This article is published in issue 24/25 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until June 21, 2022
To tell who he is today, a new man without fear, he often quotes his paternal grandfather, Sestilio, an ancient man without knots. From him she learned how to make mozzarella and ricotta, how to plant tomatoes, and that certain things in life are unforgivable. Among the most serious: avoiding fatigue, disrespecting the Earth, not believing that the best futures often take the run-up to uncertain present. On one leg, “like a flamingo” he says, after getting himself broken the crusader falling on a moped less than a month from early stages in over ten years of career, Marco Mengoni he is not (anymore) worried. Faithful to the teachings of the family, he pushes on physiotherapy and concert rehearsals. In the historic recording studios along the Navigli of Milan he has already abandoned the crutches, and also the guardian. The Bermuda shorts reveal just the word Carmen tattooed on the right thigh, from Karma. She just finished to sing The essential: «The heroes support /“ If the going gets tough, it’s to be played ”». In the comings and goings of choristers and musicians, Marco takes the time to leave from afar, from a child who played to provoke the wind, like a X-Manin the garden of their home in Ronciglione, 8 thousand souls in Upper Lazio, and that now, 61 platinum discs laterhas himself become the wind of change, especially of one green conscience among artists who, due to inertia or selfishness, are not yet viral.
Let’s start here, with its commitment to the environment.
«It was born long before the partnership with National Geographic and the campaign Planet or Plastic? to raise awareness of the use of plastic and its disposal. For some time now the packaging of my CDs has been sustainable, the tours are zero-emission and now even waterequal ».
That is to say?
“For each spectator of the live shows in Codroipo, Milan and Rome, 250 liters of drinking water – the daily consumption per capita in Italy – are guaranteed to a family in the village of Kiteto in Tanzania”.
Why right there?
“It is a very dear place to me, where I have been several times. The last: the hardest physically, 12 days in tents in the Masai Mara reserve, in close contact with the populations on the border with the park. There is a sky that does not exist here ».
In private, what small gestures do you make to change the world for the better?
“I reuse plastic packs indefinitely: they are excellent for the” schiscetta “, I rigorously choose the water bottle … I rarely go to the headquarters of my record company (Sony, ed), because now I have my own studio, but one day I arrived and found a string of bottles of water: unacceptable. I said: “At least the bottle that refills, guys, it’s easy!”. I have won my battle. Now, then, I have this vice: if in the houses of friends I discover that the differentiation is not done in a workmanlike manner, I investigate to “unmask” who did it ».
Lieutenant Colombo of the waste! It seems challenging to attend it …
“Every friend claims that, in general, I put him to the test. However, once it is overcome, I am of him for life ».
Is it success that has made you cautious?
«If at 19 you have to juggle lawyers and managers, it is essential to learn to quickly understand who can be close to you and who cannot, observe gestures-eyes-words. Before Sanremo 2013, I realized I was surrounded by people I didn’t trust, I didn’t have anyone telling me the truth without filters. I even thought of changing course, of leaving the music. And instead it was enough to refine the power to “read” human beings, which in some way I had inherited from my mother and grandmother, the magical part of the family ».
Wasn’t Grandfather Sestilio Mengoni magical?
“In a different way. He moved to our house when he became a widower, I was very young. He raised me in nature, he was a father when mine, before finding the job that made him happy, the pasta maker, left at dawn with the truck, returned late at night and went to bed. He has always done hard work and I suffered from his absence, maybe I was an angry child for that very reason. Fortunately, there was my grandfather: granite, smiling, attentive. He had a giant garden, animals, a dairy for a while. He took me to walk around Ronciglione: to Lake Vico, Mount Venere and Fogliano; he explained plants, flowers and fruits to me. I still have in my head the image of him when he scolded me for throwing chewing gum on the ground: “Either you pick it up or I’ll put it back in your mouth”.
Did he witness his musical beginnings?
“He died in 2008, the year before X Factor. So, yes, he experienced the first computer and the first speakers he bought after the summers of cleaning the toilets – can you tell? – and the dishes of the restaurants on the lake. “Grandpa, look what I bought?”. Answer: “With everyone ‘sti cables make a short circuit – with the accent on u – and explode ”. Here, I cry ».
He said he left home, heading for Rome, at the age of 17, and informed his family of the decision at the table. If he could go back, would he repeat the exact same scene?
«I would anticipate it by a couple of years, when I already felt I had to feed on something else, to be independent. The grandfather, who was very advanced, even more than my parents, told me: “That’s right, go”. The mother cried bitterly, the father did not agree with my choice but respected it: “If you close that door behind you, you can keep yourself alone” ».
So it was?
«I was a sound engineer in a studio recording commercials, the barman in Frascati. And I also played ».
What is your relationship with money?
“Like the men in my family, I pay everything immediately, I don’t want any debt or unfinished business.”
Have you ever done anything just for money? A concert, a guest?
“I have collected a lot of no: on this I am really straight”.
What do you think of what happened to Blancowhich, on the stage of the concert of Radio Italia Live last May 21, it was groped from a fan? Has this ever happened to you?
“It happened to me ten years ago to a firmcopie. The real truth? So I didn’t give weight to the gesture, I didn’t really take it seriously. But today it is right that she did not end there, that there was all that attention: she is the daughter of time, of the necessary changes ».
Perhaps, however, no one would have noticed without the video shared on TikTok.
“The point is an other. Any battle must, inevitably, be taken to extremes. History teaches it. You have to fight on certain issues to bring home the results ».
You post mainly for work. Who do you follow please?
“Profiles related to tennis and painting, my hobbies: but in general I am already bored with the fifth story”.
Is it more difficult to perform in front of a huge crowd or in private looking the person you care in the eye?
“Whether it’s one or a hundred thousand, the public doesn’t scare me. Only in front of my mother would I no longer be able to sing: she is the person I love most in the world and who, moreover, she understands, because she played piano ».
What are you afraid of then?
“I’m not afraid of anything anymore.”
It is a strong sentence. Not even the death of a parent?
«It would be a great regret, the greatest. And I hope it’s as late as possible. But it is not fear ».
How does one come to such courage?
«You just live. If I think back to myself around the age of 20, I feel a lot of tenderness: I was anxious to carve out days of invisibility, leaving the house scared me, I avoided wearing sunglasses for fear that they would make me flashy and attract the gaze and judgment of other. Not today, today do you know what’s in my backpack? A book that speaks precisely of this, which cannot be liked by everyone ».
“You just live” or did you seek help?
“I have been in therapy for six years: an hour a week I play with my thoughts.”
It is a hot topic: while the Minister of Health activates the “psychological bonus” financed by Parliament with 10 million euros, from Chiara Ferragni to Stefano De Martino promote mental health.
He approaches and lowers his voice: “I’m studying Psychology, I went to college last year.”
Are you already thinking about a plan B?
“No! I did it to compensate for the post-tour adrenaline and emotional drop, to have an alternative to my disappearances: five months in New York, four in Florida, three in Madrid. When you come home after the lives, you no longer have that energy that comes overwhelmingly: the first week you are in seventh heaven, you want to do the laundry, to clean, to cook … Then, however, the down comes and you ask yourself: “Should I write new things?”. But you can’t. So, I reflected: perhaps a certain tension, an exam anxiety can help me ».
The reaction of a professor in front of Marco Mengoni?
«It puts me 30. That’s not true! If I don’t take all six exams of the year it’s not a problem: I’m not studying for a degree ».
Favorite subject?
«Cultural anthropology: he’s giving me input for the next album, the second in the trilogy that started with Matter (Earth)on which I am working ».
What do you think of the unconscious association?
“Test me.”
Stability?
“Flamingo”.
Is this the definitive answer?
“Sometimes I’m on one leg: not just now for the crusader. It’s just that I’m not one who decides, which always makes me feel in a precarious balance ».
You try to make a decision, here and now.
“I want to try acupuncture to quit smoking. I started at 21 and it’s the only vice I can’t get rid of. Which then, in addition to hurting, is so old style ».
What do you miss most about what you had before your success?
“I can’t answer this question, because it came too soon. And anyway, always with respect for others, I do not deprive myself of anything, flirting like going to Ikea ».
And love?
“Love does not exist. You struggle to reach it, but it is so wonderful that it must necessarily be unattainable. He is like God. I will experience every emanation of him, without fear ».
Photo: Michael Oliver Love
Service: Lorenzo Posocco
Giammarco Cingolani and Sara Gianfelici collaborated. Grooming Elena Bettanello @ Julian Watson using MAC Cosmetics.
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Source: Vanity Fair
