Another week has passed, and it’s time to dig deep into the minds of another contemporary composer and piano player. This week I’m having a talk with the Italian composer Andrea Sertori, so let’s begin!
Where are you from? And where do you live?
From Italy and precisely in the beautiful city of Bergamo.
How long have you been playing the piano, and do you play other instruments as well?
I’ve been playing the piano practically forever, I was about 9 years old when I took my first lessons. Later I was lucky enough to study and play synthesizers in depth.
Tell us about how you started playing music.
When I was little, my parents used to take me to see some relatives. In a big hall there was an old piano. And I was very attracted to that austere and mysterious instrument. So I started with little toy keyboards. My father, a great lover of classical music, encouraged me to try the instrument.
How long have you been making piano music?
I’ve always played as a keyboard player in several rock bands. Then 3 years ago I started making music by myself.
Tell us something about that moment you realized you could make songs yourself!
I needed to concretize some ideas that I couldn’t share with my band. So the Mosaic Room experiment was born, my first solo work.
What are your favorite artists in this “piano genre”?
Basically I don’t think I belong to a specific kind of piano. In my productions there will be piano solo pieces but I will also continue to mix piano and electronics. Certainly when I compose solo piano pieces I am inspired by the music of the great romantic pianists.
Is there one song which you play over and over again as soon as you sit down by a piano? Your own or someone else’s?
There’s an intro of an old song I used to play with my band that I need to warm my fingers. It’s a piano intro similar to song Firth of Fifth of Genesis.
What rules (in making music) needs to be broken?
In my opinion there must be no rules in producing music, of course the technique is fundamental, but it must not be an end in itself but used to best express and make concrete what comes from the mind and heart.
How do you record your music?
Today, in the digital age, it’s easier to do it yourself. Also for this reason many musicians can produce a lot. It’s clear that a big studio can add value in terms of quality.
Whats your take on sampled instruments?
In today’s musical context, sampled instruments have become fundamental. The thing I can say is that ideas are more important, even if today a great quality is required and samples can give it without too much effort.
And the questions my oldest son once asked me;
Where do all your songs come from?
In a little drawer in my heart.
Thank you very much for this Andrea!
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