French-Italian singer, songwriter and music producer Giordana Angi made her debut as a “Newcomer” at the 2012 Sanremo Music Festival with the song “Incognita poesia”. In 2019, she won second place in the 18th season of the Italian talent show “Amici di Maria De Filippi”, which also brought her her first record deal with Universal Music Italia, through which she released two studio albums and several singles, including “Casa” and “Come mia madre”, with which she competed once again at the 2020 Sanremo Music Festival.
As a songwriter and lyricist she has written songs for great Italian artists such as Nina Zilli, Tiziano Ferro, Alessandra Amoroso and Alberto Urso but she has also collaborated with international artists such as Shaggy, Pascal Obispo and clearly Sting. Their collaboration was not limited only in songwriting and recording but it’s going to be expanded also on stage as this year, Giordana is going to be the performer who Sting chose as the opening act for his forthcoming tour concerts.
On the occasion of the two scheduled concerts of this tour at the historic Odeon of Herodes of Atticus, on July 5th and 6th, the imminent release of her first international album and her bright smile, we spoke with Giordana Angi and we present her to you through the exclusive interview she gave to SounDarts.gr.
Hello Giordana and welcome to SounDarts.gr. So starting off, what are your current activities?
For now, I’m getting ready for my tour in summer. I will be opening for Sting. That’s why I’m coming in Greece, and I feel so lucky. At the same time, I’m preparing my new album, and that’s so inspiring.
Recently, you released the brand new song “Take Us Home”. What inspired you to write it and what’s the story behind the song?
My manager and producer, Martin Kherseman, sent me a draft, and there was no chorus in it. It was such an instinct for me to write a melody, and it came out like that. So it was very, very easy. It’s very inspiring to work with him, and it’s such a great song to sing and to perform, so I can’t wait to perform it live.
As you mentioned, you are coming in Athens this summer as a special guest at Sting’s concert at the historical Odeon of Herodus Atticus. How do you feel about that?
I feel so excited. It’s an honor for me and Sting. We get to sing in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I love Greek history. I love Atene. It’s such an emotion for me. In addition, you know, Sting is a maestro not only as a musician, but he’s a maestro as a human being because, he’s a wonderful person. Everything he does, he does it gentle and it’s so inspiring to be around him. I think I will learn a lot, so I can’t wait.
What is it like to work with such a great artist?
When I play with him, when I’m in the same room with him making music, I feel like home, because that’s what he does when he makes music, he makes you feel at home, and that’s the kind of magic. So, I think that’s the explication. To me, it’s like that.
How did this collaboration occur in the first place? How did you end up collaborating?
It’s very easy to explain this because I wrote some lyrics for him. I translated some lyrics in Italian his song “For Her Love”. Also we have the same manager, Martin. So he sent it to him and he loved it. Then we met and he wanted to sing it. That’s how everything started. Now we work together and make music together, and I feel really blessed.
You have already collaborated with a lot of artists from many different genres like Shaggy, Pascal Obispo and Italian stars like Nina Zilli, Tiziano Ferro, Alessandra Amoroso etc. Which is the collaboration that you remember more vividly and why?
I have to say that every collaboration, to me, is enriching but, I think the first one, was so special. It was with Tiziano Ferro. I wrote music for him and then we wrote together a lot of songs. I will never forget this because it was at the beginning of my career. It helps a lot to write for such big artists, and I’m always grateful to him. He’s kind of an angel in my life. So, yes, I think that’s the most important collaboration that I had.
Among the songs of your discography which is the one that stands out for you the most and why?
It’s very hard for a songwriter to pick a song. It’s like having a lot of babies, and you have to choose the best one, but at the end they are all your babies, so it’s always hard to just pick one. I think there is a special one, and it’s “Casa”. It was my first success in Italy, and it means a lot to me because in my life, I’ve traveled a lot, even when I was a child. “Casa” means “home”. It’s a very special concept to me, and I think that in some kind of way, the audience felt that it was real. I’m always telling real stories. That’s what I’m always trying to do, by the way. I think that this song is special because it connected me with the audience.
It’s been 1.5 years since the release of your third, full-length album, “Questa fragile bellezza”, which we loved. How do you recall the whole process, the writing and the recording?
It’s a special album to me because, I don’t know, I felt I was growing and that I was becoming a woman. That album is very important to me. I had so much fun making it, but I also tried to go very deep inside of me, trying to put out my deepest feelings. We recorded it all summer long, and it was so hot. I remember in Rome, it was, like, crazy. All the songs in this album are about freedom, love and also broken hearts, so it was very tough for me to sing it, but I really enjoyed writing and composing with all the other artists with whom I collaborated. That’s why I love this album and I’m glad that you like it, really. It was so brilliant and it was the album that affected me emotionally the most.
Also, the creation of the record coincided with the pandemic and lockdown. How did this whole situation affect you creatively?
In a way, yes, I think it affected the process of its creation because it was a very hard moment for everybody, so I felt it too. I was lucky because I was doing a TV show then, so I could go out because of it. That was very important to me because it felt like I could breathe. At the same time, I felt bad for everyone, even for my family, because they couldn’t go out like I could. It was tough but I was trying to entertain everybody, I was trying to play music and I was trying to call everybody. So, yes, I think that affected the album, but I think in a good way, because I had the time to think but also I could stop, take my time and think. It was a good thing in a bad way.
It is said that the hardest thing is for someone to talk about themselves. But going down to your deepest feelings, who is Giordana?
I’m a simple person. I care about love! I care about loving my family and being loved by my family, my friends, my dog, my plants, my music. I’m a very easy person. I love hanging out with my beloved ones. I love cooking. I love making music. I love spending time in nature, playing soccer. I think it’s very easy for someone to be around me because I love having fun.
Recently, you recorded your debut multi-lingual, international album with Martin Kierszenbaum. Can you reveal more details about it? What should we expect from this?
Martin is really a great songwriter and a great producer. It’s very inspiring to work with him because he has a lot of energy and he’s very fun. It’s very easy to write with him. We had that crazy idea to make this EP in four languages. There were songs in Spanish, Italian, French and English. So it was so hard because every song had to be adapted in the language and I had to perform it perfectly. It was like, rec-stop, rec-stop and then all over again. That was the hard part but I’m so proud for the result. I don’t want to reveal too much about the album but I can tell you that it will come out very soon. I hope we’re going to have another discussion about it. I think it’s going to be great. It’s going to be me and it’s going to be fun. I can’t wait to play it for you, of course, with all my heart and have some opinions. That would be an honor.
That would be an honor for us too. We really can’t wait!
Thank you!
So what are your future professional plans, apart from the release of your new album?
I’m trying to focus really hard on that and on the tour with Sting because it’s hard to perform next to him. He’s one of the greatest musicians ever, so I really feel the pressure. It’s also fun because I’m going to play a lot of instruments and I’m going to have fun on stage. I’m really focused on that because I want to be as perfect as possible. I’m trying to work as a musician and as a singer, and I want to give my best. I’m really working very hard every day to make the best set that I can and finding music, some different issues. That’s my goal for now. Also I’m very focused on my new album. I think next year I will go to the US because every time I’m there, I feel something is happening. I think I’m going to spend more time there. That’s all I know for the moment.
What’s your motto in life?
Interview: Theodore Kolliopoulos
