Arist Profile: Thegiornalisti
Fresh synth pop sounds, lyrics that beg you to sing (or scream) along, and a charismatic frontman combined to make Thegiornalisti Italy’s most successful indie band over the past five years. They (along with the likes of Calcutta and Coez) elevated the popularity of indie music throughout the country and paved the way for others to succeed in that space even as they moved away from indie rock and towards mainstream pop during their career arc. They owe at least some of their success to the heart throb status of their lead singer Tomasso Paradiso’s, but as his star rose, the band steadily grew apart. After working on several solo projects, Paradiso left the band in September of 2019, but their songs (and music videos) left an indelible mark on the Italian soundscape.
Thegiornalisti were formed in 2009, by three friends from Rome, Tomasso Paradiso (lead singer and frontman), Marco Primavera (drums), and Marco Antonio “Rissa” Mussella (pretty much everything else). They chose the name because, like journalists, they wanted to write about what daily life was like. They added the english “The” so they wouldn’t be confused with actual journalists. In Italy, they’re referred to as “i Thegiornalisti”, which when translated actually means, the Thegiornalisti. But we digress.
After a few very under the radar pure indie rock albums, the band started transitioning to a more synth pop sound on their third album, Fuoricampo. The album generated two of the band’s first successful singles, “Fine dell’estate” and “Promiscuità” (below). There’s almost an Italian Killers vibe to the single that certainly recalls 1980s pop music.
Completamente Sold Out, released in 2016 as the group’s fourth album, represents both the move to genunine stardom and the perhaps the peak of Thegiornalisti’s artistic prowess. Even today, the album’s third single, “Completamente” (below), remains the band’s most iconoic song for several fans. Along with the success of the follow up single, “Sold Out“, and a collaboration with Fabbri Fibra on his 2017 summer hit, “Pamplona“, Thegiornalisti became a cultural phenomenon.
They capitalized on this fame by releasing the non-album single “Riccione” (below) a few months later. The ode to summer on the Adriatic coast beach town signified a move to a much more straightforward pop sound that would continue in their final album, but it’s the racy music video directed by Younuts! that most people remember most. With well over 100 million views, the track/video was so successful that it later inspired a 2020 film from Netflix whose title is taken from the lyrics of the chorus.
The group’s final album, 2018’s Love, cemented their crossover move to pop. Although the videos were becoming more creative and ambitious than the music, it still includes some of the bands biggest songs. “Felicità Puttana” was a summer hit that reached #2 on the charts and led to a stylish video featuring actress Matilda De Angelis as Tomasso Paradiso’s love interest. Suburra star Alessandro Borghi starred in the accompanying clip of the well written love ballad “Questa nostra stupida canzone d’amore” (below).
As you can probably see from the last two videos, the other members of the band hardly feature. Starting in 2018, Paradiso took part in a series of side projects with other big names on the Italian music scene. The roman band appropriately held their final concert in the Capital’s Circo Massimo on September 7th, 2019. Ten days later, Tomasso Paradiso unexpectedly (to the public and his bandmates) decided to leave the band, declaring the group over. There was a lot of finger pointing, with Paradiso blaming outsiders tearing the band apart and his bandmates blaming his desire for more money. Primavera and Mussella decided that they wanted to press on, but the search for a new frontman is still ongoing. For his part, Paradiso launched his solo career very soon after, and he continues his move into other media with a role in Under the Riccione Sun. While it was awesome to hear all those great songs on the soundtrack and exposing new fans to their work, it was sad to see him performing the music of Thegiornalisti without his bandmates in the cameo that concludes the film. Perhaps time will heal the wounds on both sides of this divide, but in the meantime, fans like me are left with great music like “New York” (below), one of their last singles.
