-Now, let's rewind a bit and talk about your past since you've painted a vivid picture of your present. Having gone through the classical high school experience (Liceo Classico), just like the one writing this, we’re curious to know what do you carry from that school journey, especially in terms of so-called artistic subjects?

- First off, the high school I attended, Liceo Classico Orazio in Rome, now has a linguistic option, which it didn't back then. I'd probably have gone for it, especially since I later started studying languages at university before switching to the music and entertainment department. As for music and English, perhaps my strongest suits, the classical education didn't contribute much. Playing the “Mulino Bianco” jingle on a baroque Aulos flute didn't exactly propel my artistic growth... Same goes for English, a subject I wasn't even excelling in. I was bouncing between a five and a six (B/B-). But when it comes to culture and historical-literary knowledge, well, I owe that to the classical background. Subjects like philosophy, history, and literature truly changed my life. What that kind of school gives you, more than others, is the seriousness in the classroom. The educational setup gives you an extra gear. In general, it seems the school system needs a bit of a refresh, as I see with my son currently in middle school. I don't even know what generation we can tag kids his age, but they're certainly a generation that'll have to fight tooth and nail for their future, and I believe my generation is the most to blame for the current state of degradation of our humanity. We haven't been generous or good teachers. We've become narcissists with a Peter Pan syndrome. As soon as social media took center stage, out of a desire to still exist, to be seen and not fade away, we started competing with the young ones: moms with teenage daughters, dads with twenty-year-old sons. We messed it all up, and I fear our kids' future won't be a walk in the park.

-Let's talk about when the future seemed perhaps a little bit brighter. You went to London to work for MTV at a very young age. Can you share what London was like in the nineties, amidst new music, work, dreams, and discoveries?

- I arrived in London at 22, but I had been hanging around there for a year because my then-girlfriend had moved there. I stayed from '94 to '97, and those were just insane years, especially musically—BritPop, Shoegaze, Trip-Hop, Electronica, the Manchester scene—proper mad years… London teaches you that acting cool won't get you anywhere; nobody's checking for you. People march to their own beat, not out of ego but due to a mindset that reflects more on the inside than the outside. It was a time when even how you dressed was pretty much dictated by the music you listened to. The lesson London taught me is to always stay active, always try to do something humbly and committed, all this in a highly competitive environment. The only people I met doing nothing were rich Italians living in posh areas, freeloading off their parents. It's a city that pushes you to take responsibility for yourself, a place where merit, unlike in Italy, really matters. If you're good and eager, you'll find the opportunity to do what you want to do. I got to MTV through some cosmic alignment, for a very serious audition involving interviewing an artist (something I'd never done) and presenting segments/news in a very realistic TV program simulation. I thought I was the only contender, but once there, I realised there were many of us in the competition, which freaked me out. I saw them all as way cooler than me, but in the end, I got the job. I did just a week of trial with a supervisor, and then I had to walk on my own, starting to write my scripts from the get-go. This approach made me extremely accountable, and I'm convinced it was this straightforward yet self-accountable work approach that made MTV of those years such a unique broadcaster. Everyone who worked there wrote their own scripts, contributing their spontaneous creative input without needing permission from any higher-ups. Everyone from a different country and with different personalities. We were left to our own devices to the point that I had to do my own makeup and hair! On the contrary, one of the biggest flaws of MTV Italy was the homogenisation of the VJ role: everyone dressed more or less the same, with scripts written by the authors. This flattened the cultural content a lot. So, when I returned to Italy, I must say the impact was quite shocking, especially at RAI where nothing of what I just described was present; in fact, it was the opposite. It was a bitter realisation and that's why today I value my freedom so much. Another thing I miss is being in a city that's a global cultural hub. A place where there's an interesting concert every night. It's a place where music is a primary good, and public and private enterprises encourage people to make music. I remember that at every concert, whether ours or other bands', label A&R reps were present, scouting for new talent, because the labels forced them to be, to fulfil the only activity essential for the development of the music industry: talent scouting! I tell this because today, I try to bring some of that experience into my work, attempting to create an "alternative" which I find essential for the development of the cultural environment. I think it's a duty.