BIO

Their music blends funk, disco, and electronic elements with Neapolitan jazz‑rock tradition and southern Italian folk, creating a sound both deeply rooted and undeniably modern.
In Neapolitan dialect, NGASA NGASA means “hit!” or “insist!”. It’s an expression we use among ourselves as encouragement during the toughest moments — a collective cry, a mindset, a rhythm that endures.

Their influences include global scene legends such as Max Roach, Tony Allen, John Lurie, alongside Neapolitan icons like Tullio De Piscopo, James Senese, and Tony Esposito. NGASA NGASA transmits a vibrant rhythmic heritage, full of meaning and rich in a strong cultural identity.
Their music also draws from the lyrical soul of the Mediterranean, echoing the melodic sensibility of artists like Patrizio, Cheb Hasni, Pino Daniele, Sergio Bruni, or Mirna Doris.

 

Their first EP, TRA DUE RIVE, is available digitally and will be released on 12” vinyl in September 2025 through independent label Controra Records.

The image of the two shores evokes Marseille and Naples: two Mediterranean cultures, united by the same energy yet separated by the sea. The EP embodies this bridge between two identities, two traditions.

The title TRA DUE RIVE evokes much more than geography: it’s the image of a life lived between multiple worlds — that of roots and exile, that of sung past and tense present. Naples and Marseille are the two poles of a single universe: two port cities, popular, vibrant, suspended between memory and transformation.

Each track on the EP is a stop on this journey:

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ONNE VENENO
“Waves that go, waves that come: the sea sings endlessly.”
In Onne Veneno, NGASA NGASA taps into this simple, universal image to speak of a distant love, perhaps lost, but never completely gone. The track combines softness and tension, like a prayer cast into the sea. The waves become the symbol of a hope that leaves and returns non‑stop, at the mercy of inner tides. The vocals, half‑sigh, half‑lamentation, evoke the poisons of waiting and the antidotes of memory. This infinite ebb and flow, like the rolling surf, narrates relationships that endure beyond distance, time, and even silence.

 

SAFARI
A biting critique of the touristification of Mediterranean cities. Naples, Marseille, Barcelona: cities turned into showcases. Here, residents become extras in a commodified set. The song mixes irony and rage, driven by a relentless afrobeat rhythm.

 

DALLE NFACCIA
A moment of rhythmic trance, a dive into a dreamlike space where market sounds intertwine with a symphony of percussion: drums, tambourines, pots, bells.
Voices rise, some urging us not to stop, to keep moving, while others, like sirens, provoke us, wake us up, and invite us to stand up, dance, and exist differently.

 

FAJE ’A VEDE
It means “pretend,” or more precisely, “play the part of someone who’s playing a part.” It’s an expression for people who aren’t sincere with you — those who smile to your face but speak differently, sometimes negatively, behind your back.
They are pseudo‑well‑meaning presences, everyday masks that we learn to spot… and sometimes mimic out of necessity. Your mask slips, your smiles ring hollow, and even if you’re playing your role well, something gives you away. So I stay wary. Because if I’m not careful, it’s not you who will fall — it’s me.

 

COMME NGASA
Cranks up with a powerful tempo and raw energy. It’s a manifesto: pounding the ground, becoming one with the rhythm, existing fully through music.

 

DOPPIA VITA (feat. Mehdi Laifaoui)
Explores the theme of double identity — those who live between two languages, two cultures, two social realities. A slow, soulful groove that speaks of uprooting and reinvention.

The deep south of our origins, like a blues land, a land of conquest — material and figurative. The sea as a symbolic element: healing, but also the thread connecting parallel stories. Percussion as a narrative tool.

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Line-Up :

Matteo Nocera – drums, percussion, effects, compositions, conductor, vocals
Salvio La Rocca – darbuka, bendhir, bongos, congas, tamburello, bells
Payam Ghasemi – bass guitar
Lucie Charlier-Esclapez – pianos, synths, vocals
Luisa Briguglio – vocals, synth, guitar
Sergio Di Leo – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone

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