Anima: Zar’s debut album for Space Cadet

An Italian by heritage, born in London, and now making a career in Manchester. Pierluigi Zardetto, or better known as just ‘Zar’, brings music with an abundance of soul drawn from all corners of his life. 

At every stage, he’s been magnetised to community and connection. From childhood – with family-oriented summer trips, to formative teens – hitting gigs with schoolmates, to adulthood – welcoming all-manner of artists into his studio. Whether conscious or subconscious, these experiences have built a social, hospitable, in-touch-with-his-feelings character – all of which flows into Zar’s debut album for Space Cadet entitled ‘Anima’. 

His musical influence varies from Simon and Garfunkel to The Prodigy, but what shines through heavily in his production is a hip-hop and jazz background. The MPC-puncher in him feeds off of source material and gives it a new context. His ability to musically paint feelings and reflections from scratch is uncommon. Take ‘Primavera’ – the only track in Anima without a lyrical collaboration – where he executes the aural equivalent of a late-summer Sunday, sitting on the balcony and staring out as the city moves in an amber-orange haze. It’s music made with passion, telling a story without needing a word. 

On the other nine tracks in the album, it’s all about the teamwork. Manchester’s bubbling community get stuck in: 2b.frank, aya dia, Dan Harris, EVABEE, Milansanger, Nathan Stoker, Whitt, and of course the label boss and champion of this jazzy sound, DRS. Bringing his mates on for the journey was always the move – and by bringing them all in for live sessions amongst laughs and conversation, every track has that much more meaning and quality. A cultivation of soul. 

With the album out and after several releases across Fokuz, Liquid V, and Five Alley – it was high-time we brought the young producer in for a chat…

How did music become important to you? Starting from the top. 

Well, when I was younger, we used to do a lot of long drives. Because I’m Italian we would actually drive from London to Rome every year, all through my childhood really – and it’s a long drive. We’d have CDs in the car like Daft Punk ’Discovery’, Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits, Black Eyed Peas ‘Monkey Business’, Gorillaz. I remember all these albums so vividly and we’d play them end to end, over and over. And I mean this was when I was really young, not knowing what life had ahead. But these sort of opened up my tastes. 

Was it your parents choosing that music?

Yeah I think so. They had a lot of love for Italian music too. But then moving to London, they had a taste for that too. They brought me to BST Festival, and I remember seeing Simon & Garfunkel there – they were a big part of my Mum and Dad’s music taste, and I still listen to them quite a bit now. 

How about once you get into your teens? 

So growing up in London as a teenager was pretty sick. We’d go to gigs, sometimes two or three times a week, seeing artists like Massive Attack, Portishead, Blur, Primal Scream, The Prodigy – all these massive bands. I realised this is what I want to do, when I saw how electronic music could be mixed with melodic, band music. Then it was just a slow progression into the electronic side. But I was such an indie boy at first. It was me and Alfie (Channell) actually who used to go to a lot of those gigs!

Then later on I found hip-hop. A Tribe Called Quest, Slum Village, Pete Rock, J Dilla – all that really blew my mind, and that’s definitely when I knew what I wanted. Because I dabbled in playing the drums, but I was never musical to the point of playing in bands. But hip-hop showed me that using influences, you can take something and turn it into your own with sampling. 

For a long time I made hip-hop. I started when I was about 15, just trying to recreate tracks, then I progressed to making originals. Then drum & bass came into the fold when I was about 16 or 17 years old. I kind of knew what drum & bass was, but I associated it more with people like Sub Focus and others like that. Then I found Calibre and Lenzman, and realised it was basically like hip-hop but faster, and it opened up my mind even more. From then on it was no-looking back. 

So it was sampling, MPC, hip-hop culture, over theory and classic instruments?

Yeah – I can play piano, there’s a few on this album where it’s me. ‘Primavera’, for example, has no samples, it’s just me on the keys. I think it’s just having the ear and playing around on MIDI keyboards and MPCs. My Grandma is a piano teacher in Italy too, so just being around her I’d pick up some things. I also enjoy recording other people to incorporate into my tracks. So working with people who play trumpet, or guitar, or those live instruments I can record and cut up. 

When I was younger we had this lodge out the back of the garden and that was basically my studio, and I had a drum kit that we put in there. But then when I found production I got the old mac, a torrented version of Logic, and some old monitors and started playing around. Slowly the drums just ended up being the corner. 

What prompted the move up to Manchester?

Well I studied music and production at A-levels, then I went straight to university and studied music production up here. I chose Manchester because I wanted to be as far away as possible – just to find new experiences, because I’d barely been out of London. Manchester also obviously has such a big history of music: The Smiths, Oasis, the Haçienda days… it just seemed like such a good hub, and I’d eventually discover that it is actually one of the best in the country, or the world. 

What do you think moving to Manchester has done for your career so far? Would you be making this style of music?

I think the vibe of the city definitely plays a part in my sound now. But subconsciously, I always liked to work with a lot of people. I liked the idea of community. Being originally Italian I think that family vibe is in me, and that’s a big theme for the album really.

What the city has done for me is that it’s brought me in, given me confidence, and now being here eight years it just feels like home. I really respect everyone here, they’re so inviting, and it makes me realise that if you stay true to yourself, and not copy what anyone else is doing, you can achieve so much – that’s the attitude everyone has. 

If there’s one thing I notice about Manchester – it’s that it’s just so far away from being ‘sell out’. Everyone is original and down-to-earth. 

100%. I’m not here for the clout or the money or whatever. I just enjoy it, and so does everyone else. And it’s just so great how it works out when you have that mindset. 

And that’s the thing about this album you know, it was born here. I never thought I’d do one at this point, but I wanted to tell a story about what the city is like really. 

So was that a highly conscious thing to get so many of the crew featured on the album?

Yeah, everyone on it is friends really. Everyone I worked with is professional, but I like to build a relationship, because at the end of the day we’re all in this together and I’m not just going to use someone for something, and then we never see each other again. 

You’re a social guy and you get energy from being in a room with others.

Yeah! That’s the thing, that’s what inspires me. Being around people, and I like to have conversations. Obviously going out and listening to music is inspiring, but to be honest, I get more inspired now from feelings and conversations. 

Both DRS and Redeyes have been huge supporters of your music lately – how did these relationships form?

With Del, he was the first person to show me any support. In Manchester at that point I’d worked with Abnormal Sleepz, we did a hip-hop tune. But as big artists in the city go – DRS is a don. So we did that ‘Spiders’ tune, and then we did a tune ‘Like To Know’ that came out on Liquid V. Those two tunes were originally for his album ‘Light Language’, but they didn’t make it in the end. 

All of this was during covid, so I hadn’t met DRS or Dan Blindside (who runs Space Cadet), but we were all chatting on email and stuff. Eventually we did get to meet and I kept sending tunes, and Del (DRS) said let’s do more. He’s like me – we both really love hip-hop, and he loves the influences I have. So that’s where we sort of connect, and what gave me confidence to keep going. 

Because I was in a rut at that point – you know, I was working really hard, I was getting some releases but it wasn’t quite working. And it’s not about being ‘big’ or anything but you want a bit of a home label and some support. I was missing that, especially in lockdown. 

And how about Julien (Redeyes)?

Well this was a funny story actually. I did a project at university in my second year – an essay – and we had to do a few interviews as part of it. I think I spoke to Benny Co-Lab and Heist, and I also really loved Redeyes at the time so I reached out, and he was into it. One of the answers to my questions was that he mentioned he was starting his own label, this was years before Five Alley started, and I was like “oh yeah, that sounds good, I make music…”. So that’s sort of where the relationship started, but I was just sending him loads of music leading up to the EP that we got released on Five Alley this year.  

I think whenever I work with someone, I just get a little more confident. You really have to believe in yourself and love what you’re doing in this, and if you do, you can really achieve anything. 

When I was younger, I wanted to do music because it’s a part of me, and that’s what I want to show the world. Because it’s a big world and we’re not all here for long. Sorry, I’m getting deep now! 

Mate – let’s dive in. Do you think music is your best way to communicate what you’re feeling?

Definitely. And in the long run, I’d like to work on more big projects like this. I’ve always loved albums and this experienceof writing an album has spurred it even more. I feel excited to dive more into multi-genre things and maybe live projects. But for now, I think this album feels right – such a good form of expression.

I think we should push albums more. People put out these singles – which is fine – but I personally like listening to big projects. How do you feel about it?

Well it’s something that comes up in almost every interview. Singles and EPs are more ‘viable’, but albums can have a huge impact on legacy. 

For sure. I agree, and I feel blessed for Space Cadet to have believed in me to put this together. It’s a big thing, they don’t release on a really regular schedule so every project is quite special, so I’ve got to shout them out. 

Now moving on, I think this experience has really shown me who I want to work with. Anyone who believes in the sound, and who shares a mutual respect. Making loads of money off a massive track is sick, but never what it should be about. 

Who came up with the idea for LP? Were Dan and DRS pushing for it?

It was that ‘Spiders’ tune that sat there for a couple of years, and then I would ask them often about putting a project together including that. 

They’re pushing multi-genre stuff, with a lot of jazz, so the tune that sparked the project turned out to be ‘Soul (Some Other Way)’ with Milansanger and Nathan Stoker. That was the first time I met those guys and they both came to my house, and we made that tune in one session – it was so much fun. We all love jazz, Milan had barely even heard of drum & bass so that was the first he ever made. 

We also made that ‘Drowning’ hip-hop tune too. Those two tunes – they really inspired me. I was making good music before then, but this was really thinking outside the box, digging deep.

From there I just kept on making music with that same sort of ethos – I was making a lot at that time, but all the tunes that had that feeling, I kept on sending to Space Cadet. It was just going to be an EP, but they just kept coming! 

For me, I make tunes quite quickly. But it does come in bursts, there could be a time where I make loads of music over a month but then the next one I don’t make anything. But this was around the time that I’d made a bunch, and it felt really special. There were these themes subconsciously flowing through me. 

It was never meant to be an album, but it was all there. As I listened to all of it I was really happy with it. I think it’s nice that it came more naturally than me sitting down and being like OK I need to make an album, an intro, I need this sort of tune, a big single… So I’m so happy with it. If I’d put more thought into it being an album-making process I would’ve stressed myself out, it would’ve been a lot of pressure. 

What were you up to in your life as you were writing all this?

I’d just finished university when a couple of the tunes were already made. But I was living in this flat in the centre of Manchester, right at the end of Covid. It was a dark, dingy corner where I had my studio set up. It was really depressing and there were loads of noise complaints. 

Then I moved into the flat I live in now, and it was just like, massive windows that look over the city, lots of light, and it was so much more inspiring. Also at that time, post-covid, I was meeting loads of people like Milan, Nathan, Evabee, aya dia – just getting all this new interaction, and we all had similar interests, we were having fun and jamming. I also wasn’t working at that time, just DJing in bars and places. Lots of vinyl, jazz, hip-hop, house, disco. My life was arranged where I do that on the weekends, and in the week I’d be having fun with making music. 

I was quite lucky having all that free time. Honing in on the craft. And obviously not everyone gets that, having to work 9-5 and make music after work. But yeah, that change in environment was such a big mental change, as well as finishing up with uni and covid. 

We also got this studio that I’m sitting in soon after. That’s when it really levelled up. Because I love working with people in person. And all the tracks on this project are recorded in person (aside from the one with DRS). Plenty of them were even all made in the same session. 

That’s quite rare I feel like – most artists say they do a lot of exchanges online. 

Yeah that’s another great thing about Manchester, it’s so small and we all link up so often. And that definitely flows into the theme of the album. If someone hits me up and asks for tunes, I’d maybe send them a tune but ask to do it in person. It goes back to that thing where I get inspired from conversations. You’re in the same room and feeding off each other, and it becomes something way more special and memorable. 

Where does the album name come from?

Anima means ‘soul’ in Italian. You can probably see in the artwork as well there’s like a figure, and then another figure coming out of it. 

Love that name, and the artwork. Do you think there’s influence from Italy in the music itself on here?

I think in the music itself, there’s these values of community, passion, integrity. They’re big things I get from my family and the culture, and it feeds into the writing of the music. Traditional music over there is definitely from the soul – some guy belting out his feelings might be a little different to this, but the essence behind it is all the same. 

Because it’s such a contrast between just being a producer versus singers and songwriters, I really have put my soul into the sound, and I often give a lot of input into what vocalists deliver – I’ll sing something to them sometimes. Actually on ‘Bring It Back Home’ I am singing a few of the layers. We did it together and there’s a few moments where we really wanted to make it sound full, so I jumped on it. See if you can hear it!

I also have this Tascam field recorder – and I’ll go for walks in the mountains and just record the atmospheres. And on most of the tunes in this album, I’ve put all these Italian natural environment atmospheres. So that’s another way that the Italian roots have been embedded into this project. 

What is the most memorable moment of your career so far?

Probably Sun & Bass last year. It was a Space Cadet stage, and I’d at this point I had already finished this album, so I was playing a lot of the tracks from it. The set was with DRS hosting too, they really did a solid for me bringing me out there and giving me that set. I was on just before Children Of Zeus, so the place was packed. 

I thought Del was just going to introduce me, but we did the whole thing together. And the final tune I played was ‘Spiders’, where it all started with Del and I, so it was just really cool. All the people there were amazing too. Not to mention it was all Sardinia, in Italy. 

…And surely once it’s out, releasing this debut album will be a big highlight.

Oh yeah of course. I also want to send love to all the artists involved in it; Whitt, Milansangar, EVABEE, Nathan Stoker, aya dia, 2b.Frank, Dan Harris and DRS. Got to shout out Del and Dan at Space Cadet for making it happen, and for believing in the music. Big love to everyone supporting already, too. This is only the start!