Italian-born Mauro Remiddi has reportedly compiled "a suitcase full of tapes, minidiscs and CDs" for his Porcelain Raft solo project. And after releasing a few EPs here via the Acephale label, he signed to esteemed indie Secretly Canadian at the end of 2011.
Today (January 24), Remiddi releases Porcelain Raft's debut album, Strange Weekend, the culmination of years of work writing hundreds of songs. Though his previous releases were made in restricted spaces using modest equipment, Remiddi was able to open his music for the album.
"For the EPs, I was in my little room, so I couldn't make much noise, I couldn't use amps, sing loud or use the drums," Remiddi tells Exclaim! "That's why those recordings are in a way intimate. The space I was in dictated their sound and the approach I had. Which is the main point of what I do, the space has to be part of the recording. The space is an instrument. For the album, I was in a basement and I could play as loud as I wanted to with no time restriction, day and night."
Remiddi chose to stick to the plan and make the entire album himself in Brooklyn, mostly because of time constraints.
"I like to work in a team of people but with time I realized I didn't have much time to create what I had in mind," he says. "I don't want to go back and forth with a band about this or that idea, I don't want to search for middle ways, I don't want to convince anybody. I just want to paint what I see without justifying myself."
As far as touring goes, Remiddi admits he does need some help. On drums, he has recruited Canadian Michael Wallace, best known as the former drummer of Calgary art rockers Women.
"Oh man, Michael is a mine full of diamonds," explains Remiddi. "He's a dear friend of my wife Grace, and I first met him at my wedding. He's a photographer and I mean a very good one. Michael can draw, he sings, plays guitar and composes his own songs. And his voice sounds like Joey Ramone. Michael is good looking and specks just about things he loves. Michael plays drums with a unique style; he went to india to learn tablas for one year... and he like grapefruit juice, which is my favourite."
You can stream Strange Weekend below and check out all Porcelain Raft's upcoming tour dates.
Tour dates:
1/24 Oxford, UK - O2 Academy *
1/27 Toronto, ON - Horseshoe ^
1/28 Montreal, QC - Il Motore ^
1/29 Boston, MA - Paradise ^
1/31 New York, NY - Webester Hall ^
2/1 Washington, DC - Black Cat ^
2/3 Chicago, IL - Metro ^
2/4 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall ^
2/16 London, UK - Shepherds Bush Empire *
2/22 Hamburg, DE - Uebel Gefährlich *
2/23 Copenhagen, DE - Vega *
2/24 Oslo, NO - Rockefeller *
2/25 Stockholm, SE - Berns *
2/27 Helsinki, FI - Tavastia Club *
2/29 Malmo, SE - Kulturbolaget *
3/2 Berlin, DE - 20 Years of Intro Magazine *
3/3 Cologne, DE - 20 Years of Intro Magazine *
3/4 Prague, CZ - Lucerna *
3/5 München, DE - Hansa39 *
3/6 Milan, IT - Magazzini Generali *
3/8 Montpellier, FR - Rockstore *
3/9 Barcelona, ES - Bikini *
3/10 Madrid, ES - Shoko *
3/11 Porto, PT - Hard Club *
3/12 Lisbon, PT - Lux Club *
3/14 Bordeaux, FR - iBoat *
3/15 Paris, FR - La Cigale *
3/16 Lille, FR - Grand Mix *
3/17 Strasbourg, FR - La Laiterie *
3/18 Lausanne, CH - Les Docks *
4/2 Indianapolis, IN - Radio Radio #
4/3 St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway #
4/10 Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom #
4/11 San Diego, CA - Porter's Pub #
4/12 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour #
4/13 San Francisco, CA - The Independent #
4/14 Sacramento, CA - Harlow's #
* with M83
^ with Smith Westerns
# with Youth Lagoon
Today (January 24), Remiddi releases Porcelain Raft's debut album, Strange Weekend, the culmination of years of work writing hundreds of songs. Though his previous releases were made in restricted spaces using modest equipment, Remiddi was able to open his music for the album.
"For the EPs, I was in my little room, so I couldn't make much noise, I couldn't use amps, sing loud or use the drums," Remiddi tells Exclaim! "That's why those recordings are in a way intimate. The space I was in dictated their sound and the approach I had. Which is the main point of what I do, the space has to be part of the recording. The space is an instrument. For the album, I was in a basement and I could play as loud as I wanted to with no time restriction, day and night."
Remiddi chose to stick to the plan and make the entire album himself in Brooklyn, mostly because of time constraints.
"I like to work in a team of people but with time I realized I didn't have much time to create what I had in mind," he says. "I don't want to go back and forth with a band about this or that idea, I don't want to search for middle ways, I don't want to convince anybody. I just want to paint what I see without justifying myself."
As far as touring goes, Remiddi admits he does need some help. On drums, he has recruited Canadian Michael Wallace, best known as the former drummer of Calgary art rockers Women.
"Oh man, Michael is a mine full of diamonds," explains Remiddi. "He's a dear friend of my wife Grace, and I first met him at my wedding. He's a photographer and I mean a very good one. Michael can draw, he sings, plays guitar and composes his own songs. And his voice sounds like Joey Ramone. Michael is good looking and specks just about things he loves. Michael plays drums with a unique style; he went to india to learn tablas for one year... and he like grapefruit juice, which is my favourite."
You can stream Strange Weekend below and check out all Porcelain Raft's upcoming tour dates.
Tour dates:
1/24 Oxford, UK - O2 Academy *
1/27 Toronto, ON - Horseshoe ^
1/28 Montreal, QC - Il Motore ^
1/29 Boston, MA - Paradise ^
1/31 New York, NY - Webester Hall ^
2/1 Washington, DC - Black Cat ^
2/3 Chicago, IL - Metro ^
2/4 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall ^
2/16 London, UK - Shepherds Bush Empire *
2/22 Hamburg, DE - Uebel Gefährlich *
2/23 Copenhagen, DE - Vega *
2/24 Oslo, NO - Rockefeller *
2/25 Stockholm, SE - Berns *
2/27 Helsinki, FI - Tavastia Club *
2/29 Malmo, SE - Kulturbolaget *
3/2 Berlin, DE - 20 Years of Intro Magazine *
3/3 Cologne, DE - 20 Years of Intro Magazine *
3/4 Prague, CZ - Lucerna *
3/5 München, DE - Hansa39 *
3/6 Milan, IT - Magazzini Generali *
3/8 Montpellier, FR - Rockstore *
3/9 Barcelona, ES - Bikini *
3/10 Madrid, ES - Shoko *
3/11 Porto, PT - Hard Club *
3/12 Lisbon, PT - Lux Club *
3/14 Bordeaux, FR - iBoat *
3/15 Paris, FR - La Cigale *
3/16 Lille, FR - Grand Mix *
3/17 Strasbourg, FR - La Laiterie *
3/18 Lausanne, CH - Les Docks *
4/2 Indianapolis, IN - Radio Radio #
4/3 St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway #
4/10 Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom #
4/11 San Diego, CA - Porter's Pub #
4/12 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour #
4/13 San Francisco, CA - The Independent #
4/14 Sacramento, CA - Harlow's #
* with M83
^ with Smith Westerns
# with Youth Lagoon