Roberto Dell'Era - Beat & psych

Roberto Dell'Era, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in 1968, suddenly came to prominence in 2006, when Manuel Agnelli picked him to replace Andrea Viti as bassist of Afterhours. From that moment on he embarked on a steadily rising career, which took shape in parallel through a brilliant solo career, the intriguing Winstons project, and a number of notable collaborations.

Before that fateful moment, Roberto had chosen to put in a tough apprenticeship across the Channel, spending about a decade immersed in the English music scene, playing in bands unknown to us here, names that mean little and never managed to break through, but which helped shape his character and experience: Love Trip, Solar Flares, Phoney, Though Gang.

In 2005, back in Italy, his first project was a collaboration on Diego Mancino's Sony-backed solo debut, Cose che cambiano tutto, a record that didn't achieve the success it hoped for. Shortly afterwards, Manuel Agnelli found himself having to deal with the departure of bassist Andrea Viti; among the demos he listened to while looking for a replacement was Dell'Era's, whom he'd met by chance one evening at dinner, introduced by a mutual friend: he would be the one to land a spot in the line-up, just in time to take on an important tour of the United States. On returning from the States he was confirmed for the Italian dates rounding out the tour in support of Ballate per piccole iene, during which he stood out for his showmanship and glam attitude, an element that had been missing from the earnest Afterhours of that era.

Roberto had a nice stockpile of songs tucked away, written over the years, especially during his time in Albion, and in 2007 he put out what can be considered his first solo single, the sweet ballad "Ami lei o ami me", made together with Diego Mancino.

But it's in 2008 that Dell'Era really grabbed national attention, confirmed in Afterhours (alongside him and Agnelli were Giorgio Prette, Giorgio Ciccarelli, Dario Ciffo and Enrico Gabrielli), who that year recorded The Milanese kill off Saturday night. It's the most controversial, and perhaps the least successful, record by the Milanese band, on which Gabrielli's orchestral flourishes don't always blend skilfully with Agnelli's well-established imprint. Dell'Era makes a significant contribution, co-writing seven of the fourteen tracks overall, and taking lead vocals on "Tutti gli uomini del presidente": for the first time Manuel allowed another band member to sing a song, a testament to the enormous trust and esteem he had for the new bassist. But that's not all: Roberto would also take the vocal lead on "Due di noi", included on the album's special edition.

Meanwhile Enrico Gabrielli launched Calibro 35, aiming to focus on the themes of 1960s Italian crime-film soundtracks. On their debut album Roberto lends his voice to a cover of Ornella Vanoni's classic "L'appuntamento".

At the start of 2009 Dell'Era was on stage at the Sanremo Festival with Afterhours, who entered the competition with the new song "Il paese è reale", winning the Critics' Award. The track wasn't the prelude to a new album by the band, but rather to an eponymous compilations gathering 19 tracks recorded by some of the finest names on the Italian independent scene.

The following year he again worked with Calibro 35 on the track "Il beat cos'è", released on a split EP (Il lato beat vol. 1) shared with The Genius.

Then came more touring with Afterhours, first in theatres, where old and new songs were revived in new arrangements, then in both 2010 and 2011 with two packed summer tours that whetted longtime fans' appetite thanks to the return to the group of veteran guitarist Xabier Iriondo, an event that gave the sound a jolt, steering it back onto a more electric, visceral course compared with the more pretentious arrangements that had resulted from the recording of The Milanese kill off Saturday night.

2011 marked his official solo debut, with what would become his band, Dellera. Original soundtrack (released on MArteLabel) reveals an already mature singer-songwriter of exceptional talent, who besides singing (skilfully alternating Italian and English) also plays guitar superbly. On these grooves he sometimes chooses, in a craftsman-like way, to work by subtraction, leaving only what's essential; at other times he builds through gradual accumulation, sketching scenes of great emotional intensity, but almost always without overplaying his hand, except for the rock acceleration of "Per niente al mondo". To complete the recordings he surrounded himself with friends: from Rodrigo D'Erasmo (who had recently joined Afterhours), on violin and backing vocals, to Enrico Gabrielli (who had just left it), all the way to Cesare Basile, co-writer on two of the eleven tracks in the sequence. Roberto's sixties soul comes through unmistakably, the approach is fundamentally retro, deliberately vintage, devoted to those 60s atmospheres so dear to anyone who grew up spinning their parents' 45s.

Original soundtrack brings together songs kept in a drawer for years (including the aforementioned "Ami lei o ami me") and many tracks written specifically for the occasion. There's plenty of psychedelia, surfacing in the twin tracks "Oceano Pacifico Blue"/"Fine bobina", in the Beatles-esque "Il tema di Tim e Tom" and in the closing "Giorno dopo giorno". Experimental touches can be glimpsed within the folds of "Io e te", enriched by field recordings with a faint Pink Floyd-like flavour, a two-man affair shared with Tommaso Colliva, with whom he produced the whole record. And then there are the immediate songs, the ones that grab you on first listen, the potential hits, namely "Il motivo di Sima" and "Le parole", both accompanied by their own music videos. Special mention goes to the inner booklet, featuring handwritten notes by Roberto, through which he explains the genesis of some of the songs, his inspirations and his musical aesthetic.

Original soundtrack is a convincing, seductive record, on which Dell'Era begins to craft an alternative image to the one that defines him in Afterhours. It's one of those records destined not to age with time, because it has no interest in chasing trends, but rather in being modern by rereading the past, reshaping into the new millennium the sounds that got us here: blues, folk, rock, beat, groove, and the best of the singer-songwriter tradition, both Italian and English-speaking. It's no coincidence that it would be shortlisted in the "Best Debut Work" category at the Targhe Tenco awards.

The tour supporting Original soundtrack featured shows in intimate venues, quite different from the arenas played with Afterhours. And there the Dellera quartet really came into its own, making the most of the closeness to the audience. The band featured Rodrigo D'Erasmo as a permanent presence on violin and Milo Scaglioni on bass, who would make his own solo debut a few years later with the album "Simple Present".

Besides the songs from his debut and the two tracks sung with Afterhours ("Tutti gli uomini del presidente" and "Due di noi"), Roberto often includes well-judged covers of songs by Manic Street Preachers ("A Design For Life") and Sparklehorse ("Good Day"), underlining his deep-seated love of 90s alternative rock.

At the end of 2011 Afterhours embarked on a new tour of the United States, which allowed them to go back to playing small venues, and gave them the thrill of recording some sessions in internationally renowned studios, such as Steve Albini's Electrical Audio in Chicago. At the end of the "Jack On Tour" a multi-part documentary was made and aired on a satellite channel, along with a live album (Meet Some Freaks On Route 66) featuring seven tracks rearranged for the occasion and a cover ("Dolphins") performed together with Majakovich, their support band on the American dates.

Roberto is by now a mainstay of Afterhours, who in April 2012 release Padania, which marks the official return to the band of Xabier Iriondo. Padania would go on to win the Targa Tenco for album of the year.

In 2012 the second Dellera-credited work arrives: Stare bene è pericoloso, once again on the MArteLabel label. Roberto again provides voice and guitar, backed by a seriously impressive cast running from Rodrigo D’Erasmo (violin) and Xabier Iriondo (guitars and noise) to friends Fabio Rondanini (drums) and Enrico Gabrielli (sax), as well as Lino Gitto (is this where the seeds of the future Winstons are sown?), Andrea Pesce, Rob Diaz, Tom Livermore and John Large.

The singer-songwriter's vein remains steeped in 60s pop and psychedelia, especially of British origin: an approach that draws on the past to build a song-form that's always firmly grafted onto the present.

Roberto moves between sixties-pop drifts ("La repubblica dei desideri") and energetic guitar riffs (the irresistible "The Constitution", one of two tracks in English), passing through the garage-psych of "Testa floreale", the crystalline roundness of the title track and the falsetto laid over the piano bed of "Un ultimo saluto", which spills into the dark-tinted orchestration of the closing, almost Baustelle-like "Siamo argento". Worth noting are the featured appearances of Rachele Bastreghi on "Non ho più niente da dire" (with an instrumental closing section worthy of applause) and of Nic Cester of Jet on "Maharaja", the second track not sung in Italian. The album also contains "Ogni cosa una volta", from the soundtrack of the film produced by Pierfrancesco Favino, "Without any mercy".

Live activity continues at an intense pace, with the Dellera project touring up and down the peninsula in various configurations: full band, as a duo with Rodrigo D’Erasmo, and, when needed, solo, with Roberto ready to deliver intense sets for voice and guitar alone.

In March 2014 a special edition of the classic Hai paura del buio? hits the shelves, consisting of the original remastered album plus a bonus disc on which every track from the tracklist is re-recorded by Afterhours together with Italian and international guests, including names such as Mark Lanegan, Joan Wasser, John Parish and Il Teatro degli Orrori. The release is followed by a commemorative tour in which the band plays the songs in the same sequence as the album, and a DVD capturing the live footage.

Between Afterhours and his solo career, Roberto is at last recognized as one of the most interesting and multifaceted talents in Italian music, valued both as a musician and as a songwriter. Collaborations multiply, and one worth mentioning at the very least is the one with Daniele Silvestri, who brings him in to sing on two tracks of the successful "Acrobati": "Un altro bicchiere" and "Spengo la luce".

It's not just established musicians: up-and-coming bands also seek out his featured appearances, as happens for instance on the entertaining "La donna giusta", included on "Sat Nam", the debut of Rome's Le Mura.

Meanwhile, another masterstroke had been taking shape.

At the start of 2016, the debut of a new three-piece outfit, Winstons, is released — a kind of supergroup made up of Dell’Era on bass, Enrico Gabrielli on keyboards and Lino Gitto on drums. Born as an off-the-cuff project to fill the gaps between the work of their respective main bands and numerous side projects, it quickly becomes anything but a secondary affair for the three musicians involved.

The Winstons is a kaleidoscope of sound, catapulted into the present straight from the early 70s, blending psychedelia, sixties-pop, prog and the Canterbury scene. Dell'Era splits lead vocal duties with Lino Gitto.

"Play With The Rebels" is heavily Beatles-indebted, "…On A Dark Cloud" is pure Pink Floyd, just as "She’s My Face" sounds like a lost Doors track and "A Reason For Goodbye" combines prog and psych. "Nicotine Freak" is a treatise on harmonization, "Diprotodon" ranges from space-rock to jazz, "Dancing In The Park With A Gun" has a central section that sounds lifted straight from Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and if you listen closely you can catch a nod to "Money".

The Winstons is a thoroughly enjoyable record, with an international pedigree, played flawlessly, and showcasing an uncanny ability to perfectly recreate the atmosphere of an entire era.

A tour follows immediately, split into two legs and squeezed in among the three musicians' many other commitments. Success is considerable, so much so that the band decides to immortalize the Rome date held on 22 January at the Angelo Mai on the live album Live In Rome, a full account of the evening, also accompanied by a DVD with video footage of the performance.

September 2016 brings the release of a gold-colored 7-inch vinyl, issued in just 450 numbered copies. The two tracks on it are the result of a few free days spent in Albion, put to good use for a productive recording session at Tilehouse Studios in London. For side A the choice falls on a personal reworking of Golden Brown (sung by Roberto and already a frequent live staple), a cover of the biggest commercial hit by The Stranglers.

On the B-side is an unreleased original track – with Gitto and Dell'Era splitting the vocal duties – that fits perfectly into the style clearly laid out on the band's debut: a sumptuous mix of sixties-pop and psych-rock. Black Shopping Bag is a choral piece that starts out like something by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, opening up halfway through into an instrumental interlude that (thanks to the presence of saxophone) edges close to the Van Der Graaf Generator of “Pawn Hearts”, all condensed into a format that never runs past five minutes.

In 2019 the Winstons released their second album, Smith, another excellent mix of psych-pop, jazz, prog and Canterbury sound, confirming themselves as one of the best sixties-oriented psychedelic pop acts in Europe.

But let's take a small step back: after the Winstons' debut, on June 10, 2016, Folfiri o Folfox hit the market, the tenth album by Afterhours and the third with Dell'Era in the line-up – a record that sees the bassist among the Milanese band's pillars and that marks two important changes: Stefano Pilia of Massimo Volume replaces guitarist Giorgio Ciccarelli, while Fabio Rondanini of Calibro 35 takes over from drummer Giorgio Prette.

Folfiri o Folfox is a torrential record (eighteen tracks spread across two CDs), ambitious and complex, built around a strong idea – a sort of concept about death and rebirth sparked by the illness and death of Manuel Agnelli's father.

The tireless Roberto doesn't stop: after the summer promotional tour with Afterhours and a series of dates with Winstons, he announces a duo tour of about thirty shows spread across October and November, shared with Gianluca De Rubertis, covering practically the whole country. The journey continues…

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