Also for Giuse The Lizia “the exceptional feat is being normal”
The strength and beauty of normality, understood as balance of life, that’s exactly what you’re looking for Giuse The Lizia, 22 years old, with his second album “Internet”, out on October 18th. From songwriting to rap through pop and funky, the songs of the Sicilian singer-songwriter based in Bologna are always very well written and contribute to forming a compact project in which, on two tracks, he is also accompanied by Mecna and centomilacarie. After a summer tour that saw him take his music around the main Italian festivals and at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Giuse The Lizia will start again with a series of autumn events in clubs, the first is scheduled for November 16th in Naples.
Is “Internet” a bittersweet title?
I liked the idea that somehow there was a connection with the title of the previous album (“Crush”, ed.). This album isn’t about the internet, but it’s certainly crossed by it, there’s a common thread. I am and we are all immersed in the world of the internet, many human or work relationships arise, perhaps, from a story on Instagram and a comment under a post. It is a great sea in which we all swim.
Are your songs a continuous swing between happiness and sadness?
The internet is like this too, it has positive elements, but also negative elements. The Internet has democratized access to music both in terms of listening and production, but we also know that all this has generated other, more distorted factors. In fact, my music is sometimes happy, sometimes less so, certainly disillusioned. It is in balance, like the internet. But I can also say that there is something more to the album than this, there is a greater search for balance and stability due to my experience.
In “Flash” you pay homage to Lucio Dalla and his “Disperato Erotico Stomp”, in particular you recover the phrase “an exceptional feat, trust me it’s being normal.”
I wanted to sample something. I find the art of sampling beautiful. I live in Bologna, I listen to Lucio Dalla, and I immediately thought of him. The Articolo 31 piece ‘The Exceptional Enterprise’ certainly also had an influence on me. The fear of doing everything wrong was there, but I felt inside me that this was the right piece because for me music has become a serious thing, a job, but at the same time I want to defend my ‘normality’, my living in Bologna in certain dynamics. Being amidst these pressures made me think about those words, which I feel are mine because, for the moment, I have managed to remain in balance.
From a musical point of view, do you put yourself more on the line in this album?
Yes, I think I dared more. “Persi da un po’”, from a melodic and textual point of view, is particular: in the piece I also talk about my experience in Sanremo (Sanremo Giovani 2022 from which he was, we say, undeservedly eliminated, ed.), I arrive more depth. “Give me love” is far from my usual songwriting, furthermore in “Flash” and “Tonight gospel” the rap returns, more melodic, not tight because it’s not mine, almost like Jovanotti from the first period.
How would you describe “Just an Idea”?
It’s the first piece of something else. There is so much hope inside. It starts from a different point in terms of writing and musical approach compared to the past. It’s a song that I care a lot about also in terms of content, with an emotional concept that I still feel is mine.
In “Tonight Gospel” you say that “it’s no longer the time for bitches, but for love”. Are you tired of a certain language?
I listen to a lot of rap and trap, and I believe that certain languages, contextualized in those worlds and genres, can be understood and understood. But they’re not mine. I am a romantic, even in life. Those conversations don’t work on me. I was amused by the idea of taking a word from a language that wasn’t mine and putting it into a song. That’s all, there is no real criticism of the trappers’ lyrics. In short, it’s a paracula phrase (he smiles, ed.).
Would you try the Sanremo Festival again?
The live dimension is what I care about most: concerts, tours, are really what I want to do. The feedback from the people who follow me is really important to me. And I hope that the journey is understood even now that, with this album, I have included other elements. If Sanremo can become a card to broaden my audience and make my songs better known, why not? I stop being calm when I’m still. It’s better to be tired from the many things you do than confused about what to do.
Music has become a job for you, but at the same time you continue to attend university. How important is it to you?
It’s fundamental. Many people say to me: “but who makes you do it?”. I’m certainly not John Lennon, but my career is at a later stage, I could actually dedicate myself only to music. But I don’t do it because I ask myself: how can I write if I don’t live? For me the connection with reality, also through university and my relationships outside of music and Milan-centrism, are important precisely for my songwriting.
Did you leave any songs off this record?
A lot, this is because I write a lot. Some are very direct, guitar and voice, and actually they would have struggled to find a place on this album. But I think that sooner or later they will come out…(smiles, ed.).
