The Måneskin’s path toward glory and worldwide recognition started for the forth with their win with the song “Zitti e buoni” on Eurovision 2021. They formed the band six years ealier in Rome. Victoria de Angelis (bass) and Thomas Raggi (solo guitar) were playing together in high school. The vocalist Damiano David joined. Ethan Torchio the drummer was found trough a Facebook ad. And… all four replaced hanging out with friends with rehearsals after school, playing in the streets and restaurants. They came up with the band’s name because of a music competition for beginner bands. Måneskin means “moonlight” in Danish. The idea was Victoria’s, who is half Danish, half Italian. 2017 Måneskin were second on the Italian XFactor. And if you watch their performances you will see exactly this factor in them, the golden ratio of talent, the flame on stage, the alchemy that drives the audience crazy. Their first album Il ballo della vita appeared 2018. Their European tour with 70 dates was completely sold out. 2019 and 2020 they were living in London and recording. 2021 they released their second album Teatro d’ira: Vol. I. Before Eurovision they have sold one million copies of it in Italy. Their 2022 tour expanded to include America and Japan. They were invited in Ellen DeGeneres show, and warm up for the Rolling Stones. The Los Angeles Times named them “America’s New Favorite Rock Band.”

Albums and songs of Måneskin have 48 gold sales certificates, 241 platinum and 18 diamond. In 2022, their songs are streamed 6.5 billion times. Among their awards are “Best Rock Song” by Billboard and “Best Alternative Video” at the MTV VMAs. They have Brit nominations, NMA nominations, Kerrang nominations, four American Music Awards nominations for “New Artist”, “Favorite Rock Artist”, “Favorite Rock Song” and “Favorite Pop Group”.

The occasion for our exclusive interview with them was their album and Grammy nominations for both “Best New Artist” and “Best Compilation Soundtrack” (the soundtrack to the movie Elvis, which includes the song “If I Can Dream” by Måneskin).

Hello, Måneskin. Congratulations on your Grammy nominations! Your USA tour for 2023 is completely sold out, as are almost all of your European dates. In the last two years you topped the world charts. How do you feel about being famous? How did your life change?

Victoria: We’ve always wanted to make a living doing what we do and what we love, sharing our music with as many people as possible.

Ethan: Fame and success are just a coincidence. They became part of our lives, our journey together. We don’t focus on them. The important thing is that we’re friends. It’s still weird and surprising to me that so many people you don’t know know you.

Thomas: On the other hand, we have much less time now. At any given moment we have to do something definite. And it has to happen right in the moment. That taught me to enjoy the moments.

Victoria: Yes. You begin to appreciate things more. It’s also nice to be able to travel around the world and meet fantastic people, our favorite artists. It’s opened up a new world for us, full of possibilities.

I saw a picture of you with Mick Jagger!

Victoria: Yes, we were supporting the Rolling Stones in Las Vegas. And we met up with him and Keith Richards. They’re our idols. We grew up playing their songs. It was amazing to be able to talk to them! So exciting! Keith said, “I don’t know who you are, but I figured you play rock. And keep it up!” And Mick advised us not to take anyone’s advice.

Damiano: Fantastic things have happened to us in the last two years. We played with Iggy Pop. We’ve met almost half of our childhood idols – Red Hot Chilly Peppers, Guns and Roses, Mettalica, so many of these big, big bands that we really look up to. We got nominations for the Grammys, too.

How will you celebrate the award when you get it?

Vic: Oh, don’t say that! We hope to get it, but in Italy it’s considered bad luck to talk about something before it’s happened.

Oh! We stop immediately! Your album cover is interesting. Whose idea was it?

Vic: In this album we wanted to tell everything that happened to us in the last few years – the chances we had, the dynamics, everything that happened and consumed us. On the cover we wanted to have a picture of the four of us lying on the ground and a woman jumping on us. It could be taken as something interesting that we like, but also as something dangerous because it could fall on our heads. And each of us has different reactions, which shows how we go through stress this year as well. Sometimes happy, sometimes interested, sometimes scared. But in Rush! we also try to embrace our differences and celebrate the four personalities of all four of us.

How much of the magic in your music is due to fact you are Italian?

Damiano: I think the fact that we are Italian is more evident in our style of dressing, our communication with people and with each other. We are all very connected to the country we were born in and the industry we are in. And maybe people like that. Although while we were singing on the streets of Rome, I was often shouted at not to walk around in a leopard skin coat because I’m not Mick Jagger. But who can say something like that! I just follow myself.

Is it true that you decide how to dress yourself? How many clothes do you have in your closet?

Vic: Mine is about to explode.

Damiano: But when we’re talking to the press, giving interviews or on stage, we’re not wearing our clothes.

What a day of yours looks like?

D: It starts with a coffee and a cigarette – pam, pam! To get the machine going. We still look for espresso everywhere we travel. (Laughs.) With very bad results.

Ethan: I’m getting into the day slowlier. I need to get everything in order, clean up, make my bed. That’s how my brain works. In the first few hours I don’t talk. And it’s very helpful to start the day thinking without talking or saying anything. It helps a lot.

Damiano: A cigarette and coffee is enough.

Vic: And vodka?!!! (Victoria and Damiano look at each other.)

Damiano: And then – it depends what we do. If we’re on a campaign for the album like now, for example, we get up early, have our make-up done and then promote all day. We go from office to office, from TV to TV. When we have a gig, it’s more relaxed. We have the morning free, the afternoon we’re just at the show venue, getting changed and going on stage.

What do you do in your leisure time?

Damiano: Nothing. We shop, we eat.

Victoria: We eat and party.

Or do you play chess with Ethan?

Damiano: We don’t play chess with him. He’s too good.

Ethan: Almost… I’m getting close to being good.

You recorded a lot of your new album Rush! on the road – in LA and Japan. How did that affect your music?

Vic: Yes, both in the Italian countryside and in Brazil during the tour. The album was influenced a lot by our trip. Each place has left a special mark on us – meeting different local artists, speaking different languages, working in different studios. This inspired us for the writing and recording process.

Thomas: The opportunity to work with Tom Morello (from Rage Against the Machine on the track “Gossip”) was also very exciting. I had the opportunity to just improvise with him and learn a lot of cool stuff. And it was inspiring for me.

Damiano: On this album, people will get a feel for us individually. And we have yet to change many many times. Or at least I hope we will.

What inspires you? What provoked you to write my favorite song of yours, The Loneliest, for example?

Damiano: I wrote it in the last days of our stay in the US. We were hours, hours of flying far from my friends and family. I was missing them and my girlfriend a lot. I was feeling like missing a part of me to be completely happy and I wanted to write about that.

Damiano, you had a birthday recently (January 8) and you are born on the same date as David Bowie and Elvis Presley. Do you feel made to be a star?

Damiano (Smiiiling): Yes, of course! But I don’t know when I figured it out. It didn’t suddenly occur to me. I realized it gradually.

Victoria: He’s very modest.

Damiano: Yes, I am a modest artist.

What were your dreams when you started in music?

Damiano: For big live concerts.

Victoria: It seemed amazing to play in front of 50 people.

Thomas: What you see now is the result of a process. We weren’t dreaming up anything special. We just wanted to play live. And to become musicians in general.

Damiano: Something bigger is happening for us.

Victoria: I think if we had seen as kids what we’re doing now, we would have been speechless and probably wouldn’t have believed it. It’s amazing because it was our dream. Damiano would have been disappointed to see his head shaved like that, but we certainly would have been just as happy and grateful as we are now.

How much money were you making when you were playing on the street?

Damiano: 100 euros.

Victoria: Nooo! About 50 a day, with a lot of luck.

Thomas: I remember one guy who gave us 10 euros in a lump and we couldn’t believe it.

What are you fighting among yourselves about?

Damiano: About everything. Hahaha. Nooo! We fight about things related to work and songwriting and schedules.

Victoria: We get heated the most about music. We have different ideas and different tastes, all four of us, and we have to make something that really appeals to each other, and that’s important to us. But we fight in a normal and healthy way, like members of a family.

And what makes you close and friends?

Victoria: Everything – our passion for music, our dreams, the satisfaction of what we have achieved and built together, the fact that we support each other. We grew up together and half of our lives have been together. There is a bond between us that cannot be described.

Thomas: We are more than friends. We make art together, we share a lot of beautiful and important moments in our careers and our lives.

Victoria: We are lucky to be together and doing the work we are passionate about. The party never ends. Over the past two years we’ve made some of our wildest dreams come true – not only meeting the big music stars we admire, but also performing at fantastic festivals. And we’re so happy, but we don’t fix at on what’s happening. We take what happens to us as an adventure every day and try to make the most of every moment. It’s stressful and it’s a lot of work, but it’s always fun and that makes it all worthwhile and meaningful. And we save ourselves to be creative and follow where life and the scene lead us. We’re ready for anything.

You’ve met audiences in so many countries. Which audience was the most exciting for you?

Damiano: Every time we play live is special because we’re on a different stage in front of thousands of different people, but if you had to pick a show in the last year, it can’t be just one. Still, it was very interesting when we went to Japan. We didn’t know what to expect. It is a very different country especially from our own country. We were warned that people there are quite quiet and follow some rules during a concert, but when we went on stage and started playing, we found ourselves in the opposite situation and in front of the wildest crowd we’ve ever seen. This contrast made the experience very special and unforgettable.

Victoria: The audience is one of the most important elements to make the show happen at our shows. It influences us a lot. Our real show happens when we get energy from the public.

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What would you be doing if you weren’t playing music?

Damiano: Producing music, writing music.

Vic: To be homeless and lonely.

Ethan: Did you say homeless? Why?

Damiano: Rather homeless.

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And how do you see yourself in five years?

Vic: We’ll be a little older…

Damiano: Thirty-something.

Ethan: A little bit wiser.

Vic: Still cool and hot and sexy. And we’ll keep playing.

Ethan: Always!

Damiano: Of course. That only makes sense.

Vic: And more mature.

Damiano: I don’t think so.