Giovanni: Hi, Vittorio. It's always a pleasure talking to you, knowing your glorious past linked to such great names as Premiata Forneria Marconi, as well as your solo work.

Vittorio: My pleasure! Yes, I've done cool things in the past, but working with Stewart... Well, you know, he's a name you can't compare with many others. I always loved the Police, and now I find myself working with "The Rhythmatist" himself.

Giovanni: So how did it all happen? How did you get in touch with Stewart?

Vittorio: In the mid-nineties I had a chance to meet Pietro Milesi, producer and arranger for some of the biggest Italian artists, such as Fabrizio De André. I had a busy schedule of my own, but the few things we had done together led us to collaborate on more major projects year after year, and in 2003 he asked me to become the artistic director of La Notte della Taranta Festival to be held in Salento in the deepest south of Italy in August. I accepted with no doubts. Stewart was also invited to join the ensemble, and that's when I got in touch with one of the best musicians I've ever met. We started rearranging some traditionals of Salento music called taranta. We worked very well together, even before meeting personally. We shared files of our new renditions of the traditionals, so when we met, most of the job was already done. We only needed to rehearse.

Giovanni: That concert was really one of the best I've ever been to. More than 40,000 people dancing and jumping like they had been stung by the tarantola spider.

Vittorio: Exactly. Taranta music comes from that legend, where you needed to be exorcised after being stung by the spider. The victim sort of fell into a state of shock, but thanks to the psychedelic music ritual and rhythms, could be exorcised and come back to a normal life. Or at least, that is the legend.

Giovanni: I saw Stewart dancing and jumping around a snare drum at one point in the show.

Vittorio: He got stung as well, I guess. All kidding aside, he really captured the feeling of that great music. He loved it, he loved the country, he loved the people. He has so much energy, which is essential for such a role. I involved him as Maestro Concertatore, an important role.

Giovanni: So everything started from there.

Vittorio: Yes. Titti Santini from Ponderosa Music & Art Promotion, who was already working with Stewart on the Orchestralli tour, was thinking about doing a CD and DVD release of the show. To tell the truth, the whole concert lasted about three hours, from midnight until 3 a.m. What a magic night ... In the following months we made some improvements on the recorded stuff, and Stewart came to Milan in late April 2004 to mix the final edit of La Notte della Taranta's live recording, just a few days before their appearance at the First of May Festival in Rome. We were also on our way to play on an extensive Italian Taranta tour, due in July, where I could have more time to spend playing with Stewart. I can really tell that he has such a vibe and energy that it makes you want to play more stuff, be more versatile and get on with new projects and ideas.

Giovanni: That's when you thought about Gizmo?

Vittorio: Exactly. We were in Rome at the hotel, drinking something and talking about music. Stewart asked me about doing a proper band, a new project. I was shocked, really. I know I've had my moments in the past, but an invitation from such an incredible name isn't something that happens to you every day. I guess the main thing was not about our past careers but what we felt playing together. He's completely open to new projects, new sounds and new vibes coming from many sources. Our passion for ethnic music drove us to think of a universal band, with musicians coming from different countries with different studies and cultures. Raiz, for example, worked on electronic as well as ethnic music. He sang on a couple of tracks at the Taranta show, and Stewart was impressed by his voice and his spirit, very energetic. He can also sing very well in English. It took some time to choose the lineup, but in the end we found the right people for Gizmo.

Giovanni: On tour again then...

Vittorio: Absolutely. Titti Santini worked very hard to find some new concerts for the Taranta Ensemble for this coming July, and at the same time he planned some concerts for Gizmo as well. Both tours will overlap each other, as you can read on stewartcopeland.net, but we're excited for both events.

Giovanni: Are you working on a specific repertoire to play as Gizmo?

Vittorio: Stewart has some Police tracks in this project, stuff he never did live with the Police, some of his stuff written for the band but never played live with Andy Summers and Sting. But we are also working on some new compositions. You'll hear them if you come to the show.

Giovanni: Cool. Or I should say, kool...

Vittorio: I know what you are talking about. It seems like a mysterious name is flying around. He's green, masked, and we will probably see him at the Gizmo concerts. But I guess you know better than me that it's very difficult to confirm his appearances. Nobody knows... Maybe Stewart will tell us something. It seems he's the only one who can really talk to him.

Giovanni: Thank you very much, Vittorio. You are always welcome on stewartcopeland.net

Vittorio: Thank you, all at the site, for all your support!


Interview by Giovanni Pollastri on June 18, 2005