Interviews – Page 2 – Damiano David Archives

LE PARISIEN: Damiano David, the lead singer of Måneskin, goes solo: “Success is both beautiful and violent”

June 28, 2025June 28, 2025by Emilia

The singer of the Italian band Måneskin, Damiano David, is making a successful solo debut with a very pop and personal first album. Meet a 26-year-old rockstar who’s starting to ask some deep questions.

Stronger than Måneskin!
Damiano David is doing even better with his solo debut than with his band. The Italian singer enters straight into 2nd place on the French charts for physical sales and streaming, just behind the hugely popular and recently deceased rapper Werenoi, whose death at only 31 has triggered an immense wave of tributes and listens over the past week.

This shows just how well the 26-year-old rockstar — who now lives in Los Angeles with his partner Dove Cameron — is launching his career under his own name, in an elegant pop universe that calls to mind Harry Styles. His irresistible debut singles, “Born With A Broken Heart,” “Next Summer,” and “Zombie Lady” hinted at a great album to come. Not only does Funny Little Fears deliver on that promise, it also sets the stage for major concerts — at Vieilles Charrues on July 17, and at the Adidas Arena in Paris on September 26.

Why go solo when your band is enjoying such phenomenal global success?
DAMIANO DAVID: This is the first time since the beginning of my career that I’m doing something purely for myself, allowing myself to be open and vulnerable. It’s more honest, more sincere. I managed not to be afraid of what people would think.

The album touches on your fears — loneliness, losing your sense of direction, depression… Was it therapeutic in some way?
Yes, in a way. It was a way for me to find enthusiasm and passion again.

Is success hard to bear?
It shakes everyone. It’s both beautiful and violent. For some people, the path to fame is slower, so they have more time to process it. But for Måneskin, we went from unknown to famous in Italy very fast, then from unknown to famous in Europe, and then in the United States. I didn’t have time to notice what it was doing to me because everything was happening so quickly. When things slowed down, I thought I had to do something with all these feelings.

Couldn’t you have made these songs with Måneskin?
No. When I work with the band — and we’re a group of friends first and foremost — my goal is to create the best songs possible, but also to be the voice for the other members, to understand them. It’s always a shared perspective. But here, I wanted to share my own experiences, my relationships, my low points, and my happiest moments too — and I needed to do that alone. Of course, they understood my approach.

“In the future, I’ll make more music in Italian”
— Damiano David

Is this just a solo detour?
The last Måneskin concert at Rock en Seine wasn’t the final one, don’t worry. I want to lead two careers at the same time — one solo, and one with the band. Each project takes about two years, it’s doable. I actually have enough songs ready for two more albums (he laughs), but nothing’s been planned yet…

Why sing everything in English?
Because this project was born in the United States and is aimed at a broader audience than just Italy. But in the future, I’ll definitely make more music in Italian.

You co-wrote the songs with several authors and composers. How did that collaboration work?
The biggest part of the job was finding my sound. I know what kind of music I like and how I want to sing, but I didn’t know what I wanted my sound to be. That turned out to be a good thing — it allowed me to really enjoy creating and experimenting.

You worked with the prestigious American producer Jason Evigan (Madonna, Maroon 5, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, Benson Boone, Rosé…)
The trap when working with such talented people is the temptation to just recreate the hits they’ve written for others. I didn’t want to know too much about them. We created my songs during writing camps, where we lived together for two weeks in the desert. It was a first for me — very enjoyable, like making music with friends.

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FLAUNT: Damiano David – Let’s see what sticks and let go of the rest

June 23, 2025June 23, 2025by Emilia

“I think what FUNNY little FEARS is doing for me is really letting go of that, because I’m really not concerned of how much success this record is going to get—it’s really for me to be satisfied, and to look back at what I did and to be proud of it and not have any regret or any leftover thing that I wanted to say.”

If you created a rock and roll star in a lab, the creature that emerged would likely resemble Damiano David. Picture it: dark, smart, soulful. Tattoos gliding across muscles, voice raspy and romantic, hair sculpted to perfection. Physicality and demeanor aside, the rock star in the public imaginary is still incomparable to the real deal. Damiano David, with brains and uncompromising morality, emerges from Rome under the Los Angeles sun and seems to ask: Are you not entertained?

Originally one part of the four piece band Måneskin, which took the world by storm most notably after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with hard-hitting anthem “Zitti e Buoni,” David is now gearing up for his first ever solo world tour for his debut solo album, FUNNY little FEARS. He’ll play five different continents on the tour, as well as appear on the festival circuit at Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo—many of these milestones he’s passed with Måneskin, but never solo.

As we speak about David’s adjustment period in the creative process, he eyes the palm trees dotting the LA skyline. He ponders, “With the band, it was always about throwing stuff in, and we tried to meet each other in a mid-way point. Whereas being solo, it is more about me digging into everything I have in my bag and seeing what I am more pulled to.” David continues, “I didn’t know what my solo style was going to be, but I knew that I had a couple of music genres that felt comfortable doing…I knew what my engine was, but I didn’t know where I was going to go, so I figured I was just going to try a bunch of things and see what I liked the most.”

David reveals that going solo has been both exciting and scary—it’s fresh territory for him. He has been playing and performing with Måneskin since they were teenagers in Rome, so the shift in his path sets a particularly strong precedent for his venture into an unknown realm.

“My bandmates are my friends and the only way I knew music so far,” he admits, “and they were also kind of my safety net, because every responsibility is shared, and you win or you lose together. Being solo is really a shot in the dark for me, not because I had crazy goals or ambitions for this record, but even just starting a process like this is very scary in the beginning, like I second-guessed myself on a lot of things. I found out that, like everything in life, the scarier part is the beginning, and then your body is going to tell you if that’s right or not, and after two days of sessions I already had basically three of the songs that are in the record now, so I had a pretty early signal that I was doing the right thing.”

Interviews

LA TIMES: Damiano David on his first solo album, his famous girlfriend and that Springsteen moment

June 23, 2025by Emilia

Rock-star conspicuous in a brown leather bomber jacket, Damiano David struts into a hotel bar in downtown Los Angeles, finds a table near the back and orders an orange juice in his suave Italian accent.

The 26-year-old singer from Rome broke out in 2021 when his band Måneskin scored a global smash with its cover of the Four Seasons’ “Beggin’”; by then the quartet had already won the Eurovision Song Contest with “Zitti e Buoni” and crashed the top 10 of the U.K.’s singles chart with “I Wanna Be Your Slave.” (If the latter calls to mind the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” consider that Iggy Pop teamed with Måneskin for an alternate version of the song.)

Yet David is here on this April afternoon to talk about “Funny Little Fears,” his debut album as a solo act. Written and produced with a squad of industry pros including Jason Evigan, Sarah Hudson and Amy Allen, the LP moves away from Måneskin’s glammy rock toward a more synthed-up pop sound somewhere between Harry Styles and Benson Boone. Among the highlights are the swooning “Born With a Broken Heart,” which has more than 100 million streams on Spotify, and “Sick of Myself,” a dreamy ballad David wrote about his girlfriend, the singer and actor Dove Cameron; “Zombie Lady” features a vocal turn by Cameron herself, with whom David is in the middle of moving into a new place when we meet up.

“We’re getting furniture and all that bull—,” he says, his hair still shower-wet (or coiffed to look like it). David, who still spends half his time in Rome, will tour this summer with stops at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza before a show at the Wiltern in November. These are edited excerpts from our conversation.

You’re living in L.A. part time because of work?

It’s mainly for my partner. But also because for this project, I started everything here, so it made sense to have a life here.

You like L.A.?

It’s cool — sunny and everything. What really matters is the people, and I built a very nice community.

Songwriters and producers and the like.

Basically, I speed-dated every songwriter in L.A. for two months, then I made my selections based on guts and personal feeling and how much we would click with each other. I found my people, and now we go for dinners and we text.

In an interview with Zach Sang, you referred to experiences with a couple of songwriters that didn’t work out well.

Really didn’t.

What happened?

Sometimes it was nobody’s fault — we just didn’t click. What happened once was with a very big name — a big, big, big one — and he was basically never in the room. So it felt like a waste of time. They were like, “This big name wants to do a session,” and I was like, “F— yeah.” Then I went there and it was me and his sound engineer.

Fair to say that with Måneskin you were operating in a rock space, and on your own you’re operating in a pop space?

I think it’s fair to say if you’re strictly talking about genres. But I don’t think it’s 100% correct because even with the band — what we did, of course, had distortion and everything, but I think it has a pop scheme.

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Damiano is on the cover of Music Connection’s latest Issue

February 25, 2025March 1, 2025by Emilia

After struggling with sudden fame, the Måneskin showman has gone solo, gone pop, found himself, found new love… and fallen in love with music all over again.

When Italy’s Måneskin broke America, they bucked just about every odd. They were the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest, a campy phenomenon mostly unheard-of in the States. They played good old-fashioned, supposedly unfashionable, rock ‘n’ roll, and often didn’t sing in English, which would presumably preclude any Top 40 radio play. And their single was a cover of a Four Seasons doo-wop oldie from 1967.

And yet, Måneskin became not only the biggest Eurovision import since ABBA, but one of the biggest new rock bands of the past decade. They opened for the Rolling Stones; recorded with Iggy Pop and Tom Morello; played the MTV Video Music Awards, Saturday Night Live, Coachella, and Glastonbury; and were even nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy.

But Måneskin’s charismatic frontman, Damiano David, wasn’t happy; in his own words, he felt “lost” and “sick.” And so, he decided to buck the odds again… by recording a solo pop album. And it’s the most honest, vulnerable music of his career.

“It happened now because I felt the need to do it now,” explains David, acknowledging that it’s a huge risk to not capitalize on Måneskin’s momentum with a follow-up to their 2023 international breakthrough LP, Rush!. He also expects that some fans won’t understand or embrace his solo career. But he’s making this music “totally for personal satisfaction. When it feels right, it feels right.”

“Just like with every other human being, sometimes things go very well in life, and sometimes they don’t. The last few years have been very good in my ‘job life,’ but I gave up a lot of my personal life, and my relationship got very affected by it. I started being less carefree in my head,” David continues. “I felt like in order to keep doing this job and also have a healthier life, I had to stop and rebuild from scratch. So, I wanted to start a new project with my own name, a different type of music, and way more control on the creativity aspect. And I have to say, that was the right move. I’m having a great time, and I’m healthier.”

The 26-year-old pop-rocker is referring to his ex-girlfriend, Italian model/activist Giorgia Soleri, who he’d dated since his teens. He respectfully refuses to discuss that relationship, which very publicly ended in June 2023. But he seems delighted to talk about his supportive current girlfriend, former Disney actress Dove Cameron, who inspired his cinematic ballad “Born With a Broken Heart” and influenced his euphoric new sound by introducing him to the “magical” world of musical theater.

Contrary to reports, David’s upcoming solo debut will not be called Tenderness, as apt a title as that may be. “I saw an article claiming that, and honestly, I was a little offended. That’s not a good album title! I want something special,” he laughs. The ambitious artist has a special vision for the record, for which he penned 72 songs, including the majestic, Bond-theme-like “Silverlines” with electronic auteur Labrinth. This whirlwind of creativity also included collaborations with popsmiths like Jason Evigan (Benson Boone, Dua Lipa); Sarah Hudson (Charli XCX, Katy Perry); John Ryan (Sabrina Carpenter, Teddy Swims); Sammy Witte (Harry Styles, SZA); Mark Schick (Tomorrow X Together, Cher); and John Hill (Portugal the Man, Bleachers).

Below, MC speaks with David about his bold new direction, his newfound happiness, his work/life balance, and why his “journey matters more than the destination.”

You’ve made it clear that Måneskin aren’t breaking up, so it’s interesting that you’re releasing a solo record so soon after your band’s success.

Yes, from a marketing point of view, it is kind of “wrong” to do this. But I stay as out as much as possible from “strategy” and “marketing” thinking. That’s not my job, and if I put the weight of it on my shoulder, it becomes unbearable. I’m not doing this for money, numbers, or anything like that.

Måneskin’s success is what most bands dream about. But it seems it didn’t fulfill you.

That’s the thing. We got extremely famous and we got a lot of achievements. We even won awards that usually don’t belong to foreign artists. That was great. But I was working so much that I wasn’t even realizing that I was neglecting myself. I didn’t realize until it was too late that I was actually getting sad, that I was losing enthusiasm, that where we got wasn’t really fitting my needs. I pushed through as much as I could, until I got into this work mode where you’re not really thinking creatively. I really felt lost and kind of a like a robot sometimes. It was nobody’s fault but mine, because I never said no to anything. I wasn’t able to do my own evaluation about what was happening. I was so distracted that I wasn’t even seeing myself getting sick.

Did you go to therapy during this time?

No—but this is not me saying, “Don’t go to therapy, you can make it yourself!” I tried, but I had very bad experiences, so I built kind of a prejudice towards that. I feel now I’d be more able to find [a therapist] that fits my needs, because I’m more aware of my needs. Back then I was so chaotic, I didn’t know what I needed or how I wanted to be listened to.

Was making this album your therapy, then?

Yes. Being in an environment where I didn’t have any of my usual dynamics was therapeutic, because I was pushed to not repeat my dysfunctional patterns. All preconcepts were different. That was very good for me.

It seems your rock-star persona never represented the true you.

Yes. Especially in Italy, where we have more years of career than in America, I had way less time and opportunities to show my real self. And I don’t think this is necessarily wrong or dumb, but it’s just a human reflex to label things so we can recognize it better and interact with it better. And so, because Måneskin made rock songs and had “rock” attitude and “rock” outfits, people put me in that category and became blind to anything else I was doing or showing. That didn’t feel great, honestly. I felt unseen, because I was just the “hot guy doing rock.” I mean, that’s a cool place to be! I’m not complaining! But I have a lot more to say. I’m a versatile artist; if I have to rank my skills, I’d say adaptability is my No. 1 skill. I like to play with music. I like to play with outfits. My favorite part is the creative part. If I’m stuck to one aesthetic, I suffer. I’m not saying, “Oh, my pop stuff is better than my rock stuff;” I think they’re equal level, because it’s from the same source. But it’s like food: I like to eat a lot of different things, not just pasta and pizza every day.

This pop format showcases your voice like never before. Did you try to sing differently or do any vocal training for this record?

Thank you. I think that was a natural consequence. Rock has a very defined way of singing, especially with a power trio with a lot of distortion and effects to fill up the room. So, I had to sing in a very powerful way [with Måneskin] and couldn’t access some vocal registers. Also, we aren’t very melodic-based; we’re very riff based. It’s just a different way of doing it. And again, my background is more towards this type of [pop] music, so I think it’s my body feeling more comfortable. I sang in a very instinctive way. I didn’t take many lessons — and when I did, I didn’t really enjoy it!

The irony is, your solo record was made without commercial concerns, but it’s more in step with the current market than Måneskin’s rock.

I’m actually more interested in what’s modern than what’s passed by. I don’t have that romanticism that everything that was done before the ‘90s was better. I truly don’t think that. I know there’s nostalgia and everybody loves their favorite band from when they were teens, but I don’t necessarily think that what’s old is better or worse. That stuff sounded great at the time, but today we’re making songs that in 10 or 15 years we’ll still listen to. Music is music. There’s some very good music, some very trash music, some music in the middle. Just let us have fun with it.

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Damiano is the cover of Vogue Italia January issue

January 7, 2025March 1, 2025by Emilia

Read the translation of Vogue Italia’s article and interview with Damiano below:

Damiano David on the cover of Vogue Italia January 2025—shot by Steven Klein—shares in this exclusive interview his life in Los Angeles, the new album and tour, his relationship with fashion, and happiness.

It must have been difficult, at just 24 years old, to move to the other side of the world, to Los Angeles. But that’s exactly what Damiano David did: he left Rome, stepping away from his family, friends, and the other members of Måneskin, to create his solo album set to release in 2025. The kind of leap into the unknown that an artist has to make at some point in life: a leap toward oneself.

“At first, it was truly frightening,” he shares. “It was a cultural shock. And it was hard to find my place in that city.”

With his white shirt unbuttoned, revealing his famous tattoos, Damiano appears calm as we talk. Nothing betrays the fear he felt upon arriving in Los Angeles.

“If you’re European, the first thing that shocks you is the fact that there’s no one on the streets,” he says. “There are no bars or venues with outdoor seating, no squares where people gather. It’s a city where people don’t walk, whereas in Rome, that’s all you do… also because it takes courage to drive there. Los Angeles sometimes feels like a desert—it makes you feel a bit lonely.”

How did he handle this situation while also working on an album?

“Everything happened very quickly,” he shares. “I told my manager I wanted to do it, and ten days later, I was in Los Angeles with sessions booked, a house rented for six months, and no one by my side. No friends, no girlfriend, no one. But it was the best thing for me.”

He explains, “I didn’t have a background there, and basically, I could be whoever I wanted to be. Because no one knew me. That allowed me to set aside everything I had done up to that point and build my environment from scratch: new people, new places, new musicians, new writers. And, of course, that was hugely inspiring. I worked with so many different people, especially in the first few months, because what I was really looking for wasn’t the biggest producer out there but a space where I could feel at ease.”

And, surprisingly for an artist so far from home, he found it almost immediately:

“It was a big room where, by the end of the day, there were about eight people,” he says. “We went camping, spent time in Joshua Tree, in Malibu… In the end, it felt like I was just hanging out with friends while writing some music, and that made the whole experience so much lighter and more fun. It didn’t really feel like work. I’d wake up in the morning excited to go to the studio. It was a feeling I had lost over the years. So, it was very thrilling for me to feel like I was moving forward again.”