Mokadelic: “Our soundtracks, driven by emotions”

To translate images into music you need to be a little psychological and, in the case of Mokadelic, who have signed the soundtrack of films such as On my skin and as standard as Gomorrah e Romuluscould not be more true. Twenty years ago Alessio Mecozzi and Cristian Marras decided, in fact, to found the group, initially based on rock, right in the corridors of the Faculty of Psychology in Rome: it was the beginning of an adventure that, in a few years , he would have brought them to welcome also Alberto Broccatelli (drums), Maurizio Mazzenga (guitar) and Luca Novelli (piano and guitar); to change their name from Moka to Mokadelic “for a practical matter” (searching for “Moka” on Google would have caused some problems in finding information about them), and to specialize in a genre, that of the soundtrack, which it would make their fortune.

Meanwhile, the Mokadelic don’t stop for a moment: awaiting the release of their new album and the fifth and final season of Gomorrah in November, they worked on the music for a dance show, Collapse, which should have been staged on July 16 at the Brancaccio Theater inside the Future Festival but which has been postponed to a later date due to the injury of a dancer. “We had had contacts with Alessia Gatta, director and choreographer of the show, already on the occasion of her previous work, The man with the golden brain. Except, that time, our contribution was minimal because we had used songs from our previous album. This time, however, we were more involved, he left us a lot of freedom: between us there is a relationship of trust that came very naturally to us »says Alessio on the phone.

Has the pandemic affected your way of working and composing?
«From a certain point of view it helped us: everyone could work independently. Now that we are beginning to review, we are still maintaining that way of working because it allows us to focus better on what we do ».

From cinema to television and, finally, to theater: does translating music into images vary according to the type of material used?
«The way of working is similar, the use of tools changes. Every time there are various languages ​​that come into play, it is always a mix of arts, a multi-disciplinary approach ».

Where do you usually start from in order to create a soundtrack?
“There is no rule, a lot depends on the production and the director. In Like God commands, the film that marked our debut in this world, we had made themes by reading the script. Sometimes, however, they give us a part of the footage and, from that moment on, we try to be inspired ».

In short, all part of the suggestions and emotions related to reading the script.
«At 99% we work on emotions. We started as a rock group and, even before composing for cinema and TV, emotion has always been the spark that allowed us to play together: it often happened to project, during live shows, silent films or images that inspire. The combination of music and images has always been very strong in us ».

When does specialization arrive?
“With Like God commands. Before then, we had collaborated on the soundtrack of several short films, but the first major engagement was with Salvatores, followed by Sollima and all the others: we never stopped from there ».

Do you have any director in the drawer to collaborate with in the future?
«David Lynch would be a dream, also because he leaves a lot of room for emotion and experimentation, but it is almost impossible. There are, however, many directors with whom we would like to collaborate because they have left us something and have given us the opportunity to grow ».

What can we expect from the new album that will be released in November?
«It will be a mix of all the sounds that, thanks to all the directors and our experience in the audiovisual sector, we have investigated and experimented. It will be a photograph of what it represents ».