The Old Soul
The expansive and genre-hopping Old Soul is Luca Maoloni.
Maoloni graduated from Toronto’s Royal Conservatory Piano program at age thirteen. He went on to complete a B.A. in Music Theory and Composition at the University of Western Ontario, and obtained a Music Industry Arts collegiate degree in recording in 1998. A born musician, Maoloni has been in bands since his early adolescence, and first garnered attention with psychedelic groups like Hollowphonic and White Star Line. On White Star’s first and only self-titled record (AntiAntenna, 2002) Maoloni first wrote and sang songs that confused, repelled, and intrigued listeners.
After White Star Line folded in 2003, Maoloni began the arduous process of recording for a year and a half with the aid of producer Andy Magoffin. In 2004, Maoloni unleashed The Old Soul’s self-titled LP album. Released independently by Maoloni’s own production company, Hand of God, the record was later finessed, re-mastered, and re-released by Universal (Canada) in 2006, and by Friendly Fire (U.S.), in 2007. This critically hailed debut album is the product of Maoloni’s wonderfully twisted and unconventional musical sensibilities and his do-it-yourself work ethic. As well, the LP stands as a testament to Maoloni’s abilities as multi-instrumentalist as he wears the hats of vocalist, keyboardist, trumpeter, bassist, drummer, guitarist, you name it, when recording his music.
Though Maoloni was grateful for the support of critics and the major label attention, he still retained his entrepreneurial musical vision and so it followed that his second studio album, She’s Got Party Davis Eyes, 2006, was once again released by Maoloni’s own Hand of God label. In the tradition of 70’s studio musicians who challenged the limitations of pop music by bending lyrical expectations and musical forms, Party Davis Eyes features the eclectic styles and unpredictable tempo shifts that earned Maoloni comparisons to experimentalists like Brian Wilson, Frank Zappa, Flaming Lips, and Guided By Voices. As a passionate innovator, Maoloni eschews the comparisons his genre-bending music has engendered. According Maoloni, “The Old Soul sounds like The Old Soul.”
Despite the similarities that The Old Soul’s studio music shares with more abstract pop inventors, Maoloni understands the importance of a good old- fashioned honky-tonk live show. Known for starting rumba-lines, drinking-contests, and whipping Toronto crowds into a hysterical frenzy–truly a feat– The Old Soul’s onstage line-up consists of Jay Anderson (drums),Matt McLaren (bass, piano),Nicky Taylor (guitar, bass), Andrew Innanen (keys, percussion, backing vocals), Jo-Ann Goldsmith (trumpet, autoharp, female vocals), Paul Aucoin (vibraphone) and Andrew Scott (trumpet).
With The Old Soul’s latest LP album, Gold, (Grifter, 2007) Maoloni remains on the track of producing sonically pleasing country-cum-rock, 70s keyboard experiments, and yes, calypso. Esoteric yet profane, abstract yet accessible, Maolini’s intricate and unique collaging of tempos and instrumentation is the third installation in the absurd and wonderful career of a unique musical architect.
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