Fabio D’Andrea Talks New Album, Inspiration And More

Your new album ‘VIAGGIO’ is out now. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

This album is a journey not only of the history of piano music, but a journey of myself as a composer and pianist, and the piano pieces which have inspired me.

What is the translation/meaning behind the album title?
“Viaggio” is the Italian for “journey” and this album is very much a literal journey. I wanted to take the listener on a journey of piano music, staring with the Baroque period and the greatest composer of this time, Bach, who was one of the first of the great composers to perform his keyboard pieces on one of the early pianos, through the Classical period with Mozart and Beethoven, who pioneered the instrument, into the Romantic era from which came some of the greatest piano pieces by composers such as Chopin, Liszt and Schubert, then into the post-Romantic era which had so much diversity and saw a rise of regional music having more prominence, and I have explored this range via the French Impressionists Satie and Debussy, the Russian school of composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, and the Spanish composer Albéniz, and then we travel into the early 20th century with Rachmanioff and Ravel who wrote some of the most notable piano music, into the Modern era with Messian who explored the sound of the piano in a very different way to how it had been used before, and then finally ending the journey with some of my Contemporary piano music.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?
I recorded the album at my studio on my piano and produced the album myself. I’m very hands on with all my music making, whether that’s recording solo piano, orchestral music or mainstream commercial music.
The only thing I didn’t do for this album was the mastering, which was done by Simon Gibson at Abbey Road Studios.

One of the pieces from the album is ‘The St Lucia Suite’. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?
I travel a lot and had been inspired by the unusual topography of St Lucia. It’s an island which has tropical beaches, but also jungle, mountain peaks, waterfalls, and is very different from it’s “flat” neighbour Barbados, which is always more visited. After writing the suite, I decided to go and film some music videos to accompany the pieces in St Lucia, and I connected with a wonderful lady, Theresa Lowrie-Collymore, who founded the St. Lucia School of Ballet & Modern Dance, as I wanted to use local dancers in the videos. When I arrived on the island, it was going into shut-down due to the spread of Covid, and when I arrived at my hotel I found that I was the only one staying there which was quite surreal. Theresa spoke to the Prime Minister, Allen Chastanet, and told him about what I was doing, and he invited me to meet him. He very kindly provided us with transportation and assistance in order to film at some very special locations in St Lucia, which resulted in some incredible videos. I then returned a year later to premier the videos as part of the St Lucian independence day celebrations.

Who are some of your musical influences?
I always feel inspired by music, but as a composer, I think the most important thing is for me to try and develop my own personal voice and so I am at a stage now where I try my hardest not to be overly influenced by others and to let my unique and natural style start to emerge. All composers are inevitably influenced by what we are taught, and the music we are constantly exposed to, but one of the most important things a composer needs to develop is the skill to consciously strip away these influences and try to search for inspiration via unconventional means, and this is something I’m trying to do. Today, more than ever before, when we have easy access to any form of music via our technology, it’s harder than ever to do this, as our subconscious is bombarded by music all the time.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?
I prefer non-fiction over fiction, and love history, so it would have to be a true life historical film. But seeing that I’m also a film director, I think I would have to be directing the film too!

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?
I recently performed live on a Shigeru Kawai and it was one of the nicest pianos I have played on, I was in love at first touch! When I was at university I used to practise on a concert grand Bosendorfer, and I’ve never found a piano I liked as much as that particular one, however the Shigeru Kawai really has a sound and feel that resonates with me.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?
London: Booze, Queues, Rain, Royalty, Swagger.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the album recording sessions?
When I recorded the music video for my piece Reverie, it was during the hottest day of the year. We filmed on the roof garden of a skyscraper in London, and I was worried the dancers would get too hot to perform and that we wouldn’t have time to get everything we needed before they would loose energy. The concept for the video was to have the dancers improvise independently for the first 4 minutes, and the last minute would be them coming together to perform a choreographed routine. We had everything ready to shoot and did first take, and at that moment a lot of wind swept through the garden. It just resulted in a magical take, where there was perfect lighting, this incredible breeze which made the dancers clothes and surrounding plants sway with the music. As we completed the shot, we all reviewed it and agreed that it really was special and we didn’t need to do it again – it was a true one shot wonder.

Do you have any plans for live shows in Europe/UK in 2024?
I don’t have any as yet, but I’m really looking forward to touring and doing live shows again.

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?
a) happiest: St Lucia Suite No.1, Calabash Cove, as it reminds me of such a wonderful time I had in St Lucia making the video.
b) angriest: None of the pieces in the album are angry, but there’s some which are very passionate. One of these. 

Do you have any further music releases planned?
Yes, my album “24”, which is the first ever classical visual album, will be released this year too. It’s a collection of 24 piano pieces, one in every musical key, and every track has an accompanying music video which I have directed myself. I’ve been fortunate to have some wonderful acting talent appear in some of the videos, and it’s been excited to see the great response from the public when they’ve seen the music videos which have currently been released.

What makes Fabio D’Andrea happy and what makes you unhappy?
Good music makes me happy, bad music makes unhappy!