Peppe Lana, 7 notes to talk about Sicily
Peppe Lana is a Sicilian musician born in 1990. He started playing the piano when he was 7. Then, he also learnt how to play the guitar and the accordion, musically ranging from folk to blues, passing through jazz and the Italian songwriting tradition. In August 2019 he was called to open the Arisa’s concert in Nicosia, performing 5 unreleased songs, two years later he instead opened the concert of Vinicio Capossela in Piazza Armerina. In 2021 he also released three singles, ‘Libertà’‘, ‘Scegliere e Cambiare’ and ‘Elogio della Lentezza’, with three related video clips that we can consider some short films set to music. Sicilian Secrets interviewed him.
Q: How did you approach the world of music?
A: I like to think that it was the music that approached me, over and over again. Although my curiosity has often led me here and there, and has oriented my attention to several disciplines, music has always been the only constant in my life, at least until now.
Q: What is the bond that connects your art and your being Sicilian?
A: It’s something unique. I was born and live in Sicily, I always try to be in tune and in sync with the island which is a tumult of stories, voices, sounds and scents, an inexhaustible mine of material and immaterial riches. Everything I hear and write comes from the most hidden part of me that is inextricably linked to this place.
Q: What inspires you to compose a new song?
A: I try to have an attitude of openness, I look for peace and silence within me, they are essential conditions for being crossed by what we can define ‘universal’. I try to translate what exists, declining into music what I feel and perceive as ‘true’. Sometimes it comes naturally to me, sometimes it takes a lot of effort. Most of the times, in the first case the best things come out.
Q: Peppe Lana’s name can be read together with the one of Arisa and Capossela, artists whose concerts you opened. What do you take with you from these two experiences?
A: These were two very different experiences. The opening of the Arisa concert was my first big concert, piano and voice. I played in front of thousands of people, it was exciting. Vinicio is one of my favorite songwriters, meeting him has always been a lifelong dream. Then reality surpassed imagination. Unforgettable experience.
Q: Your singles are accompanied by some videos/short films, what is their essence and the message you want to communicate?
A: Video clip is a format that allows you to add or suggest new ideas for reading the song. A good video clip adds personality, defines without standardising. It’s a team effort and, compared to writing a song that requires solitude and introspection, it’s the result of sharing, that I’ve been lucky enough to experience with wonderful people.
Q: What is the project that you are most proud of?
A: Surely my first single, ‘Libertà’, was an explosion of joy in a dark moment of my life, it is a light that I carry within me every day.
Q: Peppe Lana and the future, are there any projects you can already announce?
A: In the immediate future there is the first album coming. For the rest, I try not to make too many plans, I try to keep curiosity and interest in beautiful and true things alive, then…we’ll see.
