Gabriele Magnanelli, aka MAG. was born in Rimini in 1989 and grew up in San Giovanni in Marignano, a small provincial town near the sea on the border between Romagna and Marche. Fertile ground for the arts in general, it is also important in the fashion industry. Founded as a Roman fort, it was famous in the middle ages for being the grain store for the local aristocracy and is known as the Granary of the Malatesta.
From this comes the name of family restaurant “Il Granaio”, opened by MAG.’s parents Maurizio and Antonella, which is known as a place where cuisine, tradition and art come together.
Thanks to his uncle Mario Magnanelli, a famous painter from Romagna, esteemed by the great Federico Fellini, and Dario Fo, amongst others, MAG. learnt to appreciate art from his childhood. Through colour, his uncle was able to express emotions, scents and images.
His family’s love of music, particularly that of his father, was also transmitted to MAG. from an early age and he grew up listening to The Beatles, Pino Daniele, and Pat Metheny. One day he picked up one of the guitars that decorated their home and together with his classmate, drummer Paolo Terenzi, decided to learn the rudiments of their respective instruments.
He began a more in-depth study of guitar with Marco Di Meo at the Cattolica Music Academy, and then with Riccardo Bertozzini at the Academy of Modern Music in Pesaro where he also studied complementary subjects such as harmony, solfège and piano, and participated in seminars with important musicians such as Mike Mangini (Dream Theater), Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big) and Francesco Colombo. He subsequently devoted himself to singing, studying with Gilberto Del Chierico.
In the meantime he founded his first local band that often changed formation and name over the years ( in chronological order Ice Green, I Diemm, Lost Atom, Client Westwood, The Seaside) but was always oriented towards rock and progressive music.
In this period, with his childhood friend, keyboardist and composer Maicol Donati constantly by his side, MAG. began to compose his first songs, to write his first lyrics and to gain experience. The commitment the pair dedicated to the creation of unpublished music meant that, over the years, they had the opportunity to open concerts and participate in progressive music festivals with important Italian groups such as Le Orme, Il Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, PFM, Equipe 84 and The New Trolls Myth.
In 2016 with the divergence of the views and goals of the band members, MAG. decided to go it alone. Taking advantage of the experience he had acquired over the years and acquiring new knowledge in the field of post-production, editing and mixing, he concentrated on the realisation of his dream to create a well-made rock album and
SAILING IN THE DARK began to take shape.
MAG put together a team of friends to help him in the creation of the project. The lyrics, which use a sea voyage as an allegory for his journey to the creation of this concept album, were written in collaboration with Paul Mochrie. Franco Caforio, from Litfiba and Piero Pelù, agreed to take part as the drummer and artistic co-producer and Michele Fraternali completed the initial trio on bass. The work acquired value and prestige and the idea of merging rock, psychedelia and progressive became a reality when Michele Bon from Le Orme joined the group on keyboards. Michele Tani, Angelo Bonazzoli and Chorus Marignanensis on the backing vocals enriched the album and Angelo Paracchini’s work on loop programming and post production were indispensible.
But as the album reached completion the Covid pandemic broke out and its publication was postponed until November 2021.
In the meantime, this unprecedented period offered MAG. the opportunity to devote himself to experimentation and the production of music as a means of communication in this historical moment.
HOMEMADE, the first song performed and produced completely by the artist himself and created almost for fun during full lock down, demonstrates the fact that art never dies.
The video of the electronic song STAY AT HOME was created with the collaboration of H.O.P.E. For Dance and Lucia Buda, to reinforce awareness of the psychological dangers of the virus.
WHEREVER is a ballad of hope, a voyage in the imagination during a time when real travel was impossible.
THREADBARE CARPET is a rock song with Franco Caforio on drums and Michele Fraternali on bass, mixed and mastered by Fulvio Mennella. Nouvelle Plague (Davide Simonetti and Giulia Bocciero) are the protagonists of the video clip that tells of the impossibility of physical contact between two lovers.
During this period a collaboration with artist and designer Gerardo Abriola led to the composition of music for the promotion of brands HUMANITà and Luce Al Cubo.
Work as a composer for dance theater continues with his friend Paul Mochrie but this is still a work in progress.
The constant collaboration between MAG. and Franco Caforio has led to several days of full immersion in the studio now that the long period of pandemic allows. You will be able to hear the results soon.
