a loved one?
“None of us are writers, even if we are passionate about comics and writing, so much so that the font we used did not exist and we created it ad hoc. We were looking for a way to represent the manifesto of our thinking and we reflected on what a boyfriend does who feels guilty and wants to be forgiven. In this case you are the human being who has done damage to the planet and wants to change. Of course, if we had used a spray can we risked prison (laughs, ed), but we liked the guerrilla marketing attitude ».
And in fact the news has bounced around the world: did you expect it?
«Frankly no, we didn’t even know what the final result would be: when we saw the writing so precise and clean, we too were amazed. We decided everything in a week, we had to do it on March 30th, so that it would come out on April 1st. But then the weather forecasted rain, so we anticipated and, given the number of people involved, it wasn’t easy. Seeing they talked about it in France, England, even the United States, was fantastic and makes you understand how expertise and care are essential. I believe a lot in attention to detail ».
Where do you put the cure, apart from music?
“Above all in relationships, in listening to others, and I believe our group is the proof of this (in the name of the band there are the surnames of three members, the name of the fourth gives the title to the first album, ed). There are 4 of us who go up on stage, but in total – between management, booking and press office – we are about ten. We all have the humility to put ourselves at the disposal of a common management, each with his own role but without hierarchies. When I started playing, relatives and friends pushed me to go alone, but I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did with the others ».
If anyone in the band were to choose to take another path, the name would have to be changed as well.
«In case there would be the brother of Emanuele Via who is a very good musician (laughs, ed). Seriously, as in every family there can be quarrels, but it is important to give the right space to the parties, to find the balance. We have been playing together for ten years and there has never been a moment when we thought that everything was ending: perhaps carrying on parallel projects also helps us not to fossilize too much and cultivate personal passions. To think that we even said to ourselves that it would be nice to put an end to the project as well, I don’t know, in 2056 for example “.
Before this elusive end, do you ever think about a possible return to Sanremo?
«In 2019, after the performance at the Ariston, exactly Vanity Fair he dedicated an article to us and pointed to us as new promises of Italian music. Now we have to keep our promise! In any case, Sanremo or not Sanremo, a crazy summer awaits us: we have prepared a tour with three horns and a multi-instrumentalist who will take the stage with us, so there will be 8. It will be like going to the cinema, you will feel enveloped by the sound”.
A tour that comes after the long stop due to the pandemic, a sort of new beginning: do you remember the first time you performed in front of an audience?
«I keep the video: I was 4 years old, I was not yet in elementary school, I sang a song by my grandfather about Turin at a children’s demonstration. But a terrible thing happened: my microphone stopped working and I noticed it, so in the clip you can see me screaming like a madman to be heard, with the vein coming out of the neck. But maybe it helped me, because since that day I always scream at my concerts ».
About live shows, what have you missed the most?
«The relationship with the fans, just seeing them under the stage. Among other things, we have a series of small moments in which we are with them, in particular Food on Tour: they offer us a series of typical recipes of the place where we play, we choose a dozen and have a banquet before the concert. This initiative will also start again, which is also a way to remind us of our roots and ask ourselves questions when we shop, perhaps choosing zero-kilometer products, which have less impact on the planet ».
What do the Eugenio’s in Via di Gioia put on the table?
«We had an interview with an agrichef, with whom we cooked a crostone with herbs, poached egg and Piedmontese toma. A traditional dish of our region, in particular of the Canavese area, which uses ingredients that risk being thrown away: stale bread, which if heated in a certain way becomes crunchy. And the herbs, which if they are not cooked quickly there is a risk that they will go bad ».
In short, everything brings back awareness and the attempt to reverse course. That emerges strong in your latest album, Love and revolution: what do you imagine these two words light up in your head?
«They are like two gigantic bubbles that must be filled with meaning, otherwise they risk appearing empty. When I think about love, my mom immediately comes to mind. If I think about the revolution, however, I have the picture in my head The freedom that guides the peopleby the French painter Delacroix ».
Hence the link with ecological issues.
“We believe that without love there is no real drive to action. And the revolution represents precisely the need to do, to change to save the planet. And our lives, to be precise from our planet. These two words are therefore the leitmotif of the record: which was born in 2017 with the first song, but became a concept album only in 2021. When we realized that those tracks, put in a specific order, reached a meaning far superior to that of the single pieces ».
Perfectly in line with the Eugenio team spirit in Via Di Gioia. In which “the final result is much greater than the sum of the parts”.
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Source: Vanity Fair
