BERNANDO LANZETTI – An Italian Prog Legend!
4 min read
- Why did you leave the Acqua Fragile band?
After the release of “Mass Media Stars” I had great hopes for Acqua Fragile so when, in the fall of 1974, PFM proposed me to became their lead singer, I told them I needed a few days to think about. They were offended and thinking I was being rude, started looking around for another vocalist. They contacted singer/songwriter and Rockʼn Roll guitarist Ivan Graziani and worked for about six months with him around the tracks for the Chocolate Kings album. In the meantime, Maurizio Mori, key man for A F quit and Joe Vescovi (RIP), from the band Trip, joined in. He was a good musician but I had him around my apartment and we didnʼt get along too well. Famous Seymour Stein (The Pretenders, The Ramones and, later, Madonna) flew in from the US to see the band live and was very impressed but the Italian Record Company didnʼt even bother to reply to his faxes… So A F had no recording future and no gigs in their agenda. Three days before going into the studio, PFM dropped Ivan and asked me again to join in. This time, it was more natural to say yes. (Ivan Graziani (RIP) started a solo career as a successful singer/song writer and Maurizio Mori attended the Music Conservatorio to take a degree in Composition). - What do you remember from your days at the Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM)?
For more than two years it was great to travel around the world and perform in front of different people so interested in our music. After the last American tour, the majority of the Band decided to go back to Italy and even their attitude did change putting on the side Prog and Experiments in favour of a more soft music in Italian. - How easy or difficult was it to sing the English lyrics of the album “Chocolate Kings” in front of an Italian audience?
No sweat at all! Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant and other bands were first big in Italy than in their own country so Prog Rock (at the time it was called “Pop”) in English was always welcomed. On my side, I was very used to sing in English as there was no other references, at the time. - How did the Italian language affect the scene of the Italian Progressive Rock?
Words in the Italian language are usually longer than those in English. More syllables to take care of and also very few words have a final accent where, the Brits and the Americans have plenty of monosyllables to move around and easily match a given melody. So, a few Italian Bands, like PFM before having me up front, were doing a lot of instrumentals or would try to write lines with less accents and power. - What are your musical influences as a musician?
I went through the whole thing. First singing in Latin when attending church (not a trained choir, just kids freely shouting), then my older brother would bring home records by Elvis Presley or Neil Sedaka. Ray Charles, another Maestro, and then The Beatles, The Sones, Woodstock, CS N & Y, Led Zeppelin and everyone else up to King Crimson that started a new era. I know a lot of people say I took from Roger Chapman and Peter Gabriel but I also studied Van Morrison, John Fogherty, Gary Brooker and even Bob Dylan! Actually, I have quite a powerful voice and in the last fifteen years my range has expanded up to more than 3 octaves. - You have a new album called “Horizontal Rain”, would you like to describe it?
Aloud me to proudly quote two lines off Lee Henderson recent review on www.bigbeautifulnoise.com: “A parade of colors, textures, and styles all woven into a creation that if it were to be Lanzetti’s last (it is forbidden), surely could be mounted on a wall of superior achievement for the prolific artist. - What do you remember from the video shooting for the video for “Heck Jack”?
It was a lot of fun to shoot Heck Jack. Keep in mind we still were under a sort of soft lockdown so it was not possible to work with a band or dancers or actors. I was lucky to become good friend with my landlord in Sicily where my wife and I were spending our winter days. His family owns an ancient villa and some of the rooms are furnished with objects brought in from all over the world by his ancestors traveling by. My producer was worried about the action happening mostly indoor but the results are outstanding. The horn section was filmed in Milan and guitarist Andrea Cervetto turned in a self made shooting… - Who are the other musicians that participate on the album?
Please, check out all the 19 names in the album credits. - You have more than 120 songs already published to your credit, do you have any plans to re-issue your older album releases?
At the moment, “I Sing The Voice Impossible” has been digitally re-released while “Acqua Fragile” and “Mass Media Stars” came out in vinyl too. - What are your next music plans?
Iʼve been asked to work with a Japanese contralto, Iʼve almost finished writing Acqua Fragileʼs new album, still to be recorded, and I wish to perform “Horizontal Rain” live!
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