Sunburn 2025 | Mathame: Mt Etna helped us shape our sound

Italian DJs and music producers Matteo and Amedeo Giovannelli popularly known as Mathame are in Mumbai for Sunburn 2025 Its not like they have been here before They have Only this time they are playing in a different setting Its not a club but a music festivalWith music that is literally an explosion of sounds the duo carry their roots with them Even if they roam the world they remember their home in Sicily at the base of Mt Etna one of the most popular active volcanoes in the world Growing up around these sounds has inspired their music in more than one way and even if they travel the world it will always carry a piece of Mount EtnaAhead of their performance at the iconic music festival Amedeo dives into their music the role of Artificial Intelligence in music but not without the role of visual storytelling in modern musicHere are excerpts from the interviewFirstly how excited are you to perform in India at Sunburn 2025 and is it your first time hereNo its not our first time We have been several times to India actually like at least four or five times to Mumbai Bengaluru Hyderabad Delhi and Goa We love the crowd because you all like to party thats what we like the crowd is warm We will play a little bit different than a club show it will be a more energetic setThe cities in India are different Goa is a small multiethnic place people from different places of the world but mainly Mumbai Bengaluru and Hyderabad are very similar I find it hard to play in Delhi because it has a very strong vibeHow have you seen electronic music evolve since the time you started outElectronic music follows technology Theres no electronic music without technology In the last 12 years to 15 years there has literally been a very fast revolution in technology and the music followsI think the AI breakthrough of these last three four years changed the cards a lot First of all the velocity of the quality of the music you can produce is insanely higher because we have AI like a brainstorming tool that helps you to find a good idea and its very important So thats why you see every week there are new huge releases I mean 10 years ago was different because you had to wait months for a good release and even a year or twoToday it is very fast The scenario changed and the genre collapsed I dont think there are any genres anymore You can do dubstep you can do dance you can do everything The most difficult thing now is to build a brand and manage your identityBefore it was easier to manage the identity because there was the genre that defined the identityNow without the genre you need to have a clear vision of your identity So the most difficult thing is to understand who you areDo you think AI enhances the whole musicmaking experienceDefinitely I have no regrets and no shame to say that AI is going to raise the bar of the quality because its an answer as you say for human capabilities Its like having a brilliant companion in studioAnd the most important thing that I think is underevaluated is that its breaking the barrier of the access I mean theres no cost and for less cost we have huge technology and results So its in a way democratising whole creativity The chance to create now is for everyone Its not just for who has money to do And thats why we are embracing AI because I think it is a tool for the people Now let people be creative and bring their own ideas to lifeThe greatest revolution of AI is that access is for everyone a few dollars to think that was unimaginable before Imagine doing a video clip in the traditional way Its like a hundred thousand dollars Nobody can afford a musical project unless you are not a major label or you have big money This will lead to a new completely new scenario completely new music Its exciting actually Thats why we are embracing AIIn the years since you have been active how has your music evolved with both of your expertise in violin and filmmaking respectivelyIts like having a blueprint where you base your project when we do like a track we always start from that point you know the cinematic scene the classical approach of composition so harmonies chords and orchestration is always like the starting point for everything we doNow we are focussing a lot on the visual side Our experience is like the first starting point Visual storytelling is way more important because as I say there is it helps to build the identityThe most difficult thing today is to have original identity original voice original tone So the visual part because we live in a society that is more visual with social media and everything we are immersed in visual storytelling all the time So visual storytelling from a photo to video is much more important than before and how you use that defines your identityIts like language So thats why it is important because it gives everyone the chance to do quality stuff but if you want to do quality stuff you need to know the language I mean not everybody that can prompt instructions for an AI model can do something cool AI doesnt mean automaticGrowing up at the base of Mount Etna how has the active volcano inspired you to create musicWe started from the geography definitely but I mean its obvious that the place where you are defines the identityFor us the beginning when we were on the Etna on the volcano helped us to shape our sound because we get inspiration from the volcano activity We often use the sounds that remind us of the explosion or the rumble of the ground and powerful volcano It gives us the blueprint of identity When you are touring you are inspired by the place where you visit I find Japan and the US very inspiring but the blueprint is always on the volcano itrsquos s like you build above that We also love scifi and Im a huge fan of scifi literature movies and animationThe good scifi has poetic meaning that is like a metaphor of our contemporary living to help us understand the present because projecting in the future and paradox of our world helps you to understand the contradiction of the world you live in To me its more effective because it activates the brainI think its also paradoxical and also in a way like you said it probably opens a side that you probably had in your subconscious but havent really brought it out or put it on paper