Leonardo Di Angilla

“Playing with Lorenzo is an extraordinary thing!”

By Elisa Panto

Leo Di Angilla, for all Jovanotti’s percussionist, in addition to being a great musician also has many other passions. One among all? the race.

• Leo, at the end of June, ran the 10 km of Jesolo, how did it go?
  It went very well, I had a good time, in despite of the hot day! Lately I have been preparing to run almost barefoot, in very light sandals. The route was very beautiful and suggestive, between canals and promenades. In the afternoon we also presented my book “Rhythm for running”.
• Can you tell us how the passion for percussion was born?
  Since I was a child! I started studying drums and then, at the age of 17-18, I went to see a Litfiba concert, Candelo Cabezas was on the percussion and I fell in love with this world.
• For many you are Jovanotti’s percussionist, is this an appellative you like or do you consider yourself more than that?
  Playing with Lorenzo is an extraordinary thing, he is the Italian artist with whom I have most fun to play with, he has a huge musical culture and he is a great researcher of sounds. Of course, I don’t just do that, I walk many other artistic paths.
• In fact, you have worked with many Italian and international artists, what were your most intense experiences?
  With each artist I live unique experiences, each collaboration is a source of enrichment for me, like a few years ago the European tour with Mike Patton, the lead singer of Faith No More.
• Your favorite instrument?
  For many years I have played the pandeiro, a frame drum of Brazilian culture and then the Peruvian cajon, a wooden box you sit on, widely used for its immediacy in acoustic pop.
• Even before the pandemic you had already set up an online teaching platform, can you tell us about this project?
  Not always being able to ensure continuity for my students, I started recording courses for each instrument. Thus my online percussion school was born, to which everybody can subscribe, with a first week of free trial.
• Your typical day when you are at home and during a tour?
  At home I get up at 5 and I have a precise routine, I do physical activity, I read and study, I organize my day, I have breakfast and I go to the studio until the evening. When I’m on tour there is no typical day! It is a very dynamic life.
• A little while ago you mentioned your book, can you tell us something about it?
  In 2019 I was on tour with Lorenzo on the beaches and I wanted to do the Venice Marathon. I prepared myself during the tour, playing in the evening and doing exercises in the morning. I documented this experience by taking notes that became a book.
• Future projects?
  I’m working on a reggae project with the guitarist from Alborosie, a fellow countryman who has become a superstar in Jamaica and then on a new album with Gaudi, another Italian musician who has been living in London for years. And finally, which is fundamental for me, I always go on studying!