Raw Fish is punk, indie rock and improvised music mixed together in a spaceship. Teis Semey plays guitar, but extended his arsenal with MPC (samples), bass guitar and synths in this band. Giovanni Iacovella plays drums and live electronics that interact with the drums in real time. They form a base, over which they invite several guests to feature in their music.
Danish guitarist Teis Semey and Italian drummer Giovanni Iacovella shared a home in Amsterdam. It felt silly not to make music together as well.
Their debut show was chaotic, uncooked and delicious. And thus, Raw Fish was born. After shows, the feedback often takes the tone of “insane”, “wow, that was amazing”, and “what the hell was that!” as the duo loses themselves smashing buttons, kicks and pulling strings. After a concert in De Ruimte, the Mecca of the Amsterdam Impro scene, Raw Fish got picked up by WeArePublic, who granted the band a financial push to take whichever next step necessary. With that support, Raw Fish had the means to go straight to recording their debut album Crudo (Loumi Records).
The album will be presented live at jazzahead 2024, Roadburn Fest 2024 and Cinetol Amsterdam on June 12, 2024.
Crudo is a short album – actually a very short album. One wouldn’t expect the journey that is about to commence. Raw Fish use their play time to its full potential, hosting a.o. Marta Arpini, Italian singer-songwriter offering soft hearty ballads, the well-established David Binney and Nicoló Ricci with laptop-crashing saxophone solos, and Federico Calcagno on Bass clarinet. These musicians help lift Crudo from a groovy good to an ecstatic bliss.
Crudo kicks off with a punk-rock banger called Stroganina.Raw distorted guitars and drums fuse into a steam roller with an energetic guitar solo. After catching a breath in the interlude, comes Funeral (revised, again). This is followed up by Sea Sausage, featuring David Binney on saxophone and synths. Using samples from the first ever recording of Funeral, Sea Sausage sets up a proper hiphoppy beat, broken up by Iacovella’s open time beats, dipping into a B section where Binney rips off a face-melting solo, to end up in a melody.
Carpaccio Martini is a heartthrob named after the singer Marta Arpini. This brazilian-esque harmonic excursion is a gentle homage to pensiveness. This is immediately followed up by Cevichería, a short five-eights jam, for a short moment of head banging before diving head-first into the longest song of the album It Was Nice To Get To Know You. This heart-breaking song, with lyrics by Marta Arpini, slowly drifts in between chords with a dissonant melody hitting gentle spots within the harmony to highlight the lyrics, interbroken by Iacovellas rumble.
Do Sardines Come From Sardinia finishes off the album. A compelling off-center beat composed with live-electronics and drums, and a gut punching saxophone feature by the Italian tenor player Nicoló Ricci that forces the mouse cursor crashing into the repeat button.
The debut mini-album heralds the official arrival of the Amsterdam underground sensation Raw Fish. It’s an enticing album that begs for being put on repeat.
1. Stroganina
2. Interlude
3. Funeral (revised, again)
4. Sea Sausage (feat. David Binney)
5. Carpaccio Martini (feat. Marta Arpini and Federico Calcagno)
6. Cevichería
7. It Was Nice To Get To Know You (feat. Marta Arpini)
8. Do Sardines Come From Sardinia? (feat. Nicoló Ricci)
Mix and production: Raw Fish and Alessandro Mazzieri
Master: Alessandro Mazzieri
Album length: 18:56
Release date: April 26, 2024