Giovanni Caccamo - Singing sensations

Giovanni Caccamo is a peculiar singer-songwriter. A two-faced artist: on one hand a shy, reflective lyricist, on the other a performer from the Sanremo universe, with a Newcomers award under his belt and various appearances on TV and radio shows. He's not yet another child of famous parents or a talent-show mannequin, but a classic example of a self-made man who reached the milestone of fame through his own efforts alone. This interview came about on an occasion quite different from the usual concert: Caccamo has joined forces with figurative artist Giovanni Robustelli (also from Ragusa) for a tour around Italy, during which the two put on a decidedly unconventional performance. The young singer-songwriter plays piano, performing his own songs and reinterpretations of Italian music classics, while on the same stage Robustelli creates a live painting accompanied by his colleague's music. The locations are not chosen at random, since the project is backed by Unesco, allowing the duo to perform inside genuine works of art, such as castles, medieval squares and ancient palaces. The result of these performances is a synesthetic experience, one that allows an exchange of visual and acoustic sensations capable of bringing out the singer-songwriter's eclectic spirit.

Where did the idea come from to merge two art forms, music and painting?

Caccamo: The idea was born when I met Giovanni several years ago, and first a very strong artistic esteem grew between us, and then also a special friendship. So we would often meet up at his studio in Vittoria, he'd paint and I'd play. We tried to interact, to create a connection between our arts, and such a strong chemistry kept forming that we decided to turn these encounters of ours into something we could perform live, and so share this understanding of ours with an audience too.

I know you're both from Ragusa, so you share the same territory. How has that territory influenced your art? Especially since you come from an area of Italy that, much like here in Campania, expresses art through every ancient building.

Robustelli: Yes, in fact I have to say that in this dialogue between two passions, painting and music, we realized that a whole series of rhythms... we found ourselves focusing on the language in a particular way that completely escaped the rhythms of the life we all live, the artificial one, that of the internet, of the media in general. So we thought it would be worthwhile to bring the audience inside this dialogue, which, I repeat, is very similar to what exists in our own territories - not just in Sicily, or in Ragusa specifically, but across the South in general - the architecture, the spaces and the nature that intertwines so well with these settings lead you to experience a time and a space that clashes quite sharply with the superficiality and speed that define how we engage with things nowadays.

In an interview with another author, a fellow townsman of yours as it happens, Nicolò Carnesi, we were talking about precisely these new forms of communication, so instant that they generate misunderstandings. What your work of music and live painting conveys to me is a message that's open to interpretation, yes, but not open to misunderstanding. A natural communication, free of artifice.

Robustelli: There's no artifice and no filters, but above all nothing is prepared in advance. That's the most important thing, because Giovanni plays and sings songs that he chooses on the spot depending on the context, the places, the sensations, and as a result I too connect to his music and to the context the stage is set in to create my painting. There really is an exchange of inspirations.

Caccamo: Completely spontaneous, there's no agreement whatsoever beforehand. It all comes naturally.

Actually, I wanted to ask you, how does this chemistry that's formed between you work? Does one of you lead the other, or is it an equal relationship?

Caccamo: The only guide is the place. The chosen setting is the host, since it's been here for far longer than we have.

Robustelli: Personally, I wait for the first notes before I start putting brush to canvas.

Caccamo: I let myself be guided by the feel of the place to choose from a pool of songs, about fifteen tracks to play and reinterpret on stage.

Is there a particular artist who already comes to mind for this location?

Caccamo: The first one I think of is definitely Lucio Dalla, with this ever-present sea bringing us back to his lyrics and his sounds, but also the voice of Giuni Russo.

As for the pictorial side, is the goal a figurative work that reproduces the chosen place, or can you also arrive at abstract art?

Robustelli: Usually you start from shapes and lines that seem abstract, but which, by following the music, actually become a figurative composition. The reference imagery is clearly inspired by the architecture and colors of the place, but also by the stories that all of this carries with it and that, during my visits and site inspections, become part of my cultural baggage, which is then unleashed improvisationally onto the canvas.

I'm struck by this understanding between different artistic languages — you seem able to swap tools with each other to reach the same expressive goal. Moving on to your career, Giovanni, many are convinced you started out with Franco Battiato, who discovered your talent in 2012, but that's not entirely true.

Caccamo: Yes, in fact my passion for music started when I was very small (I even took part in the Zecchino d'Oro), but it became a real vocation after high school, when I left for Milan and started hanging around the music world, realizing that my voice in particular could be the channel through which to communicate my emotions and my life. Singing became a kind of dialogue with my father, who sadly passed away when I was eleven, and music has always helped me keep that invisible dialogue alive. At twenty I started writing, and I had no more doubts that writing was, in fact, the center of my life; from there it became an almost ascetic path, more than a simple passion. From around 18 to 24, for six years, I knocked on countless doors hoping to make myself known and get some attention from various people in the industry, but Battiato was the first successful case of "stalking" (laughs), and also the first one to take me seriously.

Digging through your discography, I've spotted a few detours from your more conventional songwriting. On your 2015 album "Qui Per Te", for instance, there's an excellent synth-pop track called "Oltre L'Estasi". Given that singer-songwriting remains the core of your work, what other genres have drawn your interest, or that you'd like to explore further in the future?

For lyrics, I tend to be guided by the Italian masters: Ivano Fossati, Battiato, De André. For music and specific sounds, I draw on much broader inspirations and explore a lot. I'm very drawn to the atmospheres created by Imogen Heap on "Ellipse", the sonics of Benjamin Clementine, Antony & The Johnsons, but also Stromae, when I want more driving rhythms, and also Sigur Ros and Philip Selway. I'm fascinated by singer-songwriters who have also made sound itself central to their work.

Turning instead to your career alongside music in the entertainment world, how do you experience being in the spotlight? Singer-songwriters can sometimes be reserved, introverted artists — do you find it easy to coexist with the world of television and media?

What matters, in my view, is seeing the world of television as an opportunity to tell stories, to build bridges, visible or invisible. Since I write stories, essentially any opportunity that's consistent with who I am and that helps me move forward, grow and mature as an artist — like hosting a music program — I don't shy away from it, quite the opposite, I welcome it gladly. It's all for the good if, through these activities running parallel to music, I manage to get to know things, and myself, better, and keep going with what I love.

What do you think of the wariness toward the mainstream found in a certain segment of Italian singer-songwriters?

I think the only discrimination that should be made is against a lack of authenticity in the content, against production that's purely contingent. That said, I also work as a songwriter for other artists and have written for a great many of them, and I can say with certainty that the singer-songwriter's craft still retains a good degree of artisanship. That dose of "mastery" makes you understand that a lyric, like a song, has to be born from a genuine need for that composition to exist. When I sit down at the piano, I have to be convinced of the depth and the necessity of what I'm creating — every song I release has to make sense. That's the only form of discrimination that guides me.

Do you consider yourself a singer-songwriter who tells his own story, or one who tells other people's stories?

I prefer to tell stories. In the end, the world is far bigger than a single individual. We experience feelings that can be strong and intense, but we should be aware that everyone else feels those same things too. I find it's always more interesting to see myself reflected in someone else's life or experience than to rely solely on the autobiographical, or at least to start from a subjective emotion and then broaden the perspective. I'm never self-celebratory: if I talk about myself, I always do it in connection with the rest of the world, so that whoever's listening can recognize themselves in it.

Do you have any literary or poetic references that particularly helped you in writing your lyrics?

I wouldn't say there are direct influences as such, but one book certainly changed the way I perceive experience: "Un Altro Giro Di Giostra" by Tiziano Terzani. It gave me keys to reading reality that I hadn't had before. It allowed me to reach a more conscious, more direct kind of writing.

A question for both of you this time: an Italian record and a foreign record you could never do without?

Robustelli: I try to stick to more recent albums, since generalizing would be impossible. There's a record that I haven't been able to get out of my head for the past two years: "Die" by Iosonouncane.

He certainly has a very visual approach to lyric-writing, it feels like he's sketching out images when he composes a text. And a foreign one?

Robustelli: I'd say Beach House, but actually "The English Riviera" by Metronomy is the one I find myself listening to really often. Truth be told, it has a very Italian flavor to it too.

Caccamo: For me, a foreign record would be "For Emma, Forever Ago" by Bon Iver. As for an Italian one, the first thing that comes to mind is "Gommalacca" by Franco Battiato.

One last question. Since tonight you'll be playing in an Aragonese castle built on the ruins of a Greek temple, do you feel more like two 15th-century bards or two Hellenic aoidoi?

Caccamo: Hellenic, for sure. Coming from Sicily, we carry with us a Greek heritage and immediacy that's simply inescapable. We're rooting for the Greeks, absolutely!

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google