Interview with Luca Garcia Ferrari of Universal Authors

Universal Authors (L to R:) Aidan Scott-Nanthasack, Noah Page, and Luca García Ferrari (photo supplied)

I N T E R V I E W
Luca Garcia Ferrari of Universal Authors
By Arpie

I'd been seeing and hearing an awful lot about Auckland/Hamilton based indie rock trio Universal Authors on my socials in the last few months so thought it would be timely to fire some questions at them and find out what all the fuss was about. 

Kia ora Luca! Tell us all about Universal Authors - who are you and where are you based?Universal Authors is currently made up of Aidan Scott-Nanthasack (guitar, vocals), Noah Page (drums, backing vocals), and Luca García Ferrari (bass, backing vocals). At the moment Noah and I are living in Auckland, working and studying respectively, and Aidan is studying in Hamilton. So if you average the locations out, we’re currently based in Pokēno. 

How did you get together?
The band started when Aidan got a couple of people together to jam, and asked me to join on bass. We wanted to play in Smokefree Rockquest, but two of the members were too old, so we got Noah to join in on drums. From there, after a couple of lineup changes, the current one remained and we’ve been working as a trio since. 

What are your biggest musical influences and what are you listening to at the moment?
That varies a lot for each of us! I’m influenced a lot by progressive rock, punk, and argentine rock nacional, and as of late I’ve been listening to music with fretless bass (Paul Simon and Serú Girán, to give some examples) and more Rock Nacional (Soda Stereo, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs). Aidan is influenced by bands like Arctic Monkeys and Nirvana, and he’s been listening to some shoegaze and dream pop, like Slowdive, Beach Fossils, and Cigarettes After Sex. Noah gets to listen to a lot of flash new bands thanks to his job at Depot Sound, like Dead Favours, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, and The Blue Stones, and his inspirations are bands like U2 and poppy acts like Lazuli Vane and El Jay Hall. 

How does the songwriting process work in Universal Authors?
A lot of songs generally come together from jams. One of us brings an idea we’ve been working on to the rehearsal room, and we layer our own parts on top. If it speaks to us, we work in it more to turn it into a song. Once the instrumental is sorted out, Aidan tends to figure out a melody over it and writes lyrics for it (though I’ve written lyrics for some of our songs, and sometimes I give him a bunch of writing and he adapts it to make it fit).

​I've noticed you've been playing a lot at (all-ages Auckland venue) UFO, have there been many other gigs of note so far?
Several! UFO is a fantastic venue and the people there are great.The first time we played there was one of our best shows - we had about 120 people in there and everyone was super into it - moshing, crowd surfing, the whole nine yards. The opportunities to play at Bridge City BeatDown and Powerfest were awesome, too. It’s a really nice feeling to be part of a bigger event alongside everyone in the community. Watching the other bands play is such a treat as well! There are some killer musos out there.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Definitely to continue gigging! We’re also trying to get our ducks in a row to record some more music. We have a bunch of new songs that we’ve been developing and getting those out in a more “official” manner would be rad. 
Sounds ace! Ok...time for some real questions...

Who is the sportiest member of UA?
Probably Noah, since he plays drums, but Aidan is partial to going to the gym, so it’s a tie between them. 

And the best cook?
That’d be Dana, the unofficial member of the band! Noah makes a mean fried rice though. 

Which Universal Author is the most likely to get arrested? 
Aidan said it would be him or me, but I’m unsure as to what the reasoning behind that is. Definitely not something I can disclose to the public, I’m sure. 

What usually causes the most disagreements in the band?
We mainly disagree about our music, the direction we should go as a band or where individual songs should go. Also about which guitar looks better.

Check out Universal Authors at the following links FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM SPOTIFY