Born in 1974, lives near Milan since 1990. Started playing guitar in 1988, and worked for many years in the area of 'improvised music' (long term collaborations with Renato Rinaldi, Thomas Ankersmit, Michel Doneda, Ingar Zach, Dean Roberts). Between 1997 and 2006 he has performed live with Taku Sugimoto, Jerome Noetinger, Mark Wastell, Martin Siewert, Nmperign, Brandon Labelle, Nikos Veliotis, Alessandro Bosetti, Gert-Jan Prins, Phill Niblock, Oren Ambarchi, and many others.
From 2007 on, his work has been mainly studio-based, working on compositions for cds and records, theatre and film. He abandoned the guitar and his solo shows are now based on multichannel diffusion and recomposition of pre-existing pieces and fragments, to create complex site-specific audio works.
He collaborated with Austrian video artist Michaela Grill (US tour in 2007, participations at the Rotterdam Film Festival, Evolution Festival in Leed, FilmSoundFilm in Marfa,TX) and is regularly performing and presenting installations with Renato Rinaldi and Armin Linke (ZKM Karlsruhe, Villa Romana Florence, Goethe Institut New York and Rome, various festivals).
He plays in Bellows (with Nicola Ratti), whose “Handcut” was included in the ‘best of 2010’ list from The Wire magazine , Oreledigneur (with Renato Rinaldi) and Eselsohr (with Jennifer Veillerobe). In 1998 he founded the "Fringes recordings" label, closed in 2005, and co-founded “Schoolmap Records” in 2006. At the moment he co-curates, together with Jennifer Veillerobe, SENUFO Editions (www.senufoeditions.com).
Jessyca Hutchens, Traianos Pakioufakis
Giuseppe Ielasi appeared in many festival across the globe and toured extensively in Europe, US and Japan, and released music on his own Senufo Editions, 12k, Erstwhile, Alga Marghen / Planam, Entr’acte, Dekorder, Editions Mego.
What do you remember about your first guitar?
A bad Japanese electric. I wasn't interested at all in acoustic guitars when I
was a kid.... But soon after I got the Gibson Es335 that I still own... My favourite
instrument certainly, even if it rarely leaves its case.
Which was the last record you bought with your own money?
I buy tons of records, almost every day. Yesterday it was "aeolina" by Eva-Maria Houben,tomorrow it will be something else.
Why do you need music?
I don't know. I've always needed it.
I mostly need to listen to it, not necessarly to play or compose it.
unedited recordings of performative pieces realised with a microphone, a revox b77 and various household objects on january 22nd, 2013. taiyo yuden cdr, offset printed cover in pvc sleeve.
Which work of your own are you most proud of?
It's always the last one. Or the next one....I never look back at my old releases. The only thing I can say is that "Untitled, 2011",which was released on Entr'acte, is the one that made me change a lot my working methods.
recorded in autumn 2012 with a single DC motor controlled by an unstable LFO (low frequency oscillator). edits of the original recordings are on the left channel; the same audio information has been shifted in time for the right channel.
What's the importance of theory in music, in your opinion?
In my case it has not been important, I never studied it. But this is very subjective.
What quality do you admire most in an musician?
Originality
What’s the difference between a good instrument and a bad one?
A good one is the one that allows you to do what you need or want. I don't think there are 'absolutely' good or bad instruments.
What are the challenges and benefits of today's digital music scene?
Besides very superficial aspects, I honestly think that what is possible now
was possible before (before digital ways of producing and sharing music).
We can do it faster now...but that's not necessarly a good thing.
Define the sound you're still looking for.
Fog, undefined fields of colors...
How would you define "drone"?
In most cases, a long boring sound.
What is your relationship with other disciplines such as painting, literature, dance, theater ...?
They are as important as music. I try to experience (and read about) all art forms
as if they were the same, aspects of human expression.
What dead artist would you like to have collaborated with?
I'm interested in music as a living process, I'm only interested in collaborating with living friends.
What’s your next project about?
Fog, undefined fields of colors...
