Noemi, in the introduction of your book you immediately state that you are more fascinated by the creative process than by the work. Why and what fascinates you about the creative process?
It is the act itself, everything that is small or large behind the generating inspiration of art.
I guess you’ve also reflected on the fact that, in some cases, the creative process of some well-known songs has been inflated to become a fairy tale / legend. Does the discovery of an altered or invented creative process make the work less interesting to your eyes (or ears)?
Honestly I have not focused on this aspect, also because I am entertained by fairy tales or legends. I don’t expect a poignant, or necessarily complex, creative process. Songs can be born in any way and any time. There is an interesting anecdote in which it is said that Paul McCartney wrote Hello Goodbye playing on simple and immediate contrasts precisely to respond to an interlocutor who asked how songs are born, demonstrating that the creative process does not necessarily require who knows what acts of meditation. Then, that that is also one of the songs that marked the first internal turbulence among the members of the Beatles is another story.
How did the idea for this book come about?
From the desire to bring together two important aspects of my life path: music and spirituality.
On the merits of your fascinating editorial work Rock ‘n’ Soulhow did you go about selecting the eleven musicians interested?
When the desire to tell stories of music and spirituality emerged, I began a reflection on the artists I knew. I knew of some that they had had significant inner experiences, important in determining the artistic path. My work on the radio (at the time I was writing the book Radio Freccia, now Rai Radio2) has had a certain influence on me in circumscribing the scope of the research. The first to enter the game immediately were George Harrison, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan (the meeting with him was, perhaps, the most suffered, I’m talking about it here), Sinéad O’Connor, Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Nick Cave and, only at a later time, Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos And PJ Harvey. One thing I really cared about in this book was that there was a real gender balance. Music is one of those sectors in which there has always been a lack of equality and for me it was important to create a balanced and plural alternation of voices and points of view at the same time.
Why did you want to emphasize spirituality?
Music and spirituality go hand in hand. I have always thought of music as the closest artistic expression to inner feeling and since I started meditating (for several years now) I am more and more convinced of it.
You know, I would have expected to find John Lennon in the spiritual field too… given his past with Yoko Ono as well. Did you knowingly exclude it?
I don’t think I’ve knowingly ruled it out. When I started thinking about the book, I chose the artists whose stories I felt I wanted to tell. And as for the Beatles members I had no doubts: George Harrison.
You articulated everything as if it were a record, but obviously you talked about every single musician you involved. Would you like to make a game and choose a song for each songwriter, creating a real compilation?
I follow the order in which the artists are present within the essay. George Harrison: All Things Must Pass. Patti Smith: Ain’t It Strange. Leonard Cohen: Who by Fire. Joni Mitchell: Blue. Bob Dylan: Gotta Serve Somebody. Tori Amos: God. Yusuf / Cat Stevens: Moonshadow. Sinéad O’Connor: Reason With Me. Nick Cave: Red Right Hand. PJ Harvey: We Float.
Let me also remind you that there is a whole compilation with all the songs that are mentioned in the book. Just go to Spotify and search for the title: Rock’n’Soul. Stories of Music and Spirituality. There are about 10 and a half hours of music!
Always between the serious and the facetious, would you add an artist of the third millennium?
There are several interesting ones, but I would not include them among those of this book, rather I would make a separate volume.
Does this book have anything to do with your program on RAI Radio 2?
It has to do with my life, so somehow it also has to do with the things I do.
How did you proceed with the research of the material you used to write the book?
A lot of research work, in fact, selecting books, reading, listening to songs, watching documentaries and comparing with expert people whom I still thank. They are all in the book. From Massimo Granieri (who edited the preface) to the music journalist Paolo Vitesas well as a writer of precious books, up to Adriano Ercolani author of the afterword.
It’s an essay, but the fiction is a novelist. Did you already have other non-fiction experiences?
No, it’s the first, but I’m a passionate reader of essays and novels.
Noemi, scrolling through your curriculum, you realize that your studies were already immediately oriented towards the mass media. When did you make this professional decision and why exactly this universe?
Actually my first choice, when I was really wise, around the age of eight, would be a vet. Then I don’t know what happened with age. Maybe I was influenced by the television series Hunger, which my sisters (older than me) were crazy about. I watched her as a little girl, together with them. I studied dance, theater, direction and cinema at university, up to the master in radio and TV.
What is your relationship with music? I mean: do you have a past – or present – even as a musician?
Unfortunately not. For years I have been dreaming of learning to play the guitar.
Noemi, what is your relationship with jazz music?
I attend it with pleasure.
What is written in Noemi Serracini’s diary?
In the meantime, they continue every day from 8 pm to midnight Summer evenings on Rai Radio2 until 9 September. Then there will be a new season of Radio2’s La Sveglia, the program that I always lead with Fabrizio D’Alessio every morning, indeed mornings, from 4:00. With the book, however, I will stop at the LibrIntorno Festival on September 3rd and at the Torino Spirituality Festival on October 1st, here we will have a meeting and a meditation experience accompanied by the Italian sitarist Leo Vertunni. And sooner or later a TV show! Immediately take the dog out.
Alceste Ayroldi
Instagram page of Noemi Serracini:
Here is the link of the book review:
“Rock ‘n’ Soul”. Interview with Noemi Serracini – Jazz Music