Italian Rock Band Måneskin Slays On Both Sides of the Atlantic
Italian Rock Band Måneskin Slays On Both Sides of the Atlantic
So why do so many Italians hate them?
It’s an interesting relationship we have with cultural icons when we’re young. For a while, they’re older than we are—most of them, anyway. A few years later, they appear to be roughly our same age. But enough birthdays go by and we eventually realize, to our horror, that we are now centuries older than everybody we see onscreen. And that’s how I feel about Italy’s new rockstar group Måneskin.
Victoria de Angelis, the group’s only female member, is twenty-one. I’ve got socks older than that. Damiano David, the band’s charismatic frontman, is twenty-three. Ethan Torchio, Måneskin’s drummer (he just happened to respond to a Facebook ad looking for percussionists) is twenty-one, and he has better hair than I do. Lead guitarist Thomas Raggi is also twenty-one. I find myself wondering if they’re old enough to handle what’s coming for them. Unaccountably, I find myself wanting to protect them from the grotesque and crippling disease that is fame.
In the event that you’re holed up in Fiji, blissfully insensible to the cultural effluvia of our Western Hemisphere, Måneskin is an Italian rock band that formed in 2016. They are significant for several reasons, most notably because they are doing what very few, if any, Italian rock bands have ever done before: exporting their music across the Atlantic.
It usually works in reverse. American artists pump out hit after hit that get played on radio stations across Italy, and Italian music stays in Italy. There is a general disdain in the U.S. and the U.K. for Italian pop, rock, and rap, due perhaps to the language barrier. But I suspect it has more to do with the American abhorrence of all things foreign. This is a prejudice I do not share, to be clear, and I have every intention of introducing some of my favorite Italian rap artists to English-speaking audiences in future Cappuccinos.
Speaking of English, Måneskin’s phenomenal success is due in part to their facility with the language. Victoria and Damiano are fluent speakers, which is rare in Italy. Italian is far more beautiful, but like it or not, English is the language of expansion.
Three members of Måneskin—Damiano, Victoria, and Thomas—met at high school in Rome. After recruiting Ethan (he’s from Frosinone, roughly 100 kilometers south of Rome), they started busking on the Eternal City’s famed Via del Corso, charming locals and tourists alike with their pop/alternative/glam rock stylings. Their hard work paid off in 2017 when they participated in the eleventh season of Italy’s X Factor, finishing second. Their original song, “Chosen,” was released as a single by Sony Music, where it came in at number two on the Italian FIMI Singles chart.
They followed up on that success with the release of their first album, Il Ballo della Vita (The Dance of Life), which also topped the charts in Italy. Måneskin’s maiden tour, held between 2017-2018, was a smash, selling out over 70 shows and shoring up a fan base that can only be described as insanely devoted.
But the real shocker to this Cinderella story came on March 6, 2021, when the band won the prestigious Sanremo Music Festival with their hit song, “Zitti e Buoni” (Be Quiet and Good), blowing past artists whose music had long held appeal for the conservative Italian public. Many Italians were appalled by Damiano’s androgynous costumes and Gothy lipstick. The very theatrically of Måneskin’s stage persona made them easy to dismiss as “unserious,” or “the kind of showy nonsense that appeals to Americans and the British.”
When Måneskin went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Italy in 2021, they were rattling enough cages to get talked about in the most malicious, underhanded way possible. Rumors flew that the band members, Damiano in particular, were on drugs—a falsehood he immediately refuted by submitting to, and passing, a drug test. Måneskin is very public about their anti-drug views, a sentiment expressed by Damiano himself in an Italian Vogue interview when he said, “We are not falling into the stereotype of the alcoholic and drugged rock star. [Creativity comes from a] healthy, trained, and lucid mind, [making it impossible to bind] ourselves to something that instead makes us dependent slaves.”
Their rock anthem “Zitti e Buoni” soon became the first Italian song in 30 years to make it to the Top 20 Singles Chart in the U.K., and now with a star turn on American late night darling Saturday Night Live, Måneskin is set to storm the U.S. pop-rock scene with all the swagger of Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz.
Here’s why, in defiance of the Italian old guard and the grumbling of music critics, I support bands like Måneskin.
I love Italy with the heat of a thousand suns, but that does not blind me to her faults. Artistically, she peaked during the High Renaissance, achieving feats of craftsmanship, engineering, and brilliance the world has never seen, before or since. Taken on the aggregate, Italians are so absurdly talented, it’s hard to categorize everything they’re good at, but these days, Italy is resting on her laurels. So much effort is spent trying to “preserve tradition,” there’s no room left to innovate. The fresh, the new, the young, the exciting are largely frowned upon, scoffed at, rejected, for no other reason than “failing to pay proper respect” to the maestri that came before them.
Yes, I know I’m American. Yes, I know Americans are no respecters of history. Yes, I know Italy is not my native culture. But if Italy doesn’t join the 21st century, at least artistically, then all it’s ever going to have are memories of a glorious and cobwebby past.
That’s why Italy needs Måneskin. It needs Damiano’s gender fluidity. It needs Victoria’s open bisexuality. It needs a band that can cross cultural barriers and gender barriers and the barrier of the Atlantic Ocean.
Måneskin doesn’t need Italy. Italy needs Måneskin. And America needs Måneskin. Americans need to know that Italy is far more than just a glass of Brunello and a plate of pasta. Italy is still bursting with creative juices.
Can you say, “Move over, Anthony Kiedis”? Because I truly believe the Red Hot Chili Peppers just got a thrilling new international update.
What are your thoughts about Måneskin? I’d love to hear. Please leave your comments below.
I am a Canadian living in Italy for the past seven years and have been following Måneskin since seeing them on X-factor. They absolutely scream talent and I was head over heals when they won Eurovision. You could see it was a huge upset and the knives came out early with all the speculation about Damino's alleged public coke sniffing at the Finale. I loved it when he turned around and took a drug test and passed. And now it is great to see them so successful internationally. They have worked hard for this and deserve to be where they are.
I never realized that I heard of them before in the background of social media. However, this is the first time I realize their popularity in America. This is a pretty interesting peice. Thanks for sharing.