Andrea Diletti was born in L’Aquila on 29th August 1978 under the zodiac sign of the virgin. This explains why he is a nit-picking ball-breaker and why he stops at nothing when he feels he's being taken for a ride. It also explains why he adores Beppe Grillo. As an offset to this, he has a huge heart... His first contact with a guitar was when he was 14 years old and considered smashing it over his father’s head. Then the first chords escaped his fingers and he discovered that singing, at times, can be a more lethal weapon. Up to the age of 17, he played in a number of local groups. Unfortunately he was rowdy and riotous. Sooner or later, he would insist on doing things his way and break up the group. He was fascinated by Jim Morrison and Motley Crue except that they used their stardom to destroy themselves while he was destroying himself long before reaching any kind of fame; stupidly and dangerously. He reached the peak by celebrating the new year’s eve of 1997 in a coma. It was then that he realised that a rockstar’s life was not for him. He wanted to live for music, not die for it. People have always made fun of him because he loves comics. He reads them a lot and has a number of collections. In fact, it was Mickey Mouse, or rather his genial creator Walt Disney, who taught Andrea one of the best of his ethical/professional collection of aphorisms: “If you can dream it, you can do it”. And God only knows how much he dreamt when he was 18 years old. It was the most creative period of his life. Songs, poems, stories. His “dreamery” began ro reach serious proportions and was set to launch itself on the market. Today, at 26 years old, he's still here and still dreaming. So it works and is good for you. What’s more, it’s free. At the age of 20 he left L’Aquila (too sleepy for me) and moved to Pescara where he still lives today. A happy choice. Here he found love, the warm reception of his aunts and uncles, and the time to get a degree and to play his music. His first real live performances, apart from pianobars and weddings, was opening the cabaret shows of a well-known local comedian. Not only did he teach Andrea how to laugh, but also the fundamental rules of handling the stage. A wonderful character for whom Andrea will always have respect and gratitude. In the meantime he was attending a school for singer/songwriters together with Giò di Tonno (the Hunchback of Notredame in Cocciante’s musical), Franco Fasano, Max Gazzè, Adriano Pennino and other professionals. In the same year, at the Accademy of Sanremo, he failed the final hurdle of getting into the finals and came third in the “Vocidomani” competition, opening the concert for Samuele Bersani. In 2000, he came 5th in the “Ospedaletti Festival of Dialectal Songs” representing the Abruzzo region. At the age of 22, thanks to an impresario who believed in his potential, he began a tour with Drupi which took him all over Italy and Europe for the following three years. This was a truly formative experience but also very difficult. Much pride to be swallowed and many sacrifices to be made in order not to give in to the difficulties of working behind the scenes as a backing singer, when something inside him was pushing him to find his own way forward and his own fulfilment. He stuck it out until other satisfactions started to arrive such as the final of Castrocaro live on Rai Uno (Italy’s main national Television channel) on 17th July 2004; third place in the wonderful “Bengio Festival” in Benevento where he also won the prize for the best lyrics; and recognition for the best track, awarded by Rossana Casale, at the “Discanto Festival” in Pisa. In the summer of 2004, just before the release of Drupi’s album “Buone Notizie”, Andrea left the tour or, to be more precise, a series of misunderstandings within the musical team, obliged him to quit. In the meantime he had already finished work on his first demo “Nelle Mani Degli Dei” (in the Hands of the Gods), arranged by Drupi’s group of musicians. A year of intense reflection followed during which Andrea finished his degree, worked on his website, and contacted musicians for the promotion of his first album, just completed, entitled “Ora” (now). Why this title? Because “now”, as is clear from the lyrics of my song, he is turning the page and starting a new story. ______________________________________ Andrea Diletti is a member of IMIsound Independent Musicians from Italy Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.