LUCA LALA
Luca Lala, western side of Rome, Libra - Aries rising (born in October!).
Lala isn’t his stage name but rather his stage surname, which has already driven listeners and industry professionals in Italy and Europe crazy, thanks in part to the European collaborations featured in his albums and singles.
His sound is soft, has RnB tones, and a singer-songwriter style in writing that diverges from the current music scene. Music is his safe space: over the years, despite hard times, he has created his own little cloud to retreat to when the outside world wasn’t so pleasant.
"I started writing some novels and poems that I never published; I kept everything to myself. Writing, however, has always been essential for distancing myself from what I was experiencing, from a world I didn’t enjoy living in. So, I created this ideal world to stay and remain in - to feel fewer anxieties, to deal with fewer problems, to escape real life. This is what happens when I write, so my writing is just like talking to myself and reflecting on certain things. Music, beyond writing, was the same thing, so I combined the two - and that’s how this path was born. I’ve always listened to Italian songwriters - I really appreciate Italian writing, Lucio Dalla is sacred to me. I even have a tattoo of him. Neffa, Venerus, Ghemon, Mac Miller - who is my favorite artist. I realized I have a soulful spirit - my approach to music has always been very soul, very jazz. I haven’t studied music; I do what I do very instinctively, and this instinctiveness leads me to naturally experience and feel this kind of music.
RnB came to me rather than me seeking it out. But what I always try to do is combine songwriting with an RnB atmosphere, so I’m not be considered just an RnB artist - if I hyper-fixate and tie myself to a specific genre, I have no alternatives. If I am open to other directions, instead, I can embark on any path I want and create more genuine, heartfelt things. I am trying to explore electronic music as well, I am trying to evolve.”
Lala is a sweetheart: his songs are full of heart and pathos.
And it’s precisely in his lyrics that a multitude of feelings converge, which, paired with his music, touch the listeners’ souls. What distinguishes Lala's writing is that there is never a single point of view to interpret his songs. He starts from his own experiences and introspection but communicates them to the outside world in a very simple way.
There’s certainly a complex aspect to his writing because talking about feelings is never easy. But his way of writing is accessible and sweet, easily understandable and shareable.
And the beautiful thing about shareability is that everyone can add their own touch; there is never a single interpretation or a single key to understanding.
"My manifesto is the EP that came out, Chiaroscuro - chiaroscuro is a drawing technique that uses shadows and lights. Darkness, the black, is needed to bring out the white - they create volumes. We are made of light and shadows, too. And this must be expressed somewhere, in some way. Expressing feelings is important, and for me, it's much easier to put them into music rather than talk about them or live them in general.
This EP was a watershed moment in my life, and from there, I started again with a new version of myself, a bit more grown-up. Chiaroscuro served as a stepping stone to start this climb of growth, although it will never end. At this moment in my life, I can’t be superficial or deal with superficial things; I prefer to deal with what I feel, even if it’s hard.
It hurts because dealing with your feelings and sharing them with everyone is difficult, it exposes you, it lays you bare, but right now, it’s what I can do best.
I think artists, with what they have in their hands, bring out the best version of themselves - I have this in my hands, so I try to narrate it in the most correct and directional way possible. I believe that music connects the person who sings with many other people, many ears, and many different experiences - so why not talk about feelings, which is the first thing we all experience?
Surely, we all experience certain feelings differently, but it’s precisely this that connects people.”
Lala appears to have a very childlike character and adopts this approach in his communication. It's refreshing to find artists who manage their communication in such a friendly and delicate way - it doesn’t weigh down those who follow you but still can communicate something. Generally, children have much more to say than adults, and Lala, although he may seem like a grown-up child, is way much more than that. There is a sort of dualism in his being that roots in the sweetest and most genuine part of himself: the inner child.
"I think the inner child is the part of ourselves that we should take care of the most; here lie the greatest traumas that we can’t deal with.
I want to hold onto Luca, the child, tightly - because I haven’t taken care of him enough, I didn’t even believe in him. Also, the circumstances weren’t the best in terms of society at the time.
Now I’m 30, not a child anymore, but every now and then, I smile at little Luca, because it’s my way of being as true as possible. Children are like this: it has no superstructures, they are as you see them, they are pure. And from there we start this climb towards the traumas - that make us the human beings we are. The creative and communicative idea has always been mine - I made a video with my grandmother, who is my happy place (taking up the theme of child, family), and it was wonderful; it’s something I will always keep and cherish in my heart. I try not to take myself too seriously because I already take myself too seriously when I write. Generally, I am a funny person, a dickhead! So yes, I try not to take myself seriously because if I did, everything would be very heavy; I decided to have a very soft, relaxed approach even with those who follow me. And I know it works, because people like this side of me and show it to me - in the end, that’s who I am, so why should I hide behind something else? Sometimes I can be funny, other times I just cannot - but it’s obvious, not everything can always go in the right direction. You can’t always be sunny; even comedians are sad, but perhaps it’s precisely from sadness that funny things are born. It’s simply my way of being, a way to relax and make others relax.”
And from this sadness, Lala drew what is his favorite song: a deep dive into his emotions.
“Monosillabi is my favorite song.
It was born in just one night with a roommate of mine who played the guitar and had a PC.
We just recorded a loop, and I wrote this piece - lots of alcohol, lots of sadness, and the next morning, we didn’t even realize how we had done it.
That’s how Monosillabi was born. It was strange, the impact with this song, because we didn’t realize what we were doing, it was a flow of emotions - my conscience spoke for itself. I exposed and opened myself up, something that is somewhat missing in my life.
It’s the song that gives me an incredible boost, and I feel a hundred emotions, it’s the song that creates an atmosphere that I love and like so much. It’s my best song - it’s just who I am.
It all started with a particular charge, and you can feel it, all the emotions are there, and I wanted to ride this wave. When I recorded the vocals, I had an incredible sadness inside.
Actually, the whole EP was born at night because I worked during the day and at night I was in the studio - so even the setting of Rome at night, the fatigue, the desire to do and feel... At night, the voices aren’t so loud; on the contrary, you tend to be more introspective, you simply carry the whole day with you. Recording at night is a different thing, it’s a bit of a liberation from everything.
<Monosillabi> was was born in a beautiful way, and it’s beautiful how it grew.
At live performances, I always can’t wait for it to come so I can sing it.”
With Rome, the environment where Lala grew up, has always been love and hate, and certainly played a decisive role in building his artistic identity.
“I struggle to leave Rome. I have a toxic relationship with my city, but it’s necessary in some kind of way; I wrote about it in a poem. You turn a corner and see something you’ve never seen before, Rome always leaves you with that little bit of extra magic because you think about how many emotions this city gives you, how many things there are to see... I always struggle to leave, and in fact, I’ve never left. Musically, there are also amazing talents, but unfortunately, not the growth opportunities”.
Among the plans for the future, an EP or an album is coming out between February and March.
Lala’s artistic journey is a story of how music can become a refuge, a safe space. It’s about encouraging people to delve into themselves and carve out their own spaces to chase themselves, which is never wrong.
Through his evolution, from the first steps taken between novels and poems to the songs that today make the whole Italy’s capital sing, Lala suggests that music is more than just sound: it’s a vibration that embraces and unites everyone. Indiscriminately.
