Nexus Meets… Luca Bluefire
Hailing from Denmark, Luca Bluefire (also known as Luca Giancotti) is a talented multi-instrumentalist with a surreal sound. With his experience as a guitarist in rock bands, he has evolved his music to a genre-defying scale. We speak with Luca about his new single ‘Forgotten Heroes’, discovering new music and more!
Why did you choose to enter the music industry?
I wouldn’t consider myself as part of the music industry as this is just a hobby for me. Whatever I did in music has always been passion-driven.
What is the backstory to ‘Forgotten Heroes’?
I wrote first the piano part and originally I thought I would sing the song. As the songwriting evolved, I realised I needed softer vocals.
What was the writing and recording process like?
It took me a while to develop the writing of the song, especially because it is divided into two parts. So, from a songwriting perspective, I tried to have a smooth transition and crescendo from the very beginning until the final cinematic part. Once the song was written I had this very talented singer, Courtney Waldron sing on it. It was an online collaboration and it was a very smooth process.
The hardest part was the very last stage of mixing where refining details in the piano dynamics and the balancing of effects (delays, reverbs) took me probably more time than the rest of the writing and recording process!
You say that ‘Forgotten Heroes’ was inspired by applicants to the project ‘Mars One’. What is ‘Mars One’ and can you tell us about it?
Mars One was a first attempt at organising an expedition to Mars. It has now failed, but the original idea was of a one way trip with no return as technology does not allow a comeback. Yet, there were several thousands of applications of people ready to go on this trip and basically die on Mars in the best-case scenario.
I saw a video with interviews to these applicants and I was somehow shaken. There was something weird in them, something I cannot describe. I feel that willing to die in space, kilometres away from you were born and where you grew up, is the ultimate form for loneliness.
Describe your sound in one sentence.
Melancholic and dreamy.
Do you believe your Danish background plays a role in the music you create?
Nice question, I never thought about that! Someone said that my music has a Nordic/Scandinavian feel, but that was back when I was still living in Italy. Now that I live in Denmark I haven’t had that feedback.
What do you think is the best way to discover new music nowadays?
I like Discover Weekly by Spotify. Also, there is a nice national radio here in Denmark called P6 that plays interesting, alternative stuff. I also follow labels that I like, for example, SubPop, Sargent House, and others.
Do you have any future plans?
I’ve been working quite a lot during the summer as a music producer for the talented Danish singer-songwriter Frederich Bondo. We have a couple of singles already out and another couple will be out in 2021. One of the upcoming singles will have a professional video clip with professional actors, so I’m quite excited to see what kind of reactions we’ll get from that.
Then I have many “Luca Bluefire” songs where I sing that are almost ready and I hope to have several of them released in ’21. I also hope to keep collaborating with talented female vocalists on my future releases.
Do you have a message for our readers?
Only to support music not only through streaming but also through Bandcamp, merch, Patreon etc. I’m not a professional, so this is not self-publicity. I know that it’s been a very hard year for many touring musicians and their future is very insecure, so a little help can really keep them going. And remember, those that on the outside seem like “big” artists are often struggling as well. Keep the good music alive!