Gioli & Assia | 'Fire, Hell & Holy Water' Album & US Tour

Giolì & Assia, the Italian electronic duo created by ambition and fueled by love, have stolen the interest of people around the world as they navigate their way through life’s obstacles and opportunities. After founding their very own record label, Diesis Records as a platform to release their own music Giolì & Assia set out to perform their music around the globe with their on site series #DiesisLive, playing extravagant places like Etna Volcano in Sicily and Fjallsarlon Glacier Lagoon, in Iceland.

Giolì & Assia, the Italian electronic duo created by ambition and fueled by love, have stolen the interest of people around the world as they navigate their way through life’s obstacles and opportunities. After founding their very own record label, Diesis Records as a platform to release their own music Giolì & Assia set out to perform their music around the globe with their on site series #DiesisLive, playing extravagant places like Etna Volcano in Sicily and Fjallsarlon Glacier Lagoon, in Iceland.

Inspired by the nature of their environment, their creativity continues to blossom the more the series evolves. Influenced by a wide range of artists such as Depeche Mode and London Grammar, the first two albums from Giolì & Assia were experimental and crucial to the sound development of their latest release. Instrumentally accomplished and now industry powerhouses, this couple continues to broaden their repertoire, releasing their third album together, “Fire Hell and Holy Water” earlier this month.

Ahead of going into the second leg of their US Tour, Flaunt sat down with the girls to speak with them about their new release, inner workings of their relationship, and what’s next.

At what point in your relationship did you decide to make music together? Was it more of a creative outlet at first or did you always know you wanted to create full bodies of work?

We have always known from the first message we wrote to each other at the beginning of our relationship, that our biggest dream was to work on a project together, which could unite all our passions, our ambitions and our dreams. We didn't have a clear idea of how to reach that goal, we did one step at a time, following our intuition and what we liked most, that is to create art. We decided to become a duo a few years later, in 2018.

What are some challenges you face navigating your personal and professional relationship, and how do you work through those?

We happen to have discussions, to argue as colleagues, perhaps not to agree on something, and this can sometimes affect the relationship. We still try to listen to each other's reasons and support each other, even if sometimes we don't share the same ideas. Despite this aspect, there are many more positive sides to working as a couple, because our work has allowed us to grow together over the years, to always be there for each other and to create something unique.

You’ve named a wide range of inspirations for the album, including London Grammar, U2, Labrinth and more. How do you take the sounds from those artists and inject them into your sound, or create something new entirely?

We don't take sounds in particular from the bands we like, rather our musical taste, which we have developed over the years, guides us when we start the process of creating a new track. We know what we like, we know what reflects us, and consequently we want our music to be the result of all that.

What has been one of your most memorable shows so far this year?

The most memorable show so far was the one in Los Angeles, as we performed our new album live for the first time. It was an incredible moment, being able to play The Intro, enter the stage and see the result of a long work finally played live. In Europe we particularly liked the location where we played in Budapest, the Buda Castle. A magical place with thousand of people, it was really exciting. We also loved playing at many festivals during the summer, like Electric castle, Osheaga, Day Trip LA and Electric Forest. 

Your #DiesisLive sets are incredible. What is the inspiration behind the series and how do you go about choosing the locations?

The inspiration from which the idea of making these videos was born was our desire to show the public and the music industry how our live set was structured, because before then we had not shown all the live elements that compose it: the vocal, the piano, the handpan and the drums. We also wanted these videos to tell a story, like a musical and visual journey, told by both the music and the beauty of the locations. Each location is unique, and has been chosen for its beauty and connection with the music. The second episode of Diesis Live was shot on the Volcano of the Aeolian islands, and the song "Inside Your Head" was composed already imagining a drop that could reflect the powerful and vital energy of the volcanic eruption.

What is the story behind your new album Fire Hell And Holy Water?

After touring America in late 2021, we felt very inspired to write something that could be even more engaging live, with more live instruments, and more engaging lyrics as well. When we returned to Italy in our hoe studio, we concentrated a lot on our production process, and we finished the whole Fire Hell and Holy Water body in about a month. The key message of this album is hell seen as a metaphor to describe depression. We faced difficult times at the beginning of the year, after the death of Assia’s cousin due to cancer, we wondered what the meaning of life is, and more generally if there really was one. We used Greek mythology, in particular the story of Orpheus and Eurydice to encourage people who are facing difficult times, such as Eurydice in hell, not to give up, and not to entrust their hopes to other people, who could betray us even unintentionally, but to base all our strengths and hopes on ourselves.

How does Fire Hell And Holy Water compare to your previous albums?

Our first two albums were experiments in which we began to learn who we were as artists and producers. It took years to improve, especially as songwriters, but certainly both of them were fundamental as a support base for the artists we are today. Fire Hell and Holy Water is the result of that growth.

What do you hope listeners take away from the new album?

We sincerely hope that whoever listens to the album will be able to grasp every facet, every emotional charge, and that they will be carried away by every single song, capturing its message. We hope that those who are not aware of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice can become passionate about Greek mythology, we hope that those who are reflected in "even if the time will pass by" can console themselves by listening to it, and we hope that those who are going through a bad period will listen to "Meaning Of Life" and take it as an invitation to enjoy every single pleasure and desire.

Which designers have you been inspired by lately, and what brands? How would you describe your style?

We, as the rest of the world, are missing Virgil Abloh and his memorable imprint on Louis Vuitton and Off White. The designer we like the most are Alessandro Michele and Riccardo Tisci. While the brands we like the most are Prada and Act N1. Our style is elegant and eclectic, but without a doubt constantly evolving. 

What can fans expect for the rest of 2022?

We will continue our tour in Europe, with stops like Tenerife, Paris, Basel, then Israel and Australia at the end of the month. We are also working on a documentary that will dig deeper, telling the concept and the story behind each song of the album, and some backstage clips of our trip to Iceland.