Pino D’Angiò: Between Legend And Mockery
We chat with the one and only Pino D’Angiò ahead of his Berlin show and new album
Pino D’Angiò transcends any description. Author of international successes in the 80s with the humor-infused funky grooves of ‘Ma Quale Idea’ and ‘Okay Okay’, his music path spanning for over 40 years has really seen it all. His music career started almost by chance, as he was singing with a guitar around venues to pay for his medical studies and got a record deal, which led to the publishing and success of ‘Ma Quale Idea’. The first of many crazy turns that his life took - Pino was the first and only Italian musician receiving the Rhythm & Soul Music Award, conducted Miss Universe 1990 in Venezuela, and for some reason also composed the harmony and lyrics of the techno–trance classic ‘The Age Of Love’ - just a few of a series of absurd and fantastic happenings.
Recent times saw a resurgence of appreciation for Pino D’angiò’s music, with his music gaining popularity especially among younger crowds and a return to performing shows in his classic style in Italy and beyond. Despite some health issues, Pino continues to compose and release music, and still has the energy of a 20 years old when it comes to performing and connecting with his audience. It was an honor for us to chat with the legend, ahead of a special show at Oxi in Berlin and the launch of his new album.
Pino D'Angiò
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Pino D'Angiò 〰️
Hi Pino! It’s really special to be talking with you and thank you for making the time for us. I would like to start from the present - this year you released a new single, ‘Non Dormo Mai’, featuring Bobby Soul. How did the collaboration and song come together?
The collaboration was essentially born because of my throat cancer. I had many operations, I think six, and unfortunately, I cannot reach a very high pitch anymore when singing. I can only sing medium and low tones. Therefore to reach the full range I like to have in my music, I needed some help. I’ve seen Bobby Soul performing and really liked the way he handled the stage, as well as his falsettos and high pitch voice. We had a chat and we mutually decided to collaborate.
As for the song, I once again played on repetition for this piece. If you think about it, why can you repeat a musical phrase hundreds of times and not a lyric? ‘Non Dormo Mai’ repetition in its chorus musically underlines its meaning (I never sleep). It gives the feeling of stress that the character singing is experiencing, it’s easy to remember and also just sounds good.
“If I hear a funky track that I like, I don’t need to actually dance, something moves inside of me and I dance in my mind as I listen to it.”
As always there is some humor in there.
Of course. I never wrote a love song. ‘I love you’, ‘you love me’, ‘you left me’... Blah blah blah… We already heard all of that.
I was lucky enough to live in the USA when I was a kid - when I was back in Italy I had James Brown in my ears… There was a huge contrast with the music in Italy back then. I think that played a big role in how I approached music-making - to this day I ‘dance’ to the music when I listen to it. If I hear a funky track that I like, I don’t need to actually dance, something moves inside of me and I dance in my mind as I listen to it.
Going back to the humor - I always adored how the humor is present but it never really takes over the whole song. Your songs are funny but music is also at the center of what you deliver. How do you find this balance?
I don’t really think there’s much balance. I always felt kind of unbalanced (laughs)... But yes there’s always a serious side and a comical one. I think no one has just one side, we are all puzzles made of millions of pieces. Putting this contrast into my music just comes natural.
In my writing process I always start from the lyrics, and develop them into a song later. I think with any song, if you take away the music you get poetry. So every piece of lyrics needs to have a life on its own. Music then makes it emphatic and alive. And you know… I was always paid to do something I would have done for free. This made me always work cheerfully, and it was an enormous luck.
“With any song, if you take away the music you get poetry. So every piece of lyrics needs to have a life on its own. Music then makes it emphatic and alive.”
Let’s jump into the past - there’s always a certain fascination for the 80s these days. The music, style and fashion have a certain glamor and especially for music fans, it feels like a time where people walked in studios and made something magical happen. How was it for you?
Very young people are unaware of this, but the 80s were not all fun and glamour. In Italy especially, there was a lot of violence in the streets and a tense political situation of instability. Yes there were disco clubs, and funny characters all around like the ones of my songs, but it wasn’t all real - mostly it was an escape from a tough reality.
As for the studio-time, I have to be honest: I really didn’t spend much time there. Back then, you composed a piece with a guitar at home. I remember when I sang ‘Ma Quale Idea’ to my wife for the first time - she told me it was “disgusting”. To this day I am hoping she says the same about my next song, it would surely mean it’s going to be a huge success!
Anyways you never really knew what was going to happen, you were going by attempts. You developed some ideas at home, went to record in the studio once, then hoped the records would sell. Many of my singers and musicians colleagues from the time love to narrate how they spent hours in the studio, worked so much for months, and even suffered in this long process… Between us, it’s all bullshit. They mostly are just trying to give themselves more importance. The idea for a song, a story, or a music piece, comes in 5 minutes. Then you can spend hours perfecting it and developing, but the intuition is immediate.
I hate when people try to act cultured, complicated, full of sufferings. “You have no idea what I went through to write this album” etc. It strikes me as very bland.
Moving forward some years, I have to ask you about another piece, “The Age Of Love”. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that you participated in the composition of this 90s techno-trance classic, maybe one of the most famous tracks of the genre to this day. How did this happen?
As with many things in my life, this track was born in a totally random way. I was hosted in Mons, Belgium, by a friend. He told me “I have this rhythm and not sure what to do with it, maybe you got some idea”? He showed me this beat and it was horrendous. Only drums with annoying hi-hats going “tss tss tss tss”. So I was not sure what I could do with it, but he asked me to still give it a shot. Out of full courtesy, I put down a very simple harmony on the synth, and we put down a few words.
Totally improvised!
Exactly, I went and randomly sang “the age of love, the age of love, the age of love”. And then, the worst mistake of my life, I told him “do whatever you want with this, but please, do not dare putting my artist name on any of this ”.
If you talked to a young person who is just starting to approach music composition, song-writing or producing, what would you advise them?
The only advice I can give is to do something you actually like. Never do something to please others. If you do this inevitably you will have to copy something else that already exists in some way. You will be a red candy in a huge basket of red candies. If you do something to please yourself, you might end up being a yellow candy - it’s a risk but it’s the only way to do music that’s personal, different, interesting and real.
Particularly today, there’s really good young musicians around, but they are buried and crushed under an avalanche of trash that’s promoted on the internet, and they struggle to get noticed. Everyone composes, everyone produces, everyone DJs. This gives the possibility of a million copycats to hide true geniuses. It’s pretty tragic.
How about the live show in Berlin coming up this weekend - do you have any relationship with the city? What can your fans expect from the live show?
Berlin is a strange city. Lively, and beautiful in some ways but with a tough past. There’s a lot of young Italians that found their place there which is nice to see.
As for the live show, you can expect a massacre and a total mockery of the 80s characters. If you notice, the characters of my songs are always idiots, losers. ‘Ma Quale Idea’ is about the classic overconfident Italian thinking he can get all the girls at the disco - and the chorus underlines how the girls are not really into it. ‘Un Concerto Da Strapazzo’ is about a guy who would like to do a great concert but he’s not able to. Even in the latest ‘Non Dormo Mai’ - the character says he can never sleep because he’s obsessed with this girl, but the girl doesn’t even know he exists!
In a way it’s much more interesting to represent non-serious characters who are full of defects rather than heroes.
Precisely - and heroes do not exist anyways.
“When I sang “Ma Quale Idea” to my wife for the first time - she told me it was “disgusting”. To this day I am hoping she says the same about my next song, it would surely mean it’s going to be a huge success”
Thank you so much Pino, I can’t express how much this interview means to us. Is there anything you want to add?
Thank you, thank you and again thank you, to everyone who listened to my songs and supported me to this day. I am not just saying it. Thank you because my life completely changed because people liked my music. If it wasn’t for you, I would be an anonymous doctor, in an anonymous alley of an anonymous hospital. And instead something completely different happened just because of you.
I would also like to add, in one month my new album called “The New Album” will be out, including “Non Dormo Mai” and 8 other tracks. Check it out!
Interview by Giovanni Bodrato
