Music: His Saving Grace
Music has always been his saving grace and interviewing him is not easy. Partly due to his reserve, partly because you always end up talking about songs. Virginio Simonelli, known simply as Virginio, born in 1985, has spent his life immersed in seven notes, his very own cross and delight: he debuted in 2006 on the Ariston stage among the Young with Davvero, after four years of silence he was among the Friends of Maria De Filippi. He won the talent and at the same time began a career as a songwriter for pop stars such as Elisa, Kylie Minogue, Raf and Laura Pausini, with whom he won a Latin Grammy for the album Hazte sentir. On May 26th the single Il giorno con la notte in duet with Teo Bok will be released. I hear him while he is getting ready to be one of the surprises that Paola & Chiara have given to the public for the Roman date of their Per sempre tour. On that occasion he sang with the sisters Iezzi the song written for them: Milleluci.
Lights and Shadows
Milleluci. Il giorno con la notte, Milleluci… what have been the most significant lights and shadows so far? “Music has been the light of my life, it has saved me from shadows, from extreme situations capable of changing me and making me grow. Now, however, I feel more aware and ready not to cling only to music, for a long time my only buoy in the open sea.” What does he mean when he talks about extreme situations? “As a teenager, my being different, physically petite, with glasses, sensitive, was a reason for mockery. Some people let these things slide and some suffer. When you are small and you cannot fit in with your peers it is hard. That phase marked me, at some moments I thought of complicated solutions… but I don’t want to go any further. I was lucky to have attentive parents: they saw what was happening outside and inside me, turning on a light.”
Complicated Solutions
Can I forgive me if I insist, but what are the complicated solutions to which he refers? “Let’s put it this way, when I was little many things were not explicit, there was no awareness. That is why I go to schools, I talk about bullying and cyberbullying. This awareness makes me happy and when I write songs I try to make people feel less alone.” Why? “Because I needed to be understood: understanding between human beings is an outstretched hand, even if invisible.” Does loneliness make you suffer, but you have chosen a profession where you are often alone in the midst of many people… “I am lucky to have always had people around me who were convinced of my talent, they did not make me feel the loneliness too much. I am fine alone, but we are social beings and the pandemic has highlighted this.” So? “There is a need to exchange energy on a physical level.” Let’s go back to his career. He was the first one, after taking part in Sanremo, to try the talent show card… “It’s true, I was also the first songwriter to win a talent.”
