altsounds

Andrea Diletti [New Artist]

I was born in L’Aquila on 29th August 1978 under the zodiac sign of the virgin. This explains why I’m a nit-picking pain in the butt and why I stop at nothing when I feel I’m being taken for a ride. It also explains why I adore Beppe Grillo. As an offset to this, I have a huge heart. My first contact with a guitar was when I was 14 years old and considered smashing it on my father’s head. Then the first chords escpaed my fingers and I discovered that singing, at times, can be a more deadly weapon. Up to the age of 17, I played in a number of local groups. Unfortunately I was rowdy and riotous. Sooner or later, I would insist on doing things my way and break up the group. I was fascinated by Jim Morrison and Motley Crue except that they used their stardom to destroy themselves while I was destroying myself long before reaching any kind of fame; stupidly and dangerously. I reached the peak by celebrating the new year’s eve of 1997 in a coma. It was then that I realised that a rockstar’s life was not for me. I wanted to live for music, not die for it. People have always made fun of me because I love comics. I read them a lot and have a number of collections. In fact, it was Mickey Mouse, or rather his genial creator Walt Disney, who taught me one of the best of my ethical/professional collection of aphorisms: “If you can dream it, you can do it”. And God only knows how much I dreamt when I was 18 years old. It was the most creative period of my life. Songs, poems, stories. My “dreamery” began ro reach serious proportions and was set to launch itself on the market. Today, at 26 years old, I’m still here and still dreaming. So it works and is good for you. What’s more, it’s free. At the age of 20 I left L’Aquila (too sleepy for me) and moved to Pescara where I still live today. A happy choice. Here I found love, the warm reception of my aunts and uncles, and the time to get a degree and to play my music. My first real live performances, apart from pianobars and weddings, was opening the cabaret shows of a well-known local comedian. Not only did he teach me how to laugh, but also the fundamental rules of handling the stage. A wonderful character for whom I will always have respect and gratitude. In the meantime I was attending a school for singer/songwriters together with Giò di Tonno (the Hunchback of Notredame in Cocciante’s musical), Franco Fasano, Max Gazzè, Adriano Pennino and other professionals. In the same year, at the Accademy of Sanremo, I failed the final hurdel of getting into the finals and I arrived third in the “Vocidomani” competition, opening the concert for Samuele Bersani. In 2000, I arrived 5th in the “Ospedaletti Festival of Dialectal Songs” representing the Abruzzo region. At the age of 22, thanks to an impresario who believed in my potential, I began a tour with Drupi which took me all over Italy and Europe for the following three years. This was a truly formative experience but also very difficult. Much pride to be swallowed and many sacrifices to be made in order not to give in to the difficulties of working behind the scenes as a backing singer, when somehting inside me was pushing me to find my own way forward and my own fulfilment. I stuck it out until other satisfactions started to arrive such as the final of Castrocaro live on Rai Uno (Italy’s main national Television channel) on 17th July 2004; third place in the wonderful “Bengio Festival” in Benevento where I also won the prize for the best lyrics; and recognition for the best track, awarded by Rossana Casale, at the “Discanto Festival” in Pisa. In the summer of 2004, just before the release of Drupi’s album “Buone Notizie”, I left the tour or, to be more precise, a series of misunderstandings within the musical team, obliged me to quit. In the meantime I had already finished work on my first demo “Nelle Mani Degli Dei” (in the Hands of the Gods), arranged by Drupi’s group of musicians. A year of intense reflection followed during which I finished my degree, worked on my website, and contacted musicians for the promotion of my first album, just completed, entitled “Ora” (now). Why this title? Because “now”, as is clear from the lyrics of my song, I am turning the page and starting a new story

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Comment Posted on: May 19, 2007, 02:11 PM