Airwaves Off-Venue: Italian Pianist Bruno Bavota’s Iceland Debut

As well as extra chances to catch well-known names in a relaxed daytime setting, the Iceland Airwaves off-venues can offer chances to glimpse artists on the rise. Italian composer and pianist Bruno Bavota is one such performer, making his debut in Iceland playing only off-venue shows.  With the excitement and joy Bruno brings to his music, catching one of his performances should be high on your to-do list. We caught up with him to find out how it came about.

Hi Bruno. Could you tell us a bit about yourself and work?

Hello everyone! I’m a modern classical artist from Italy, but first of all I’m simply a man who tries to let his soul resonate through music. I started in December 2010 with my first self-released album “Il pozzo d’amor” – really a “well” full of my deepest emotions. Then in March of this year I released a new album “La casa sulla Luna”.  I’m currently working on my third release that will be out on April 21th.

Have you performed in Iceland Before?

No, but I’ve been in Iceland as a tourist. I fell in love immediately when I came, and thought that one day I would come back to play my music. Now that day is arrived!

What brings you to Airwaves this year?
I’ve heard about Airwaves for years, and always wanted to play at this wonderful festival.  So this year I sent some music, and found a lot of kind people ready to welcome me. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the people behind the off-venue program, and the venues.

Where are you performing and when? Do you enjoy these kind of intimate shows?
I have five different performances scheduled: October 30 at Lucky Records (h 18.00), October 31 at Hlemmur Square Hostel (h 17.00) and Volcano House (h 19.00),  November 1st at Downtown Hostel (h 16.00) and Hotel Borg (h 18.00). I’ve seen that I’ll play in venues where a lot of my favorite artists have played before and I’ve also seen that people pay a lot of attention to the off-venue program. These type of performances are where people discover the undiscovered!

What is your take on Airwaves as a festival, and what are you personally most excited for?
I really think Airwaves is one of most beautiful festivals in Europe, and in one of most wonderful places in the world. I’m so excited to return to Iceland and play. And last but not least, I’m excited hear a lot of beautiful music, and to meet the people who love it.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/11645106″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
What should we look forward to in your performances?
My performance will be a solo piano show.  I’ll also play some songs from my upcoming album,  so I’ve prepared surrounding sounds, recorded with my electric guitar, a reverb and delay.  I’ll use these sounds as well.  It’s something new in my performance.

What does the future hold for you beyond Airwaves?

Things are very exciting right now.  As of last week, I’m an artist of Toutpartout and I am really honoured to be part of a such great agency in Europe, and be in a team with many of my favourite artists like Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick.  So I’ll have many European shows coming up in 2014.

Where should people go to check out more of your work and schedule?

People can find me everywhere (Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, Soundcloud, Instagram, Google+), and for my performance schedule  they could also check my artist page on Toutpartout.