The ghibertins - "20149 - Milano"

Downfall: a loss of power, prosperity, or status. 20149 – Milano tells the fictional story of a man in his 30s/40s, a brilliant conveyance of loss, poor mental state and the desperate search for answers. Milan based band, The Ghibertins, have brought us but a preview of this fictional man’s story, and we can sense the whole tale will be one hell of a ride.

The Ghibertins are a Milan based indie band made up by Alessio Hofmann (voice, acoustic guitar) Lorenzo Rivabella (electric guitar) Lorenzo Di Blasi (Keys), Marco “Marva” Vaghi (Drums), and Luca Losio (bass guitar). Since 2015 the group has released more than 30 songs, earning the recognition of many magazines, webzines and radio stations like BBC Radio, Clash Magazine, Konbini, Music Week, Noctis Mag , For Folk’s Sake and Pure Volume amongst others.

With musical backgrounds from the likes of Father John Misty, Mumford & Sons, The National, Ben Harper and Pearl Jam, The Ghibertins like their sound raw, energetic and emotional. Now, in 2021, the band will adventure into launching a new concept album, telling the tale of a fictional man, from his birth (intro) to his death (outro), titled: “The Life & Death of John Doe”.

“20149 – Milano” is the first single delivered to us by the band and it carries an 80s sound with an upbeat energy and existential crisis themes. The downfall of John Doe, if you might. Exposed and stripped of clarity, the fictional character spirals down in anger into a disorienting descent towards abandonment that reaches its catharsis inside the “special”.

The song was written to resemble a requiem, but it went to a very precise process of writing and composition. Singer/songwriter Alessio Hofmann couldn’t get a grip on this single, whereas the other were flowing pretty good. He took a trip to Guangzhou, China, and after several weeks he began to develop a feeling of alienation.

“It’s not easy to feel “special” in a city of 15 million people, in a reality where, without VPN, you are completely cut off from the outside world. One evening I’ve felt really small.” Alessio.

He took a piece of paper and a pen, and rushed through the streets of Taojin in a drinking spree. “Drink and drink again! This was the goal.” Trying to broaden his sense of unjustified sadness, Alessio looked for inspiration in the bottom of each glass.”On a dark sidewalk of Guanzhou, I was able to write the song in a few minutes.” – Alessio.

As for why the song is titled 20149 – Milano, Alessio tells that the next day he found on his piece of paper, 20149, written obsessively over and over again. 20149 is his home’s zip code.

A very interesting tale for a very interesting song. In it, the mood suddenly becomes darker thanks to the use of dissonances and effects that reflect the instability of the mental state of the character. The Ghibertins forthcoming album will feature one song for every decade of their fictional character’s life, and each song will represent a precise feeling.

If you’d like to know the rest of the story don’t forget to support this project and to follow them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, YouTube, and Spotify. You can also check out their official website.

It also helps to stream and share their music; you can obviously find it in the following Playlists: Less Than 1,000 Followers, Fresh Singles, Indie Only, and Alterindie State Of Mind

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