Federico Protto
Federico Protto
FORMULAS – extended play record, 2021
The extended play FORMULAS consists of 7 songs created between 2019 and 2021 with some of the texts dating further back. To musically understand and translate a collection of material, I applied methods to disrupt the common systems of value and quality, previously developed within my fashion practice.
Invoking ancient god*desses, summoning natural phenomena, and addressing our endlessly mysterious affairs of the hearts, it provides a shimmering-warm vocabulary of re-orientation. FORMULAS is a language of the future, a map to the Inner-World. Roaming through a series of modern spells for daily life, FORMULAS presents a sonic and pop-cultural tapestry: woven sounds on nature, love, and magic.
1 Hechizo 2021
2 Pan
3 Traje de Agua
4 Corazon Azul (feat. Pimpo)
5 Spells
6 Say It Right (feat. Stefan Cantante)
7 Valentien (for Klaus Nomi)
Series of 21 CD-Shirts, 2021
To make permeable the zones between the artistic fields my work traverses, I released the extended play FORMULAS in the form of a CD inside a garment sleeve. The edition of 21 vintage-sourced T-Shirts is embellished with hand-made patchwork from leftover materials from my textile work over the last three years. The extended play’s title, tracklist, and credits are printed on an A4-sized natural cloth resembling an untypically large clothing etiquette. This music/textile object/design/artifact can be stored either in the wardrobe or worn as a one-of-a-kind design piece.
da geht die sonne unter! (FORMULAS LIVE) – video performance, 35:14, 2021
commissioned for the 22nd international feminist and queer festival red dawns, Ljubljana (SLV) – extended play record, 2021
A video and music performance in three parts, in English, Spanish, and German. Which material is valuable and why? What makes a good/bad material? And who is entitled to define this? Developed during the pandemic, this performance questions and criticises how quality and value of (artistic) material are constituted and instituted in the global north, and the technical conditions for showing artistic work. For this work, I re-adapted a set of songs and poems into three accessible set-ups: at home, in the forest, and alone in the institute. Our resources are not infinite!
all tracks written and produced by Federico Luz except Say It Right co-produced by Stefan Cantante and Corazón Azul featuring Pimpo, mastering by Luís Rodrigues Alves, graphic design Chloe Janssens, photography Dora Denerak, styling Brankica Sanadrovic, fonts used are sporting grotesque by Lucas Le Bihan (Vevetyne Type Foundry) and Kaeru Kaeru by Isabel Motz (Velvetyne Type Foundry x NoFoundry)
further gratitude to Agnes Aleks Anna Anthony a.pass Branka Chloe Cyrille Dora Fede Luís Mamá Myriam Nathaniel Sébastien Stefan Tiago Tristan Túlio Urška recorded in budapest munich fuengirola reykjavik berlin brussels 2018-2021
Image credits in order of appearance: Dora Denerak Galyas, Tobias Brust, Viviane Gulacsy, Myriam Van Imschoot, Andras Vizi, Gergely Ofner, Adam Tarkövi, Marcel Mayer, Alexander Schneider, Panna Donka
Formulas ‘Family’
1 Marcx, poet, Rome
2 Federico, artists, Brussels
3 Hugo, watch maker, Geneva
4 Marieke, musician, Cologn
5 Massimo, hairdresser, Brussels
6 Anna, filmmaker, Brussels
7 Hannah, musician, Brussels
8 Luis, programmer, Lisboa
9 Valentine, fashion designer, Paris
10 Leonie, comic artist, Berlin
11 Paul, musician, Vienna
12 Yuhei, fashion designer, Tokyo
13 – unknown
14 Urska, musician, Ljubljana
15 Stefan, artist, Berlin
16 Nathaniel, dancer , Brussels
17 Aleks, choreographer, Berlin
18 Anita, therapist, Passau
19 Chloe, graphic designer, Brussels
20 Martin, producer, Brussels
21 – unknown
PAN
(written and produced by Federio Luz, mastered by Witch Studios ?, recorded in Fuengirola/Spain, Munich/Germany, Brussels/Belgium)
I step into the Unknown
we create our own rules
and live far away in the wilderness
we don’t care about society and civilization
to sing
and evoke the good spirits
to tell the future
to give advice
to teach new rituals
my uniform
I put it on to feel inside the elements
to understand more about
the past
the present
and the future
I am a traveler
a hunter
a collector
I come
from different
place
[Stand by me
PAN,
stand by me!]
HECHIZO 2021
(written and produced by Federico Luz, recorded in Munich, Berlin/Germany, Brussels/Belgium)
To give and receive love
I wish that I could live
I wish that I could give and receive
amor (?)
and give and I’ll receive
con todo mi amor
para darte amor
para darte amor
to give
was du verdienst (?)
du gibst und nimmst
I wish that I could live (?)
para darte mi amor
donde amor (?)
SPELLS
(written and produced by Federico Luz, recorded in Budapest/Hungary, Munich,Berlin/Germany)
Spells
Spells are everywhere
I feel anxious
and it’s my own fault
i am the witch
bewitching myself
carelessly
Spelling the word
spilling its four letters
not careful enough
A throwback to 1998
oh well,
age is just a number they say
but when will my age just be numbers though
YES IT IS TRUE
suspiciously,
but all i want is to
GIVE & RECEIVE
LOVE
LOVE
LOVE
LOVE
but it is already looking for its way
to the emergency exit
secretly for that exit to be
far
far
away
but conscious of its unnatural necessity
OH IT IS SAD
but i can’t pretend
and avoid
and enact
the
NON-SADNESS
because there it is
exposed and dressed
in whichever way you can imagine
‘Cause all I want is to
GIVE & RECEIVE
LOVE
‘Cause all I want is to
GIVE & RECEIVE
LOVE
LOVE
LOVE!!!!
TRAJE DE AGUA
(written and produced by Federico Luz, recorded in Fuengirola/Spain, Weissenfeld, Berlin/Germany, Reykjavik/Iceland)
En un traje de agua
me encontre
confrontado con usted
en un traje de agua
y pregunte
y pregunte…
a quien amar?
a quien cuidar?
a quien proteger?
a quien amar?
a quien cuidar?
a quien proteger?
la tierra amar!
la tierra querer!
la tierra proteger!
la tierra mamacita
la tierra mama
[te quiero mucho.
-Si?
mhm. un monton.]
CORAZON AZUL (ft Pimpo)
(written and produced by Federico Luz, co-written by Laura Pimpo, recorded in Fuengirola/Spain, Munich, Berlin/Germany)
Papi
Papi, dame tu corazón
Papi, ese corazón azul
Papi, ese corazón perdido
papi, papi, papi ven contigo
Papi yo no aguanto mas
quiero estar contigo
papichulo
papichulo me has hecho mucho daño
me hicistes daño muchas veces
cuando te aburro desapareces
pero te llamo cuando anochecer
y vos volves pa que te bese
la gente nos mira
pa que te bese
la gente nos mira mal
pa que te-
papi te veo caminando
por la calle ah ah
de la ventana del autobús
mi corazon late por vos
ya
ya
ya
ya
papi – papi
mi corazon late por voz
papi – papi
papichulo
ah
ah
ah
papapa-papa-papa
papi
papichulo
papi
papichulo
papi
mi corazon late por voz
papi
mi corazon late por voz
papi
papichulo
ah
pa que te bese
ah
pa que te bese
ah
pa que te bese – ese paquete
ah
pa que te bese – ese paquete
ah
pa que te bese – ese paquete
ah
pa que te bese – ese paquete
SAY IT RIGHT
(written and produced by Stefan Cantante and Federico Luz, recorded in Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Munich/Germany)
Like a body in the sky
an oracle of heart
Like a body in the sky
an oracle of hearts
I flipped a coin
and the rotation was everlasting
I flipped a coin
and the rotation was everlasting
Black-hearted youth
three spiky hearts
a change of mind
and a new direction