Curses is the alias of Luca Venezia, Producer, Songwriter, DJ, Curator and more who operates in the realm of EBM, Dark Wave, Industrial, Synth and even dabbles in the odd church bell. Today he releases his third album, Another Heaven, via the coolest Italians Do It Better. Featuring gorgeous, dramatic Post-Punk, Another Heaven tells of Gothic romances, grief and ghosts. Co-produced by both Curses and legend Johnny Jewel, the recording process saw the self-confessed ‘protective’ Venezia open himself up to collaboration with beautifully haunting results. Loverboy spoke with Curses to find out more about the production process, preparing for grief and Pet Shop Boys.

Luca, congrats on the new album. It sounds so good. The release date is just days before Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead. Was this all fully intentional?
Absolutely. For obvious reasons, Halloween has always been my favorite time of year. Autumn and October in general. It’s the sexy spooky season of the year, as Ministry said ‘Everyday is Halloween’. It should be. Haha.

How long have you been working on this album and what has shaped this release?
This album has gone through many phases of existence. It originally started as a side project with my friend Dame Bonnet under the name Lolo Paradiso. I wanted to step away from the club-focused arrangements in previous albums, and stick to songs rather than tracks. In the end, Johnny Jewel convinced me there was no difference between the energy of these early demos and Curses previous work, so he co-produced the album with me to bring an extra sound and dark synth pop energy to my music.

 

I loved the two volumes of your compilation Next Wave Acid Punx. Did you learn anything during the process of creating these that you applied to making Another Heaven?
These complications are a work of passion, and veryyyyy time consuming. Patience in the craft is key, and I think this applies to the album as well. Patience and being open minded to feedback and critique and change is important in creating something that is timeless. Both projects are made with love, to last beyond the immediate attention.

The album is co-produced with the legend Johnny Jewel. Big respect to Johnny but this feels a more evenly balanced production than perhaps I expected. I wondered how you both approached the partnership. What did you both learn from each other?
It’s interesting because I am extremely protective of my music. It’s the first time I ever co-produced a record with someone. It’s the first time I let my guard down and trusted another artist to work with my songs. Johnny and I really clicked on a personal level though, and I think that’s why it worked. We both don’t let ego get in the way and allowing change, being open to swapping out a snare for another – may feel uncomfortable at first, but in the end makes all the difference. I really love working with Johnny.

You mentioned before that ‘Less is always more’ for production. Did you still feel that way creating this album?
Yes. I am always adding way too many layers. Johnny is great at creating a big sound with less elements, I learned a lot from his approach with my stems and instruments.I just spoke to Megan Louise from Desire about recording her vocals directly on to tape and the precision required. Did Johnny and yourself record Another Heaven in the same way? We were both touring and working remotely. It was crazy when I think about it. The time zone differences we’d be sharing were nuts.. Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Shanghai… but somehow we made it work.

I really love the moment of having ‘Elegant Death’ and ‘H2SG’ back to back. Could you talk about those two songs and whether you see them as being connected? I particularly love the vocal work on them both too, the belting at the end of ED but also the Backing vocals (although maybe it’s a synth?! Haha) on H2SG…
Thank you. These songs are definitely linked. H2SG stands for How To say Goodbye, referencing death. How to prepare for grief, deal with grief, and what it means as a reality. That ending is my voice, but happy it sounds like a synth haha!

You mentioned before you are obsessed with church bells and they are there on the title track. Can you tell us about your connection with church bells and impress us with some geeky knowledge about them? I love the idea of the history that is behind church bells and how old they are. Bell-ringing feels a real cult too…
Church bells are poetic to me, they stand for celebration (marriage, birth) as well as death at a funeral, so the melancholic power of a church bell lands heavy in many ways musically.

The title track is so beautiful. It feels like a total journey. From the moments in production to the semi-spoken singing it feels like a real tribute to Pet Shop Boys. I wondered if you could talk a bit about your connection with them?
To be quite open, I love Pet Shop Boys, absolute legends! But, the title track is way more inspired by book of love, and the romantic ballads of late 80’s early 90s Latin Freestyle… these were the first records I learned to DJ on as a teenager in NYC, so the drums and orchestral stabs have stuck with me throughout the years.

You, Johnny and Marie Davidson are a dream combination on ‘Helium’ too. Such a beautiful song. Were you tempted to jump on the vocals too and make it a duet? I feel like the opening ‘You fucking trying to keep away from me?’ is probably a quote from somewhere?
Marie is brilliant, besides beyond a dear friend, her music transcends on so many poetic and surreal levels. I wouldn’t want to interfere with the vocals she gave on Helium, but I wouldn’t be against a duet in the future….If you listen carefully, the quotes origin is in the song 😉

I love the idea of you, Zanias, Pablo Bozzi, Phase Fatale, Neu-Romancer all bringing fresh ideas to the scene. I wondered if you could talk about your relationship together and how you all have different energy but maybe the same core interests?
We all have our different but similar backgrounds and approaches. I think that’s what’s unique. We grew up on similar bands and electronic music, but digested it differently…

You’re out on the road on tour with three UK dates and I’ll be seeing you here in Barcelona. I wondered if you could tell us more about your live show this time around and also your relationship with London and Barcelona?
I’ve got a close connection to Barcelona because of releasing on oraculo records and performing a lot at Ombra Festival. We’ve become quite close, and even done Ombra editions in Tbilisi and Coruña spain together.. because of the very strong goth community in Barcelona, I feel welcome everytime… and comfortable to play everything I love. No judgement. You can expect us performing  a lot of the new album material on this tour, as well as some previous singles. Really looking forward to it.

Lastly we are named after the biggest selling single of 2001 and always ask what is your favourite Mariah Carey track and why?
Hmmmm. Definitely not All I want For Christmas haha.. I am more of a Sade guy myself 😉

Bonus question, I read that your parents nearly named you after the knight in Don Giovanni. If Orlando Furioso were to be an alias side project what music would you be producing?
Haha yes! I love this idea. Maybe an Italo-opera-house alias? I actually have an official edit of Callas coming next year 😉

Curses’ Another Heaven is out now.
For Tour Dates see www.cursesforever.com