Seems like a funny title for a story but many people say to me Ignazio is different from Gianluca and Piero! Well, of course, they are all different from one another. In any event, I decided I would take a closer look to see what these differences are. To do this, we need to go back to the beginning! No not to when he was born but when they were born! Il Volo!
When Ignazio stepped on that stage13 years ago, he did a duet with some very famous entertainers, and he was singing their songs.
Let’s listen to a song from Ti Lascio una Canzone!
I always loved when Massimo Ranieri sang “Quando l’amore diventa poesia.” But when Ignazio sang it with him, I could see the amazement on Ranieri’s face. I think he knew that Ignazio would own this song! Ranieri was in total awe of Ignazio. I love you Massimo, but Ignazio does own this song! No one sings it like him!
Let’s listen to another song!
When Ignazio sang “A Chi,” I understood who Ignazio was. There was no song he couldn’t sing. I can’t even express the feeling I got when he sang that song. The depth of his voice! The expression! Just amazing! Fausto Leali was, also, in awe of this teenager. I just fell in love with this performance!
So that was some of his performances on Ti Lascio una Canzone but that isn’t what makes him different! Let’s listen to another song! When Ignazio sings Memory he brings out another feeling in us! A feeling that we can hear a song a hundred times and love it but never appreciate it until the right person sings it!
How does Ignazio stand out as one of the three? Let’s talk about his voice! I call Ignazio the bridge. He is a lyrical tenor. He can sing from the lowest to the highest note in the tenor range. And God knows he can, easily, hit the high C. Waiting for it and knowing it’s going to happen is so exciting! His voice brings all voices together!
A lyrical tenor has a warm graceful voice which is bright and strong but not heavy and it can be heard over an orchestra. Ignazio’s voice is smooth, clean and clear, with an acute extension. His voice has the ability to increase the baritone voice of Gianluca while softening the spinto tenor voice of Piero.
Ignazio has many faces. He is very whimsical in many of his songs as in “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” from La Traviata.
In the aria “Una Furtiva Lagrima” from L’elisir D’amore, Ignazio makes you feel the innocents of Nemorino’s love for Adina.
In his dedication to Pino Daniele, you hear an interpretation that is so emotional and a delivery that is so amazing that you get the sense that Daniele wrote his songs for Ignazio.
These are the different voices of Ignazio but to understand Ignazio better, we need to go to another video. One that I use from time to time and one of my favorite videos of the guys when they were starting out!
This video of the guys recording “Tous le visages de l’ amour” tells me so much about their beginnings. They were phenomenal. They barely knew one another and yet they showed how professional they were. From the very beginning they knew what was expected of them and what they needed to do. Amazing to think they were only 16 – 17 years old.
But let’s take a closer look at the video and a closer look at Ignazio.
The first thing we notice of course is Ignazio’s voice! How can you miss it! It rings out and takes over the song! Powerful! But let’s look further. You will notice Ignazio is already getting into the production end of the recording. He’s already following the music. He’s on top of what is happening around him, in the studio, not just his part in it, but everyone’s part. But what I want you to see is how serious and responsible he is. After the recording, he begins to tell us how the recording went that night. Piero, jokingly, interrupts! At first you think he’s going to get angry, but he doesn’t he plays right along with Piero. Even knowing this moment called for a serious discussion, he immediately took control and went along with Piero. Always in control!
So, we see Ignazio coming from a different direction. He understands the moment! He understands what is expected of him and, he understands that great sacrifices were made so that he could do this. He knows when it’s important to be serious and when it’s important to be funny!
No one understands music better than Ignazio does. I’m sure Piero and Gianluca will tell you that. They will also tell you that no one knows the stage or the production better than Ignazio. That’s why he is the technical person, the hands-on man. He always knows what needs to be done and when it needs to happen. So, I will show you another video for you to understand what I’m talking about!
This happened in Dubrovnik. Ignazio steps on the stage and immediately recognizes that Gianluca is having a problem. So, he sings his part and then immediately begins to fix Gianluca’s problem. You will notice Ignazio already has things under control and has already started changing out equipment while they are still getting things together behind the scenes! They are just arriving with the equipment but, too late, Ignazio has already taken his own equipment and exchanged it with Gianluca and then he walks away, and the performance goes on. He is really hands on. He always knows what’s going on and what needs to be done! He has a very precise quick mind!
Look at him on stage!
Ignazio is the ultimate entertainer. He is the production. His presence is there in every aspect of the production. He is a prolific entertainer! He sees music! He feels music! He breathes music! Follow him around the stage. The little gestures aren’t just for our entertainment they are real movements within each song. Ignazio is the means by which the production moves on. We know these guys have amazing voices but, what if they got on the stage and for two hours, they did nothing but sing. I don’t think it would work. A performance needs the ability to move on. There’s no change of scenery and no intermission so how do you move the performance along? Ignazio! The joking he brings into the performance provides the levity to relive the seriousness of the performance. He brings a certain ease and suspense to the performance. The audience is always wondering, what will he do next?
Let me tell you what you are looking at. Ignazio is following every note that is sung or played on that stage. His mind is in motion. He is sensitive and passionate with music. He has the ability to see the music as it is happening. He knows where every instrument should come in and out. That’s why you notice little things like him smiling, nodding, pointing towards the musicians, Gianluca or Piero.
You call Ignazio funny I call him brilliant! I’ve said this before, but I will say it again! I am making a prediction here! Ignazio will compose a great opera one day. And probably write the libretto! Remember I said that Ignazio!
But we also know Ignazio loves plays. So, there could be a great production, a Broadway play in his future. They say, “Nothing is impossible with God.” I will say “God had a great plan here and maybe this is part of it!”
Ignazio proved to us during the pandemic that being in quarantine doesn’t quarantine your mind. No, it opens your mind to different ways of producing! This video showed just how brilliant this man is. He wouldn’t be held back by his circumstances. He felt a need to produce and even though the moment didn’t allow it, he found a way to overcome his confinement and sing out! An absolutely phenomenal performance by Ignazio! And let’s not forget the amazing men who accompanied him. Giampiero Grani, Alessandro Quarta, Bruno Farinelli, Gino de Vita, Pierluigi Mingotti and Andrea Morelli.
Ignazio’s experience and love of the production has led him to take a giant step into his future!
Of the three, Ignazio is the one who has already set his future in motion. I know Piero has a phenomenal plan to become an opera singer and I plan to be there when he sings in his first opera, but Ignazio has already made the first move to pave the way for a future doing the thing he loves most!
At 25 Ignazio started his own production company. Does that surprise you? It doesn’t surprise me. It makes a lot of sense to me. At the beginning of 2020 Ignazio started a production company called, Floki Production and the first person he signed was Nico Arezzo! And the first song he released was Gorilla!
In 2021 Ignazio signed another artist, Giada Luppi. As most of you know Giada is a World Championship Skater. The eighteen-year-old won the Gold Medal in the Junior Category and became the World Champion in Paraguay. Giada sings and skates to her song La Rotta, (The Route) that she and Ignazio wrote together.
I don’t think Ignazio will stop there! Let’s look at Ignazio the lyricist and composer! Who can ever forget Màkari?
When asked about the song, Ignazio explained how he experienced Sicily. He said, “It is a Sicily as told by a twenty-five-year-old who lived Sicily through stories, through images!… It speaks of “a land of sages and a land of fools, made from devils and saints.”
Ignazio invites you to live a new reality through his eyes. He invites us to see a different side of Sicily through his beautiful theme song,Màkari.
This song speaks volumes! Where did the words to this song come from? Ignazio’s heart! There is something very mysterious about the song. Besides the fact that it speaks of a land of sages and fools, it also speaks of truth! The truth as seen through Ignazio’s eyes.
Think about the words of the song! Is Ignazio talking about the writer who leaves his home and returns after a long period of time or the entertainer who travels the world? The similarities in his life and the life of the writer, Saverio, (played by Claudio Gioe) are striking, that’s why he was able to write such an emotional song!
This song is the perfect theme song for the series! I feel like Ignazio wrote the song and then they made the show. His words are very enticing, they pull you into the story. They tell all there is to know and, Ignazio tells us a story, through the imagery of his words!
That’s what’s so amazing about Ignazio. As a composer and lyricist, he can take you to another place, another dimension. I know he will not stop at this song. He will continue to write!
We know there are more Morricone songs to come!
In the industry Ignazio has proven there is no place and no space he can’t occupy! Ignazio is more than just a phenomenal singer! He wears many different hats! Entertainer, Lyricist, Manager, Entrepreneur!”
It takes a certain person to do what Ignazio has done! It starts with a brilliant mind that keeps opening to new and exciting things every day. It takes a person who sees a certain reality in a world that addresses a new beginning every day. But above all it takes a dreamer to reach for the future and achieve it at such a young age. Ignazio is a dreamer! Only a dreamer could achieve what Ignazio has achieved in only 27 years! Ignazio what will you be like at 50? You’ve already done it all. I wish I will live many more years so I can be a witness to all the amazing things you will do!
What makes Ignazio Different? All of the above and all that will come in the future. My dream! I should live long enough to attend the opera he will compose! I’d certainly be opened to going to his first Broadway play! Ignazio never forget, “Nothing is impossible with God!”
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure!
It’s always difficult to decide where to start with Nico. Yes, he’s complicated but, always delightful! Perhaps looking at where Nico came from can give us a better idea of who he is.
Nico (Domenico) Arezzo was born in Ragusa, Sicily on October 2, 1998. You might say he was born and raised on a stage, initially “with drumsticks in his hands” … but soon the need to put one note after another brought him to the guitar. Both of his parents are entertainers. His mother Emanuela Curcio is dancer and a dance teacher, and his father Peppe Arezzo is a pianist and an Orchestra Conductor. Nico also has a younger sister Emma. Once I commented to Peppe, she’s a little Nico! Like Nico, she’s into everything!
But what is it I see in this family that gives me a good feeling? Values, good values! I talk a lot about values because I think it molds beautiful people. When I write about Il Volo or when I write my BOIN stories what do I always go back to, good values. To understand where I’m coming from, let’s take a closer look at the Arezzo family.
When you’re a family of entertainers, it seems someone is always traveling so, whenever everyone has the opportunity to be together, it’s a festival. And what do they celebrate? Everything! Nico explains it in this way.
I’m down, (in Ragusa, his home). It’s Christmas time. We celebrate birthdays when it’s not the right day. We celebrate birthdays when we are together. Tomorrow or maybe the day after tomorrow it’s my turn!
And during his time at home for Christmas 2020, Nico experienced his first earthquake. He said, “Yesterday I felt my first earthquake in history. It was weird, powerful! I’m down! It’s Christmas time and everything is shaking! Happy birthday to everyone.”
“Merry Christmas to everyone. Happy birthday today or yesterday? If it was yesterday sorry for the delay. Happy birthday to you.”
How did Nico get to where he is? Certainly, he got his talent from his mom and dad but how did he get to where he is today?
Nico first came to my attention in 2017 when he won the Festival Show in Verona with the song “Se Vuoi” (If You Want). I happened to be in Italy at the time and I was very taken by his performance at the Festival. Nico can be very engaging and, you can get lost in Nico’s words and actions. Nico said “Se Vuoi” made him move! I say Nico made “Se Vuoi” move! Nico said he was drawn to this song because, “It’s a song that forces the body to move even without wanting. It’s a fresh song that turns on everything that can be turned on … the same freshness that I want to convey now that the music has taken my whole life.” The song is exciting and lively, like Nico! I remember that his voice captured me. He has lots of rhythm and expression. He immediately captured the audience. And I’m sure he captured the attention of at least one of the judges there that night, Michele Torpedine.
And what did Michele have to say about this event, “This is the first moment where we understood.” He certainly did! After the Festival Michele signed Nico and so did Ignazio! Great idea! Great choice!
What makes Nico so good? He’s very talented and the team is amazing! Nico Arezzo, Ignazio Boschetto and Michele Torpedine! Collaboration complete!
Nico is versatile! How about Nico and Ignazio singing a Pino Daniele medley? Anyone who sings a Pino Daniele song, gets a seat in my corner!
Nico along with Ignazio, Davide Marchi and Francesco Landi, wrote and set to music the song “Volo” which Nico sang at the Sanremo Festival Giovani in 2019. In the song there is the desire of the singer to live 360 degrees, with joys, pains, emotions and also a lot of love. But that’s not all, what struck everyone about his performance was his ability to play the guitar, an element that has conquered the public, the judges and the critics. He can make that guitar Scream!
In January 2020, Ignazio started Floki Productions. Nico was the first artist to sign a contract with Ignazio under Floki. This made lots of sense to me. In many ways Nico reminds me of Ignazio. He knows what he wants and he goes after it.
And, in the mist of the pandemic, Ignazio did a LIVE on Instagram to present the first release by Floki. Gorilla!
In “Gorilla”, Nico comes alive! He is the Gorilla in the jungle! He has the feeling and the expression for this song. He’s bouncing all over the stage. He’s definitely got the moves! It’s so catchy! And people love it!
Following the release of Gorilla, Nico did an interview with Nico Donvito, an Italian Music Blogger. In this interview, I saw another side of Nico. We hear this young man talk about his music. His place in the music industry. How he got there and all the people who are responsible for his journey.
I heard a, very, intelligent and, responsible young man who has worked hard to get to where he is. He talks about, who he is, where he came from and how he sees his future.
Right out the gate, Nico impressed me with his insight. Nico saw “Gorilla” as a means of escape from where we are in our world today and an expression of where he finds himself in the world. Nico said, “ ‘Gorilla’ has a fresh taste, because in the last few months we have been a bit obliged to heavy thoughts, to stop and reflect on important things, to close ourselves in ourselves. At a certain point the moment comes when you need a beer on the beach with your friends, ‘Gorilla’ is just that, something not at all thick which and, in certain situations, can be essential.”
That’s pretty deep and right on. It was almost as if Nico was saying I wrote this song two years ago, but this was its moment. It’s when it was needed. To say that the ‘Gorilla’ is that moment in time when you need to kick back or as Nico put it when you need a beer on the beach with your friends, yes, that’s exactly what “Gorilla” is. Its’ light and intriguing and it brought us away from all the madness that preceded it. Perhaps, the sign that Ignazio made the day that “Gorilla” was released, that seemed to upset so many people, was nothing more that Ignazio saying: Let’s take the weight of the world and toss it aside. You had your way and now, we’re going to have ours!
One of the things I love about Nico is he is always looking for ways to entertain us! In February, he decided to travel around Bologna with some friends and a mattress. They sat around on the mattress and greeted people as they went by! Nico said, “I don’t wanna be romantic but every now and then there are certain tangles you hardly imagined. You know those blurry photos that are beautiful just because they’re blurry! Those people you don’t know but who greet you, and you greet them, and then you talk to them! Today I text a friend of mine, Do you have a rope? I need it to tie a mattress to the top of my car.’ He reminded me that I don’t have a car. True, I don’t have a car, so I don’t have a roof!” And that’s Nico’s humor which grabs us and keeps us laughing!
And where is Nico now? In his words, “There are days that if I focus, Traffic Lights go green when I want.”
Nico’s new song, “Polline (pollen)” has been released. Nico says, ‘I wrote almost all of my song in this notebook. ‘Polline’ was born a year ago. This summer this notebook fell into the sea, dried in the sun and ‘Polline’ remains legible.”
In a review a writer said: This is a “new piece in the path of the artist produced by Ignazio Boschetto. Nico Arezzo’s ‘Polline’ is the single that marks the return of one of the most talented songwriters of the new generation already the winner of the Festival Show a few years ago.” I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Nico tell us, “This song has been ready for at least a year, in the meantime I have written many other things, I have explored a new musical genre that you will listen to soon and I am evolving but, this piece, I absolutely did not want to abandon it because I am very attached to it.
‘Polline’ is a song to which I am very attached, especially, literally. It’s a piece that comes almost as a challenge. They said to me, ‘Can you talk about a relationship that’s over but, looking back, you can say ‘but it was beautiful’? And so, even though there may be a small void hidden between the lines of the song, thinking that I haven’t lived through that story would make me sadder.”
And how did Nico preview this new song on Instagram? Honey jars! Nico said, “I’m releasing a new track this month. Every day I will add a jar of honey in my fridge with a letter on it, not in order. I start today! Go into my stories, write in the comments the first word you think of. Try not to guess right away or you will ruin everything for me! Every day a jar a letter! Oddly, though my Italian is very limited, I guessed what it was!
What is the song about? The answer is in one line of the song! “They say you can understand a person from what you find in his fridge.” Let’s go to Nico’s fridge and see what he’s really all about!
(Floki Productionby Ignazio BoschettoandMichele Torpedine.Pollinewas produced atTake Away Studios in Modena.)
Another amazing video! It makes me smile! It makes me laugh! It makes me happy! Nico, everything you do excites me! From day one I knew you would bring a fresh approach to the music industry and I was right. You have such energy and, all your projects are ambitious like you. Your videos present the real you!
Yes, you’re Complicated but, your delivery is always Delightful!
What I liked about Nico from the first time I saw him was his energy! The way he draws in his audience. He says, “he chooses songs that make him move.” I say, he makes the songs move. Nico first came to my attention when he won the 2017 Festival Show in Verona. Afterwards I started to follow him never knowing that his path would cross with Ignazio’s. Ignazio what did you see in this young man? Probably what I saw. A fresh approach. A freedom of expression that goes deep and is apparent in the songs he writes. Nico writes much of his own music and what he writes is really about who he is.
In a recent interview with Nico Donvito, an Italian Music Blogger, I saw another side of Nico. This is the side, in my opinion, that resembles Ignazio. We hear this young man talk about his music. His place in the music industry. How he got there and all the people who are responsible for his journey.
I heard a, very, intelligent and, responsible young man who has worked hard to get to where he is. He talks about, who he is, where he came from and how he sees his future.
Right out the gate, Nico impressed me with his insight. Nico sees Gorilla as a means of escape from where we are in our world today and an expression of where he finds himself in the world. Nico says, “Gorilla has a fresh taste, because in the last few months we have been a bit obliged to heavy thoughts, to stop and reflect on important things, to close ourselves in ourselves. At a certain point the moment comes when you need a beer on the beach with your friends, ‘Gorilla’ is just that, something not at all thick which and, in certain situations, can be essential.”
That’s pretty deep and right on. It was almost as if he was saying I wrote this song two years ago, but this was its’ moment. Its’ when it was needed. To say that the Gorilla is that moment in time when you need to kick back or as Nico put it when you need a beer on the beach with your friends, yes, that’s exactly what Gorilla is. Its’ light and intriguing and it brought us away from all the madness that preceded it. Perhaps, that’s what Ignazio was saying the day Gorilla was released. Let’s take the weight of the world and toss it aside. You had your way and now, we’re going to have ours!
Nico said he had Gorilla “in the drawer for a few years, in some ways it had become something unheard of for me, even if I understood the potential of the recording. So , I decided to rewrite the verses, to work again on the musical aspect, to represent in some way my growth. In addition, the team that work ed with me has changed . The head of everything Ignazio and the great boss Michele are two people that I will never stop thanking for they believed in something, then took that something from nothing to something so beautiful. Something wonderful to invest in, something that is not yet, is not for everyone, they took it and had the courage to go with it. This is the way we have known since November. We are side by side where we breathe when the boys are just a bomb and you can fell joy.”
When asked how he perceived Gorilla Nico said, “when they ask me what genre, the only word I can come up with is ‘Groove’ because it represents a constant in my music. ‘Ignorance’ because I consider it the most appropriate term, even if the most elegant one could be light-heartedness, but if we want to bring it among people to the language of children, we can speak of good and healthy ignorance. ‘Mustard,’ finally, because it is not clear if you like it or not, if it is spicy or not, if you go to analyze a few sentences of the piece there is also a pinch of political criticism, deliberately proposed in a subtle and veiled way”.
Gorilla is indeed a statement. Nico sees all the worth of it. He realizes where it needs to go and who it needs to touch. In reworking the song, he has opened a door to who he is. He is the groove, the spice and the mustard all rolled into one. The good and healthy ignorance is the selling point of the song. It appeals to children because they understand the language of the Gorilla and they look for him.
Nico was asked if he has achieved a specific artistic identity or, is he simply looking for it?
Nico explains, “it is certainly better than before and it will always be like this, a crescendo. Initially I had difficulties, because you need to find your own pen, otherwise you will remain an interpreter basing everything on your stamp. Today I think I have reached a good textual point, I can still improve on a musical and melodic level, some nuances can be added to make it even more personal. ”Gorilla” is a piece written more than two years ago, a mix between what has been and what is now, the next songs will be part of the next phase, I hope people will notice this growth, because originality is the most important element for an artist.”
What an amazing insight. Listen to how Ignazio summed up Nico in an article from Quotiano.net. “This is the moment Nico has been waiting for, for two and a half years. We could have anticipated the times, but I think we did the right thing to wait. Nico needed to grow calmly in writing. And he’s doing it very well.”
When asked about going to Sanremo again, Nico gives us a look into the future. ”I am working on many new things, little is known about me, there has been ‘Volo’ and ‘Gorilla’ but I have even more personal songs in store. The thing that fascinates me most about the pieces I’ve written, in these years, is that they highlight my character, they tell me in detail. A strange place is certainly to be expected, where there are, particular thoughts, all accompanied by the ‘groove’ that characterizes me. Regarding Sanremo Giovani, I confess that I have a song that I like so much, but that I don’t yet consider perfect. Surely in the future there will be a third test, I can’t tell you if it will be this year, next year or the other, but it is an experience that I would like to repeat with the right piece.”
In a recent article I wrote, I stated, “Nico has a lot of passion when he writes. His songs go deep and, they leave you with a lasting impression! You can feel the depth of who Nico is. So young and so wise. It’s no wonder that Ignazio noticed him. He’s all feeling. He can be crazy, calm and tenacious all at the same time! He can be so funny and so serious in a split second!”
One of the songs Nico has in store for us is “Passanti.” On the night Gorilla was released, Nico gave us a preview of some of his upcoming songs. Listen to my words about the night Gorilla was released.” I hope you noticed that little gem that was slipped in there, Passanti.” Coming soon!
How does Nico see his future? “It seems trivial,” Nico says, “but I would like my music to reach everyone. I don’t care who listens to it, the important thing is that anyone who wants to do it will take care of it, enter my head and don’t make too much mess.”
And that sums it and Nico up!
Credit to owners of all photos and video.
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