From Performing on Top of Active Volcanoes to Their New Single “For You”: Giolì & Assia Turn up the Heat with Rival

Riccardo Iozza

BY SANDY AZIZ

Live-electronic duo Giolì & Assia ignited the music scene last year with live performances atop active volcanos in Milazzo, Sicily, and again, in the Aeolian Islands in videos that gained over seven and thirteen million views, respectively.  This summer, the multi-instrumentalist duo continues to turn up the heat with a live boat performance around Scopello for the release of their first single for their EP with Ultra Music titled “For You.” 

Raised in Sicily, the duo loves Italy, describing some of what the country has to offer - incredible locations to explore and plenty of places to showcase their art. Generally speaking, most people never get to experience performing on top of an active volcano, let alone one in Italy, so of course we needed more details on the whole experience. “Aeolian Islands [are] some of the best spots you can find – we always knew we wanted to shoot a video on top of the Aeolian Volcano,” Giolì & Assia express. “It was an amazing experience we will always remember! It was hard to climb the volcano during the night with all the gear, but the panorama on top was so stunning and colorful – it was worth it.” 

While they love Italy, the place outside of Italy that Giolì & Assia are always happy to visit is Indonesia. “We both love Bali and its landscapes so much: it can be wild, but also full of traditions, beautiful temples and lovely people,” Giolì & Assia pronounce. “We can’t wait to be back soon [and] we would definitely love to plan a live video there.” Watch this space. 

Aside from stunning locations to showcase their art, the multi-talented duo reveal that they have always been fans of the fashion industry, claiming, “fashion is like music; it is a way to express yourself” and “clothes are essential to communicate your mood.” Having already collaborated with incredible brands such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Versace, and more, the duo describes the experience of working with Louis Vuitton in Moscow last year. “It was very intimate and cool [and] Louis Vuitton has a super nice team - can’t wait to work with them again!” 

Riccardo Iozza

Stunning video locations and impressive fashion collaborations are just a few additional reasons that set Giolì & Assia apart in the industry. However, their musical talents and capabilities alone set them apart, too. Not only does this duo have a unique sound that blends styles of techno, house, indie and pop – but Giolì plays the piano, cello, drums, guitar, and hand-pan and Assia sings too.  Even more inspiring, Giolì & Assia started their own record label, Diesis, in 2016. A few years since the launch of the label, the duo shares their rationale behind its inception. “Our idea was to create a safe place where we release the music [that] we like producing, without worrying too much about other label standards. Diesis was born with this concept, an open-minded label that welcomes different genres and types of artists.” In conjunction with welcoming different genres and different types of artists, Giolì & Assia highlight that scheduling and organizing those artists’ releases and videos is part of what they love about their job. In terms of how they find new talent for Diesis, the duo declares that sound and unique style are their top criteria when sifting through all the demos sent to the Diesis mail inbox. So, for all of you newcomers to the music industry, take note. Also noteworthy - Giolì & Assia advise “chase uniqueness, find your own way to express yourself and your music, and never give up in trying to rise to your goals.”

Lately, the duo says they really miss touring and hope they will be able to do more when it is safer. “The worst challenge we’ve recently faced is the whole Covid-19 situation, because of the lockdown – we have had to cancel and postpone tour dates,” Giolì & Assia explain. Even if this is the case now, the multi-talented duo is still turning up the heat this summer and claim they are looking forward to releasing more tracks, including ones with Spanish lyrics. “[These tracks] are so different from what we’ve shared so far…so we can’t wait to see our fans’ reactions.” Just this month, Giolì & Assia signed with Ultra Music which has always been one of their goals. And the duo will be releasing their first single for their EP, “For You.” Though no volcanos are involved this time, Giolì & Assia will take us on a boat ride around Scopello, Italy while performing the single live. Get ready to set sail!

Riccardo Iozza

While we anticipate the release of “For You”, here are a few of Giolì & Assia’s favorites, for you: 

Favorite lyrics (from their music):

From the song “Emptiness” – “It talks about a person who is struggling with depression and their inner thoughts, which just bring them down: I’m feeding my demons, I’m feeding them all, they want to control, they won’t let me go. These negative thoughts don’t allow them to be positive and love themselves, but this will change the moment they find the person they love: But I, have you, make me yours, so I don’t feel the emptiness. They are trying to fight depression, leaning on this person, whose love is giving them the strength to go on and love life again.” 

Favorite song (from their music):

“Our favorite track is not released yet, it’s called “Quedate,” and has Spanish lyrics. We love it and can’t wait for our fans to listen to it, because it’s a new version of Giolì & Assia, something fresh and different from what we’ve done so far, but always produced using our signature sounds.”

Favorite food:

“We love Italian food in general, the whole meal: pasta, pizza, desserts! Impossible to choose one.”

Currently binge-watching: 

“We are into the Netflix series called Dark. At the moment, we are finishing the third season.” 

Favorite style of music and instrument: 

“The kind of music we like the most to spin as DJs, beside our own productions, is AfroHouse. For the instrument, probably drums. We’ve never performed live without them.”

Musicians/DJs to collaborate with: 

Black Coffee: “We love his sound and tracks. We always play some afro house tracks at our shows and in our live videos, so it would be great to combine both of our music styles in a song together.” 

Calvin Harris (Love Regenerator): “Calvin Harris is definitely the producer we admire the most! Countless hit maker, always fresh and bringing new sounds in his tracks. He has an underground side project, so it would be amazing to have the chance to work together! “ 

The Chainsmokers: “They definitely have been our big inspiration through these years. Both for music and live side. Would be an honor. “

If we weren’t musicians, we would be…. 

“We don’t know, honestly, we couldn't imagine our life without music! We would probably always do a job that includes art.”

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GIOLÌ & ASSIA:

Check out The Duo’s Newest Live Session from Scopello, Italy

DOWNLOAD THE DUO’S NEWEST TRACK HERE

https://open.spotify.com/album/6QRAWyAgrhSWdqByoO2i7Z

AND FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA

You can follow Giolì & Assia  on: Instagram | YouTube |SoundCloud | Facebook | Website