I’ve been here for about 15 years…
15 YEARS IN MILAN
… Alice is 14 years old, so my roots date back to about fifteen years ago.
DIFFICULT BEGINNING
I was a misfit, totally unconventional and, above all, in disarray. Even when our daughter Alice was born, at the beginning, I felt I still had to adjust, I still had to understand this city, to get to know it and its people, their mentality and attitude.
MAKE PEACE WITH MILAN
Milan is different from Rome, it is clearly smaller, more practical, well served by the metro that takes you everywhere… this puts me at peace because I like to be able to easily get everywhere… obviously if you compare it with Rome, well, the artistic heritage is different …
AT FULL SPEED
I fell in love with the mentality and the fast pace of this city, people go straight to the point, rather than in Rome where, as far as my job is concerned, it’s all “stamo” “famo” “dimo” “se beccamo” “annamo ar bar ” (Roman colloquial expressions for ‘blah blah’), but then nothing ever gets done! Here every day, even when I don’t work as a singer since I don’t always work as Syria, I do public relations, I get something done, I learn to do something different … and I love it!
MILAN’S EFFECT
It changed me in a positive way because every day I’m very busy, it makes me versatile, it’s a fun city… speaking as a mom, as a worker, thinking about what this city has to offer my children…
ROME-MILAN: ONE WAY TICKET
I wouldn’t go back to live in Rome, I’m fine in Milan and I think I’ll stay here… I’ve never been better than during these last years…
PIERPA, MUSIC AND I
I share my life with Pierpaolo and we are on the same page, we live in the city with the advantage of involving a certain group of people, because now I’m in a place where we often happen to organize events, DJ sets, involve friends, not only DJs, exchange information, we play music… we spend evenings confronting each other and having fun… this verve makes me feel good… It doesn’t take much! We are not looking for who knows what…
THANKS PAOLO (ROSSI)
Paolo Rossi was crucial for me, Paolo taught me a new approach to life, to my work, to my presence on the stage, to music… he was the first one… I could make you an endless list of all the things Paul did for me, I love and respect him very much…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR FO
Let me tell you a story… During a show at the Strehler theatre Paolo asked me to get out of a giant cake dressed as Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy birthday Mr. Fo”. Dario Fo was in the audience!
MUSICAL ENCOUNTERS
I owe a lot to Cesare Malfatti of La Crus, who was the producer of one of my albums I love the most. I benefited a lot from him and his great musical culture, he did a lot for me, more or less when I was working with Paolo… That was a period of radical changes, with important encounters… A part from Mauro Ermanno Giovanardi of La Crus… with him I shared a lot of concerts… essential person… but sorry if in the first place I put my husband Pierpaolo because my life changed with him… I joined Pierpaolo in Milan, the Roman Pierpaolo had been living here for years… and the nice thing is that I met a Roman who loved this city and showed me how to fall in love with it… as much as feelings are concerned I clearly must thank him, special things happened… I started understanding Milan because at the beginning…
NEW ROOTS
We met travelling around in Italy, but when he opened his house door to me and invited me to believe more in this city and to try to understand if I wanted to come and live here… At the beginning I was a bit scared, I was homesick. After a year Alice arrived and since then I started to gradually settle in.
This city allows me to study and learn many things that I couldn’t imagine when I was In Rome, and younger… things I didn’t even want to examine in depth… Here I can focus more.
INSECURE
In Milan I no longer feel that uneasiness I felt when I was in Rome. In Rome I was a bit restless, a bit insecure… I wandered.
COSMOPOLITAN CITY
There are also problems in this city, there are people without a job, but in general I see it as a cosmopolitan city, a welcoming city… People who work in an artistic field have the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and propose themselves. Before Pierpaolo, but more or less at the same time, I met some people who lived here and who treated me like one of the group… as a Roman in Milan I felt valued… as a person to discover.
MILAN DISTRICTS I LOVE
I like Brera, because some alleys or corners remind me of Rome… I gladly go to the old Milan and sometimes I curl up there… Then as a contrast I also like to go to the modern Milan… towards Piazza Gae Aulenti… the skyscrapers district… It feels like being in an international city that looks to the future. It is like a huge bubble of modernity… I like that contrast. I am also a romantic who goes to Parco Sempione, in the most beautiful playground of the city that I enjoy together with my son. All great artists and DJs make a stop at the Fabrique, a huge new club where you can find all the major music artists.
FINANCIAL STABILITY
When I got here I was already doing this job, I was in my twenties, and so I was financially safe… when I arrived here I could afford to rent a flat and have a good life.
I WOULDN’T GIVE UP…
If I had to go for a fun walk… on a sunny day I’d go on the last Sunday of the month to the market of the Naviglio Grande… that makes me feel I am at Porta Portese!
WHAT I MISS THE MOST
I miss my mom! I miss my mother in Rome, lately I’d like to talk to her every second of my day. You know when you feel the need to cry on mommy’s shoulder… That’s what I miss the most!