Upupayāma – Mystic Chords of Memory
Upupayāma is the project of Italian multi-instrumentalist Alessio Ferrari, who writes, records and plays everything himself — guitars, keys, flute, sitar, and a full arsenal of percussion — in a barn studio in a mountain village above Parma. “Mystic Chords of Memory” is out now on Fuzz Club, premiered by KEXP, and announces the forthcoming double album Honesty Flowers (May 29). The single was mixed by Chris Smith at Kluster Sounds (Kikagaku Moyo, Wax Machine) and mastered by Joseph Carra (King Gizzard, Babe Rainbow, ORB).
Ferrari describes the process behind the new material as spending whole nights deep in percussive trance, playing congas or djembe for hours at a stretch — and that rhythm-first, immersive approach comes through on the single. Psych rock, funk grooves, a wide palette compressed into a focused track. Live, Upupayāma expands to a six-piece with a more improvisation-based approach — their Live At Fuzz Club Festival ’25 LP captured that side — but the studio work is entirely Ferrari’s own. What I find compelling about this project is precisely that gap: the breadth of the sound versus the singularity of the source.
Tour Dates Europe:
- Jun 04-06 – Netphen, Germany @ Freak Valley Festival
- Jul 02-05 – Slunj, Croatia @ Bearstone Festival
- Jul 31-Aug 01 – Beelen, Germany @ Krach am Bach Festival
