Angelica Gori aka callamifaro: “I pay the fines and be a singer”

Today we republish this interview with Angelica Gori aka callsifaro originally published in July 2020.

Angelica Gori He replies to the video call from his bedroom, in the house of Bergamo. It is his first interview with a newspaper, they told us, so better to see each other in the face. His is very similar to that of the mother, Cristina Parodi, the same bright smile, but there is also something of the father, Giorgio Gori. We are not here to talk about her famous parents, but Angelica knows that sooner or later it touches them, now that she is here to tell her record debut. II 3 July comes out in fact Red pastathe first single of Callamifaro, the musical duo to which he is part with the guitarist Alessandro Belotti. Indie pop or ITPOP song, as it is used today, the theme is the nostalgia for a finished love and small things and habits lost with love, such as the pasta dishes with sauce cooked together. Their talent scout and artistic producer is Riccardo Zanotti, the frontman of nuclear tactical penguins, Bergamo too.

Angelica sings and writes the songs and only 18 years old (on July 24, he turned 19) has already understood that this is his way: “I want to do this in life”. He says it in a categorical tone, but given the age is spontaneous to ask them: and the studies? What do we do? Meanwhile, he clarifies, the maturity did not do it because the last two years of school has passed them into one High School English near Bristol, after leaving the classical high school in Bergamo. “I went to England because I wanted to have an experience abroad and then at the time I wrote songs in English. My dream was to put on a boy band with me as a woman singer and never come back ». Burst out laughing.

Instead she is back.
«Yes, I ran away in March, when Pandemia exploded, a few days before the Lockdown took, a daring journey with my sister, who studied in Canterbury. There were no more direct flights to Italy, we landed in Geneva and then from there several trains to get to Milan. But it was not tragic. I’m only sorry for my cactus Bruno who died during the trip ».

Did Cactus a name?
«Yes, they collect them. I like them because theoretically they are the easiest plants to keep alive, but I make them die, I don’t know why. Instead my brothers (Benedetta, 24 years old, and Alessandro, of 23, ed) study the plants, are good ».

What do your parents think of this musical project?
“They are happy that I found such a strong passion. But they look at me from afar. We all agree that this thing I want to do this on my own. I don’t want me to give me a hand in any way ».

Why?
“They are not musicians, they don’t know anything about it. And then I spent a life to hear me say that I am recommended … ».

It will have made us habit.
«Do you think everyone believes that I don’t pay the fines in Bergamo! And they also ask me if I do the favor of taking away those who took them … but are you crazy? I pay them all! ».

Other inconveniences?
«The photos. The people who stop them on the street and I have to take the photo. But joke, it’s not a big problem. My parents then always protected us from visibility, they never put us in front of the spotlight. In this way we grew up as normal guys ».

With great possibilities?
«Yes, I had the opportunity to travel a lot, I feel really lucky. Mine have always been good at showing us the beautiful realities of the world, but also the toughest ones. I hope I don’t be a spoiled girl. Then I must say that they are quite “laborers”, they never gave us a lot of money … ».

Everyone knows in Bergamo?
«I am naive, I never think someone approaches me by convenience, I think everyone is good. Then since I returned from England he hasn’t remembered any of me anymore … ».

Will he no longer return to England?
“No, it was a wonderful experience, but strangely I discovered that I wanted to write songs in Italian, so my place is here now.”

Don’t you want to continue their studies?
“They encourage me to be a musician but they also tell me: since you are not yet a star, go to be university, then you will see.”

Is university a thorny topic?
“A bit’. It should be done, I have to do it. That is, I actually don’t want to do it, but if I think responsibly I know I have to study. I hope the day will come when I can stop. I think I will study design in Milan, let’s see. I also did the test for Bocconi, but okay, I don’t want to go there ».

And where do you want to go?
“To play! The university is my plan B. My real project is music and I am lucky to have understood it so soon ».

How did the passion for music come about?
«I practiced rhythmic gymnastics on a competitive level, I trained five hours a day. With the beginning of the classical high school I had to stop, I could not do both well. So I found myself another interest, I started playing the guitar ».

Why the guitar?
«My uncle Roberto, my mother’s brother, has always played her. At home, after dinner, we all start singing with him. I have always liked the magic that is created in those moments ».

What music do you listen to?
“Much. I grew up with British indie rock: Arctic Monkeys, Libertines, The Cooks, etc. Then I discovered the Italian songwriting, De André above all ».

Then how did it go?
«I was very passionate, so much that my parents confiscated my guitar and they returned it to me in the evening, otherwise I didn’t study. Then I started collaborating with Alessandro Belotti, my friend, known in high school. At the beginning I wrote only in English, he prompted me to write in Italian. We were at my house, where we recorded the first pieces very badly. Meanwhile, I loaded on Instagram video of me I sang the covers and a certain point I saw that it started to follow the account of the nuclear tactical penguins ».

And how did you know them?
«One evening, at the Filagosto Festival near Bergamo, we find them behind us in the line to enter. I am ashamed to attack button, Alessandro instead turns and presents himself. We spend the whole evening together and in the end we talk to him about our project and make him listen to a few pieces. Riccardo says that the songs are beautiful, that he likes the stamp of my voice, but the production is terrible. And he was right! Then he offered to work with us and helped us a lot in the production precisely ».

Red pasta Is it an autobiographical song?
«No, I imagined two characters – she brown hair and blue eyes, he darkened curls – who meet after leaving. And he is still in love with her. I can’t wait to finish the album ».

Is there an album coming?
“We will not make holidays this summer, we will dedicate ourselves only to the disc. And then I dream of playing it live, when you can, we hope shortly ».

How did you live these months of Lockdown in Bergamo, the city most affected by the Coronavirus?
“Here, no one sang from the balconies. We only heard the sound of the sirens of ambulances every two minutes. It was incredible. Fortunately, we managed to create a positive microclimate at home and the virus reported all together, as hadn’t happened for some time. None of us fell ill, we were lucky ».

His father was criticized for the invitation not to stop and not to close at home at the beginning of the epidemic.
“There was a period in which it was the same virologists who minimized, politicians reflected their opinions. Then my dad is always my dad. He is a very honest person, he is the first to recognize his mistakes. And in fact he apologized ».

Do you like politics?
“Yes, it has always interested me, I had also thought of studying political science, before I understood that I wanted to be a musician.”

It seems very determined.
“I am. Also because one thing like Callamifaro does not exist in Italy: there are few indie women’s singers ».

How can you see in a few years?
«Investigated and happy, on tour that I enjoy, it would be a dream to go to Sanremo. I guess with blue hair. When I really be an artist I will color them ».

Photo by Laura Stramacchia