AS A MUSICIAN/COMPOSER
-1979
His passion for songwriting began. His love of music began at the age of 5, when he heard his older brother playing Battisti. He tried in vain to become a musician, starting by playing the saxophone in the wardrobe (he was a nuisance at home), then the piano and the guitar – which he still plays terribly today. From 1979 to the present day, he has written around 150 songs; unfortunately, however, passion has nothing to do with talent, so he decided not to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter and keeps them to himself and a few others. His songs about women have enjoyed a certain success; rather than listening to them, the women just give it to him straight away.
1983–89
He began his artistic career as a pianist in piano bars, alternating between music, entertainment and prostitution during his evenings’ performances.
1992
He took part in the festival ‘Qui non si canta a modo delle rane’; his track was included on a CD which was released and played on the worst radio stations.
2010
His twelfth album is released: ‘Psychopathologies of Everyday Society’; it’s the DSM set to music – genuine disorders in the form of humorous songs, sung with lyrics that describe the symptoms of the disorder, set to music that reflects the disorder, and featuring my own voice – as, fortunately, I suffer from all these disorders. The aim was to make an album where people could see themselves reflected and learn to take things less seriously and laugh at their own neuroses, because, as Gordon Allport said: ‘The neurotic who learns to laugh at himself may be on the path to self-control, perhaps even to recovery itself.’ (“The neurotic who learns to laugh at himself may be on the path to self-management, perhaps even to a cure.”)
2012
I released my thirteenth album: “Questo piccolo grande pacco”, inspired by an old album by Claudio Baglioni, in which I tried to illustrate the stages of what we often call love, but which is in reality merely the result of projections. For those who have the time – I’ve never had the time to put it online – but I’ve posted snippets of a concert at the Salumeria della Musica featuring my own pieces taken from the 1,300 albums that were never released; in fact, not even the two mentioned above are included 🙂 On my YouTube channel you’ll find all my embarrassing moments
– 2013
Thank goodness I’ve got so much to do. I’m not recording anything.
2014–2020
Having given up on Zelig, he has time to write another 6,000 song fragments, though I reckon it’d be a struggle to string even one of them together
2020–2021
Busy dealing with the Covid emergencies as a healthcare worker, I try to take my mind off things by publishing another book and turning misfortunes into music.
2022
On 15 July, he closes his studio and sets off with his guitar and amp to busk across Europe (spending a fortune), then on to Thailand, Madagascar, Cuba, etc., drawing inspiration from the sounds he hears and gathering material for his future book.
2023–2024
Thanks to Mayor Sala and his ‘Open Stage’ app, he plays in the centre of Milan on Saturdays and Sundays. He eventually sells his house due to respiratory problems caused by smog and ends up in Garlasco, where he opens another music studio and asks the mayor if he can play on Saturdays and Sundays; He hasn’t heard back from him yet, but he’s confident.
2025
For the summer, he buys a camper van and decides to take the DSM in music on tour around towns across Italy, bringing together what he’s always done: psychotherapist, comedian-writer and musician-composer, playing out psychopathologies to show people ‘what it’s like’
2026
He decides to think on a grand scale and, after the summer, prepares to take it (along with the comedy show ‘Was Freud a daft old man?’) to towns and festivals across half the world – arrests permitting. And so the ‘PsychoHumorMusicTour’ is born