I was born on April 15th, 1978 in Rome and I’ve started to play guitar at the beginning of 1995 immediately with an electric one. I took guitar lessons for some months from a friend of mine Mario Salvucci and then I continued by myself with methods and instructional videos. My early influences were Steve Vai, Joe Satriani but few months later I discovered the neoclassical era with Yngwie Malmsteen, Joey Tafolla, Vinnie Moore, Patrick Rondat and many more until I heard for the first time Jason Becker the one that most influenced my playing and my style. In that period, around 1997/1998 I started to record my first demos on audio cassettes and I started to play some concerts in my city. In the middle of 1999 I understood that my way of playing had changed, that it was matured through those years thanks to these musicians: George Bellas, Shawn Lane and Greg Howe but most of all thanks to Vitalij Kuprij. Under the new influences I recorded new music and in 1999 I started also to send my last record to web-magazines as Guitar 9, where I was reviewed as undiscovered artist for December 1999 and January 2000, and also on Whiplash, a Brazilian magazine.

Meanwhile my musical ideas had changed so I started to write and play music in a different way searching for my style and my own playing. In late 2000 I started to record my first real solo album "Suspension" that I released by self in summer 2001. I had a lot of world distributors, including also M.A.C.E. music the personal label of guitarist Michael Angelo Batio. Suspension helped me to be less unknown between the instrumental shred/prog guitarists, infact I had a lot of reviews and interviews and I started to write guitar lessons for a lot of web-magazines. On May 2002 Chops From Hell released my first instructional CD-Rom based on Arpeggios, on January 2003 the second one called 'High Shred Techs' and on March 2004 the third one called 'Intese Guitar Playing'.

In the meantime Vitalij Kuprij asked me to partecipate with a guitar solo for his fourth solo album and for me it was an honour that such a great musician as Vitalij asked me that! For me it was a dream come true because Vitalij is my absolute GREATEST influence! He is an incredible player, a nice man and a cool friend! 'Forward and Beyond' was released in 2004 by Yamaha Music/Lion Music. The album features apart from Vitalij also guitarists as Michael Romeo (Symphony X), George Bellas, Jeff Kollman, Roger Staffelbach (Artension), Borislav Mitic and Michael Harris.

At the beginning of 2005 I finished to record and produce my second solo album called "Forbidden Dimension". It includes great players as Kyle Honea on bass, Jon Doman on drums (tracked and engineered by Greg Howe at his personal studio), Vitalij Kuprij all piano and keyboards on one song and Bob Katsionis keyboards solos on 5 songs. The album is a shred/progessive influenced music and it was released by Lion Music on July 2005.

In middle 2005 I started to record my third solo album 'SECRETS WITHIN' it is divided into two sections, one heavy and one acoustic just to show better all my ideas, feelings and the way to consider music; I believe this album to be the best material I've ever released and the one that best represents me. 'INTO THE DARK LINE' is the heavy part of the album and is more into shred and progressive metal but with a lot of themes, melodies and unison passages, while the second part of the album 'OUT OF THE DARK LINE' is the acoustic one and it is only guitar and piano/keyboards and with more delicate melodies and some really introspective moments. This isn't a guitar album, as I wanted all the instruments to have the same importance in every song. I really care recording all music in general with particular attention. This album is really introspective and very important for me, it was inspired from the experience of the impossible things happened in the last years and from all day's stuff.

The album includes my great friend and amazing bassist Kyle Honea, my friend Lucrezio de Seta on drums and maybe the best keyboards player out there Vitalij Kuprij and Bob Katsionis. Vitalij is also my greatest influence and his playing really influenced my music and I can't thank him enought for all he had done for me in the years, a great friend and awesome musician. I consider this album my best one also because I played with the best musician out there and I'm so lucky for that!

The album is out thanks to Lasse and Lion Music in middle 2007 and the CD contains extra material as photos, mp3, tabs, a diary of the making of and much more.

In the same time I recorded also some guest solos for other artists’ albums released by various labels as Brennus Records, Lion Music, Yamaha Music and Shrapnel Records.

I love my music and my way of playing, I think to be honest with my self playing what I like more and not playing other things to make money; music is my life but not my job, to have money I have a normal job in an office, so my music is EXACTLY the mirror of myself.

My Influences...
I would really like to thank all my influences for enchanting me with their music and their way of playing. They are the greatest players I've ever heard: Vitalij Kuprij, Jason Becker, Greg Howe, Shawn Lane, Kiko Loureiro, George Bellas, Al DiMeola, Steve Vai, Chopin, Dream Theater, John Petrucci, Symphony X.

The following albums have been an incredible inspiration on my way of playing and writing music. I think that all these musicians are really awesome and thanks to them I've changed something about my playing... I really hope to record, one day, an interesting album as these. I like all the passages of their works, they are full of technique, melody, expressive and intricate parts... all the melodies go on together with all the instruments and they create a kind of "coup de théatre" keeping you charmed... they are really special for me! They helped me finding out and understanding something that I've never heard or which I heard with a different ear thus creating my own style. I'm in contact by email with some of these musicians and I was happy receiving their letters and discovered that they are above all very kind persons.

My absolute all time favourite album
High Definition | Vitalij Kuprij: Piano and Keyboards | Greg Howe: Guitars and Bass | Jon Doman: Drums | This is my all time favourite album and in my opinion it is an absolute masterpiece. The playing is amazing and the production is excellent, all passages are perfectly syncronized with all the instruments. The drums is powerful, the guitar and bass are more than innovative for a prog/neoclassical album and the keyboards are the best ever heard in my life. Since I've bought a copy in 1997 I'm listening to it every day and I'm not jocking! There are so many things to learn and I'm continuing to discover so beautiful parts every time I put it on my stereo... every time I listen to it, it is a new one, it is always like the first time. Impressive playing, compositions, melodies, harmonies, production from the best trio ever heard... in my opinion for sure... but check it out!
Other favourite albums
Some of my favourite instructional methods

My Ideas...
With these few lines I want to show my method of writing music, my idea of improvisation-shred-melody used for my albums and my music.

First of all, in my opinion, every guitar solo has melody, the difference is whether you hear it immediately, or only after multiple listenings. For example, if you listen to a slow guitar solo with great vibrato, you usually say that it has melody. You may enjoy it or not, but you surely think it has melody. On the other hand, if you listen to a fast guitar solo you need to listen to it again to determine if it has melody -- well what is the melody for us? In my opinion, even the fastest solo has melody -- you just feel it.

I usually divide shred solos into two groups to study them. The first group is made up of shred solos written before played. They tend to have a static sense; they are always the same in the same situations. I like a lot of them but they have a sense of already being heard. The second group is based on shred improvised solos -- they are the most impressive and interesting, and they are above all, melodic guitar solos.

On my CD there aren't too many parts written and pre-determined to play in only one way. All the solos are improvised at the same moment I recorded them because the improvisation is melody. When I run or slow down, with my guitar, I play this way because I feel a particular emotion during these passages so I put my emotions in these fast notes and they are played with emotion. So why isn't it called melody? Every time I play my songs I play them with a different state of mind so it is normal that I play them in a different way, for this reason I think that improvisation is very important. As I said, I didn't have a lot of parts already written except some double stereo arpeggio runs, but most of the notes recorded are improvised. The bending and improvised scales have something special and different compared to the other phrases and you know them immediately. All notes sound more real -- it is hard to explain with words but it is so. The improvisation and melody are really connected, and if you put them together the result is such a beautiful effect.

Guitar techniques can help you to show better you emotions; if you want, you can sweep on low strings and bend on high, or slide two notes and add one with tapping -- the combinations are endless! The most important thing, in my opinion, is to know where all the notes are on the frets so when you play you give in to your emotions without thinking about which note is right or not. If you do so, you'll play as you are, in a different way, with peace, and your state of mind will rule on your guitar. There will be melody with your shred guitar playing.

Sometimes if you listen to the melody in a shred solo trying to find a sequence of notes that you can fix in your mind it is hard or impossible. The shred melody is the entire guitar solo -- don't try to analyze each second of it but try to understand it as a whole, and close your eyes and let the notes go by. You'll hear a guitar solo that will speak to you and you will just understand it. At the beginning it is hard if it is new to you, but when you enter into the same state of mind as the player you can hear and understand more things than those told by words. For this reason, try to give in to your emotions and play as you feel, thinking about nothing, but only as a puppet, where your mind tells the rules of this game -- melody.

The title of my CD represents this idea, something suspended is something not defined that can change in every moment; it reminds me of the movement of the sea that is so beautiful and varys as it wants.

All I have said in this column is just my opinion, so it is expected that a lot of you are against my ideas. Anyway, I'll continue this way and I'll keep on enjoying my playing! Have fun!

taken from a column written for Guitar9.com on October 2001.