Unlike the majority of the musicians I personally know, I approached music studies rather late since I began practicing violin at the age of 11. I honestly confess that for about five or six years playing the violin was not exactly the cornerstone of my life. Of course I’ve always loved music, but I wasn’t ready for the deep commitment its study requires. Only later, when I was about 18, I realized how important playing was for me and since then I really tackled the thing with a different attitude. I never became as good as someone like David Oistrakh, of course, but when I graduated from the conservatory I was humbly happy with the results I had achieved.

On stage I’ve always felt more comfortable as a singer than as a violinist. In fact, nowadays I suffer from little or no stage fright at all. Being a singer and a frontman seems to suit me very well, although I’m pretty shy and try to shun the spotlight off-stage. Furthermore, I like going to bed early, I neither drink nor smoke, I work out many times a week, so my friends often make fun of my healthy lifestyle.

I like to have an eye on many elements of a gig or a recording. I’m nothing less than a perfectionist and I do my best to polish every little detail of a show: the music itself of course comes first, but I strongly believe stage attitude, a good choreography, lighting, effects, wise timing and even speeches between the songs should be carefully planned and rehearsed. A concert is not only about music being played, it’s a show as a whole and, literally, a complete aesthetic experience.