ANDY HOWELLS chats with Italian singer/songwriter MARI whose new CD Gentle Beauty is produced by former Zero 7 singer Mozez

Do you come from a musical background?

I’ve always been immersed in music, since I was very young.

I started to study piano but most of all vocals in a music school of Ro me, after a few years I continued to study with an opera teacher, fully discovering the potential of my voice.

How did you get into the music business?

I started to sing for fun in a soul band and I met some important artists who introduced me in the music business.

I did a lot of concerts with different bands and musicians, so working with them and meeting people has been very important for me.

This gave me the chance to have more exposure and opportunities.

How did you come to work with Mozez?

I have always been a huge fan of him and Zero 7, since their very first album Simple Things. I met Mozez during one of his gigs in Italy. On that occasion we started to talk and later I sent him some of my demos .

What are your musical inspirations?

I listen all type of music, but artists such as Zero 7, Goldfrapp, Air, Thievery Corporations and bands like Massive Attack and Portishead are my favourite ones. And Mozez of course !

How did the album Gentle Beauty come about?

Gentle Beauty is my manifesto.

I couldn’t live my life without searching for the beauty in all the things that surround me and everyone. And kindness and respect between people, even if sometimes is hard to see those things among all life’s difficulties.

This album speaks profoundly about my vision of life which I tried to deliver with my music. I felt the need to cover my emotions and my feeling in my songs.

Some of the tracks have lots of wonderful instrumentation supplemented by your superb vocals – how long did Free for instance take to put together?

Well, Free and the rest of the songs in general took a lot of time to put together. It has been a hard and long job, about two years.

Blue is my Favourite Colour with Mozez is a wonderfully strong collaboration was that great fun to make?

Blue Is my Favourite Colour was written by myself, Mozez and Vincenzo Incenzo who is a well known italian author and friend of mine.

I would say it has been interesting seeing Mozez during the construction of the song. I love how he described the story of the character of this song , who could be any person .

What are you working on now and what plans have you got for the future?

I’m working with some remixers to get remixes of some of my songs.

One song , Free, has already been remixed by the DJ and producer Ray Mang.

At the moment I am starting to write down some ideas for my next album. I’m also rehearsing with my band to be ready soon and spread my music all around.

Keep in touch with Mari online:

  • mariofficial.com
  • twitter. com/mari_official
  • myspace.com/marikonti
  • youtube.com/user/marimusicofficial