In less than a five years, Damiano David (Rome, 26 years old) has completed the paradox of every young rock icon: to emerge as a reference for his free and authentic image to be found, for the expectations of others, suffocated in the limits of that image. “I felt prisoner of what it meant for people, of the prism from which they saw me and judged my actions,” says the singer who, in 2021, at the head of Måneskin, triumphed in Eurovision and gave Italy its first victory in more than three decades. With aesthetics glam, Attitude and charisma in Raudales, the band suddenly became an international phenomenon. The videos of that Damiano night in meshes, makeup and exhibiting a bare leg to the media while hurrying a bottle of champagne, ran like gunpowder. Rock & Roll was scandalous again (for whom I would like to scandalize). Clichés, the musician until he had to pass an anti -drug test, in which he gave negative.
The current Damiano is, on the other hand, something like the perfect son -in -law, a food, pleasant, who wears elegant shirts and is very well combed. The vocalist of the group on which many put the heavy slab of rock saviors opens alone with an album, Funny little Fears, recorded in the US in English, which is published on May 16 and will present from June on a world tour that includes two concerts in Spain (Barcelona and Madrid, September 21 and 22). The album turns to a soft pop that some have compared to Harry Styles. He has no problem. For those who, before fulfilling the fourth century, had already collaborated through his band with legends such as Iggy Pop or Tom Morello, self -affirm and doing what one wants is what the matter is essentially going. “Måneskin’s rock generated our identity together. My identity as a soloist is different from that of the band, so this sound is the result of looking for myself,” he explains in an interview with El País on a recent visit to Madrid. What do your classmates think of this new course? Damiano laughs. “Some songs like, others less.”
With production of the British Labrinth, the creator of the soundtrack of the series Euphoriathe tone of the issues is also more introspective. Of Born With A Broken Heart, one of the singles, He details that “being born with a broken heart” is not just a phrase resulta for a chorus: “It was a feeling that I had, I felt misfit for relationships and love in general. I had an unfortunate period, so I started thinking that the problem was in me. Happily, it is something that I have resolved.” when he lost the anonymity that he had left – Msåneskin were known in Italy since his participation in 2017 in the Talents Contest Factor X—, Damiano David was a couple of the Giorgia Soleri model. In 2023 they left him and now he maintains a scrutiny relationship with Dove Cameron, American actress known by Disney’s film The descendants (2015), with whom he lives in Los Angeles.
“Being an exposed person and maintaining a relationship with another exposed person, it is impossible and also useless to try to hide anything. I also think that, of all the things that one may want to hide, a relationship should really be the latest,” he reflects.
This does not mean that part of the runrún bothers him. For example, those who hint that yours is a “public relations relationship”, As they call in the Anglo -Saxon mentions the false couples of celebrities mounted by advertising interest. “I don’t think these couples exist, nobody has the energy to externally carry a relationship that does not contribute anything emotionally. It is crazy. My relationship is strong. In the end, it depends on a couple not to let the external noise between home, because on the mobile screen is all the hatred of the world. If you do not look at it, it does not affect you. Although sometimes you have to answer, do not give freedom to the people to say what they want to say what they want. He misses the “feeling of invisibility” of not being famous, but, with nice Italian chulería, he acknowledges that he lives very well. “I am free to do what I want, I have many comforts, I travel if I can. If I put my two lives on a balance, the one now wins.”
-Of the Old and Multirreferential DNA of Måneskin somewhat in the solo work of Damian Born With A Broken Heart or the emulation of Freddie Mercury in Silverlinesboth in his leaves and in the unmistakable mustache and t -shirt that looks in the video. “Right now I feel that my aesthetics is this and that the music I am doing can be represented by those references, but it is not a plan studied. I do it alone because it seems to me a fun exercise, if I like something I tend to steal it!”, He admits with humor.
Gone are the makeup, dresses or accessories of their previous stage, the fluid style that conquered so many fans and public LGTBIQ+. “I never had the objective of being the champion of this, of deconstruct All of us are a mixture of masculinity and femininity, and the best thing we can do is accept both. ”
Damiano David valued to include a song in Spanish on his new album, but lay down for fear of being incurring “cultural appropriation.” “I really like flamenco, bachata and also reggaeton in general, but it is a different culture to mine. Before getting a song out of nowhere I want to be accepted in that context, which means perhaps doing some collaborations with Spanish artists first,” he explains. He says that being in a band was, in that sense, a school that gave him a more cooperative vision of art. “Music is a team sport and having people you respect in the same room is always added value.” However, he adds: “If you have a very, very clear idea, of which you are sure from beginning to end, it is also correct to carry out a project on your own.”
Måneskin, in any case, are not dissolved, as his team clarifies from before the interview. Damiano says that his solo incursion was not a surprise for anyone within the group, which had spoken to take a long break after his last tour and that he is also enjoying the steps that the bassist Victoria de Angelis is giving, “top World Cup, the best DJ in the world. “” I think [Måneskin] We arrived at a time when music was becoming very homogeneous, “he analyzes.” It’s not a bad thing, music progresses, culture advances, everything merges and will always sound like something old, it is the law of large numbers. But we were considered a bit weirdos, for our way of dressing, of speaking, of being on stage, for music. That we hugged that condition and turned it into our strength made the youngest that, sometimes, being different can be great. ”
With the group, the contestant spirit occasionally led to the political sphere. He declared that he seemed “antiartist” the neutrality maintained by some musicians for fear of losing public, to claim the “Fuck Putin!” (“That Putin fucks!”) That shouted at Måneskin’s concerts after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nor did he hesitate to attack Bolsonaro or describe as “sad day” for Italy the victory of Giorgia Meloni from his Instagram account. Now, about the labyrinth of the Eurovision organizers with the non -sanction of Israel for the accusations of genocide in Gaza, he affirms that he has an opinion, but that he prefers to keep it. “They are complicated conversations, but I think that asking the singers is also a bit violent, because first of all we are singers and we have very little information.” Damiano is confessed concerned about the horizon. “Our generation is living a historical moment that will be studied. It is difficult to talk about it because it is happening now and everything is close, but I also feel fear and anxiety for many things.” Big and reasonable fears. For the album and tour of Funny Little Fears, That he has everything exhausted in his passage through Barcelona and Madrid, he already warns from the name: he will focus on small fears.
