Fabio Frizzi - Film Music, from Villaggio to Fulci

A composer and songwriter, as well as the brother of the late TV host Fabrizio Frizzi, who passed away in 2018, Fabio Frizzi has written some of the most iconic soundtracks in Italian music. Among his best-known works is the score for "Fantozzi", and, curiously, one of his tracks from the film "Sette note in nero" was used by Quentin Tarantino in "Kill Bill Vol. 1". His collaboration with director Lucio Fulci established him in the horror genre, to the point that a genuine cult following has grown up around his music in the United States. We met him in Genoa, on the occasion of ProgFest 2024, and this brief chat came out of it.

Hi Fabio, since we're in Genoa I can't help but ask you about your relationship with the city and about the soundtrack for "Fantozzi", the character created by Paolo Villaggio: do you have any particular memories about making that soundtrack?

Unfortunately I've never really spent much time in Genoa, although I did have local friends, and one of my idols was Fabrizio De André, though I never managed to meet him. Back then, in 1974, I was 23, I'd joined this trio, and it really was an earthquake for my life! The first "Fantozzi" did really well, the second one too, it was a landmark, and as a result my life changed because everyone noticed. Actually, I composed the soundtrack on my own, not with the trio, and from that moment I also started to realize you could actually make a living from music and film. I met Paolo Villaggio at his house - like Fabrizio, he was one of my idols too (and incidentally the two of them used to see each other), and I have my own personal take on Paolo, which maybe a lot of people don't share: for one thing, he was a person of extraordinary depth, he had clear ideas, politically too, and Fantozzi is a declaration of social war. Later on we saw each other rarely but talked often, and for the last film in the Fantozzi saga he wanted me again. He was also a very calm person, but like all quiet types, when you made him angry, he'd explode!

How has your recording process changed from your early days to now? And what do you think of artificial intelligence?

I believe it will never replace us, it might help us or maybe be a bit of a nuisance, but I think that human connection, like what we're doing right now, enriches us constantly. Consider that the title of one of my masterclasses is 50 = 500, meaning that technological evolution in the last 50 years, compared to before, has been ten times as fast — in fact, technologically speaking, we're now living in the year 2424. I'm lucky enough to have all that experience from the past, splicing tape, for instance, which still comes in very handy today.

You're performing live at the Porto Antico in Genoa with your project Frizzi 2 Fulci: what made you want to play this music again?

Look, I was going through a sad period for Italian cinema, I did a lot of TV movies, but I love cinema and unfortunately I realized the whole thing was fading away. Then one day Antonella Fulci (Lucio Fulci's daughter, ed.) suggested I sign up for Facebook. I was doubtful, but I did it anyway, I joined, and I started getting a few friend requests. Then one day someone from Montreal wrote to me asking if I was really "the Frizzi from Fulci's films," since I only had 10 friends on my contacts list! From then on, all sorts of things happened — people writing to me from France, Spain, the US, some even thought I didn't exist and was just a made-up name! I gave a few interviews, and one day I happened to run into Antonella, and we decided to put together a tribute to Fulci. Since my daughter was living in England, she put me in touch with an important local figure to set up a concert, and we played at the Chapel in front of 850 people! I couldn't believe it. That's when the whole tour took off — America, England again, and recently even Lebanon (before the current tragic events, ed.). It's a great honor, also because I truly adored Lucio.

The hardest soundtrack you composed for Fulci?

Definitely "Zombi 2". Lucio called me and told me he had to direct a horror film — he'd been given the job after several other directors, like Castellari, had turned it down. Lucio wanted me on board because we'd worked well together before, but for me it was tough, since I'd never composed music for a horror film. I loved the film a lot, but I had to dig around for ideas — the Caribbean theme, for instance, was great fun to write, a merengue telling the story of the island of the zombies, which at rehearsals was originally shouted out by the drummer as "Zombone merenguero prima"!

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