Donato Dozzy and Eva Geist Discuss Their Collaborative Album 'Il Quadro di Troisi'

Italian techno veteran Donato Dozzy (Donato Scaramuzzi) and singer-songwriter Eva Geist (Andrea Noce) released their collaborative album 'Il Quadro di Troisi' in 2020 on the German experimental label Raster, in partnership with Milan's Terraforma festival. The project originated from their meeting at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, where they discovered shared influences including Italian comedy films. The album draws on decades of Italian music history, reinterpreting the cantautore tradition with a personal, adventurous, and dreamlike approach. The title references the Italian actor and filmmaker Massimo Troisi, whose films serve as a metaphor for their worldview. The duo wrote songs for each other, communicating between Rome and Berlin. Geist's lyrics blend magical realism, drawing from Italo Calvino, Dino Buzzati, Edgar Allan Poe, and Eastern philosophy. Musically, the album incorporates influences from Lucio Battisti, Franco Battiato, Alice, and post-punk acts like Visage and Throbbing Gristle. Key tracks include 'Sfere di Qi,' which features hypnotic arpeggios inspired by Terry Riley, and 'Intenzioni,' a romantic piece evoking 1980s soft rock. The first track 'Non ricordi' was improvised, with Geist spontaneously writing lyrics over Dozzy's instrumental.