Imagine recording an album in a Balkan-era atomic shelter and infusing it with metallic percussion, radio interference, and enough avant-garde spirit to make a surrealist blush – that’s “Kyra”. This debut album from So Beast, an Italian-Croatian duo based in Bologna (officially released on 12th September by Italian label Trovarobato), dives into the depths of free improvisation, embracing raw spontaneity like it’s a punk manifesto. Composed in their first year, “Kyra” is as experimental as it sounds: layers of drum machine beats, electric guitar riffs, and vocals ricochet within flexible structures, creating a sound that’s part post-punk, part no wave, and pure, chaotic art. Recorded with the guiding hand of Karmelo Marin in Split, Croatia, this album is So Beast’s unapologetic homage to artistic risk, fearlessly blurring the line between the composed and the chaotic.
Let’s dive in with So Beast to find out what exactly went down in that underground studio and why, when it comes to free improvisation, they’re willing to take it all the way to the “atomic” level.
Chain D.L.K.: Kira was composed during your first year as a duo. How has your creative process evolved since then?
So Beast: Now our compositions are more structured and focused, while at the time we were very much into improvisation and free form. All that freedom allowed us to develop the musical language we still use today.
Chain D.L.K.: Free improvisation plays a huge role in “Kira”. How do you strike a balance between structured composition and spontaneous creation in your work?
So Beast: When you are an improviser, you realize there isn’t much difference between composing and improvising. Improvising together is like composing collectively in real-time. You can keep spontaneity inside the composition/production of a song, by listening carefully to what is happening and how, and shape things accordingly, just like when you are improvising. Playing with coherence and contrasts. In Kira, we had large sections of improvisations, because that was also how we played live, now it’s different, we still have room for freedom but is more happening in details.
Chain D.L.K.: The album was recorded in an underground studio in an atomic shelter in Split. How did the environment shape the sound and mood of the record?
So Beast: The tension and blend between urban/human nature and “real”/raw nature in a city like Split is very related to what we do and how we feel.
And the use of the radio, which is by nature a very territorial sound source, also frames the space and time of the recordining to those precise moments and places.
Chain D.L.K.: Your music blends free improv, post-punk, no-wave, and avant-garde elements. What drew you to explore such eclectic genres, and how do they influence your identity as So Beast?
So Beast: It’s just a matter of shared musical interests, and also of how we sound while we are doing what we like the way we like to do it. Speaking about Kira, we were playing a bunch of instruments that were somehow available to us at that time, and we were playing them spontaneously but also conditioned by their technical nature, our skills, and our poetic choices.
We don’t really think about genres while we play, we would like to call our stuff pop without further explanations, but we can’t really do it, and it’s not (all) our fault!
Chain D.L.K.: The album features metallic percussion and radio interference. What inspired you to include such unconventional sound elements, and how did they contribute to the narrative of “Kira”?
So Beast: For us those instruments weren’t even unconventional, we were using those elements all the time in that period, for impro, our multimedia and sound art installations. They are easily available and usable sources of complex musical possibilities. We like to explore sounds, and metals are really fun and have a lot of different timbres. Radio was a really popular element at the time in our circle of friends, experimental musicians and artists.
Chain D.L.K.: The idea of “spontaneous fluidity” is central to your artistic vision. How does this concept translate into your live performances? Do you feel more freedom or pressure in a live setting?
So Beast: We definitely feel more freedom in a live setting. For us, live performing is something natural, especially free improvisation. We feel like that is our superpower, and somehow it always works well, over the standards.
Chain D.L.K.: Working with Karmelo Marin in both a supportive and directorial role must have influenced the album’s direction. How did his contributions shape “Kira”’s final sound?
So Beast: He was really nice in giving us the opportunity to produce the album how we wanted, even if it was unconventional and possibly also much harder (recording everything in one big take). Karmelo for us is a bit like Steve Albini, in his approach to shaping the sound, but queer, which is much better. He really knew how to make Kira sound good, remain flexible and take out the best of every single element and sound.
Chain D.L.K.: Can you tell us about the song structures on “Kira”? How do the songs evolve, and is there a specific track where improvisation took you in an unexpected direction?
So Beast: Most songs have more sketched movements inside, and almost all have that total flexibility to be played always differently, with different timings ecc… and as we recorded one big take with 3 basic instruments (drum machine, piano, and guitar) we captured the structure we played in that exact moment. A lot of unexpected stuff happened, and that’s exactly what we liked there. Maybe The Room is the song that got the most unexpected magic during the recording.
Chain D.L.K.: You recorded “Kira” early in your career, but it still feels relevant today. Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently, or are you still connected to the work in the same way?
So Beast: There is a lot that could have been done differently, if we start to think about this versatile material as a one big sketch for some more commercial or conventional musical product. But all the album elements were consciously decided to be raw and instinctive, and we really managed to make it work like that. Looking back, maybe yes, we could have decided to work on these ideas in totally different ways in production and get totally different results, but we just didn’t. Haha!
Chain D.L.K.: Tracks like “Sex, Love and Cooking Oscillator” and “Nevera” have provocative titles. What role does humor or irony play in your music, if any?
So Beast: Actually, ‘’Sex Love and Cooking Oscillator’’ was an art installation/sculpture made by Kat for an academy exhibition and ‘’Nevera’’ in Split Dialect means Storm. But yes, there is often irony in songs, dozed, and weird irony… . In “Sex love and cooking oscillator”, we are putting a bit in question consciousness and being realistic as a romantic couple and that ‘’falling in and living the love’’ weird and beautiful bubble.
Chain D.L.K.: With “Kira” now being available on digital platforms, how do you feel about its rediscovery by new audiences? Does it change the way you view this early work?
So Beast: Yes! Definitely… it was always something unknown and hidden for us, we even never mentioned it a lot. But We love this new form of Kira, the available one, as much as we loved it as a hidden treasure on small Californian DIY label Time Released Sound.
Chain D.L.K.: Your music was first released on a limited edition CD via Time Released Sound. Do you think physical releases still hold value in today’s digital age, and what role does the format play in connecting with your audience?
So Beast: Physical releases have (for bands like us) artistic and romantic value, also, mostly with tapes and vinyls, in Europe it is worth having it on merch, people respect it a lot and like to collect this arty objects, and/or play them in their DJ sets… but we are talking about really small numbers. We don’t think it is necessary to release a physical copy to connect better with the audience, but in the DIY and indie circles it gives people the opportunity to support a band they like and to get something special and not easily available. For the new album, we will focus more on some well elaborated visual identity / artwork storytelling to connect more with old and new audience.
Chain D.L.K.: The fusion of piano, drum machine, and electric guitar is a core part of your sound. How do you approach the interplay between acoustic and electronic elements in your music?
So Beast: The interplay between electronic and acoustic is something we really love to play around and discover, experiment with. Now it’s a lot about samples, electronic drums and acoustic percussions, we feel excitement when trying to combine those two different elements, and it’s not always easy to get out the best results, especially live, depending a lot on room acoustic quality, PA etc.. still, we don’t want to switch to all electronic and avoid the risk. We love that magical risk.
Chain D.L.K.: So Beast is a project born out of an Italian-Croatian collaboration. How do your different cultural backgrounds influence your approach to making music? What’s the origin of the name So Beast?
So Beast: Sly is Congo-Italian, Kat grew up in a post-war situation, in the Mediterranean Balkan city of Split. We both have totally different but specific backgrounds, even if we both grew up in Europe (or almost XD). Those environments definitely affected us. From African music to ex Yugoslavian new wave, we somehow meshed it all inside of our sound, spontaneously. The expression “So Beast” comes from a sketchbook Kat installed on an altar for a group exhibition in a former church, it was a provocation/critique of Christian religion.
Chain D.L.K.: Looking forward, do you see yourselves continuing to work with improvisation as a core part of your creative process, or are you exploring new directions that differ from “Kira”‘s improvisational roots?
So Beast: We are always exploring new directions, actually we changed a lot in our approach in studio since Kira, but still we keep the same spark of this unconventional sound. We are now working on new album, that will be the fourth unmistakable sound of So Beast 🙂
Visit So Beast on the web:https://sobeast.bandcamp.com/