WEBVTT - Andrea Bocelli 0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:05.960 I Heart Radio Presents Inside the Studio, I'm your host, 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:10.479 Joe Levy. This time out, things got a little limo 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:16.000 old school, limo way old school. As I sat down 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.279 with Andrea Bocelli, he told me about his early days 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:22.560 in the piano bars, singing Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder songs, 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:26.160 and also about recording his first album of newly written 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:30.880 songs in fourteen years, which features Ed Sheeran, Dualipa and 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.760 many others, and which was produced by Bob Ezrin, who 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.479 also helped make Kisses, Destroyer and Pink Floyd's The Wall 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:47.720 and many other classics of classic rock. Bocelli has sold 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:51.880 more than eighty million albums worldwide. He sings both pop 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.400 and opera, sometimes not recognizing any difference between the two, 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.440 and always bringing to mind a time and place other 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:02.319 than now. Often that's a pre rock world in which 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:05.800 Broadway show tunes dominated the pop charts, and there's so 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:09.600 much drama in sentiment in Bocelli's music that it's surprising 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.560 it took him fourteen albums in twenty one years to 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.679 get to a collection of songs from the movies twenty 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:20.320 fifteenths Cinema, which contains not one, but two film themes 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:24.000 made hits by Andy Williams, Moon River from Breakfast at 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:29.440 Tiffany's and Where Do I Begin? From Love Story. A 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.800 global artist long before the music industry became focused on 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.560 such things, Bocelli does Where do I Begin? As a 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:40.560 bassanova with lyrics in Italian and then again with lyrics 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:54.080 in Spanish Zila se carlaeare It sometimes seems Bocelli has 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.600 done just about everything except record with Metallica, though I 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:05.760 really wouldn't put that past him. And so I saw 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:08.560 this clip of you on an Italian television show where 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:13.120 you make an entrance on rollerblade the Beatles yesterday. He 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:17.600 has been a joke because it was a very stranger broadcasting. 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.360 They asked me to enter in the studio in the 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.679 most strange way. I tried to say, okay, I come 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.800 with my horse about the studio. It was a little 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:31.400 bit not enough, and uh, I said, okay, I tried 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:35.919 with my roller blade. I know that you ride horseback, 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.560 you ski, I know that you rollerblade. And still when 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:41.480 I saw this, because the host actually bumped into you, 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:46.840 I thought, what's happening here? I was not a good skater, 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:52.240 but he as well, he was not very good. I 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:57.080 think it's better to sing for me. It's best idea. 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:01.520 You had a childhood nickname for your fearlessness in English 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:04.640 translated the earthquake me. Yeah. My mother called me like 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:10.760 this because it was very lively, always in movement, never stopped. 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:16.440 And then I liked the most dangerous things I like 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:20.959 to do. So some of the spirit still survives into adulthood. Then, yes, 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:25.720 a little bit now a little bit less. But I 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:29.320 did many stupid things in my life. I jumped with 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:36.240 a parachutes or horses, and and many things. I was 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:47.000 a little bit crazy. A lot of Bocelli's power comes 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.880 from the bel Canto style of singing, which emphasizes emotion 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:55.839 and expressiveness as much, if not more than technique. Bel 0:03:55.960 --> 0:04:00.480 Canto translation beautiful singing has its roots in It'll close 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.640 to two hundred years ago, so it's not exactly rock 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:06.080 and roll or even pop music as we know it, 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.200 but as I'm about to explain, it's had a crucial 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.320 influence on both going back to a time when opera 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.720 singers were still pop stars in America and continuing right 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.800 up to the last power ballad you heard. Assuming that 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.279 the last power ballad you heard was Aerosmith's I Don't 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.960 Want to Miss a Thing. The story of how Bocelli 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:27.240 rose to fame in the early nineties is an interesting 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:32.440 one that involves at least tangentially Bono. Bocelli was born 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:36.880 in Tuscany in nineteen fifty eight with congenital glaucoma, though 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.680 he didn't lose his sight until age twelve, when he 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.320 was hitting the eye during a soccer game while keeping gold. 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.640 He started playing piano when he was six, won a 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:50.440 singing competition at fourteen, and earned money while studying law 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.400 at the University of Pizza by playing in a piano bar. 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:58.839 But Bocelli was a lawyer for just one year. In 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:03.599 the Italian rock singer Zukaro co wrote a song called 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:07.520 Misserai with Bono, who was in those days wearing those 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.320 wrap around shades and working a persona called the Fly. 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:15.240 During YouTube's Zoo TV tour, Zukaro had the idea of 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:20.640 duetting with the famed Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:23.720 in order to convince Pavarotti to do it, he cut 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:28.919 a demo with an unknown tenor, Andrea Bocelli. When Pavarotti 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.400 heard the demo, he said, why do you need me, 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.400 You already have the right singer, at which point Zukaro 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.960 reportedly responded, if I can't have you, I'd rather burn it, 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:41.599 and threw the tape into a fireplace. There were other 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:45.080 copies of the tape, of course, but that soap opera 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:49.800 worthy flourish worked. Zugaro cut the song with Pavarotti, and 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:52.440 he showed his gratitude to Bocelli by taking him on 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:58.880 tour in where the two duetit on Misserai. The tape 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:02.240 in the fireplace bit is hardly the last too good 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:06.839 to be true detail in this story. Here's another. Zukaro 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:12.120 also co wrote Il mare coma della sera, which Bocelli 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:15.360 sang at the san Remo Festival, the Italian song competition 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:21.720 in Bocelli won the Newcomers prize, but he didn't just 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:25.200 win it, he did so with the highest scores ever 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.279 recorded in that category, and that song became the debut 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:34.080 single and the title track of his first album. The 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.320 following year, he was back at san Remo, where he 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:40.960 introduced Conte Potero, the Bocelli song you Know even if 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:44.680 you know nothing about Andrea Bocelli. That's the one that 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.800 was everywhere for a long while, including in several episodes 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:53.200 of The Sopranos. Sopranos creator David Chase explained at once 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:56.480 this way, if Carmela and her friends were real people 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.520 living in New Jersey, they would have loved that song, 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.479 heard it all the time, and been playing it all 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:06.039 the time. And adding to the ubiquity of that song, 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.040 Bocelli recorded an English version called Time to Say Goodbye 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:13.360 with British singer and actress Sarah Brightman, which became a 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.400 number two hit in the UK and a number one 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.840 in Germany, where it holds the record as the biggest 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:24.440 selling single of all time. An interesting thing about that 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.840 song is the way it partakes of classical music without 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:32.160 being it, and this gets to the heart of Bocelli's appeal. 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:35.880 He has one foot in today and another in the 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:40.280 comfort of tradition. For me, I grew up with a 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:43.760 dad who loved classical music and played opera on Sunday mornings. 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:48.800 So I hear Contempartero as a childhood memory. I don't 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:53.760 actually have. One. Definition of nostalgia is the memory of 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:58.080 things as they never were, and again it's key to 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:03.600 Bocelli's appeal. Here's how David Chase described the significance of 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:07.160 that song and the sopranos. What that song meant for 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:09.960 Carmelo was, I want to be anywhere but here. I 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.400 don't want my life. I want a different life, and 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:16.080 that means nostalgia for the old country. Andrea Bocelli is 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.720 always portrayed in the media as a gentle sweet man. 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:21.360 He's blind, he could never hurt anyone. He's the complete 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:26.560 opposite of Tony Soprano, someone she could mother, nurture and 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.760 who would always say thank you instead of that's what 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.120 we're having for dinner. That captures the way Bocelli's music 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:36.640 can represent a world better, more full of beauty than 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.000 the one we live in. And it gets right to 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:43.120 the emo appeal of Andrea Bocelli, the loving, the longing, 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:46.880 the heartache, the romance, all the fields, all at once, 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:51.160 all the time, which brings us back to the balcanto 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:55.920 tradition and how it channels European operatic emotion into American 0:08:55.960 --> 0:09:00.600 pop music. Probably the clearest example of this is Elvis 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:04.200 Presley's It's an Hour Never. Elvis cut that song in 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:07.720 nineteen sixty after he got out of the army, and 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.760 the song is really just a solo meo with different words. 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.280 A solo meo is a Neapolitan song written in eight 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:20.960 which became a huge hit for the Italian operatic tenor 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:27.200 Enrico Caruso in nineteen sixteen. And It's Now or Never 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:31.079 isn't even the first time somebody put different words to 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.760 a solo meo and turned it into a hit. That 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:37.080 would be Tony Martin, who brought it to number two 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.640 in nineteen nine when it was called There's No Tomorrow, 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.640 And that's actually the version that helped inspire Elvis. So 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.400 the bell canto style in American pop goes in all 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:50.520 sorts of directions. You can hear it every time a 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:52.960 metal band makes a song your mom might like, like 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.280 Motley Cruz Home, Sweet Home, Guns N' Roses, November Rain, 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.240 bon Jovi is living on a prayer, but it also 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:04.199 turns up in unexpected places. Here's Barry White describing its 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:07.800 impact on him as a teenager after he was locked 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:12.520 up for stealing tires in jail. He said, I heard 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:14.760 It's Now or Never by Elvis Presley and it was 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.680 an awakenings like somebody hitting me in the face with 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:20.760 a baseball bat. When I got out, I swore to 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:26.080 myself never again. And thus does bell canto have an 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:32.200 impact on disco. Once you start hearing things this way, 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:35.920 all sorts of connections can begin to open up. Take 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:39.400 the first single from Bocelli's new album, See fall On Me, 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:43.880 a duet with his son Mateo. It starts off as 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:48.280 a slow and stately piano ballad. It's about a higher power, 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:53.079 God loves something from above, and it reminds me just 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.480 a little of Nick Cave talking about some of the 0:10:56.559 --> 0:11:00.760 same things at the same tempo fifteen years ago in 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:05.640 Into My Arms. That's ridiculous, of course, although so is 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.160 the idea of Barry White having his life turned around 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.920 by Elvis Presley's It's an now or never, but certainly 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:14.800 an ever growing list of pop stars has lined up 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:20.920 to record with Andrea Bocelli, Tony Bennett, Selene Dion, Arianna Grande, 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.920 Jennifer Lopez, Nellie for Tado, Nicole Scherzinger and now Josh Grobin, 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:31.560 Ed Shearon and do Alipa. There's a lot going on here, 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.480 Artistic admiration, certainly, and in the case of Josh Grobin 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.719 debt being repaid. Grobin's break came at age seventeen what 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:43.760 he stood in for Bocelli at Grammy rehearsals in singing 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:48.840 the Prayer with Selene Dion, introducing his new duet with Bocelli, 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:52.720 we will meet once again. Grobin called himself a terrified, 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:57.480 pimple face and blissfully naive kid that day, as he 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:00.760 put it on Facebook, he went on to the telecast 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.480 and I went back to history class. But for a 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:06.720 superstar like Ed Shearon, singing with Bocelli is a chance 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:11.640 to open up new territory, both stylistically and globally. Sharon 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:16.000 reworked his song Perfect last November in two new versions, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:20.720 one with Beyonce and another with Bocelli, who we visited 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:25.800 in Tuscany in order to record Perfect Symphony. That song 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:29.079 has been streamed a hundred and fifty two million times 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.240 on YouTube, which, if you're keeping score at home, is 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.760 not quite half the population of the United States, but 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.280 it's pretty close, and it definitely helped make Sharon the 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:44.959 most streamed artist of seventeen. Sharon repaid that favor by 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:48.559 co writing Ammo sultan Otte, his duet with Bocelli on 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:52.360 c Perhaps the most interesting tracks on Sea are to 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:57.199 du alipa duet if Only, and Vertigo featuring Raphael Guilazzi 0:12:57.280 --> 0:13:01.280 on piano. If Only puts the reaching dance pop queen 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:04.800 way in to share ballad territory. I mean, the lyrics 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:09.240 are even about turning back time. As for Goulazzi, like Bocelli, 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:13.240 he's an Italian star who cuts across genres. Vertigo, though, 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:18.560 starts small with just Bocelli's voice and Golazzi's piano, and 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:24.720 then keeps climbing, grand staircase after grand staircase after grand staircase. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:33.640 We're gonna need another staircase. Bocelli and his son Matteo 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:36.520 told me about working with these collaborators and also why 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.679 it took fourteen years to assemble an album of new songs. 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.280 There are definitely times when Bocelli prefers to let the 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:52.040 music do the talking, but here's what he had to say. So, Uh, 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:55.480 Andrea Bocelli, welcome to inside the studio. Thank you very much, 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.760 and we are joined by your son Matteo. Hi. Hey, 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.680 good to have you both here. We have so much 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:04.360 to talk about, so much to cover. See as your 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:08.200 first album of all new songs in fourteen years. Many 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.840 guests on it Ed Sheeran, Dual, Loupa, Josh Grobin as 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:16.600 well as Matteo. How did you ever land this gift 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:21.320 shot from your own son? Well, honestly it has been 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:28.280 the most easy operation, because Matteo said immediately yes, so 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:32.280 it has been very easy. No, Matteo sings, would like 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:35.680 to sing in future. He's a student now at the 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:40.320 conservatory in in Italy. For me it was better to 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:45.240 wait for some more. But we received this beautiful song, 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:50.320 really beautiful song, and for the reason we thought, the 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:54.560 occasion is this, and now we're here and of course 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:58.120 the song is fall on me. Matteo tell me you 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.400 grew up obviously hearing your they're sing When did you 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:03.960 start to take seriously the idea that you might want 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:08.120 to pursue music yourself. Let's say that I am I've 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.280 always been arounded by music in my life, and I 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.040 started to play the piano since I was six years old, 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.320 and I was singing, yeah, since I was a child. 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.880 And so let's say that I studied music since I 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:26.280 was a little boy, and studying singing since three years 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:29.400 because my dad always told me that it's important to 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:33.880 wait the changing of the voice, because otherwise could be 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:38.360 I mean, even dangerous for your vocal cords. And so yeah, 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:42.520 let's say it's since I always, I mean always been 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:47.480 arounded by music and studying singing since three years. You 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.520 started piano at six Andrea, you also started playing piano 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:53.960 around the same age, did you not, Yes, I studied 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:59.080 piano for many years. I stopped at sixteen, and then 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:04.920 I think and again later and I finished just studied 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:09.240 the program. But now there's no time to play. And 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:14.920 unfortunately now I play only just for fun. I was 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:18.200 interested to read you have said that this album is 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:20.640 a return to some of the feelings of you said, 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:23.200 being a young man playing at the piano bar. You 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.000 played at a piano bar when you were younger. Is 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.560 this right? I began to play in the piano bar 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:33.160 when I was eighteen years old. Then I continued during 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.520 the period at the university and I studied and I 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:41.240 played just for fun to stay with my friends the evening. 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:45.640 It has been a really beautiful period for me, these 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.840 piano bar years. You were singing and playing or yes, yes, yes, 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:51.720 piano and voice, and so what kind of songs pop 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:56.640 repertoire in general, Italian pop repertoire and some song of 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:03.720 Frank Sinatra for example, uh Rich arts still wonder all 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:09.040 the classical pop repertore. So this album See was produced 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:12.120 by Bob Ezrin, known for his work with Alice Cooper, Pink, 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.439 Floyd Kiss Louis. You know, how did the two of 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.320 you come to work together? And the idea of Bob 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:23.840 being it comes from my label, but it has been 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:27.320 a very good idea because we we were together very 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.679 very well immediately from from the from the first meeting, 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:36.480 good artistically and also friendly. I know, so I stated, 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.320 piano singing, but I should have to study English and 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:43.040 it's difficult for me to speaking well. The recording, some 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:45.520 of the recording was done at home, at your home studio. 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:48.080 Is that right? Yes, yes, in my house. It's very 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:51.359 important to do this because if you can record at home, 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:55.200 you can decide the best moment to record, when your 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:58.760 voice is in good shape, when you are in the 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:03.000 best atmosphere too to record it. I see, what time 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.600 of day is your voice at its best? It depends 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:09.520 on in general in the evening, uh huh okay, So 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:12.240 then being at home is easier so I wanted to 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:14.640 ask you about the album title See. I had read 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:17.000 that you had said, this is a period we're going 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.240 through right now where we too often say no. Yes 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:22.119 is the word you say, you have your first kiss, 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.000 you agree with somebody, you want to make someone feel good. Correct, 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:29.119 tell me more about this. Everyone was looking for a 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:33.080 good title for this album, and it's difficult to find 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:37.480 a title for an album like this. And Uh, a 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:42.159 day almost my first song called me by phone and 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:46.200 told me, Daddy, I have the name for the album. 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:51.840 You have to call this see And I answered see, perfect, 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:56.320 because it's really the most beautiful word of the world. 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:00.960 Let's talk a little about the songs themselves. Let me 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:03.720 ask you about we will meet again with Josh Grobin, 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:06.800 who co wrote the song. He has called this a 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.919 duet almost twenty years in the making. Going back to 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:14.560 the moment in no I. I know Josh from a 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:18.480 long time. Yeah, somebody told me that he was a 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:22.720 fan of me just before to become famous, and then 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:26.560 we we met each other and now we are friends. 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.199 So when when it's possible to work together, I'm very 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:32.840 happy to do it. And tell me what was the 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:36.159 recording of this song? Like no, I recorded in my house, 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:41.080 so with all the calm possible, the res all is 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:45.320 on the on the record, and of course do you 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:47.280 sing with that cheering on this record. But this is 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:50.199 the second time you've worked with him, the first because 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:55.000 he came to my house for perfect when he decided 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:58.359 to make a duet with me of this beautiful and 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:05.800 famous song. And uh, I remained completely surprised from his personality. 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:11.920 He's a great musician, but he's also a very humble man, 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:17.199 very simple man, and for me it has been a 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:22.320 beautiful surprise and beautiful experience to work with him. Matteo, 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:26.280 your father said that you guys had to maybe explained 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:29.040 to him who at Cheron was or why you were 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:31.680 so excited he was coming to record this song. Yeah, 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:35.439 let's say that before it was planned to do this 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:39.040 duet between my dad and and children, I was already 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:42.400 a big fan of him and I remember the first 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:45.760 time I saw him life in life when he was 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:50.000 opening the concert Taylor Swift Concert in Toronto in Canada. 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:56.159 And since that day I remained very surprised by him 0:20:56.200 --> 0:21:01.520 about him, about his talent, and he was saying, my dad, 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:04.840 such a humble and simple guy. And that's the first 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:08.040 thing that really impressed me at the first moment when 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:10.520 I met him, because when you met him, it seems 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:13.919 that you know him since a while. No, he treats 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:17.800 everybody in the same way, and that I think that's amazing, 0:21:17.960 --> 0:21:22.760 especially when someone got a success so big. No, because 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:26.600 usually people change, and I think what you feel is 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:29.960 that he remained completely the same person. And of course, 0:21:29.960 --> 0:21:32.720 I mean, he's an amazing artist. I love his music 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:36.840 and right now he's my favorite artist. And he co 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:38.920 wrote the song he sings with you on this new 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:42.000 record at I'm going to do a very bad job 0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:48.199 of saying that, I think, Okay, almost okay, not as 0:21:48.200 --> 0:22:13.919 bad as I thought. Okay, okay, So tell me how 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:16.359 this song came together. Did you approach him with the 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:19.680 idea of Colao? He said this song for me and 0:22:20.560 --> 0:22:26.240 I recognized immediately his style, and they said immediately yes, 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:30.040 because the song is very beautiful and a typical at 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:34.080 Shene song. You worked with the dual Upa on if Only, 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:38.719 and this is a really wonderful moment on the record. 0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:57.439 I think so because she has a very beautiful voice, 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:02.840 very expressive, and she understood very very well the song, 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:05.480 so with me, it has been a good idea. I 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:09.680 think unlikely we didn't have the chance to meet her, 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:13.160 but I hope they will be in future future hopes. 0:23:13.160 --> 0:23:15.159 So hope she was not able to come to the 0:23:15.200 --> 0:23:18.480 home studio to record. Okay, yes, well, I mean it 0:23:18.600 --> 0:23:20.919 was very interesting because she is known more for a 0:23:21.000 --> 0:23:25.040 kind of dance pop than this kind of singing. Correct. Yes, 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:33.560 but sometimes the contrasts the difference bring good results. Yes. Absolutely. 0:23:33.840 --> 0:23:40.240 Let me ask you about Vertigo, which features Raphael thank you. 0:23:40.920 --> 0:23:45.119 He's an interesting artist, another Italian performer who works in 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:50.960 very different styles. Yes, his study is completely different from 0:23:51.000 --> 0:23:55.399 my style. But the song was very beautiful and for 0:23:55.440 --> 0:23:58.439 me it has been like a challenge because it has 0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:00.560 been very difficult for me to decide that way to 0:24:00.720 --> 0:24:05.680 perform the song. Finally, I decided to do like Raphael 0:24:05.720 --> 0:24:09.840 did so in his way, I tried to sing more 0:24:10.160 --> 0:24:14.919 like him was possible. I heard his interpretation and I 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:17.720 tried to do the same thing, to sing like him 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:21.960 in his way, and the result is It's really curious 0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:27.080 because the result is another and another one, and of 0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:32.159 course another guest, the Russian soprano I eat a Garlfelina. 0:24:52.280 --> 0:24:54.960 This is another story because in this album, there is 0:24:55.440 --> 0:24:59.879 in this pop album there is a very beautiful piece 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:06.600 that we can't call pop. Is a classical piece? Is 0:25:06.600 --> 0:25:12.159 a prayer? Is an ave maria in Latin language? And uh, 0:25:12.520 --> 0:25:15.480 I think it has been a good idea to call 0:25:15.920 --> 0:25:20.960 Aida Califolina for this, because she's a very beautiful soprano, 0:25:21.520 --> 0:25:25.800 beautiful and good in a state of sense. We pray 0:25:25.840 --> 0:25:30.359 it together. Yes, quite a striking moment. Again, was this 0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:35.320 similar to the dua lupa recording? You worked together in 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:39.280 the same place or you know, we recorded separately, but 0:25:39.440 --> 0:25:42.200 in any case I sang with her at the times. 0:25:42.240 --> 0:25:46.840 For example, we performed together recently in Verona the Arena, 0:25:46.960 --> 0:25:50.280 the biggest theater probably of the world, in a great 0:25:50.320 --> 0:25:54.239 concert and in other occasions also. And do you have 0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:57.560 this right that both your sons are on this record? 0:25:57.640 --> 0:26:02.080 Is that correct? Yes? Amos plays piano. Yeah, Ammos played 0:26:02.080 --> 0:26:05.480 the piano. Yes, and Ma saying and Ma tello, you 0:26:05.720 --> 0:26:09.600 mean to follow your father into music, but Amos is 0:26:09.760 --> 0:26:12.520 a trained musician but does not intend to pursue it 0:26:12.600 --> 0:26:15.159 as a career. My brother, like me, he started to 0:26:15.160 --> 0:26:18.000 play piano since he was very little, so six seven 0:26:18.080 --> 0:26:21.800 years old and he graduated like a year ago. But yes, 0:26:21.920 --> 0:26:26.800 he did this collaboration as well inside the album. But 0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:29.760 I think in the future he would probably take another 0:26:31.000 --> 0:26:34.600 way because he's studying aerospace engineer. He's doing his last year. 0:26:34.680 --> 0:26:37.719 So he did it because he loves music as as 0:26:37.760 --> 0:26:42.720 but probably in the future here pursue another job. Yeah, 0:26:43.680 --> 0:26:46.479 how long ago did you start to work on this record? 0:26:47.240 --> 0:26:52.240 We are looking for songs from fourteen years and now 0:26:52.359 --> 0:26:57.600 finally we hope we found at least twelve beautiful songs. 0:26:58.760 --> 0:27:03.600 Now it's up to the audience. OK. And what do 0:27:03.640 --> 0:27:06.320 you hope that people will feel when they listen to 0:27:06.359 --> 0:27:09.399 this music? I don't know. When I recorded an album. 0:27:09.440 --> 0:27:13.640 I hope to become a good company for many many 0:27:13.640 --> 0:27:17.280 people listening to my music during the day, you know. 0:27:18.160 --> 0:27:23.040 I want to be like a good friend in their house. Yes. Well, 0:27:23.080 --> 0:27:25.240 I've had the record in my apartment and I'm happy 0:27:25.240 --> 0:27:29.720 to have you there. All right, Well, guys, thank you 0:27:29.760 --> 0:27:44.720 so much, thank you, thank you. Inside the Studio is 0:27:44.760 --> 0:27:48.720 an I Heeart Radio original podcast. This episode was written 0:27:48.720 --> 0:27:51.520 and hosted by me Joe Levy. We'd like to give 0:27:51.560 --> 0:27:55.200 a big thanks to Andrea Bocelli and deck A Curve Records. 0:27:55.960 --> 0:27:58.920 You can follow inside the Studio on iHeart Radio, or 0:27:59.000 --> 0:28:06.080 subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, M