Biography
Andrea F - Musician, Producer, TV + Radio Host
A SEMI-SERIOUS BIO-DISCOGRAPHY
I was born on a dark and stormy night… no, actually it was a late afternoon on a November 16th of many moons ago, to an Italian nationality & Italian speaking family in Capodistria, a seaside town on the lovely Istrian Adriatic Coast. So I’m a sea view kind of guy! Spent my formative (and truly memorable) childhood years in Ghana Africa, where I lived and attended The Ridge School of Kumasi, travelled back to Capodistria and switched back from English schooling to both Slovenian and Italian, went to high school in the picturesque coastal bijoux town of Pirano, lived between Istria and Bologna, Italy, where my dad worked, and then attended University in Ljubljana, Slovenia, studying English and Italian literature & language.
In pure rock & roll tradition, I dropped out of university before graduating, because my band (Idiogen
– see below on this page!), gigs, guitars and recording studio lights were taking up most of my time and certainly
most of my attention. I’d started playing guitar when I was 9, straight back from Africa, quite probably as an answer
to the inevitable shock and seriously uncomfortable fit of what, back then, was the Yugoslav society and education
system. Again, it’s a classic: a bit of a dropout, a bit of a loner, a bit of a weirdo, hello guitar, thank you music.
After my band activity stopped, or rather simultaneously to that, at the tail end of the 80s, word got round that I
knew a thing or two about making good sounds happen in the studio, so other bands started to ask me to either
mix, or record, or produce their music.
The very first was an electro-dark-wave-alternative duo from Serbia, called Persijski tepih – the Persian Rug. They’d done about a dozen mixes of a song called “Storm” and couldn’t seem to agree on which one was good for release, so they asked me to do my own take of it and settle the case, and that’s what finally got released. From there, it’s practically never stopped: there’s a VERY semi-complete discography list, to the best of my recollection, at the foot of this biography, and honestly I can’t recall one year from the 80s to now in which I haven’t been working on recording, producing, mixing or writing for & with some artist. And I consider myself lucky, privileged and happy to be able to do this professionally.
Dallas Records
Nika Records
ZKP RTV SLO
Multimedia Records
KUD Rumeni zaliv
Produkcija Slovenija
EMI Music Italy
EMI Music Greece Sony/BMG Italy
Toast Records Torino Italy
Supporti Fonografici Records Milano Italy
La Cupa / Warner Music WMG Italy RCA Italy
Ne-Ton Records
Rough Trade Records UK
Rock Company NL
Oh, but because my life seems to attract multiples of things, at that same time, late 80s and the end of Idiogen, word also got round that I knew a thing or two about music, listened to and collected a lot of records, read a lot of music books and magazines (remember , kids – this was WAY before the internet!), so I got invited to do a 1 hour weekly radio show presenting “new music” for Radio Capodistria, the mighty and quite legendary Italian language wing of the national broadcaster, very popular and with a huge listener base not just between what was just about to split into Slovenia and Croatia, but also in neighbouring Italy. It was a golden opportunity, not only to voice my own opinions and chisel my public speaking skills, but also to be in constant touch with all the tons of music, albums, singles, CDs, promos etc that all the major and indie labels regularly sent to this A-level radio station, plus an opportunity to get to understand and know how “the other side” of musicmaking works – the side to which it gets sent to after one has written, recorded and released it, i.e. radio, the media, and the world of music PR & promotion. In fact, for quite a number of years, I also was their person in charge of record company liaison. This, too, I believe is a precious added knowledge and skillset for me, and therefore for the artists I work with and produce. Radio work, too, has never stopped since then, and still, to this day, I do some music playlisting, my own weekly several hour live music show on Mondays, an album charts show on Sundays, and pick the Single of the week, Song of the Week & Album of the week for Radio Capodistria. A couple of years after I started working in radio on a more regular & committed basis, I also got invited to first host, and later create, direct and host some music shows for TV Capodistria. That eventually progressed & spilled over into work also for RTV Slovenia’s main, national channels, in Slovenian.
-RHYTHM & NEWS, a 1992-1997 show I created & hosted, featuring new videos, historical “Hall of fame” in depth segments, tour dates, and exclusive interviews with artists I had the pleasure to meet and speak to, such as Bryan Adams Zucchero R.E.M. The Cardigans Patti Rothberg Vasco Rossi Deep Purple Nazareth Jennifer Batten Samuele Bersani Bracco Di Graci Bungaro Massimo Bubola and others…
-10-2-GO, an innovative concept show that I hosted radio-style, just speaking off camera but with all I said also being written out in graphics over a non-stop music mix of 10 videos, and the very first TV show in Slovenia to have its own web page and to interact with viewers through it
-FOLKEST, a 9 year TV show series dedicated to the legendary Folkest festival of North-eastern Italy, which runs through the whole month of July every year in different characteristic regional locations, and of which TV Capodistria was the official broadcaster. These live events gave me the opportunity to discover beautiful places & venues, and moreover to film and meet & interview (and sometimes even become friends) with both new and legendary artists such as
Jethro Tull
Joan Baez
Jackson Browne
The Cheiftains
Noa America
Los Lobos
Capercaillie
Loreena McKennitt
The Byrds
Andreas Wollenveider
Inti Illimani
C.P.R. (David Crosby)
Joe Cocker
Paul Millns
Bruce Cockburn
Michelle Shocked
Hoven Droven
Carlos Nuñez
Mari Boine
Angelo Branduardi
Los De Abajo
Fiorella Mannoia
Mark Knopfler
Vinicio Capossela
James Senese
Elisa Joan
Armatrading
Fabrizio De André
and others…
-NA GLAS, the prestigious music segment of TV Slovenia 1’s Sunday entertainment show NLP, a segment I curated and hosted from 2009 to 2011, interviewing and hosting live-in-studio performances of practically all major Slovenian artists, as well as some special international guests such as
Michael Bolton
The Tindersticks
Paul Millns
Joe Cocker
-EFFE’S INFERNO, the first (and only!) actively Italian-Slovenian bilingual show, created, directed and hosted for both TV Capodistria and TV Slovenia 2 simultaneously, from 2001 to 2014, in which I invited, hosted, presented & interviewed similar or compatible upcoming artists and bands that had released at least one album, one from Italy and one from Slovenia, in a hellishly themed, David Lynch Twin Peaks inspired surreal setting.
So, between radio and TV I’ve also been the official live broadcast commentator and/or the on-site host reporter for major music events such as the Sanremo Festival, the Eurovision Song Contest, the Grammy Awards, the Nara City Japan Great Music Experience festival, etc. I even was the spokesperson guy who gives the national votes results at the ESC – see here for some controversy (“We are one” was that 2013’s slogan, so I broke the strict rules and sneaked in a little backlit scrolling LCD display jacket pin that added “Songs, not flags”, as I believe that constantly naming the participant countries and not the songs while encouraging flag-waving stadium-style fandom is not a good look or vibe for what supposedly is a SONG festival).
Still, if you ask me, as much as I enjoy talking about other people’s music and I understand the importance of bringing music across through the media and perhaps turning people on to an artist or genre, I actually enjoy making my own music or helping other artists create the best possible version of their music a bit more.
- IDIOGEN – “Idiogen”/»Burning”/“Drive You Mad” albums
- PERZIJSKI TEPIH – “Storm”
- KUD IDIJOTI – “Hočemo cenzuru” /”Neču da radim za dolare”
- EPs MEF / MEF & NOB – “Ne mi lest v podzavest” song, »Najboljše so padle«/Svoboda«/«Najboljša leta«/«Ma ne že spet«/«Ljubljanska 45« albums
- HIŠNI BEND – “Hišni Bend” cassette album
- GAME OVER – “Tilt” cassette album
- SPACE CAKES – “Brid” album
- ZMELKOOW – »Kdo se je zbral?«/«Čiko, Pajo in Pako«/«Dej nosorog, pazi kam stopaš!«/«10-10« albums, »Mama Koka« single
- FARAONI – “Mi ljudje smo kot Morje”/“Sem takšen, ker sem živ”/“Drugačen”/“Kar je res, je res”/“Pijem kar tako”/“Solinar”/“Ljubezen ni prišla še mimo” singles, »V živo! – San Simon 20.8.1997” live album + broadcast
- GIANNA NANNINI – Live in studio for radio
- BUNGARO – Live in studio for TV, CD
- EASY – “Galeb” album
- BUH POMAGEJ – “Buh pomagej” album
- LARA BARUCA – “Kar ne piše/“Beenarni sistem” albums
- ALEKSANDER NOVAK – “Prekratka”/“Leto še eno”/Mik” singles
- MASSIMO BUBOLA – Live in studio for radio
- ALEKSANDRA ČERMELJ – “V tebi se nov dan začne” single
- REMI BAND – “Ne kliči aprila” single
- POLONA – “Just A Mile” single SHE – “Prfuknjenec” single
- LEILA BAND – “Samo miljon nas je” single
- BINHO CARVALHO & BANDA BERIMBAU – Live in studio for TV
- BAKAN – “Ko boš končala” album
- BOHEM – “Manifest ljubezni”/«Na drugem bregu« albums
- TINKARA KOVAČ – TV live concert broadcasts 2001/2003/2007, “O-range”/“Enigma”/“aQa” albums, “Ljubezen je padla z neba“/«Če Je To Vse“ singles for »Best Of« album
- VINICIO CAPOSSELA – Live in studio for radio, »Marinai, profeti e balene« album pianos & prepro MATTEO E.BASTA – “Lacrime”/”Milioni” EPs
- SIXTYNINE – »You Are Me« album SKALP – “Vse se odpre”/”Hladen tuš” singles
- KLOPKA ZA PIONIRA – “Živa sila” album
- ŽIGA RUSTJA – “Z moje perspective”, “Čas” albums
- RODOLFO VITALE SWING ORCHESTRA – “A fine mese (Non arrivo al 31)” single
- JERNEJ ZORAN – »Oprostite, to ni moj svet«/«All They say, All They Do«/«Greva tja« singles
- MADISON – »Fall Apart« single, forthcoming »Square« EP
- FISH ON MARS – »Charles Ingalls«/«There Are Fish On Mars«/»Be Right Back«/«SummerHeat ’83«/«Lazy Surfer« singles for forthcoming album
IDIOGEN
IDIOGEN started as an idea & pre-high-school-band at the beginning of the 80's in the often peculiar mind frame of founder & leader Andrea F, who thought up a semi-psychedelic rock power trio, not shy of wailing wah-wah guitar solos, feedback laced sound and blues fuelled riffing, often spoken (instead of sung) vocals, combining the onset & rise of what was to become the indie scene, the lyrical insight of living behind the iron curtain with your head out in the world, and the legacy of an unabashed love for Jimi Hendrix.
That’s how our official biography, as found somewhere on the internet, starts. And indeed, I may have had a peculiar mind frame… but those were peculiar times! In 1981 I read in some magazine that Fender had bettered and revamped to the original specs their Stratocaster, and had a new catalogue, with new models and colours, of their ‘E-series’, eighties guitars. I typed my letter to request one of those catalogues, and sent it via airmail to Fullerton, California, so it was to arrive in a couple of weeks. Their reply, however, arrived via regular mail, travelling by ship for over 2 months, and it read something like “Dear Andrea, thank you for your interest in our instruments, however, Fender does not do business with communist countries”. I wish I still had that letter now – it would probably make some collector’s fortune
I eventually got my Strat in 1983, in Italy, where my dad bought it for me, and we then had to smuggle it across the border covered in gravel in the trunk of a reckless Italian acquaintance’s huge Mercedes. And it was in those times, and with that guitar, that Idiogen started becoming serious. We had already been playing for a while, there are some pictures of a very young me with an Italian made Les Paul copy by Eko playing with the first line-up of the band (András Tóth on bass, Gianni Miglioranza on drums) to an almost empty gymnasium of our school. It was 1982, and later, with new drummer Damjan Ličen and his rototoms, we got invited to record 2 songs at Radio Capodistria’s mammoth studios, where we were surprised by having an in-house producer assigned to us.
The sessions were quite a disaster, the guy knew nothing & wanted to know nothing about our music but just wanted to get the job done. He even fell asleep leaning against the multitrack tape recorder amidst my guitar overdubbing. Slipping with his elbow, he caused the tape to warble – and then claimed that “Come on, it’s OK, you must have done that effect with your strange playing!” It was probably there & then that I decided that producing and mixing was of capital importance, and something I wanted to learn and to be able to do, for our music.
The name I’d already thought of very early on: Idiogen is a biological phenomenon or disease of spontaneous origin. Just like I believed music should be. Also, to my mind the word was a blend of Idiot+Genius, symbolizing the two sides to every story, all relative, a matter of point of view. Plus, it later turned out to be a clever name as depending on the country or region we’d go to, people would pronounce it differently or accent the word differently – they’d ask in interviews “So what is the correct pronunciation of your band’s name?” and we’d reply “Whatever you want it to be, whatever suits you and your language”. In 1983 we played a couple of very loud and very talked of gigs in Capodistria, which not only got us a little following, but much more importantly got us the attention and support of Boris Furlan, soon-to-be local music mogul, concert organizer, manager, visionary impresario and founder of possibly the first ever true independent record label in Yugoslavia. His help, dedication and brave ideas were fire to my fuel and vice-versa. I’m not sure how the financial aspect of things went, I doubt ever paid for anything, but I do know he is the one who got us into a recording studio with legendary Prizma guitarist turned engineer & studio owner Igor Kos, first in what we had to name “Ikos Studio” because it was just the top floor of his secluded house above a village school in the Karst region and he had no name for it, later in what became “Studio Slovenija”, when he moved his gear & patience to Capodistria, in the much fancier soundproofed & sound treated premises of the local Youth Cultural Centre which Boris was running.
Igor was to become a dear friend. We spent 1984 rehearsing like madmen, again with a new line-up as my best friend & bass player András had gone back to his native Hungary following his family, so with Žare Pavletič on bass and Damijan Barut on drums by 1985 we were busy recording our first “Cassette-Only” album (yes, it was a thing, back then), parts of which made it onto our first proper vinyl LP, released in April 1986 by Boris’ Slovenija Records label. The compulsory military service in the damn Yugoslav army was a serious obstacle back then: a year or more sent to some as distant as possible part of the country, in some cases you didn’t know if people came back from it, and in all cases you never knew in what mental state and with what changed life perspective (or musical perspective) people returned from it. When Žare had to leave for the army, I brought in Drago Hrvatin as our new, powerful and skilled bass player, so that first LP was a hybrid of the work of those two line-ups. All along, Boris & me had been trying to reach out to as many different territories, music scenes and media as possible. We knew that this was a small and enclosed parallel universe we were living in, behind the first fold of the so-called Iron Curtain, and we sensed that our music could do more & better elsewhere. In fact, I can safely say that it was much, much tougher for us to get a gig or a decent review anywhere in Slovenia, already consumed by its craving to be “the most western / the most avantgarde” of the Yugoslav republics and therefore mostly into post-punk gloom & doom darker new wave or early electronica sounds, and I remember more than one occasion in which before or after a live show some of the local intellectuals, self-proclaimed music experts or even the promoters would take me aside for a brainwashing session, claiming “Rock is dead… synths are the future… punk killed everything… guitars are dead” – I was unshaken & unimpressed, and frankly I wish I could have seen their faces later, through the years and through all the guitar-toting music genres that have developed and thrived since, or even now.
But reviews started flowing in aplenty from the USA, from the UK, from Germany, Finland, from neighbouring Croatia and from Serbia or Bosnia, and even more copiously from Italy. The so-called garage rock movement was on the rise, as were the multitude of faces of rock&roll sustained by the newborn indie labels, so our guitar wailing, blues-based power-wave found eager ears abroad. The legendary Rough Trade Records and Honest Jon’s stocked & sold our music in London, major magazines such as Spin or Melody Maker and NME reviewed us (very favourably, in fact), as did a plethora of fanzines and college magazines, like Buzz, Option, or Rock&Roll Confidential. Without email or social media, in an age of cyclostyle (!!!) and then photocopies, stamp licking and countless trips to the local post office for costly 12” vinyl LP boxing and mailing, we were doing what today is called “networking”.
In 1986 we had a track on a Las Vegas indie compilation album, “America’s So Apathetic Compilation”, and later, in 1988 we would feature on UK’s Cordelia Records “Obscure Independent Classics” compilation. In Italy, we would regularly get major reviews, mentions, and full feature interviews in music magazines ranging from fanzines, like Tommy or Tempi Moderni, to the specialized, like Rockerilla, Urlo, FareMusica, Buscadero or Mucchio Selvaggio, all the way to the mainstream & trendy, like Radiocorriere TV, Ciao 2001 or Rockstar. At the end of 1987 we released our second album, “Drive You Mad”, which was exported and distributed all over Italy, and months before that we did an EP just for the Italian market, “Burning”. Damijan had also been drafted in the army, and amidst a serious sentimental crisis decided to quit drumming (luckily I’d meet him and get to record him again years later, as the classic drummer for now legendary Slovenian band Zmelkoow, which I later produced), so for those records and all the gigs in came a flamboyant, powerful drummer from nearby Italy, Max Felix, further cementing our very border-trespassing status – and I believe our best line-up.
Italy was also a big touring territory for us, and we played several northern, north-eastern, and southern short tours, rocking in some truly memorable places like Taormina, Verona, Udine, Reggio Calabria, Senigallia, Pompeii, or Napoli, where upon arriving at the club for soundcheck we had to wake up these sleeping figures in sleeping bags, on the floor of the carpeted stage: the one I woke up unzipped and out came Nico, the former Velvet Underground goddess… she and some band members had slept there after their gig the night before! Things weren’t bad on the Yugoslav concert and media side either, we got reviewed and/or interviewed by Džuboks, Rock, Naši Dani, Novi List, Stav, Glas Omladine, Val, Student, Mladost, etc, and we played some pretty memorable shows in places like Belgrade, Zagreb, Pula, or Rijeka, in some legendary venues like Kulušič, KST, CRMK, FV, Dom Omladine, Uljanik or Akademija (where halfway through the show I noticed the sound suddenly becoming much better – Milan Mladenović, frontman of legendary band EKV was in the audience, and evidently as unhappy with the sound as I was, used his rockstar status to push the underperforming soundman aside and take over the mix… after the show he visited us in the dressing room, walking in enthusiastically shouting “You guys need a HUUUGE PA!”). To think about it now, it seems incredible how some small technical luxuries that artists take for granted today, like proper & functioning stage monitors for us or a pedal tuner (it was invented years later, in 1998) would have made those concerts so much more enjoyable for us and for the audiences.
But yes, we had fun. Maybe even too much – which is part of the reasons why, in the best of R&R traditions, we split at the height of our powers, at the dawn of 1989. I know now that we should have continued. And I know that we had a couple of good songs in the works for a next album, some of which we even already had been playing live, which is the first reason for some of the “new” material to be found on the forthcoming “Something Else, Somewehere Else” double compilation CD, the other reason being that some later recordings and demos existed which I believe continue and complete the Idiogen story, including some some much newer tracks, direct descendants of the Idiogen material and years, by my new project which I call Qño, a misspelling of the word “cugno”, which in Istria, or in Venetian dialect, refers to something massive, heavy – something that is not easily moved or removed, like a doorstop, or an overly heavy meal). “Something Else, Somewhere Else” has a triple purpose: it makes the Idiogen album tracks available for the first time ever in digital format, in a sonically pristine form, remastered and even before that carefully restored from the original analog master tapes, many of which were suffering from tape shedding and had begun to disintegrate; it celebrates 30 years since the band stopped being operative, which was long overdue as we had done nothing for the 10th, or the 20th, or even the 30th anniversary of our albums; it recaps and gives closure plus a historic perspective to Idiogen as a project, which is again long overdue, and is perhaps the most important aspect, in our ever accelerating age of information… and of long term memory loss.