Herb Sundays 125: Gigi Masin
The Italian musician, producer, and composer in fine form. "Making a playlist has something to do with intimacy, with the most secret part of us."
Herb Sundays 125: Gigi Masin
Apple Music, Spotify
Art by Michael Cina.
“Making a playlist has something to do with intimacy, with the most secret part of us. It is much more than telling oneself or providing a presentation of music that can please and entertain, perhaps focusing on unknown songs.
A sincere playlist is like showing up naked on stage, without makeup, in the most complete way and without a net to save you if you fall down. As if the listener were sitting, silent, on your couch.. Not only do you make him listen to the music you really love, the one that every time gives you emotions and moves you an infinite number of thoughts, but also the one that turns your heart upside down and puts you, naked, in the presence of others.
Nothing artificial, artfully prepared, but your essence, your "me" without veils and without excuses. The part of music that is closest to life and that life absolutely cannot forget. The magic of music is not an abstract fact or even an invention of fairies, but only when your heart beats fast.“
- Gigi Masin
Gigi Masin (b: October 24, 1955) is an Italian composer, musician, and producer who lives and works in Venice. Masin belongs to a rarefied group of artists who have found a larger audience later in their careers, thanks to the help of reissues, sampling (Masin has been sampled by artists such as Björk and Post Malone), and collective canon restoration, or the deck shuffling of art in the 21st Century.
Masin’s work defies easy explanation. He belongs to no concrete scene or genre, arriving on the global wave of New Age and now settling into the canon of Ambient. Much of his work sidles up to Jazz or NeoClassical. Similarly, it’s tempting to say his music is about certain things, but he’s remarked that his work is more about the feeling of a thing, an abstraction of his senses.
Heartbreak and suffering are often the why, but the how is the artist’s hand at work, the alchemical touch. For instance, his most recent solo release is dedicated to his late wife, but he ducks the idea of biography, instead thinking through his own experience as the process, dialing in on the inexpressible.
If I were 1% more insufferable, I would do a Twitter thread each week about what I've learned from writing each Herb Sunday, and this one would be easy. So let’s get insufferable.
Lessons from Gigi Masin
Document the moment.
Gigi’s recorded debut is his self-released 1986 LP Wind, which the industry called a “private press” of 500 copies in 1986. Original copies of Wind now fetch 4 digits, if you can find one. The beauty of Wind is its simplicity; its main driver is cheap (at the time) synths that producers online often express, trying to replicate this sound but fail (Gigi often comments himself with kind words). Even without a commercial goal, had Masin not documented this time, it’s possible his art wouldn’t have found an audience.
original label for Wind, 1986 Elements of Wind, including “Call Me,” may be a sonic predecessor to other YouTube bangers like Yves Tumor’s “Limerance,” whose comment walls act as private confessionals. Flowers for someone lost arrive on these pages. Both instrumental parts bob up and down like Gigi’s ever-present water metaphors, using tape and gear that other electronic naturalists like Brian Eno have found comforting.
Endurance.
There’s something cultish about Gigi’s career in that it’s tied to near misses and failure. Indeed, all remaining copies of Wind, as well as Gigi's archive, including all his tapes, photos, etc., were destroyed in a flood in 2008. He then also needed to find a way to reinvent his process to continue making music, “either I become a monk or find a new way” as he told the Lost and Sound podcast in 2022. Since then, Masin has used all manner of means to express himself, including an iPad much like painter David Hockney.
Collaborate.
The success of Masin later in life is due to curators finding and elevating his work but its also about Masin’s interest in growing further and collaborating to do so.
It’s been 10 years since now legendary contemporary label Music from Memory released the compilation Talk to the Sea, which opened him up to a new generation of artists and apart from his own work he’s recorded with as a trio with Gaussian Curve (with Jonny Nash of the Melody of Truth label and Young Marco), collaborated with Italian duo Tempelhof, released a new EP with dub techno standard bearer, Rod Modell, and perhaps most visibly, a new body of work with pianist and composer, Greg Foat, all excellent.
In a 2015 interview with Music For Memory, whose leading light Jamie Tiller sadly passed away a year back, they describe this new experience.
“I think the Gigi Masin’s Talk To The Sea compilation really sums up the way in which we want the music we release to resonate with people. The Gigi Masin album Wind was our first introduction to his music and after a chance encounter discovering that LP we were just so blown away. It seemed like the little exposure his music had got had come via Bjork’s sample and a few hip hop acts who’d also sampled him (though hadn’t credited him). That seemed like a huge waste for such an obvious talent and after tracking down his second album Wind Collector we knew we just had to reach out to him and share this amazing music with more people. Gigi sent us literally hours of unreleased material dating from the early eighties up until the last few years and the problem was it was all great. …And the response not only from the audience but also musicians themselves was what we found the most exciting; that great young techno and house producers were totally blown away by his music was maybe one of the biggest kick for us.”
From the field:
I got to speak with
for The Creative Independent about a lot of things including my favorite mouth guards and more. The site has become an almanac of inspiration and advice from a vast trove of individuals. Editor Brandon Stousy continues his Basilica Soundscape series this month (including Herb 25 Helado Negro) and his collaborator, Herbist Adam Shore and him are bringing back their noise series on the 25th of Sept including Kelly Moran (Herb 122).
Sam keeps delivering the goodies. (This also might be my favourite image sub in a while: "Gigi isn’t upset with you; he’s just disappointed that you haven’t fully expressed yourself yet, but he still fully accepts you.")