BIO

ORIGINS

PSYCHEDELIA AND JAM SESSIONS

The project took its first steps in September 1997, when four friends driven by a shared musical passion began gathering to play. These early sessions were defined by exploration: fluid, free-form improvisations infused with psychedelic nuances that quickly became the band’s signature stylistic mark.

The original lineup — simply named Flavour — featured Francesco Francia on drums, Paolo Feliciotti on bass, Giovanni Armadoro on keyboards, and Nicola Cruciani on guitar.

From the very beginning, the band complemented their early performances in local clubs with an intense songwriting process. What truly set Flavour apart during this initial phase was a radical, experimental approach to improvisation: original tracks and covers were systematically deconstructed and expanded into lengthy instrumental suites, allowing the creative flow to unfold in real time.

The most faithful testament to this period is the bootleg album I Maius MCMXCVIII, a sonic snapshot comprising live recordings, rehearsal sessions, and a final studio track. Initially released on audio cassette under the palindromic title "Was it a cat I saW?", the tape was later digitized in 2001 and distributed in an extremely limited run among close friends and early supporters.

Following a series of regional gigs, Flavour’s journey reached a natural conclusion around the year 2000, bringing the curtain down on the first chapter of their history.

THE LABORATORY

THE EXPERIMENTAL ERA (2002–2006)

Between 2002 and 2004, several attempts were made to reassemble the original lineup; however, it was Nicola Cruciani who took up the torch, evolving the project’s identity into Flavour Sperimentale.

This new incarnation emerged as an open, collaborative workshop, often leveraging early web platforms and engaging with online artists. It was a period of fertile underground exploration, generating dozens of sketches and research tracks, many of which were destined to remain unreleased.

The first official milestone of this era was ZU, a work focused on studies and loops for prepared piano. Distributed via MySpace, the album received a modest initial response. However, an unexpected crossover occurred on the same platform: the debut album I MAIUS MCMXCVIII from the original band caught the attention of a new niche audience, eventually surpassing the 80,000-stream mark.

Concurrently, under the moniker Flavour Lab, Cruciani—collaborating with various guest musicians—released a series of unofficial titles that appeared briefly online before being removed, fostering a near-cult status around the band's material.

In 2006 came the second chapter under the Flavour Sperimentale banner: Elektronische Musik. While ZU focused on manipulated acoustic instrumentation, this new effort took a sharp turn toward pure electronics, directly referencing the teachings of Karlheinz Stockhausen and 20th-century avant-garde music. The creative output of Flavour Lab continued over the following years with two further experimental chapters: Abstract like an Absence (2008) and By Hook or by Loop (2009).

Toward the end of 2006, the original lineup attempted once more to reconnect through a series of jam sessions, though the effort fizzled out within a couple of months. Nevertheless, the project’s momentum did not stall: Cruciani continued writing, recording, and forging synergies with local musicians and remote contacts, laying the groundwork for future developments.

PINK TRILOGY

A TRIBUTE TO PINK FLOYD (2008–2010)

After contributing several tracks to avant-garde compilation albums, Flavour Sperimentale plotted a new course. The project returned to its psychedelic roots, drawing heavily on late-1960s Krautrock soundscapes and the cosmic explorations of early Pink Floyd.

From this fascination, the Pink Trilogy took shape: a discographic triptych that, with lucid awareness and a subtle touch of irony, claims and pays homage to the British band's sonic imagery.

The first installment, A Provision of Mirages (2008), merges Indian raga influences with lysergic architectures.

In 2009 came Madamadama, a conceptual work structured as an analytical study into the expressive capabilities of individual instruments: ranging from piano scores to bucolic acoustic watercolors, from lap steel and electric guitar experiments to intricate sound collages and rhythmic studies for drums and percussion.

The cycle concluded in 2010 with Queen Moo Breakfast, a monumentally structured album bookended by two lengthy instrumental suites, interspersed with shorter, more intimate and contemplative musical textures.

Upon completing the trilogy, Nicola Cruciani temporarily shelved the Flavour Sperimentale moniker to focus on live performances with various cover bands in the local scene. Nevertheless, his creative exploration never ground to a halt: fueled by the revolution in home recording technologies, Cruciani continued privately cataloging ideas, refining production techniques, and amassing material for future chapters.

EXALOGIA COLORUM AND THE ABSENCE

BETWEEN ELECTRONICA, AMBIENT, AND FLUID DISCOGRAPHIES

The year 2015 marked a new phase of exceptional creative surge. Operating initially under the temporary moniker Bar Psichedelico before promptly reclaiming the name Flavour Sperimentale, Nicola Cruciani gave birth to Exalogia Colorum: an ambitious sonic canvas articulated across six albums, suspended at the intersection of ambient, electronica, and psychedelia.

The six chapters comprising the work — The Slight Shade of Fading, Polar Solstice, Yellow Jackets, Themes from the Lumber Room, Opus Grey, and Nyctophilia — initially underwent an open, fluid genesis. Several records were made available in provisional versions with alternative titles that were subsequently withdrawn or subjected to extensive revision, achieving their definitive configurations only years later. This discographic dynamism accounts for the discrepancies and "ghost titles" found across numerous databases and archives dedicated to Flavour Sperimentale, Bar Psichedelico, and Flavour Lab.

Without breaking the creative stride, 2016 saw the inception of the Quadrilogia dell'Assenza (Quadrilogy of Absence), a four-album cycle focused entirely on the exploration of ambient and minimalist soundscapes. Much like Exalogia, this project also underwent a period of calibration before crystallizing into its official sequence:

Onirica / Odissea Interstellare dell'Aringa Rossa / Didascalia di un Gesto / Hydrophonia

Through these two massive bodies of work, Flavour Sperimentale refined a compositional methodology grounded in continuous transformation and atmospheric research, consolidating an increasingly rich and stratified avant-garde discography.

THE POP PIVOT

THE CONCEPT ALBUM IN NO MAN'S LAND (2017–2019)

While Nicola Cruciani’s trajectory was pushing deeper into the realms of ambient music, a key encounter took place with Salerno-based artist Vincenzo Lardo (performing as 240bpm). Cruciani’s initial vision was to construct a monumental ambient suite spanning nearly fifty minutes, divided into four vast soundscapes dedicated to the primordial elements: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air.

Lardo, however, envisioned a different direction and reinterpreted the raw material, steering the production toward brighter, more melodic, and pop-oriented structures. It was an intuition that marked a point of no return, establishing a clear watershed moment in the Flavour Sperimentale discography.

Consequently, October 2017 saw the release of In No Man's Land, a massive 53-minute concept album — a significantly broader format compared to earlier works, which rarely exceeded thirty minutes. The record thrives on the fertile tension between two worlds: while preserving the narrative nature of a concept album alongside rich instrumental sections, the work develops around immediate, pop-infused tracks. For the first time, vocal lines abandoned their role as mere transitions between instrumental textures to become the primary driving force of the sonic architecture.

The album's impact extended beyond the music industry: in 2018, Lardo directed a student collective from the Liceo Severi in Salerno to stage a musical performance loosely based on the themes and scores of the record.

Meanwhile, the complex gestation of the album prompted Cruciani to reopen a window of pure cosmic exploration. Released under the Flavour Sperimentale banner, Эхо Космоса (Echo of the Cosmos) emerged as an explicit tribute to the atmospheres of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, built upon hypnotic and sprawling synthetic soundscapes.

This work marked the final dazzling flash of the purely avant-garde phase. By 2019, Cruciani was already laying the groundwork for a new compositional era, ready to pair the complexity of the past with the energy of rock-pop.

REUNION AND POP-ROCK HORIZONS

BETWEEN COLLABORATIONS, ENCOUNTERS, AND THE FINAL FAREWELL (2019–2023)

At the turn of 2019, the new pop-rock direction was temporarily placed on hold by the studio return of Flavour's original lineup. Although this reunion lasted only a few months, the rekindled chemistry yielded enough material to give birth to a new chapter: Say Goodbye to Winter. The work thrives on a dual soul: on one side, carefully structured studio tracks; on the other, two visceral rehearsal improvisations that directly reconnected with the oceanic jam sessions of two decades prior.

Once the band chapter closed and the idea of taking the original lineup back on stage was shelved, Nicola Cruciani refocused on his solo compositions. This period saw a significant contribution from Giovanni Armadoro: the original keyboardist sent Cruciani a body of piano studies and sonatas. Initially conceived as a double album — juxtaposing Cruciani’s songcraft with Armadoro’s classical framework —, the piano material ultimately found its own standalone identity in the album Small Songs for a Smile, further broadening the expressive catalog under the Flavour Sperimentale banner.

In 2020, during the lockdown period, an ambitious new synergy emerged under the moniker M.E.N., featuring Cruciani alongside Vincenzo Lardo and progressive musician and composer Marco Grieco. The trio began work on Spillover, a complex concept album with a lengthy gestation that would eventually see the light of day in October 2024 through a release with the prestigious label Ma.Ra.Cash Records.

Meanwhile, eager to inject fresh energy and a distinctly pop sensibility into his solo tracks, Cruciani renewed his partnership with Lardo/240bpm. After two years of refinement and revision, September 2021 marked the release of You Were All Here, a thematic album expertly balanced between pop-rock and psychedelic undertones. The record received a warm reception, crossing international borders with distribution by netlabels in France, the United States, Mexico, and Germany.

The year 2022 brought severe personal grief: the passing of Cruciani’s father put the very continuity of the project to a grueling test. However, in 2023, a series of coincidences reignited the momentum. Francesco Francia, Paolo Feliciotti, and Nicola Cruciani reunited to shoot a music video for a single off You Were All Here; this renewed rapport prompted the trio — despite Armadoro’s absence — to return to the stage for three local gigs. Yet the balance remained fragile: chronic internal differences led to the irretrievable and final dissolution of the original band following those dates.

Drawing strength from grief and the closing of this long circle, Cruciani gathered his songwriting ideas into a deeply personal work dedicated to his father's memory: The Infinite Horizon. Moving between moments of intense reflection and expansive instrumental passages — and featuring contributions from both Lardo and Armadoro —, the album plotted a course toward the future.

ACOUSTIC ELEMENTS AND OPEN WORKS

TOWARD COMPOSITIONAL ESSENCE AND THE UNFINISHED FUTURE (2024–2026)

In 2024, Nicola Cruciani opened a new exploratory front, launching a project dedicated to cantautore traditions and Italian pop music in collaboration with the collective Nik & i Patafisici. This creative encounter prompted him to delve deeper into the most direct and lyrical components of his songwriting. The fruit of this synergy was the album La Giduglia, preceded in July 2026 by the release of its first official single.

That same year saw a renewal of his partnership with Vincenzo Lardo: invited as a guest of honor at the release event for Lardo's two new solo records (Old Shots and New Shots), Cruciani joined him on stage for a live set spanning the key highlights of their multi-year shared journey.

The creative momentum continued into 2025 with the release of A Fleeting Sense of Perception, a mature work that seamlessly synthesizes all the distinct souls of the project: a fluid interplay of rock elements, psychedelic undertones, pop openings, and ambient rarefactions.

To seal a decade of artistic synergy, the turn of 2025–2026 saw the release of Unplugged 0808 (recorded live the previous August). Tracked using solely acoustic guitars and vocals, the album stripped Cruciani and Lardo’s compositions of all production embellishments, returning them to their raw essence while imbuing the lyrics with newfound intensity and transparency.

During 2026, a bold new conceptual undertaking took shape: REC-00//REC + VOX, a work built around the spoken-word recitation of Cruciani's poetic pieces, rendered by a diverse ensemble of guest voices. A deliberately open-ended project without a fixed endpoint, it serves as a faithful mirror to the entire trajectory of Flavour Sperimentale — a body of work in continuous metamorphosis, periodically revisited, expanded, and reinterpreted, where the pursuit of the perfect form is not a destination, but a constantly shifting horizon.