What is the origin of LEUTHA name? It sounds like a name of a character from ancient myth or religion. Can you explain why you choose it?

The word Leutha has in Italian a soft sound, delicate, I have choose it above all for that, because it communicate to me something beautiful, pleasant. I took the name from William Blake but I must confess that in some way I misunderstood him. Leutha is a minor character in his work meaning "sex with reason". I felt this association of ideas perfectly fitted my opinions, but later on I discovered he judged the association with more severity than I, condemning reason as a sickness of his times and every times. I have never condemned reason.

Brief historic background for your project. When, how and for what it was started? How much releases you have and so on (I know there was a project called NOBODY & LEUTHA too)...

I started the project Leutha being unsatisfied by the band in which I played at the time, trying to find a identity of mine. In little time I recorded a demo of my first CD �Accusa di un delitto infinito� [Infinite crime accusation] and sent it to Angelo Bergamini. I wished his opinion, because Kirlian Camera is one of my favourite bands. He liked it and wrote to me a letter that I count between the happy thing in my life. Then he proposed to produce the work and naturally I agreed. After my first CD, I released "Meet" with Nobody and now "Plan(e)s" on my own. The one with Nobody is not a long time project. Two years ago I wrote a song, "Deathfuge", and realised it fitted the voice of Stefano and on that basis the project took shape. We both contributed with other songs, Stefano proposed the work to his label, WSD, and it was released. Then WSD asked about my work and intentions. Having already recorded Plan(e)s at my expenses because I care very much about this composition, I sent them a rough copy and they liked it.

Coming back to WSD. For years it was rather closed distribution uniting 6-7 band labels, but now some of oldies are left it, others just do not make headway, and the distribution itself is reinforcing with dozens of new names. Some say it's death agony, other - that something new appears in birth throes... Your view/opinion?

I hope it is not the swan-song. I think those 6-7 bands remain the corner stone of the building, sure, to lose D. I. J. must have been a bad stroke. As for the new bands, I wish they good luck, but it will be hard for them and for me to emerge because the market is much segmented. But I hope people at WSD know what they are doing and of the great risk that you intelligently bring to light.

By the way, I wonder are the WSD bands you have special sympathy to?

Between WSD artists I guess to prefer Sally Doherty, Nobody and Matt Howden, they seen to me nice good people.

In general, what is music as you see it? Which are it's functions, aims, possibilities, etc?

The music, well, I should underline three points:
1) Music as a medium to spread ideas, to interpret and try to understand reality.
2) Music as pleasure, aesthetics. Music as an expressive need, human, physical.
3) Music as a mean of communication. All that is important can be communicated, but not all that is communicated is important. This is a general criticism, one need to give oneself a limit, beyond which things begin to gain disturbing and contradictory meanings. These subliminal messages upset me!

Can you explain your musical influences? Which music you like and listen? On my ears your own stuff stands close to old-school industrial and maybe dark ambient� Need to say, these genres are not quite usual for a woman to work in.

I don't know who influence me. I can only make a list of my listening, they split in many directions: Kirlian Camera, Wire, CCCP, Joy Division, Glenn Branca, Momuro Fujeda, Ligeti, E. Artemev, Aube, Stars of the Lid, Labradford, Three mile pilot, Mercury Rev, Flying Saucer Attack, Sonic Youth, Luigi Nono, Purcell, Einsturzende Neubauten, Schoenberg, Webern, Nyman, Polvo, Bartok, Clock DVA, Monteverdi, Smiths.... in a word, classics.

Your mini-album "The plan(e)s for empty cities" is dedicated to your journey in Croatia and Yugoslavia. Please tell more about it. When it happened, where you were, what you have seen... Your strongest and brightest impressions?

It is not dedicated to my journey, but to human suffering. It come to light after the journey. I make the journey thanks to the University of Architecture of Venice, where I am graduating. That journey became to me a personal experience, individual, free from the contingent reasons that bring me there. The thing much impressed me was the carsick landscape, dry, with its low trees and crabbed, desolate, where all grow with strain and whose fruits are poor, humble, like the people I was introduced. Then to know that we could not have planimetries of the town we are in from the Town-planning office because Croazia was still a country at war- not our hyper-technological, metaphysical war, in which everything is decided and fixed in the sky, but a land war. It made me shudder and also my beautiful country Italy changed look, no more planes flying above heads but inside them. In fact I lived (not a long time after my journey) the Kosovo war dramatically. I thought to Cecenia too. To enter in Jugoslavia has been like open a door toward East Europe and I shudder for the naked beauty and feel that landscape and me are on the same wavelength.

It's understandable that you have read poems by Balkan poets, but I am quite curious how the texts of Russian poets found their place on the CD?

As I said, the CD is dedicated and is about people who reacted against suffering (denouncing them) and is dedicated to East Europe, too many time neglected and removed, it is a bridge that should not be necessary but I have fault the need to build. As for the Russian (but one is Polish) poets, I followed the work of Luigi Nono "Diario Polacco II" adding for my part words from Tarkovskij and Andric.

What about �Diario Polacco II� (Polish Diary?) is?

DIARIO POLACCO II Is a classical composition, for 4 voice, flute, cello and live electronics. 'This poem has its place, its setting: where Europe collides and forms a bridge with Asia; where it continues to resist incessantly in its essence, in its own being, its own ethos, eternally recounting and questioning itself. Where Europe begins-ends: the land of the "Sciites" and of the "Twelve". Only here are true, new beginnings possible - as one single end is possible.

The Messiah have not brought redemption. The promised land is covered in snow and decked with thistles. But it works its ways into the language with the patience of a mole burrowing tunnels for the future, so Khlebnikov, with his "blade of stone" smashes the walls that hold it prisoner, pointing an accusing finger at the "orthodox wolves" that have kept it in chains. He threatens them with his "revenge writing": inventions, magic, exclusive metamorphosis for the powers that be, his visionary power and capacity to see things, every-thing, as unprecedented. ....'

Also the work ends with a sample of Russian Orthodox Church monastery chorus (am I right?). It's quite strange for a record made in the country where European culture was born and the epicentre of Catholicism is located now...

I choose to end the CD with that sample because it was from a chant titled "To lighten sorrow". I find it a beautiful chant. I had bought long time before to satisfy my curiosity and to make an idea a CD of Orthodox chants, but the presence of the choir in the CD is not a religious reference - I am not strictly catholic, not strictly religious in any sense, I dislike impositions - I used it like a prayer in a laical sense, non ideological, for everyone suffering because of more or less holy wars, fought only to annihilate cultures. Well, I stand against annihilation and for a limitless desire of approaching and of understanding, human understanding rather than ethnical or religious, for an only and united humanity with the differences that make it more moving. For people before interests of any other kind.

But such interests � ethnic and religious � are usually much more deeper and stronger than any other values, even those so-called �common-to-all-mankind values� - the �values� of Anglo-Saxon civilization. In facts, they (USA & satellites) annihilate cultures quietly today using their cultural, economical, political and military supremacy � with their music, movies, media, etc, etc. They also talk everywhere about the �only and united humanity� � when black and white are mixed into grey� Your comments?

MMMH, the supremacy of someone on someone other... we are talking about money! We can see it every day, economical laws don't care about the human side of the question, who matter if someone die of starvation? To keep the price, tons of oranges go to the resting-pin. A western factory opens in the east to pay workers almost nothing. A strategy, Someone need misery because someone needs slaves.

I have strange (or not) interpretation of your CD title: as the cities are empty already - the only plans for them are to be ruined by time (long process) or by planes (fast and quick, he-he). In any case, it sounds not too optimistic... Well, what do you mean by emptiness of the cities? See you anything that could crowd them or heal the situation in future?

The title is plans or planes, they make cities empty. Look at the nazi-fascist idea, or at the great destruction from the beginning of the century till today. Planes like angels of death. I don't know if something can heal the situation, I wish to be optimistic, but I can't believe all will be well. There is too much instability and too much economic interest and powers considering only some sides of the problems without realising the disastrous consequences. I hope we all learn to be responsible before everyone of our actions, I hope no one make me or make you suffer on the ground of ephemeral pleasure.

I hope too. Your words forced me to recall conception of katharsis in ancient (and not only) tragedy. To suffer the states of compassion and fear should bring to cleanse from such affects� Are you agree with such view on your work?

It is a reading of poetry on the purpose to think about a problem: what could I say to face the nightmare of hisory? In ancient greece all people followed tragedies, in a degree of social and spiritual participation. I think music too has this task.

Well, to complete the interview, please share with us the most recent news and plans of LEUTHA�

I have some projects. One with Fragrum, a new Italian band. One song in a compilation dedicated to Kirlian Camera.... and then to start again, to break, to separate, to unite, to choose...

That seems to be all, thank you a lot. Have you some special message to convey to readers of our mag?�

No easy fascination. Things are ever more complex than expected. Only the listening of this complexity, with care, can bring us near.