Singer and multi-instrumentalist based in Glasgow, Scotland, Cling Film represents the new face in a new place, of an artist with a shifting identity. Previously active as an Italian solo act under the name Marylin Mezzo, Cling Film has also played in several bands between Italy and the U.K., taking on different roles. The most recent experience saw her as guitarist for Hinged, an indie rock band based in Liverpool. This new project marks her first systematic approach to English writing, her second language, and reflects an evolution in musical taste, artistic sensitivity, and guitar technique. “City of Wind” was co-produced by Cling Film, Daniel Clifford, and Harbourmaster. The track was recorded by Harbourmaster at Harbourmaster Productions, and by Cling Film. Editing, mixing, and mastering were handled by Harbourmaster at Harbourmaster Productions, in South Shields, in the North-East of England, in 2026.
With “City of Wind” out now, we took some time to hear from Cling Film. Read below to learn more about Cling Film, the story behind “City of Wind,” and what’s to come.
Hi Cling Film! Let’s start with how did you get your artist name?
Hello! I had various names in mind that were related to aspects of my life or my job, that I examined together with my friend (and co-producer of the songs) Daniel (Clifford). “Cling Film” won in part because I think it represents a way to “wrap up” different music influences that I wanted to combine, in part because we just liked the sound of it!
What city are you from, and where are you based now?
I am Italian, born in Napoli, and I grew up further South, but I moved quite a lot around Italy, and then the U.K. At the moment, I am based in Scotland, in the Glasgow area.
At what point in your life did you decide to pursue a career in music? How did you get started?
I have always liked music and I grew up in a house full of it, particularly thanks to my mum. So, since I was a child my life has been full of shy attempts to play (piano, guitar, harmonica, violin, percussions, electronic devices), and I sang in a choir for a while, but none of it was a commitment. Then I lived in Milan for a while, I started writing reviews for a webzine, and I ended up meeting several musicians; among these, the members of my first band, La Syndrome – and I think it just started from there, with the first gigs in front of friends. I was initially a lot more oriented towards singing and writing, then I moved to the U.K., and the limitation of not being first language made me focus more on instruments and global arrangements. I have got a busy job outside music, so I cannot really say it is a career, but for sure it takes more of my time than in the past.
How has your upbringing played a role in shaping who you are and defining your sound?
I would say it played an important role, in a sense. As a Southern Italian, genres that are linked to my territory, such as traditional folk music, or religious choral music, were sure a big part of my experience; on the other side, I have always loved the great tradition of Italian songwriting, and my first attempts at music were totally influenced by this, with writing playing a big role. Then over the years the internet has taken my music influences completely elsewhere. But I still carry with me an attention to harmony (particularly vocal harmonies), a preference for melody above noise/dissonance, and a love for words.
How would you describe your sound to readers who may not be familiar with you?
I think my sound can be described as alternative rock/pop. Compared to the “classic” genres associated to this, there is more emphasis on light guitar lines combinations, and some experimental elements (alternative tunings, different times signatures) that are usually more typical of prog-rock, post-rock, math-rock, or Midwest-emo. At the same time the voice is quite clean and melodic, adding another layer of influences. I think a song like “City of Wind” is difficult to classify because all these elements coexist – when I created it, I had American Football, Modest Mouse, and Everyone Everywhere in mind, though I would say something different came out of it.
Do you have any hobbies outside of music? What do you do to stay creative?
I have got many hobbies, but as always happens, not much time for them. My main one is playing football – it has always been a steady part of my life, and there was a time, a lifetime ago, where I could have aimed at a related career. Now it is really about fun and keeping in shape. Then a lot of other hobbies keep me creative, e.g., reading, playing videogames, playing chess. I try at least to read regularly (it helps me quite a lot with writing, speaking, and thinking), but I am not always able to be consistent with it. I also recently started the habit of going to the cinema from time to time.
Who are some of your main musical influences?
They vary quite regularly. But I would say that Radiohead changed my way of listening and thinking about music. Then Indie and Post-Punk revival of the 2000’s – I fondly remember the first works of Editors and Bloc Party. A couple of my new songs are also inspired by 90s alternative rock and Midwest-emo – over the last couple of years I listened quite a lot to bands like American Football, Modest Mouse, Delta Sleep, and The Hotelier. And then, in my “acoustic” moments, I really look up to artists like Laura Marling. I do not think I fully sound like these artists, but they influenced me in one way or another.
Who are some of your favorite emerging artists?
There are quite a few I had the chance to meet, work with, play same gigs/events, etc., or just discovered. I will mention a few that have enough stuff out for people to check.
Amateur Ornithologist. This is my friend Daniel Clifford’s alt-pop band, a group of amazing people full of creativity, with one of the most original approaches to music I have heard. I saw them live several times, I love their albums, and they will publish their fourth soon.
I recently discovered an American artist who is called River Access. The genre here is indie-rock/experimental, with some electronic, and I love every bit of it.
Another band that I love is Theo Wandenhoff, from Toronto. Beautiful post-punk with a lot of synths and “dark” atmospheres.
What’s one of the proudest moments of your music career so far?
With my old Italian band, La Syndrome, we got selected and took part in a national contest in 2020. The contest was in the same city and on the same stage where the most important Italian festival takes place every year (Sanremo). It was a great emotion, you could breathe music in the streets, it felt so above our ability at the time, but then the exhibition was broadcast and we had a lot of people who supported us. Despite not winning the contest, I think it gave me courage and belief for any future stage, gig, or music experience.
What would you say are the greatest lessons that you’ve learned so far?
In music, a little bit like in life, that you will not be liked by everyone, and this might be independent from how much effort and skill you put in. So, it is worth doing (and being) what you love anyway.
This, and then that it does not matter how many guitars and pedals you have, you will always want more. 😀
Now onto your release, “City of Wind.” What inspired this song? What is “City of Wind” about?
“City of Wind” is about the City of Wind! Jokes apart, the song is about a very specific relationship of love/hate that I wanted to describe, and I tried to evocate images that hint at it. However, I also wanted the listeners to interpret this in the way it felt closer to them. So, you can see it as a song about something/someone you really try to click with, but this does not happen all the time, and you almost feel erased/astonished in the attempt. If this “City of Wind” is a person, a feeling, the relationship with music, a physical space, this really depends on the listener. I know what that was for me.
What was the inspiration behind the cover artwork for “City of Wind?”
I like taking pictures of the landscape, particularly sunsets, and these images often inspire things that I try to describe in my songs. “City of Wind” is part of a group of (upcoming) tracks where the sense of “unsettlement” is a common theme in different ways. So, I thought that for each of the songs it would have been nice to pick a picture of a different place I lived as an artwork. The artwork for “City of Wind” is a picture of Liverpool – a beautiful view from the apartment I lived in, it was a windy morning when I took it, and it seemed appropriate for the title of the track.
What was the creative process like when making “City of Wind?”
It all started from the guitar part. It was almost like a joke; I needed to exercise on different time signatures, and I decided to set the metronome to a very unusual one, to see if I could still play something on it. I then kept the main riff as an idea. From there, everything followed, really – I had this unusual guitar part full of changes, and one day I just focused on writing on it. I had the chorus/outro in mind almost eventually, and then I needed to decide how I wanted to get there from the start to the end of the song.
How long did it take to complete “City of Wind?”
From the guitar part to the actual lyrics, a couple of months: I got stuck on a vocal line that did not work, and I needed some time to forget it and start again. But once I started writing from scratch again, completing a home recorded demo of the song took one weekend, not more: this included the same structure and melodic parts you can hear now. The final version was then developed in 7-8 months, between the addition of drums (played by Matt Hardy), bass parts, production, recording, mixing, etc. (in collaboration with Daniel Clifford and Harbourmaster)– but this is part of a 5-songs EP, so it took some time overall.
How did the music video for “City of Wind” come about? What was your vision for the video?
I thought a lot about the video. Being this a completely new project, I wanted a “budget” option, and I was evaluating generative A.I. But I do not agree with this specific A.I. use, and I was not keen to negotiate my principles. I remembered that in the past I almost created a video with Power Point slides with “animation” techniques: you change the position of a character/image in consecutive slides, and this should create the idea of movement. I tried the same approach using Canva, and looking at their pixelated material, the idea came to create something that could resemble an arcade adventure taking place in the “City of Wind,” with scenes inspired by the lyrics of the song. The actual plot and scenes of the video came day-by-day, and I genuinely had a good laugh about it all. It was all very fun.
What do you hope fans take away from “City of Wind” and your music in general?
I always hope that something I write or play can resonate with listeners, like my favourite artists’ songs resonate with me; if a listener can take something from my songs, whatever this is, beyond the meaning I give to them, it is enough for me.
In these new songs, I also put a lot of work, but more than this, I put a lot of my taste and my idea of music, and I feel that after all my previous experiences, this is the first time I have the musical ability of really making choices in this sense. I hope someone could hear these choices, recognize them, and think “this is actually cool!”
What’s next for you? Are you working on any upcoming projects, or do you have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
Like I said, “City of Wind” is the first single of a 5-songs EP, so for now, I am looking at the planning and the launch of other singles, and then the full EP. The next song is called “Stolen Days” and will come out around May. I am starting to create a live set of these songs, but I am also a guitarist in another upcoming band, and no shows are planned as Cling Film for now – I hope to have news in this sense after all the singles come out.
Where can we follow you on social media?
You can find me on the following platforms/social media:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2DGazDN6BXjdouYwMTIfum
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clingfilmmusic
Bandcamp: https://clingfilm2.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/cling_film_music
Facebook: https://facebook.com/clingfilmmusic
Before you go, let’s ask a couple of off-topic questions:
What is your favorite book?
One of my favourite books is American Pastoral by Philip Roth. I love it at the point that years ago, I wrote a song inspired by it (La Syndrome – “Levov”).
What is your favorite movie?
It is a balanced battle between ‘The Legend of 1900’ and ‘The Great Beauty.’
Thank you for the great interview; wish you much continued success!
