Gianna Nannini
“You can choose your own age”
Even at the age of 69, she cannot be pigeonholed into any category or age group: rock rebel Gianna Nannini
© Mondino
Rock icon Gianna Nannini is back. In the interview she talks about her new album “Sei nel l’anima” and the film adaptation of her life.
Five years after her last album, Gianna Nannini’s (69) new work “Sei nel l’anima” is released today, March 22nd, in which the Italian rock singer purposefully returns to her roots in soul and blues music. After the release of the album, the singer still has a lot planned this year. On May 2nd A Netflix biopic will be released about the early days of her wild career as a rock rebel. From November 24th, she will be stopping off in a total of 16 cities on the European part of her global “Sei nell’ anima” tour in 2024. In an interview with spot on news, she talks about the background to this entire project and her special love for Germany.
Signora Nannini, your new album starts powerfully and rockingly with the song “1983”. What is the piece about and what significance does the year 1983 have for you?
Gianna Nannini: Thanks for listening to the first track of my album, it’s also one of my favorite songs. For me, 1983 is the year I was born. The song is about the way I was reborn and social discrimination regarding people’s age. Direction is important, death is an obligation (we all have to die), but you can choose your age. Age is an option. I identify with the year 1983 because many things happened that year that had a big impact on my life. You can find out exactly why 1983 is the year I was born in the film we made. Apart from that, the song is about our society in relation to discrimination, about the way conflicts are divided into black and white, into women and men. The state of not feeling like you belong to any gender, of eliminating all of these labels, is very important. With the song I am opposing any discrimination, hopefully that is its message.
In the announcement the album was described as a concept album – what was the concept apart from releasing fantastic music once again?
Nannini: In my opinion it’s not a concept album. There are twelve new songs on it with a reference to soul music, which is what I always wanted to do. The title “Sei nel l’anima” means “You are in the soul” and stands as a brand over the entire project, which includes a tour, a book, a film and an album with brand new songs.
In addition to your album and a tour announced for the fall, there will also be a Netflix biopic about your musical career starting in May. Who had the idea for this film?
Nannini: The film is based on my book “Cazzi Miei”, in which I tell a story that happened to me during a very difficult time in my life and that no one knows. The film is not really a biopic and only tells my story up until I was thirty. I wanted to tell the story from the book and a director showed interest in making a film out of the book. Check out our film, I won’t reveal too much about it.
You personally worked on the script for the biopic. What were the biggest challenges for you?
Nannini: To respect my story in its own integrity.
What was it like for you to see people and situations from your life embodied by actors in the film?
Nannini: I’m thrilled to see these wonderful characters brought to life so realistically. And especially about the performance of Letizia Toni, who portrays me and fills this role perfectly.
In your career you have often worked with German musicians. What points of contact do you currently have with the German music scene?
Nannini: I will be coming to Germany in November on the European leg of my “Sei nell’anima” tour. I can’t wait to be there again. It’s like a second home for me, I owe a lot to the Germans.