AMÒ’s unique style fuses together the authentic and traditional sounds of Italian music with the influence of American and British Indie and Alternative pop culture and music.
“Our music is typical Italian style but often we look to American / English music for inspiration. In Italy, we have very nice couture music like folk and Neapolitan music so we wanted to make sure we kept that vibe in our music”.
We arranged a call with AMÒ to explore their creative process – and how they are making their mark in the Italian pop world.
Since meeting in 2012, Pier and Raffaele have always had a passion for music, playing together in previous bands until they realised they had the chemistry to start their own band, AMÒ.
“After 4 or 5 years we started to write songs that talk about our lives and love, but not romantic love – love for life and love for art, so the name AMÒ is slang for ‘love’ in Italian.”
So who does AMÒ look to for inspiration?
“The Arctic Monkeys are the first band that inspired us because they write music that speaks to the heart of the people and it’s very important for us when making our own music”.
Although they both now live in Rome, the duo were speaking to us from Pier’s family home in the mountains of Abruzzo, a region located east of the capital. A place of peace and serenity –probably somewhere you would go to escape the chaos of Rome, so why did they move to one of the busiest cities in Europe?
“Pier is from the mountains and I come from the sea but the feeling is the same because it’s two quiet places with very normal people who all know each other so it is strange to leave that place when you go in the city because in the city no one knows each other – it’s too big and chaotic.”
The two moved to Rome together to study music at the Saint Louis College of Music while also teaching music in a private school, preparing students for college, which they credit as one of the keys to their music – “we can hear the feelings of our students and they all listen to different types of music so we are open to it as well”. However, even though much of their life exists in Rome, the pair often retreat back to the tranquillity of the mountains to write their music.
“We love Rome and we love the city, but to be inspired we have to get away from the chaos and be inspired by nature.”
After singing many covers of other songs, AMÒ finally released their first single, ‘Stellare’ in April earlier this year which was no doubt during a difficult time for the entire world. However the song’s uplifting message was to let people know that there is a cosmic and shining part inside ourselves.
“It was amazing because for the first time after years we released our songs so Stellare is an invite to people to know that there is a stellar part of ourselves so it was nice to hear that.”
“We chose to release this song because it was during the corona virus lockdown so it was very important to say to people that “everything is going to be fine and don’t worry, stay happy – stay stellar!” because it was a very dark time for many people.”
As if the song wasn’t uplifting enough, AMÒ also directed the Stellare music video themselves which featured many of Pier’s and Raffaele’s friends and family inside their homes. After watching the heart-warming video, it’s unmistakable that AMÒ had successfully conveyed a sense of community and love – something many people needed at the time.
“I wanted to make a music video for the first single because I felt it was very important for them to be able to watch and see the idea. Me and Pier chose not to be in the video because we wanted see other people be happy, so we had our friends, our family, other artists and our students film a short video of themselves doing whatever they do in their house during lockdown and for me the result was very nice and so emotional because it is all our friends and family.”
Although the current global climate may have stopped them from performing, the duo released their new single ‘Fuorisede’ which communicates a deeper message of their own personal experience in leaving their homes to study and carry out a career in Rome.
“We are really excited to release it because it’s a song that talks about our life because we left our friends and family to live our dreams so it’s a sad but very important song to us”.
Since only joining the industry so recently, it was interesting to hear if the couple had any useful advice for other people who also want to start a career in music.
“The most important thing is consistency so never give up. You have to be honest with your feelings and then you have to continue to write and don’t give up – that’s the most important thing”.
View the CONSIGNED X AMÒ photos below
