Gianmaria (written “gIANMARIA”) is 19 years old, born in 2002, and is from Vicenza. He is considered one of the new faces of Italian pop graffiti: he certainly owes his popularity to the few weeks at the talent show. He is gifted with talent and voice, interpreting and writing skills. Only in the course of 2021 he released three singles: All or nothing 2, Mamma excuse and Listen. Gianmaria was for X Factor Italy “the portrait of his generation. Nice face, nice head, but elusive and introverted. He has his own vision of the world, quite complex, which is reflected in his music and in his lyrics “.
He has been writing since he was little more than a child, he recounted. Around the age of 13, after seeing some freestyle contests on Youtube, he started writing with music in mind. The first piece of him was recorded in the recording studio that a friend had assembled in the house. At first, his stage name was Gianxoxo. At the selections, he presented himself with his song ‘Suicides’. He immediately won the four yeses of judges Manuel Agnelli, Mika, Emma and Hell Raton with his performance. His entry into the talent show was with a white t-shirt and black jeans. At the Bootcamps, he sang one of his singles about himself: Sorry mom. To the Home Visits, he brought a partially rewritten cover of My Brother is the Only Child of Rino Gaetano. After the second place at the latest edition of X Factor Italy, gIANMARIA debuted with the album Fallirò, an intimate journey between fears and dreams.
Here’s what he told us exclusively for Fucking Young:
You began playing music at a young age; what drew you to music?
The need to say something personal certainly brought me to music, beyond this it certainly brought me my curiosity and my search for new stimuli.
Are you from a musical or artistic family? What or who inspired you to make music?
No, I’m not a child of art at all. I come from a very normal family that has never been too tied to art in general.
Tell us a few words about your single ‘Suicides’ released last year. How did you find inspiration for it, for the lyrics especially, and what is the message behind what you want us to understand?
I wrote my single ‘Suicides’ when I remembered a movie I had seen years ago. By the way, I didn’t like the film, so I felt like taking the main idea and rewriting it in my own way. I wrote it in half an hour, quickly, I had it all in my head. The message is to exorcise normality to run away from it.
When was that first “Oh shit” moment when you realized that music was going to pay off for you?
The first time I went on television there was a huge response, I told them: “ok let’s not fuck our brains, we are doing the right thing, let’s work like we have done so far”.
What is your typical songwriting process? Do you usually start with a melody and let the lyrics come to you? Or is it the other way around?
I haven’t found the right method yet, but I change often. I write everything with my producers, from the music to the lyrics, and every time it is different.
We think your lyrics are very powerful. Did you start writing poetry at first? Or there is any relation between your music and poetry?
I started writing poems and prose texts as a child. Once I fell in love with music (to listen to it) I immediately tried to do it. So I’ve always written and now those lyrics have become songs.
Can you tell us a few artists or musicians who always inspire you?
Sure! Frank Ocean, Rino Gaetano, Franco Battiato, C. Tangana and many others.
What has been the hardest/most challenging part about the pandemic?
Definitely felt good alone, which I never thought I’d be before.
We have listened to the new album ‘FALLIRO’ and the songs are very catchy and upbeat, was this always your vision for this album? Was this different or more challenging for you and if so, how?
For ‘FALLIRO’ ‘I gathered the tracks that seemed to me most in line for a project like this. It’s a compilation more than a record. Tracks born without thinking of an album, without ‘stakes’ in writing and making. It was a bit complicated to choose and optimize them to the maximum. In the future, however, I would like to try to do something more complex, perhaps with a concept.
Do you ever find yourself unable to express your creativity to the fullest? What kinds of things inhibit you?
It often happens to me, sometimes I don’t even try if I feel hindered. But there are no things that usually hinder me except my laziness and my head.
Is there a particular place where you feel most creative?
Definitely in the studio.
What’s your process for dealing with performance anxiety?
No one, just do the math! Hope to pass them on to people without letting them get me down.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
I love cinema madly, I could spend days at home watching movies. Also, I really like cooking.
What would you change in the music industry in order to improve more independent artists/bands?
Definitely thinking less about money and promoting beautiful music more, I would give more means to the “little ones” instead of giving most of it to the “big ones”.
After the last album release, what are your next plans?
Find a girlfriend, write, sing, and do it all over again.
What is your favorite place on Earth you would love to go for a while and write songs?
Of the places I have certainly seen Sicily, it is the most beautiful place in the world, I want to live there.
A letter to your FUTURE self. What would you write?
Treat yourself well, take care of yourself.
