Giuse The Lizia: “Better a strong piece live than on TikTok”
He is hungry to grow, and with him he wants, by discovering new paths, to drag his audience, which has increasingly grown in recent years. The new single “Solo un'idea”, a more romantic and less “easy” song, is the first chapter of a new path for Giuse The Lizia, which will culminate with the concert event at Alcatraz in Milan on November 25th: a date unique and special, which will be, as the singer-songwriter born in 2002 himself underlines, “a great party, to talk about these first years of songs and to present new ones”. In between, obviously, new pieces and an album will arrive, the second, after the good debut “Crush” which demonstrates all the writing and interpretative qualities of the Sicilian artist based in Bologna.
How would you describe “Just an Idea”?
It's the first piece of something else. 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. You know, sometimes, when you publish songs you're already somewhere else in terms of sensations because time passes from when you write them to when they come out, but in this case everything still coincides.
Why do you consider it a “different” piece?
I tried not to stay in my vocal comfort zone. I tried to get to something else, with the voice. And then here I don't indulge in too easy rhymes, I worked on it over several days, I modified several parts. I talked about myself in a more reasoned way, there is a greater maturity in wanting to open up. Coming from pieces like “Radical” and “Scs” you can hear the difference. Those were more flirty, this song is less immediate, I think it needs more attention.
What direction is the new album going in?
There is a good balance between the two souls, between the one that favors the not very first listening, which requires in-depth analysis, and the more immediate one, to be “taken well”. In my opinion it's nice to vary and lead the listener to take time to better understand what he intends and feels.
Many have known you thanks to your participation in Sanremo Giovani 2022 from which you were, we say, undeservedly eliminated. What do you take away from that experience?
I put myself to the test. The next day, I'm honest, I had already metabolized the elimination, the game must be accepted for what it is. Sanremo helped me learn to manage stress and introduced me to beautiful people. I try to see everything constructively. And then something magical happened with the songs, and nothing else: it was my songs that reached the public. Yes, the songs made people want to come to the live shows. This is why I am growing gradually, I feel the warmth of the people which, little by little, increases.
Some Gen Z artists are overwhelmed by numbers and expectations.
I consider myself lucky, I have a balance in my life also thanks to the guys at Maciste Dischi, my first real contact with the world of recording. They saw a demo, they liked it and we got “engaged”. I have never lived in a work system with performative anxiety punctuating everything, in the sense that that anxiety exists, is there, is around us, without exception, but those who work with me do not transmit it to me, the keeps away. This helps.
Is success, small or large, really manageable?
I am not a radical defender of the ranks. Success comes in many ways, one can even explode at any moment. And it's all there. But doing things step by step helps to psychologically face what comes next, this is the usefulness of the apprenticeship. I was nervous about the live shows at the Magazzini Generali in Milan, then it went well, we filled up, and this helps me face the concert at Alcatraz better today. Symbolically it is “the” date, but in reality I really want to play and sing in general, to return to the stage. I work, I make songs thinking about the stage. With my team I sometimes say: “this one might not go viral on TikTok but it will hit the live shows, it's better that way”.
In many songs you talk about Generation Z. Isn't representing it tout court a bit too ambitious?
I don't want to represent my generation by writing at a desk, I'm simply not capable of it. If you told me: “now write about this problem of Generation Z”, I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm talking about myself, who is like everyone else. I live in Bologna, I breathe the reality of those away from home, of students, of young people, of everyday life. And starting from me I feel I can give the listener the opportunity to reflect themselves. But it is essential to start from my experiences, not from a more general and broader discussion, the starting point is the personal dimension.