LIFE
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LIBERTAS LIFE journeys to Rome, to meet with Luca D'Alberto, composer and multi-instrumental musician.
LIFE
Luca D'Alberto
Up close with Luca D'Alberto
LIBERTAS LIFE journeys to Rome. To meet with Luca D'Alberto, composer and multi-instrumental musician.
Libertas Life first learned about Luca D’Alberto, a rising talent, having heard one of his emotive songs – Wait for Me - from his debut album ENDLESS.
To meet with Luca in Rome is special and inspiring. Rome, the city itself, is an open-air museum. Incredible architecture and historical art forms surround the many lively piazzas, including the ancient Colloseum amphitheater, dating from AD 70.
Following a delicious lunch in one of Luca’s locals, he leads us to his intimate Rome studio and introduces us to seven violins hanging on a wall, each with it’s with own shape and character. In the corner is a large piano. Next to it is a table filled with various tech instruments and a large computer. A few wooden chairs and one old stool are spread around. This is where Luca’s music comes to life.
LIBERTAS LIFE: Share a little about yourself.
LUCA: I was born in Abruzzo in a small mountain village by the sea, surrounded by nature and the sounds of village life. Raised in a multi-generational home with my grandparents and parents gave me a strong sense of family. And I can say, gave me the strength to find my path and to strike out on my own. My mother is a violinist and musician. My sister too. My father, more traditional, a banker.
As a kid I loved football, still do. I played with friends on the street. The senses of my surroundings, playing football by the sea is what I remember. It gave me a feeling of melancholy, also intensity when dribbling the ball or creating a great pass or goal. So, I guess this somehow formed part of my music style and expression. Again, the melancholy, the quietness with the intensity.
LIBERTAS LIFE: What if you didn't become a composer, musician?
LUCA: Easy, I'd put my energy to playing football… likely not! But anything to create, express myself.
LIBERTAS LIFE: When did you know you would be a musician?
LUCA: There wasn’t a moment. I started playing piano when I was five years old. Both my mother and sister played the piano, so our house was flooded with notes. The music room had no doors so the notes would expand through the floors and stairs, invading the house. It’s clear the memory of my sister getting ready for school listening to AC/DC, U2, Metallica, Bjork and more. So, in parallel to my music studies, I was fascinated by other genres.
I would play the carillon every day, a really old and valuable instrument. My mother feared I would break it, so she would place it high up out of my reach. But somehow, I always found my way to get to the carillon and played whatever flowed from me. My mother wondered where the notes came from. I have no idea, but I’d place my fingers on the wooden keys and simply begin to play. A flow of sounds and feelings, a sense of joy and freedom. I guess this is when I intuited about being a creator, a composer, without of course knowing what a composer was.
LIBERTAS LIFE: Talk about these violins and instruments hanging on the wall.
LUCA: Ahh, every one of them has their own personality. Those seven great instruments, I use to create my layers. There is “The Queen” a viola with a strong sound and more for modern music; there is another viola that I call, “The Slave” and her attitude is more gentle with a delicate sound. The Queen, she has incredible pianissimo and mezzoforte.
My sources of inspiration are not sounds, rather images and feelings. Music is the art, the expression.
There is another great instrument that I would like to mention: it is the Violectra 6 strings and I call her, “The Rebel” and she is really a multicolour instrument; she can be sweet and lovely or go in a futuristic sound, it depends what I am looking for.
LIBERTAS LIFE: Tell us a little bit about how you approach your work, your music?
LUCA: Being here in the studio is like a magic box for me. It is my place. I can lock myself in these four walls and try and create the most beauty that I’m capable. I play and record all the instruments myself. Not only compose, but play and record everything. I create sound pyramids in which musical themes chase the other.
LIBERTAS LIFE: Sound pyramids?
LUCA: Yeah, basically a pyramid of sounds. Music emerges, soft and bold, chasing the other. Calm, then maybe energy; an interweaving dance of violin and piano, rhythms that seem to emerge from nowhere to create intriguing layers. Together they combine to form something emotively powerful. I need to stay by myself, with my instruments, microphones and my computer and I try and form various series of sound pyramids depending on what inspires me. An atmosphere and world of music is created. A song ... then a series of songs.
My sources of inspiration are not sounds, rather images and feelings. Music is the art, the expression.
LIBERTAS LIFE: Italy is really important to you.
LUCA: Oh, yes. I’m deeply connected with my Italian roots.
To know that my music, my art, is mine, enjoyed in Italy and also shared in many parts of the world – it is amazing. To be able to share something from my soul, my creation of notes is beautiful. For others to find and have a need to be in my sound and find their story within my music whether about a person, place, time or feeling; it’s really incredible for me. I often say, music is to be heard, not only with the ears.
LIBERTAS LIFE: You were a member of the mainstream classic scene but decided to leave and strike out on your own. Is that right?
LUCA: Oh yeah, but against my mother’s wishes. She wasn’t happy. I was really involved in the traditional classical world, on a set career path. Yet something was missing. I wanted to not only perform. I needed to create, compose my own music like when I was a kid. A deep need to be me and express. There’s one thing being a performer, which is great, but it is someone else’s work. There’s another creating my own work. Going through all the steps of writing, trying, failing and then - Ammazza! - a melody, notes, a song.
When I was thirteen years old, my best friend had a simple audio device at his home to record music. I would visit his house to record my creations. I’d bring a very punk microphone. Nothing grand but it worked. Looking back, it was play time. My first creation I think was with electric guitar and strings. Purely instrumental. A beautiful memory. Maybe the answer was already there, to not only be a performer, but a composer, to be myself in my notes.
I needed to be authentic, in my own space, immerse myself.
LIBERTAS LIFE: Well, you decided well - your music is highly emotive.
LUCA: In a way I don’t have a choice. It is the music I have inside. There is no method. It is my inner voice, which has some gifts but also limits.
LIBERTAS LIFE: You’ve been working on and completed your second studio album, EXILE. Talk a little about this experience.
LUCA: I learned a lot about myself during this process. I isolated myself during the development and writing stage. I wanted to free my emotions and somehow transform them into music. It is something that few people do. A typical song or album is created with arrangers, performers and producers. For me, instead the individual and personal creation of an idea, followed by its’ implementation and the recording is key. Both in EXILE and my first album ENDLESS, the producer is more an external eyes and ears that helps with choices, but I think that the work of the producer never has to be more compared to the Artist. In my world the entire composition, the performance and touches, needs to be mine.
LIBERTAS LIFE: Why the album title - Exile?
LUCA: The title of the album reflected my desire at the time to be fully present in my music. I needed to be authentic, in my own space, immerse myself. I basically exiled myself. And happy that I did. This led to the title. I was away from everything and everyone and in the moment.
It was a creative path of discovery and important time in my life. I realized that I hadn’t done that enough, simply being alone, reconnecting with myself. If I could compose music that allowed others to immerse themselves into my music, then I’d be happy.
I worked a lot, repeat, - and repeat - long days. Layers and series of compositions, mixing quiet with power, melodies and crescendos, passages and sound pyramids of violin and piano, all interwoven rhythms. Like long dances combining to create cinematic, melancholic sounds. With EXILE, the music has two strands. A sweetness, of a person who is close to you and only just grazes your skin without really touching you. The other music strand is more aggressive, bold, translating into an urgency, running composition.
I am proud of this time and of course the result.
LIBERTAS LIFE: Obviously many people enjoyed the result too. This led to you signing a contract with Universal Music.
LUCA: Yeah, a big step. Pretty cool.
LIBERTAS LIFE: You’re amongst some talented names; The Beatles, Drake, U2, many others. Also, fellow Italian, Andrea Bocelli. So, what is next for you?
LUCA: Yeah, I feel pretty fortunate. Everything I do, I want to push myself, I want to stretch. The imaginations of the people who inspire me and invite me to create. I have many interests. I’ve done some music scores for films and enjoyed this very much.
LIBERTAS LIFE: And with Universal?
LUCA: They are amazing. I'm preparing my next solo album, an ambitious project and I’m looking forward to share this soon.
For now, I’m in the midst of another album with a great frontman, Tom Smith of British rock band, Editors. He is an incredible vocalist, artist and a great collaborator.
LIBERTAS LIFE: Luca, what about playing something now?
Luca smiles, slides onto the small wooden stool and takes the viola next to him, the Queen. In only moments … music flows. Luca then moves to a large piano and the keyboards come to life. When Luca says that music is not only heard with ears, so true.
LUCA: One thing I need to do some day, is ride a horse with you.
LIBERTAS LIFE: You're on.
You can learn more about Luca D'Alberto at:
https://luca-dalberto.com
