It was on no idle whim that F1 star Eddie Jordan plucked Luca off his Dublin busking spot back in March 2007, and thrust him straight into the limelight of the international VIP party scene. Eddie is a musician himself and knows talent when he hears it. And it’s no coincidence that major names from Boris Becker to Roger Taylor have recognised in Luca the burgeoning talent of a young artist with the world at his fingertips.
A 26-year-old singer-songwriter from Pisa, with a voice that will melt your internal organs and fiendish talent on the guitar, Luca came to England with little but the clothes on his back and an addiction to everything Britpop. 4 years later and he’s boasting residencies at some of London’s top member clubs and restaurants, appearing regularly at massive celebrity parties, and… busking most nights on the corner of Covent Garden piazza. Don’t be surprised. Whether it’s outside the Royal Opera House or inside the Natural History museum, his audiences’ reactions are always the same. In the words of Roberta Flack - he was strumming my pain with his fingers / singing my life with his words. She might as well have been describing the look on their faces as the last chords of Luca’s Hallelujah die away…
Credentials Luca’s list of credentials and patrons is enough to make any producer go limp at the jaw. But as a free agent, there is no doubting that this recognition is for his talent's sake and that alone. Among his countless private party appearances, Luca memorably wowed VIPs at Eddie Jordan’s ’07 Christmas party and at the prestigious Frankie’s restaurant Amber Charity Night, organised by Jordan and Marco Pierre White. Mike Rutherford (drummer of Genesis) memorably stood up to jam with Luca at the former, while at the latter Roger Taylor (Queen) and Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) warmly shook his hand. Another highlight was headlining with the great Jools Holland at Kathleen Kinmont’s 2007 party at the Natural History Museum - one of the private events of the year. London residencies include Callaghan’s @ Regents Palace Hotel (Picadilly), Revolution Bar (Richmond), Pigalle Club (Picadilly), and Park Hotel (Teddington), with solo weekly performances for private parties at Scotts Restaurant (Mayfair), C Garden (Chelsea) and Carpaccio Restaurant (South Kensington). At the latter, a notorious VIP hangout, Luca has played in front of no less auspicious names than Boris Becker, David Coulthard, Andriy Shevchenko and many more.
Whilst Luca’s name spreads like wildfire across the London scene, the Italian press back home has reacted with delight to the overseas success of one of their own. In a perhaps unprecedented full-page spread, La Stampa, one of Italy’s top newspapers, described Luca as the “true star of Covent Garden”. On the same day Studio Aperto, a major tv news programme, followed up the story. Hot on its heels, a series of newspapers and magazines including Corriere della Sera, La Nazione, Max and Milionaire published related articles, all eulogizing not only Luca’s voice and his style, but also his conscientious approach to his art. After all, making a name for yourself without an agent, a record label or (dare we say) a TV talent contest is no mean feat nowadays! So how has he got here, and what is it that makes him so special?
Background
Luca’s true musical education took place not in a windowless conservatoire practise room, but out among the crowds in Covent Garden, where he still holds his nightly busking spot. Having studied classical guitar in his early teens, the lure of acoustic pop soon became too strong to resist, and in ’99 Luca dedicated himself to mastering this immense repertoire. Street performance, for him, is the purest form of live music. It’s about establishing an immediate rapport with his public, so powerful that passers-by find themselves rooted to the spot, drawn in by the pure charisma of his voice. The 1,100 pages of glowing responses in Luca’s 8 guestbooks are testament to this, as are the astonishing 40,000 public hits from fans on his Myspace account. 99% of these are simply delighted passers-by. “When I play in Covent Garden, it’s like I am speaking directly to everyone in that crowd – and they want to reply. It’s not like a concert hall or a club - nobody has come there with any expectations. It’s like magic – a surprise – a discovery. If you lose their interest they’ll just walk away.” But they don’t. A crowd of 300 is a night’s work for Luca. Perhaps the most striking moments of all are when he indulges himself with a song in his own language, and Italians boys and girls appear, literally running, from every corner of the piazza to sing along. No number of celebrity parties or international events are ever going to quell Luca’s addiction to busking – a magic space of action and reaction where anything can happen.
The Music
Luca’s repertoire as a performer could hardly be more eclectic, mixing up ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll, classic pop ballads and funky indie with equal love and integrity. So picking out individual influences on his songwriting style can only ever give a peephole onto the bigger picture. With his luminous, razor-sharp harmonies and his delicious modal ambiguity, names such as Jeff Buckley, Coldplay, U2 and the Beatles spring to mind. But those privileged enough to have heard some of Luca’s own ever-expanding repertoire would agree there’s something undefinable there that’s just his own. Gloriously melodious and self-contained vocals float over dark, subtly unsettling harmonies, full of hidden colours and shades. Hummable yes, strummable no. Luca’s classical dexterity leads him off into harmonic soundworlds and multi-layered textures which work magic with the fairy-tale lyrics and ethereal melody above. There’s something of the freedom of the open air, the cold London nights, the stars in Luca’s music. For instance, his trademark ability to meld one song to the next with joyful sleight of hand, tricking the ear with melodic and rhythmic games so you’ll wake from your trance half an hour later having utterly lost count. This confidence comes through a quite terrifying knowledge of the pop repertoire, with hundreds of songs and chords right there at his fingertips. Whether it’s a medley of covers slipping seamlessly together, or an experimental outing for one of his new tracks, Luca’s translucent voice, range and incredible versatility set him apart as a true rising star. Drop in on him in Covent Garden and hear for yourself, or find out more by hitting ‘contact Luca’ now…
