CAMEO HD leans into cognitive overload—was that concept something you were consciously building, or did it emerge naturally through the production process?

I realized it was something I was building subconsciously. That sense of overload was already present in my mind at the time, so it was always a kind of hidden intention. At a certain point, it became clear while I was listening back to the first tracks and scrolling through YouTube Shorts. I was getting distracted by other things, and my music reflected that. I stopped for a moment and had a clear idea of what the album was going to become. My hidden intention was clear. From there, I shaped everything around that idea and decided to turn it into a concept album. It all felt very natural, almost impossible to ignore.

You describe the album as “doom scrolling through music”—what does that actually look like when you’re in the studio?

When we doom scroll, we move through a flow of random content where time disappears and attention locks onto fragments without control. But somehow we like it and want more. CAMEO HD works in a similar way—it’s like doomscrolling through sound. I ended up wanting more and more layers, just like you end up wanting more and more content in a feed. In the studio, that translated into sudden shifts, overlapping ideas, and a constant recontextualization of the material.

There’s a tension between control and chaos across the project—how do you personally navigate that balance when creating?

I don’t want control in the early stages of creation. I prefer my mind to be led by chaos. For me, the creative act is about letting control emerge from chaos. I believe in chaos—I intentionally build layers and layers of material, then I select, discard, enhance, and reduce everything to its essence. What I do feels more like sculpting than composing music.

The album is dense and layered—do you see that as a reflection of modern life, or more of an internal mental landscape?

Both. What shapes our daily life also reflects what happens internally. I tend to overthink, and I’ve been diagnosed with a mild form of ADHD, mainly related to hyperactivity—that’s also what HD stands for: Hard Disk, High Definition, but mostly Hyperactivity Disorder. My attention shifts easily, and that naturally becomes part of my music. Nothing stays on a single line. Everything evolves.

At 1.27GB, the project almost feels like a statement in itself—how important was scale and excess to the identity of CAMEO HD?

CAMEO HD is a byproduct of our everyday reality—something so dense and fast-moving that it’s hard to fully absorb in one go. You have to come back to it, like you would with a museum. For me, this album is pure excess.

Your sound moves between ambient, experimental, and post-club—where do you feel most at home within that spectrum?

I tried to escape a fixed spectrum with this project—and the tracks do the same. They move across genres, escaping a clear definition. I grew up in club culture, but over time I drifted away from it. I still love it, but I was looking for new ways to relate to it. I feel like active listening has partly been replaced by visual and performative consumption, and listening carefully is what music teaches us most. That’s why, together with Enrico Capalbo (sound engineer at Fonoprint Studios), we’re trying to create a different form of clubbing—something that brings back active listening. That’s also why I want to tour only in listening bars. So yes, I’d say I exist somewhere between post-club and film scoring, which has also been a major part of my work in recent years.

Do you think listeners are meant to fully understand CAMEO HD, or just experience it?

Experience it. Understanding it in a rational way is not necessary, nor the intention. For me, music is resonance—as it’s the organization of vibrations. If something resonates, it’s wonderful. If it doesn’t, it simply doesn’t.

There’s a strong visual and conceptual energy behind the music—do you approach your work more like a sound designer than a traditional producer?

I try to blend both disciplines—that’s what makes it fun for me. As I said before, what I do feels more like a crafting process than a traditional music-making act. The same applies to the visual side. The cover art started as something I imagined in my mind, then a friend of mine brought it to life and executed it in front of me while listening to the album.

How does your Italian background influence a project that feels so globally digital and culturally fragmented?

I always force myself to inhale the local and exhale the global. What happens on a micro level always reflects on a macro scale and vice versa. My Italian background definitely shaped my sense of taste in terms of harmony, chord progression, and nostalgia—here, everything often feels like an echo of the past. At the same time, in a fully networked world, I don’t see that as a limitation. I imagine I would make completely different music if I had grown up elsewhere, but with the same underlying vision.

After exploring hyperstimulation so deeply, did creating this album change your own relationship with technology or consumption?

Totally. I’m a maximalist, but this album freed me from the overstimulating world I had created in my mind and habits. Not only in terms of social media (as I was never really addicted), but also Wikipedia tunnels while trying to sleep, YouTube deep dives into things like Hungarian choir music while working, and so on. CAMEO HD made me realize I need to be less distracted if I want to stay highly ambitious, and I hope it can help other people as well.

I used to struggle with living in the present. Now I’ve learned how to deal with presence. It also made me realize I was doing a lot, but not necessarily doing it well. So I started doing less, but better. That’s my version of “less is more”—and that sentence really makes sense only when you can express complexity in a simple and concise way. That’s difficult, but it’s the direction I want to move in.

With this work, I realized that I’m in love with the process, not the results. Perfectionism was holding me back because it’s tied to outcomes. I wanted to free myself from it, as perfection is not natural—and that’s what differentiates humans from AI: perfect imperfections.

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Dreaming In Colour feels very instinct-driven—when you were making it, were you chasing a specific sound, or just following whatever felt right in the moment?

The sound came together really naturally. I wasn’t even trying to write for a specific project at the time, and that project didn’t really exist yet. I was just writing for the fun of it, and when I realised I’d made something I genuinely loved, it kind of clicked. I thought, “this is it”, this could be the sound I’ve been wanting to explore with my solo work.

After locking in your sound with ‘Paris Strut’, you mentioned everything started flowing quickly—what actually changed in your mindset or process at that point?

I think I instinctively understood what the sound was and the palette of instruments/genres it drew from. I also settled into a kind of creative rhythm that made the process feel much smoother. Each song came together in a similar way, with small variations in the process, and I think that helped give the whole EP a really cohesive sound.

There’s a strong sense of ease and movement across the EP—how intentional was that “effortless” feeling versus something that just naturally emerged?

I think a big part of it comes down to starting all the songs within the same period, using a creative approach I’d naturally fallen into, along with a fairly consistent palette of instruments. That combination gave the whole project a real sense of intention. It’s something both I and others can feel. It’s probably how I’ll continue making music for this project, as it’s been the most effortless and fulfilled I’ve felt working on a record.

Collaboration plays a role on tracks like ‘Slow Down’—what do you look for in a collaborator, and how do you know when someone fits your sonic world?

I’m lucky to have so many incredibly talented friends from years of making music, and I’m genuinely a fan of so many of them. My dream is to collaborate with as many of them as possible, so whenever the right song comes along, I’m always excited to see if they’d be up for being involved. I’m drawn to them because they’re making music I truly love and connect with, and that naturally shapes my own work, so when the energy feels right, it’s always exciting to see what we can create together.

Compared to your work with daste., this project feels more raw and groove-led—what does Monsieur Mellow allow you to express that the band doesn’t?

I love making music with daste.—it’s where I feel most challenged, and my bandmate Tyler Harden is not only my best friend but someone who constantly pushes me to be better. The difference with the Monsieur Mellow project is that it feels like a more direct reflection of my own musicality. I’m playing most of the instruments, and I think that’s where a lot of the rawness comes from. I’m less focused on capturing the perfect take and more on preserving the energy of the moment. With daste., we tend to lean more toward refinement and precision, which really suits that project.

The EP blends jazz-house, funk, and soul influences—do you think in genres at all anymore, or has that become irrelevant in your process?

I think these are simply genres I’ve always loved and continue to be influenced by. I probably do think in genres to some extent, but I try to let the music come naturally and those influences tend to reveal themselves on their own.

A lot of the tracks feel like they could exist in a live setting with a band—how important is that “live energy” when you’re producing in the studio?

I think that’s really the core of the project. I don’t want the records to feel overly polished. I want them to sound like a live band playing house or soul, even though most of it is actually just me in a room.

‘Dreaming In Colour’ as a title suggests something quite visual—do you see your music in images or moods when you’re creating it?

The name actually came after the songs. I tend to come up with names in my head all the time, but every now and then one really sticks, something that feels genuinely right. Dreaming In Colour was one of those moments. It also ended up reflecting where I was in life at the time, just stepping into a series of defining experiences, with the solo project being one of them.

You’ve described the project as being shaped by momentum and intuition—has that approach ever led you somewhere unexpected or even uncomfortable creatively?

I’d definitely say so. There were a few songs in this process that pushed me creatively, but that’s also how I knew they weren’t right for this record. They didn’t come together as effortlessly. I’ve found that the songs that feel the most natural and instinctive are usually the ones that end up belonging on the album or EP I’m working on.

Now that the EP is out, do you feel like you’ve defined the Monsieur Mellow sound—or are you still exploring what it can become?

I think I’ve definitely found my sound for the time being, and I’d love to explore it further in an album context. At the same time, you never really know what’s next, and I’ll never close myself off to new influences. I want to keep things familiar, but always push them to feel as fresh as possible.

Credits:

Co-Written by Callum MacDonald, Jackson James Smith, Soothsayers, The Finishing Touch

Produced & Mixed by Callum MacDonald

Mastered by Paul Blakey

Artwork & Visuals by Callum MacDonald

Stream:
https://bfan.link/dreaming-in-colour-ep

Monsieur Mellow:
https://linktr.ee/monsieurmellow

In The Mids feels like a turning point sonically and creatively—what specifically shifted in your mindset or process compared to your earlier records?
I think the biggest shift was letting go of trying to control the outcome too much. Earlier records were maybe a bit more considered and structured, whereas with this one I leaned into instinct a lot more. It was about following ideas quickly and not overthinking whether they fit into a “Sola Rosa” box. That opened things up sonically and made the process feel a lot more honest.

You’ve spoken about embracing spontaneity and removing self-imposed boundaries—how did that actually play out in the studio day-to-day?
It meant working fast and committing to ideas early. I wasn’t sitting on loops for weeks or endlessly refining things — if something felt good, I’d push it forward straight away. A lot of the time that meant capturing first takes, rough vocals, or unexpected textures and just running with them. It also meant staying open to wherever a session naturally went, rather than trying to steer it toward a fixed idea.

The album leans heavily into collaboration as always, but with a different energy—what are you looking for in collaborators now that you weren’t 10 years ago?
These days it’s less about finding a perfect stylistic fit and more about energy and what can happen in the room on the day. I’m drawn to people who bring something unexpected or shift the direction in some way. Ten years ago I probably leaned toward collaborators who sat neatly within the Sola Rosa sound — now I’m more interested in that tension or contrast, or just taking more risks with a collaboration.

A lot of this record was shaped during a disruptive period in your life—did that instability unlock something creatively that a controlled environment couldn’t?
Not necessarily. The disruption was part of the backdrop, but creatively things really started to click once I found a bit more balance. That’s when the record properly came together.

There’s a noticeable balance between electronic textures and organic groove—how intentional was that tension when shaping the sound of this album?
It was definitely intentional, but not overly calculated. That balance has always been part of Sola Rosa in some form, but with this record I wanted to push both sides further — leaning more into electronic, textural elements while still keeping things warm and organic.

I was also DJing a lot more during that period, which probably had a big influence. I was listening to music through the lens of what would move a crowd, and that naturally fed into how I approached the album. It’s not necessarily a dance record, but that influence is definitely there.

After 25 years under the Sola Rosa name, how do you avoid creative repetition while still maintaining a recognisable identity?
For me, it comes down to staying curious. My influences are always shifting, and I’m constantly listening to new music and what the next generation is doing. That keeps things moving forward and helps prevent the sound becoming too fixed or repetitive.

You’ve described parts of the album coming together very quickly—do you trust fast ideas more now than overworked ones?
Yeah, definitely more than I used to. There’s a certain honesty in those early ideas that can get lost if you keep overcooking them. That’s not to say everything should be rushed, but I’ve learned that if something connects straight away, it’s usually worth trusting that instinct rather than overworking it.

Touring Aotearoa with this new material—how will the live show differ from previous iterations of Sola Rosa?
This tour is leaning much more into an audio-visual experience. It’s not just about playing the tracks — there’s a stronger focus on creating a full atmosphere around the music. Sonically it also draws more from the electronic side of the record, so it feels more immersive and dynamic compared to previous shows.

Looking back at your earlier catalogue, is there anything you would approach differently now with the perspective you have today?
Not really. I can’t change the past, and I know I gave everything 100% at the time of making each record. I loved those tunes when they were made, and even though I find it hard to go back and listen to a lot of my own music, it all came from an honest place — I was always fully invested in what I was creating.
There are definitely moments in the earlier catalogue where I can hear I may have overworked things a bit. The only record where I feel some ideas weren’t fully realised is Magnetics — there are some strong concepts there, but it was rushed due to pretty difficult financial circumstances at the time.

SOLA ROSA ‘IN THE MIDS’ AOTEAROA TOUR DATES

Tickets via solarosa.com

Friday 22 May Double Whammy TĀMAKI MAKAURAU / AUCKLAND

Saturday 23 May Puketapu Community Hall HERETAUNGA / HAWKES BAY

Friday 29 May DeVille WHAKATŪ / NELSON

Saturday 30 May Hide ŌTAUTAHI / CHRISTCHURCH

Friday 5 June The Mayfair NGĀMOTU / NEW PLYMOUTH

Saturday 6 June San Fran PŌNEKE / WELLINGTON

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