My drumming journey#
Where it all started
1997
Sulmona · metal, hard rock, rock, pop
I started playing drums in 1997 in Sulmona, my hometown, where I also played my first ever gig. I took my first lessons with a local teacher and grew up playing with local bands and doing lots of local gigs across metal, hard rock, rock and pop. Metal was my main focus: progressive metal, and cover bands of Dream Theater, Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer.First records and training
2001 – 2005
Sulmona · Pescara
I recorded my first album on drums for Adriano Lattanzio’s project Brest, with Pino Ferrone on vocals and the Sulmona-born jazz pianist Raffaele Pallozzi on piano. In 2003 I met Andrea Tirimacco: the start of a friendship and collaboration that is still going after twenty years, with many productions together at his At Studio in Sulmona, including the 23 Session videos Crazy and If I Ain’t Got You.
Before moving to Milan I studied at the Accademia dei Tamburi in Pescara (today L’Officina della Musica) with the drummer Aldo Leandro, who has played in the studio and on tour with Orietta Berti, Jimmy Fontana and Paolo Di Sabatino. In 2005 I also took part in several full-time drum seminars with Christian Meyer of Elio e le Storie Tese and the jazz drummer and teacher Paolo Pellegatti.
Milan
c. 2005
From metal to rock · cover bands and original songs
Around 2005 I moved to Milan for university, left metal behind and turned to rock. I played with local cover bands and in bands writing original songs, which took me into the studio: in 2006 I recorded at SAE Institute and at Noise Factory recording studio.TAO
2007 – 2009
TAO Love Bus · tours, TV and big stages
My most important experience was a professional one: drumming for TAO, aka Valerio Ziglioli, live guitarist for the Italian singer-songwriter Alberto Fortis.
With TAO I toured Italy aboard the TAO Love Bus: a 1970s Volkswagen T2 minibus turned into a travelling stage, with the band, instruments, mixer and a generator on board and speakers on the roof, so we could play wherever we stopped. I played sitting on the engine compartment. It all started with the Summer of Love 2007, a week-long tour along the Romagna coast; then came our Milan concert on 22 September 2007 and the Motorshow in Bologna that December, which RAI covered on TV. On the Radio Bruno Tour in Modena we shared the stage with well-known Italian artists such as Paola & Chiara, Roby Facchinetti (Pooh), Franco Mussida (PFM) and Roberto Dell’Era (Afterhours).
In 2007 we also played for Red Ronnie at Roxy Bar, stopped by Radio 105 and shot the video for “Nessuno ti ama per quello che sei” at Mauro Pagani’s famous Officine Meccaniche studios in Milan. In 2008 we took the Love Bus to MEI in Faenza, the meeting of Italian independent labels, where the tour won an award for its originality. We played Milan’s best-known clubs, many of which no longer exist, and in 2009 we appeared at Fuori Sanremo during the Sanremo Festival, broadcast on national TV.
Indie rock
c. 2010 – 2016
Milan · cover bands and local gigs
After TAO I fully lived the indie rock years, playing with local cover bands and gigging in Milan and the surrounding area. Along the way came punk with The Bollocks, a Sex Pistols tribute band, studio sessions, and gigs at places like Le Trottoir and the former Teatro Smeraldo.The Netherlands
2016 – 2020
Funk
In 2016 I moved to the Netherlands, where I mostly played funk. A highlight was playing the Delft Jazz Festival in 2019.London
2020 – today
A new start in the UK
In 2020 I moved to London. Between Covid and settling into a big new city, I mostly played on an electronic kit, as in the Shorts Rosanna and Firth of Fifth, and at local jam sessions in pubs. Now I’m planning to start drum lessons again and, eventually, to get back to playing live gigs.
See it all in the photos, watch the videos and check out the gear I play.