“Our new album will be released in 2027” – interview with Simone Salvatori of Spiritual Front

Sometimes I wonder about circumstances happening. For example, I travelled to Finland to see an Italian band. And I’m Italian myself. But let me tell you, it was totally worth it. I chatted with Simone Salvatori, lead vocalist for Spiritual Front about the past, present and future of the band.

Hey Simone, how are you doing at the moment?

Simone Salvatori: I’m a bit tired, let’s say. A bit tired, really.

Well, after a show, I think it’s also physiological. So, I wanted to start from the beginning of time. Going back to the first materials, like “Songs for The Will”, what do you still have in music that connects to the beginning?

Simone Salvatori: Just the name. Yes, the only thing I can tell you that still has a link is maybe the honesty of things. I think I’ve always been quite honest in what I do, in the good and in the bad. For the rest, they are records that I don’t deny, but they are extremely caressing, extremely amateurish, that I can’t feel, I can’t appreciate. They are part of a past that I have left. But one thing I liked was that there was an ingenuity, an honesty, just for that. I mean, the first demos… But, of course, I can’t say that they are records that I appreciate.

Some of those songs we rearranged, because many people still ask me about them. Recently a label asked me if I had to print them, but I said no. So we rearranged the songs, and we put the pieces of those records on “Open Wounds”. We rearranged them a bit. They were made with a tape recorder, with four tracks, and once they were recorded, they wouldn’t be deleted. So, you know, they were really the first demos. I think that now there is a huge difference between what we do now and what we did many years ago. Musically, I don’t feel them at all. I never listen to them. I repeat, I don’t deny them because I did it, but I keep my distance. It’s understandable because you grow as an artist, and as a person, rightly, once you’ve done something, maybe after you’ve lost something. One of the things I liked about “Nihilist Cocktails” was that it was very experimental. I did it at home, in a difficult period of my life, where I used these four tapes, I did experiments, I was very naive.

I really like the theme that often appears in your tracks, the decadence. In your opinion, is it more a mask, a mirror, or a form of truth?

Simone Salvatori: It’s something that belongs to everyone, because we are all destined to decay, both morally and physically. We try to move away from this process, we try to move away from the idea that decadence exists. I try not to move away from it, but to be almost an accomplice to it, to be an ally of this decadence. I work with the dead, I’m always in contact with death. We have a privileged relationship with the decadence of the body, of life, of the mind. You have to make it yours and you have to propose it in terms of artistic reality. So no, it’s not real. It’s something that no one can miss, the decadence in all its forms. It’s an inevitable process.

One of the aspects I like the most about Spiritual Front is that the songs are very real, very intimate, very deep. What does vulnerability mean to you?

Simone Salvatori: I think I manage to exorcise this thing by making it… by proposing it… I’m always with my partner in this thing, or with a friend of mine who is in therapy. And I always say that I save myself because I manage to bring it back, to free myself from this thing by making the songs. So, let’s say, I put it a little naked. And this vulnerability I propose it as a song. I talk about it and what I write is what I am, what I try. Mayne not like Schopenhauer or Kant, but, let’s say, when I have something of an emergency, I immediately write about it on a song. It’s a vulnerability that allows you to live, a vulnerability that exists, that is real. Who can make music or any other kind is privileged because he can put it put it put it into this thing. I always say if I did the same thing I don’t know what would happen. I think as they say telling it helps you in any case to live with it.

How do you find the balance between always innovating as an artist and having the same identity as the Spiritual Front?

Simone Salvatori: I think that we are quite out of time on these things, so I don’t try to be at the same pace with the times. We have always done something that is a bit out of time. Fashion is like that, you have to look for something to be there, and then what is fashionable, what is current now, especially in music, in a year, two years, three years, they are already old. So it is worth doing something that remains a work of art forever, or get out of the scheme. If you obey a scheme, you end up with that scheme. If you can’t get out of this scheme, it’s not linked to the trend. Or it is a struggle that you do constantly, looking for a concept that does not belong to us. Or you wait for it to be updated, you wait twenty years to become modern. You want to do something that is completely out of date. This is my idea. Think about how many musical genres you listen to now, that came out a few years ago. They are so old, you have to wait for them to go around, you have to wait for them to come back. Yes, it is for a long time. It’s a useful thing, I think. But there are things that are from the 90s, but the same old things. Now it seems so old, those electronic things of the 90s. You have to wait for things to come back in fashion, you have to wait for the 90s. That 20-30 year arc doesn’t come out.

“The Queen Is Not Dead” was released in 2023. What can we expect from the future of Spiritual Front?

Simone Salvatori: Actually, we are recording a lot of songs, we are already in the studio, we have to do the string parts and the vocals. We have to do the cover art, there are a lot of songs. I think it will be released in 2027. Let’s not doubt it. The album will come out with a double cd, with the extras. The album is a bit new.

What is the strangest place you have ever played?

Simone Salvatori: The strangest and most beautiful place is the Castellana Caves. It’s a unique place. You can’t drive there. I don’t know if you have ever been there. Actually, in the 70s there have been filmed some sci-fi movies, because it was a place like this. These caves, and then you raise your head and there is this hole of light that enters. It’s a really cool place.

It’s spectacular. Since you are an artist and we are in Finland, are there any Finnish bands that you like, that inspire you?

Simone Salvatori: I used to be a big fan of Sentenced. Impaled Nazarene. I also liked the first two of the Amorphis. The first two. I also liked Cadaver.

If Spiritual Front, for one day, could have all the knowledge of a movie director, who would you choose?

Simone Salvatori: Fassbinder, but in terms of knowledge in terms of maybe Bergman. He was a mind out of control so I would say him he had a good approach maybe him. Actually Scorsese has a big cultural baggage.

Simone, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me! Do you want to add something to our readers?

Simone Salvatori: Keep your eyes open, because the album will be out soon. I suggest you to follow my other project, it’s called Morgue Ensemble. It’s all based on my work, it’s a photographic project, it’s also a book. Musically it’s a bit more soundtrack, but I often play it in heavy festivals.