Musicians that I worked with on the recording of my first album, The Turn, are as follows:
Brent Follis and his warm drumming style is present on a good many of the album tracks.
Ike Sturm adds deep upright bass for a number of the tracks.
Tony Morales adds cool, clean guitar to a bunch of the tracks as well.
Guest musicians also including Nami Unreal and Basso Profundo Nils Christian Fossdal doing some fab vocals, Cosmo D on cello, Deltasleep providing awesome beats and keys, Peter Buettner on flute, Dmitri Moderbacher on more flute!, André Canniere on trumpet, Paul Olenick on trombone, Deirdre White on harp... Hopefully many more to be added!
Influences
In music:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Modest Mussorgsky,
Dmitri Shostakovich,
Benjamin Britten,
Alfred Schnittke,
Igor Stravinsky,
Bela Bartok,
W.A. Mozart,
Biff Rose,
Ward Swingle and the Swingle Singers
Joni Mitchell,
Harry Nilsson,
Belle and Sebastian,
Radiohead,
Boards of Canada,
The Osbourne Brothers,
Odetta,
Irma Thomas,
Miles Davis,
Thelonius Monk,
Antonio Carlos Jobim (yes, love his music a lot!), White Noise,
Delia Derbyshire,
Silver Apples,
Kate Bush's "The Dreaming" and part two of "Hounds of Love",
I love the Animal Collective/Vashti Bunyon collab: "Prospect Hummer"
In film:
Fellini Fellini Fellini... (all his output starting from 8 1/2 up through City of Women),
Bergman (especially Fanny and Alexander, Cries and Whispers and The Magic Flute),
Fassbinder (especially Berlinalexanderplatz and Querelle),
The Night of the Hunter,
Baby Doll,
The Wicker Man,
Scorcese (especially After Hours),
David Lynch,
Punch Drunk Love... and oh, man I hope he makes more great movies like this!
The Old Dark House,
and definitely, oh quite definitely, Sweet Movie.
In literature:
Franz Kafka,
Jose Donoso,
Louis-Ferdinand Celine,
Tennessee Williams,
Robert Walser,
Nikolai Gogol,
Jorges Luis Borges,
Elias Caneti,
Jean Genet
I was born in London, England and spent my first five years living in England and Rome. After that my family moved to New York, then Los Angeles, where I spent most of my adolescent years, singing professionally as a boy soprano and studying art once my voice changed. Finally I moved back to NYC to attend NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
I studied to be a film director, and during this period discovered the music of Bartok, Shostakovich and Stravinsky, which had an immense effect on me. It has since developed into a passion for the operas of Benjamin Britten, Don Giovanni and most of the work of Alfred Schnittke. I also love the music of Belle and Sebastian, Boards of Canada, Amon Tobin’s Permutations, Joni Mitchell, Harry Nilsson, Harry Nilsson (yes, again, I love him this much!) and Odetta. Gospel music rocks my socks off. Oh, and Bach. :)
Out of school first I tried editing and animation design, which I think I did pretty well, as it afforded me the opportunity to save enough money to set myself up with a pretty awesome little home recording studio. I then got to work on making my own music.
I had one of my songs licensed for use in Jonathon Demme’s Manchurian Candidate. Then I made my first music video, The Sad Song, which was pretty huge on the net. I received emails from Roger Ebert, Neil Gaiman, Massive Attack, ABC News Now, and several film directors, all offering opportunities.
I flew to Bristol to begin a collaboration with Massive Attack, who are two of the nicest and most creative guys I have met. I hope this bears fruit!
Watch my videos and join my online mailing list HERE
en français:
Je suis né à Londres et j’ai passé les cinq premières années de ma vie en Angleterre et à Rome. Ensuite ma famille s’est installée à New York, puis à Los Angeles, où j’ai passé la plus grande partie de mon adolescence. Garçon, je chantais professionnellement comme soprano, puis, lorsque ma voix a changé, j’ai étudié les arts plastiques. Par la suite je suis retourné vivre à New York pour étudier à la NYU Tisch School of Arts.
Je suivais des cours de Réalisation de Films lorsque j’ai découvert les musiques de Bartok, Shostakovich et Stravinsky, qui eurent un effet décisif sur moi. Puis cela s’est transformé en passion pour les opéras de Benjamin Britten, Don Giovanni et la plupart de l’--uvre d’Alfred Schnittke. J’aime aussi la musique de Belle and Sebastian, Boards of Canada, les ‘Permutations’ d’Amon Tobin, Joni Mitchell, Harry Nilsson, Harry Nilsson (encore une fois, oui, je l’aime à ce point!) et Odetta. Le Gospel m’envoie au ciel. Oh, et Bach.
Après mes études, j’ai d’abord essayé le dessin et le montage d’animation, ce que j’estime avoir assez bien fait puisque cela m’a permis d’économiser assez d’argent pour me constituer un petit home studio bien sympa. Puis je me suis mis à fabriquer ma propre musique.
Un de mes morceaux a été licencié pour le Manchurian Candidate de Jonathon Demme. Puis j’ai réalisé mon premier clip, The Sad Song, qui fit un assez gros carton sur le net. J’ai reçu des emails de Roger Ebert, Massive Attack, Neil Gaiman, ABC News Now, et du réalisateur Mike Binder, m’offrant tous des opportunités de travail.
J’ai été appelé à Bristol pour entamer une collaboration avec Massive Attack, qui sont deux des gars les plus créatifs et sympas que je connaisse. J’espère que cela portera ses fruits.
Fredo Viola “The Sad Song EP”, déjà disponible en digital et vinyle 10’’
Really proud to be on your friendlist. I discovered your songs not long ago, and that was really a revelation for me and my circle of acquaintances. I hope that you will meet the succes which you deserve, or at least the recognition of your big talent. You have mine. And I can't wait to buy your album, that I shall classify in the highly-rated. Sincerely, Stéphanie.
Fredo I looked at your website! WOW!!! It is such a joy to experience unique and beguiling talent. Your work is exciting and inspiring. May you always be on the verge of discovery! :)