«The singer is a madman who believes in something that only he sees». It is the synthesis of himself in the words of the “madman” Diodato. «You see and hear certain things and you wonder if it’s only you who perceives them: So am I the only crazy one? The difficulty lies in continuing on one’s path, in not being taken out of the focus of the objective.” Sought-after singer-songwriter, winner of the Sanremo Festival 2020 (Make noise), Diodato is (with Michele Riondino and Roy Paci) director of One May Taranto Free and Thinking, the concert that comes in a “dark moment when thinking about tomorrow is difficult”. Music for him is also a civil commitment: «We will talk about wars, freedom of expression, work. Taranto is the emblem of a situation that seems to be unsolvable, with the constant blackmail of having to choose between health, environment and work as if it were a normal thing.” But if the Ilva theme has always been central in the event, this year it is inevitable to talk about conflicts (“it is crazy to accustom citizens to the idea that war is part of our lives”). The third civil pillar of Uno Maggio Taranto is linked to freedom of expression, “increasingly put at risk, there have been many sensational cases in recent months”.
Diodato himself was a victim of it: «It’s an experience I had at the last Sanremo, just for having supported Dargen after his anti-war statements. He, he and Ghali were called subversives for simply saying: cease fire; for speaking about humanity.” The climate has changed, the reference to the government Melons it’s clear: «In recent months the situation has worsened, the interventions on public television seem evident to me, the latest one on Scurati. I don’t remember ever having experienced such an atmosphere, I’m surprised by how easily we tend to obscure certain things, to affirm others, to criminalize people and positions. We are in a country where our institutions are unable to define themselves as anti-fascist. A crazy thing, which is neither in heaven nor on earth.”
There is the public aspect and the private one. Diodato experiences music as a personal tool of analysis: «It is an outlet to talk about what happens to me or what happens around me, it is a means of salvation. Sharing your situation puts you in touch with others and makes you feel less alone, it makes you reduce your problems, you realize that you are not the only one who feels certain emotions. Songs are a meeting place, they are hands extended towards someone: the luck of being understood by someone else helps you and gets you out of dark moments.” He uses a metaphor to illustrate the artist’s life: «When I chose to make music I bought a ticket for the roller coaster, sometimes you feel lonely.” Why? What did he have to give up? «To a normal life in the most beautiful sense of the term. At the moment I have given up on having a familyI tend to experience relationships in a frenetic manner.”
He’s a perfectionist. «I am of the sign of Virgo, perfection is an imperative». Now she has published I lit a firea live studio album, a contradiction in terms: «You have to accept the unexpected and the imperfection: it was a good challenge. Recording the vibrations of 10 musicians all together gives another sonic texture to the sounds, offers a feeling of truth that I am constantly searching for. Music helped me a lot to let go, to break down barriers, to move boundaries, to play with my little obsessions.” Another contradiction, a perfect one who aspires to get worse…
