From an early ages I was hitting my mum’s pot and pans while listening to my dad’s record collection. Those years developed not only my passion for cooking, but also a liking for 70’s progressive rock music. But, more importantly, it helped me understanding my deep connection with time, groove and percussive instruments.
Those pots and pans became drum kits, I got lessons, had to do hours and hours of practise, and now I am lucky enough to have honed my skills to be able to make a living as a working musician.
I’ve constantly strived to be curious as well as creative, and always been eager to reach out of my comfort zone to challenge myself and grow as a musician and consequently as a human being. This constant drive has brought me into contact with top musicians and meant I’ve been lucky enough to have played a variety of styles, from classical to jazz, folk to fun, rock to reggae, to name but a few.
I have had the honour of playing alongside musicians such as T.M. Stevens (Miles Davis, James Brown, Steve Vai), Nathaniel Peterson (Iggy Pop, Eric Clapton, Howlin’ Wolf, Keith Richards), top Italian session guitarist Andrea Braido (Marcus Miller, Vasco Rossi), Winston Delandro (Bob Marley, UB40), Roberto Manzin (James Brown, Donna Summer, Zucchero) and working with prestigious companies such as the Theo Adams Company.
Then, there is my live performances. I have played in bands that have opened for Guns n’Roses, Def Leppard, Motorhead, Biffy Clyro, KoRn, UK Subs, Wand and Rainbow, to name a few. I have written arrangements with Audrey Riley (Muse, Foo Fighters, The Smashing Pumpkins, Nick Cave) and Maurizio Malagnini (BBC, Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra and Italian television station, RAI). I won the ‘Best Drummer’ award at the Emergenza National Finals (2004) and in 2015 I got my honours degree in Popular Music Performance from the University of East London.
But, I don’t only play drums – I repair them. I have developed a passion for the technical side of how percussive instruments are constructed and manufactured. This culminated in my first setting up a small workshop in my native Italy, and now another my hometown of London. I service and repair cymbals, drums, hardware and other percussion instruments. I have also given master classes on drum construction at London’s Institute of Contemporary Music Performance.