Songwriting
I began listening to The Beatles long before I could talk, so it was inevitable I would pick up the songwriter’s trait! I genuinely believe I owe the Fab Four’s discography my deep passion for good melody and harmony. My formal education allowed me to deepen my knowledge and explore new ways to analyze the music I hear and love.
But a lot of what I know about songwriting I owe to Mauro Pagani (once again!) as he shared with me a huge baggage of considerations he came up with together with renowned singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André during their long and fruitful collaboration.
Hypno was my first serious project.
This is where I mark the beginning of my journey in songwriting and music production; Hypno started in 2014 as a typical high-school band: we played Beatles, Vaccines, Rolling Stones covers. But it wouldn’t be long before we started writing our own songs.
Soon we began playing live, in clubs and community centres all around the city of Milan; in 2017 we were selected to participate in a national music festival: Emergenza Festival.
We went through city selections, then regionals and finally nationals; we ended up winning the Critic’s Award at the national finals, which took place at Alcatraz Milano.
During that period we had the opportunity to play on bigger and better equipped stages, gaining experience and growing as a band: we were even invited as guests to another region’s selections, which took place at Campus Industry Parma.
“On March 3, on the beautiful stage of the Campus Industry in Parma, the fourth evening of selections of the largest musical event dedicated to emerging talents in the world will be held. […] Guests of the evening are the band HYPNO, already winners of their elimination round for the Milan selections. More than 3 hours of music in seven concerts concert. Impossible to miss!”
-Parma Daily
In a nutshell, Hypno was my stepping stone.
Unfortunately, the band is no longer active, but it was a significant step in shaping my career.
This project gave me the opportunity to experiment and learn in many different areas. As the group’s composer and producer (other than keyboard player of course!) it was where I first explored songwriting, developed my skills in music production, and gained hands-on experience with recording techniques. It was a creative space that shaped my understanding of how to bring musical ideas to life, and it laid the foundation for my growth as a musician.
I believe that a good sign of artistic progress is being able to look back on one’s early work and see (or in this case hear) both the strengths and limitations of said work.
This is how I feel about Hypno.