Writer, Musician, Producer

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: Art is unrelated to success and fame. Art is in the realm of gratuitousness. This is what I learnt from art, essentially a God related gift. Then, its real misconception is to bind art and talents to success and money making. Sort of harlotry of both. That's why "greatest artists", like Madonna, Mick Jagger, etc., sooner or later come to be "greatest monsters". They practiced prostitution with the talents received and were not ashamed of it. You can see this, depicted in their disfigured appearence. But there's an entire industry behind the process, a longer chain of responsabilities.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I have studied music at Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini in Genoa, my city, since I was 12 years old, in the class of oboe. Then I got a bachelor in greek & latin literature at Univerity of Pisa. Mine is a classical background: choir, orchestra, Homer, Sophocles etc. Best poetry - like Giacomo Leopardi says in his writings - comes from Greece, and it's true! There is no Bob Dylan or John Lennon who can compare with those ancient poets. Beside all, I had my first band at 14 years old. The band I played the most in my youth is Graham Jane. With them I performed and recorded lots of songs, releasing 5 Album published on Bandcamp. As songwriter, my first album, "Storia di un peccatore", was recorded in 2009 with great musicians, well known in my region (Mario Arcari, Armando Corsi). Since 2017 I have been working with Matteo Cipollina, aka "Pilot waves", in a electronic & songwriting duo, called Apalis Duo. We released our first EP for a label called Amselcom, in Berlin. I also constantly publish new songs on my site, as songwriter. I don't mention here my activity as writer.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Inspiration guides me in the first part of the process, where I have to free some musical ideas. Afterwards, craftsman work comes into play. For my experience a good song is a mix of both inspiration and dedication: without one of them, the song is not so interesting. Sometimes lyrics come first, sometimes after...the client has paid! : D

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I’m improving my songs, hiring mix engineers and musicians here on SoundBetter. Also, I am working on a release with Apalis Duo.

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Many have technical skills, even better than I have. But I believe I can offer more than many others on the composition side because of my musical taste.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring inspiration, musicality, taste and experience.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: With this song, "Sad Sad Christmas", I signed for a cool label called Amselcom, based originally in Berlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51RjMDAi3q4

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: Wojciech S., a brilliant poet - Marzia Bulli, a great and honest mixing engineer - Alex Picciafuochi, an expert mastering engineer, also very generous. But there are many more, really. I am always surprised looking how many great talents God shared around.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: A good song makes the client happy to invest time and money in art. And art contributes to overall beauty in the world.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What they want, in details. Clients should express clearly what they look for to make it happen.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: I’d like to find inspired poets. Or people with musical attitude to produce something beautiful, not necessarily for commercial purpose.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: An author's style, made of elements coming from refined songwriting, electronical textures, classical harmonies and pop(ular) orientation.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: I am asked for creating songs & writing lyrics. This involves things like: 1) Composing chords and vocal melodies. 2) Writing words. 3) Adding instruments if I am the producer: guitars & bass / synthesizers & keyboards / effects & strings / woodwinds etc. 4) Providing a Mix of the whole.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: My favourite albums were analog recorded. If I could, analog.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: A beautiful song.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: Songwriting, Indie-Rock, Pop-rock.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is on the creative side. I would say for the composition itself. And an attitude to write profound lyrics.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: Classical guitar, pen and papers.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I think that studying harmony may open a lot the spectrum of our possibilities in music production.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: There are so many: for the sound I like Pink Floyd, Radiohead, The Doors; in the process of songwriting many italian songwriters like Paolo Conte, Fabrizio De Andrè, Lucio Battisti. But also many classic composers, like Bach, Schubert Arvo Part. For the vocals I am very much inspired by Robert Plant, Amy Winehouse...

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Monitoring: Genelec 8030 CP; String arrangments: BBC Spitfire Orchestra Pro; Mic and Pre-amp: Neumann TLM 102 + Focusrite ISA One; Audio interface: RME Fireface800; Rack effects: TC Helicon Voicelive rack; Guitars: Fender guitars and amp. Synth: Roland JP8000 (keyboard), Reason 12, Spitfire. DAW: Reason & Reaper. Plug-ins: Sonnox Oxford, FabFilter, UAD. Recently I can also use some great analog racks, like Manley Passive Eq and others.