Meet Filippo Novi-Goller | Bassist, Composer & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Filippo Novi-Goller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Filippo, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I don’t come from a family of active musicians. I would say I do come from a musical family, though. My grandfather played upright bass and trumpet on steamboats in the 60s. My father had two guitars lying around that he, and eventually I, would sometimes play around on. Neither ended up seriously pursuing that path. Still, him and my parents are big lovers of music. So, growing up, I was always surrounded by jazz, alt-rock, electronica – many, many kinds of music, really – and I loved it all. Some of my earliest memories are of listening to specific albums: Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Burnin'”, Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue”, “Suzuki” by electronica duo Tosca. I was crazy for it, already drumming and singing along at the age of three, and eventually took music lessons. But neither the children’s choir, nor electric guitar quite did it for me – it was fun, but I always loved the sound of the bass. So, around the age of seven, I started taking lessons on a tiny, tomato-red 1/32 size upright bass. To be fair, I really didn’t like practicing back then, plus, transportation became a challenge the more my instrument “grew” with me, but thanks to my parents and my teachers, who were always incredibly encouraging and supportive, I loved it enough to never stop. I also picked up the electric bass, as well as the clarinet, over the years, and started writing my own music in GarageBand. I had no idea what I was doing half the time, but boy, was I having the time of my life. It was probably at that point that I knew I wanted to make a career out of it – nothing else interested me as much as music, in all its forms. After graduating high school, I got accepted into Berklee College of Music, majoring in Electronic Production & Design, and Performance at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. That’s when things really started taking off for me. Not just because of the sheer amount of incredible musicians in this place, but my time here has been tremendously beneficial to me on both a musical and a professional level, and the opportunity to play all kinds of music with people from all over the world is a true blessing.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have several projects that are all completely different. I produce electronica as PsiPhi, play in bands (Armadi Tsayn, Signals from Theia, Astral Lemon) and record and produce with various artists. I’ve also experimented with ambient and abstract music. A real color wheel. And on my journey, I’ve been privileged to visit many different musical environments, playing jazz, rock, pop, metal, R&B, classical, electronic, Middle Eastern and South European music, that have brought me to where I am today. With Armadi Tsayn I’ve also been to several cities that I would’ve never dreamed of playing one day, like Toronto, New York, and, on March 15th, for the first time in Los Angeles! (at 2220 Arts + Archives). Every time I go to a new place, I try to absorb as much of its musical culture (as well as the overall “vibes” of the place) as I can, let it simmer, and let it inspire me in whatever project I decide to tackle next. Music, man. There is so much of it, so many different types, and so much to be learned from each and every expression thereof. It’s more or less true for all art forms, but music in particular is just such an incredibly vast world – it takes much dedication and a sharp ear to be a well-rounded and sensible artist. It hasn’t always been easy, I’ve lost count of how many times I seemed to hit a plateau, I liked nothing I played, had an existential crisis, and swore to quit music. Ah, such is the life of the artist! But I’ve overcome every single one of them by reminding myself of my purpose, which is to make the world a better place, with music. And there will always be new challenges ahead. Which is why I feel the need to be an explorer, in my performances, as well as my productions. I’m always on the search for new vocabulary, wisdom, and ideas, and for new ways to connect with people through music. And even though I can never listen and play all the music in the world, I am excited for where this powerful and magical language takes me next.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
You won’t run out of things to do in Boston. I’m thinking a nice hot pot at Liuyishou in Chinatown to start things off on the first night, followed by a nice digestive evening walk through the Common and the Public Garden over to The Dubliner for the afterhours. If we wanna stay closer to home, we could also do India Quality (with a capital Q), or a hearty ramen from RedWhite, followed by a quick walk to Bukowski’s for their draught list and great LP selection, or The Bebop to listen to some student jams and a quick Narragansett. Or maybe we’re feeling Mexican? Casa Romero. Haven’t had Lucy’s Ethiopian in a while, either. If you couldn’t tell, I love spicy food – so buckle up! Just kidding, let’s get something we all like. Instead we can go to Cambridge to check out Harvard and MIT and just get some great vegan burgers from Veggie Galaxy. If it’s summer, we can hang out by the river Charles afterwards. Oh, and of course we have to catch a concert at Sculler’s, the Mad Monkfish, the Middle East, and/or the Lilypad. We’ve probably walked enough by now, but if we feel like pushing ourselves a little, let’s go to the Arnold Arboretum, too.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all my music teachers and mentors: Michaela Hefele, Jeanny Schlimpen, Peter Zimmermann, Peter Möltgen, Dave Marvuglio, Fernando Huergo, Lincoln Goines, Linda Oh, John Patitucci, Danilo Pérez and everyone at BGJI, and anyone else I might be forgetting, for their invaluable feedback, for teaching me discipline and courage, nurturing my love for music, and for being a significant part of my artistic development. I also want to thank all my friends and colleagues for all the love and support, and all the beautiful and fun hangs and conversations, musical and not. You know who you are. Shoutout in particular to Süeda Çatakoğlu, who I’ve worked with extensively, for connecting me with you guys, and for her warm friendship and continued trust. I also want to thank my bandmates and friends, Samuel Sjostedt and Alek Surenian, here in Boston, for being the best tour buddies, and Leander Widmoser and Noah Koch back in Munich, for being willing to play the craziest music with me for many years. And last, but not least, my parents and grandparents, for driving me to rehearsals all my childhood, coming to my concerts, and always being encouraging and interested in what I had to say. Without them, I probably would’ve gone into linguistics or something. (Love you, linguists! But this music thing is way more exciting to me.)

Website: www.filippong.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/filippo_ng

Youtube: youtube.com/@filippo_ng

Image Credits
Yağmur Tamer (IG: @angrychair), Haig Artounian (@haig._.a), Shaunt Raffi (@shauntraffi)