Calibro 35, Ellroy & L.A.

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9-OCT-2026

The most exciting music out of Italy comes from Calibro 35. The Milan-based band has been releasing original albums since 2008 with a unique blend of cinematic crime-funk, psychedelia and hypnotic grooves. Their immaculate drum breaks and moody grooves using analogue instruments became a goldmine for rap producers. Dr. Dre heavily sampled Calibro 35's track "I Milanesi Ammazzano il Sabato" for the song "One Shot One Kill" featuring Snoop Dogg on his album Compton. Producer Timbaland sampled Calibro 35’s "Il Consigliori" to create the foundation for Jay-Z's "Picasso Baby" from the album Magna Carta Holy Grail.

Now Calibro 35 comes with the new album Ellroy vs L.A., a tribute to American noir and taken from the soundtrack of the documentary of the same name by Francesco Zippel. The film is an intense portrait of both the writer James Ellroy and the city of Los Angeles. Ellroy's books are mainly situated in the L.A. of the 1940s-1950s, when crime and corruption were rampant. Several of his books have been made into films: L.A. Confidential with Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger, and Danny DeVito. Black Dahlia was directed by Brian De Palma.

Ellroy reflects on his dark and obsessive relationship with L.A. as his words intertwine with archival footage of the city and scenes of Calibro 35 recording the soundtrack in the studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeRDe3YqO50

The soundtrack sees Calibro 35 immersing themselves in Ellroy’s universe, resulting in twelve tracks that blend cinematic crime-funk, psychedelia and hypnotic grooves. Rather than simply accompanying the story, these compositions inhabit it. Calibro 35 also performs their music live worldwide and the “Ellroy vs L.A.” tour has kicked off.

We had the chance to ask the band members Massimo Martellotta (guitar, keyboards), Enrico Gabrielli (keyboards, woodwinds), Roberto Dragonetti (bass), Fabio Rondanini (drums) and Tommaso Colliva (music producer and sound engineer) a couple of questions about the new album, their perspective on making music and the upcoming tour.

TNF: You have recorded in USA before (in New York for "Ogni Riferimento A Persone Esistenti O A Fatti Realmente Accaduti È Puramente Casuale" (Any Resemblance To Real Persons Is Purely Coincidental) and the EP "Dalla Bovisa a Brooklyn”. How were you able to create the ideal conditions in Milan for "Ellroy vs L.A."; you did not consider to record in Los Angeles?

Calibro 35: Broadly speaking both cinema and literature are very often acts of imagination and Ellroy's books are too… big time! In particular the documentary is a free flux of thoughts by the author about L.A .and events that happened in the city, both personal and historical, and everything seems to be distorted through a very psychedelic lens.

Because of this, the least of our willing was to reflect L.A. for what it is in reality. We wanted to let Ellroy guide us so we decided to play the game, immerse ourselves in his flow and see what comes out.

Funny enough few months after we finished this soundtrack we went to LA.. for a concert and we actually did a great recording session that we will release the outcome of sooner or later but we think that it was highly beneficial not being in the city while recording Ellroy vs L.A.

TNF: Did you get mostly inspired by the books of James Ellroy or the movies like L.A. Confidential and the Black Dahlia ? Did you use anything out of the original soundtracks of the movies?

Calibro 35: Our work for this project has been mostly based on the interview and archival footage used for the documentary blended with our recollection of Ellroy's books. We didn't go back rereading anything or rewatching the movies to reference them precisely, the important thing was to drag the viewer/listener into the dark and fuzzy Ellroy's imaginary world.

TNF: You work a lot with vintage instruments and analogue synthesizers. What’s your opinion about the increasing digitalization in music and more specifically nowadays the rise of AI?

Calibro 35: We love tailor-made-music that carries the breath and sweat of the people that produced it. We love genuine imperfections. We love being inspired by instruments. AI is a great shortcut to cut the whole thing out and achieve the “best” results with minimal effort.

But we do love the process of making music and records and soundtracks, we love the actual effort, we love the struggle… so AI is not for us.

TNF: What can the audience expect from your upcoming shows, will you play the music from the new album and more? Will it be a combination of a musical and cinematic experience?

Calibro 35: Calibro vs LA is a complete new show based mostly on this documentary but also suitable for the “concert experience”. 50% of the music comes from the soundtrack, 50% from our previous records and we surf in and out of the images from the documentary, alternating moments where we dialogue with Ellroy and purely musical sections. It’s a pretty new concept but we are having a lot of fun and people seem to enjoy it!

The new vinyl album and other Calibro 35 records can be ordered in our record shop. Tracks are added to our Spotify playlists.