Author(s):Kathrin Hedtke
Date of publication: ?/?/2001
ZDF.de
EACH ALBUM IS LIKE A NEW BABY FOR ME
The Italian super-star Zucchero has already won innumerable awards and
collaborated with celebrities like Joe Cocker and Eric Clapton. His new
album "Shake" is just on the market and promises again to be absolutely
successful. In the interview with ZDFonline Zucchero talks about his Italian songs, the difficulties to translate them into English an why he still has to do it.
ZDFonline: Your brand new album "Shake" has just came out and the critics
are enthusiastic. They say it´s the best album you´ve ever made. Do you agree?
Zucchero: I'm very glad that people feel so! I'm content with the album and
I think that it is very good. We've been working at it for two years and
I've written a great many songs of which I've finally chosen only eleven.
It's a very good start.
ZDFonline: How would you describe the album in a few words?
Zucchero: It's a soul-album mixed with Italian melodies and Mediterranean
flair. It consists of many soul and blues rhythms. Some of them are just
recorded in studio by voices like Barry White and John Lee Hooker, others
were sampled from old discs of the Fifties and Sixties. Many
different influences can be heard on this album. That makes it so
interesting in my opinion.
ZDFonline: You often collaborate with very eminent stars. Who has
co-operated in this album?
Zucchero: Apart from John Lee Hooker and Barry White a girl from Los Angeles
has taken part in. She has a fantastic voice. Her name is "Chance", her
voice is very souly, comparable to Aretha Franklin. She's very
interesting.
ZDFonline: You've already published innumerable albums. Are you still very
excited how it will be received by the fans or do you look forward to the
reactions more self-confidently in the course of time?
Zucchero: Each album is like a birth. It's for me like a new baby. I make
music since I'm eleven years old, I travel a lot, go on tour, produce albums
but each record is for me like the very first one. Every time when something
new comes out it's a new challenge and a new dream.
"Music tells it's own tale"
ZDFonline: There are published two versions of many of your songs, Italian
and English. How important is it for you that people understand your texts?
Zucchero: I think that music tells it's own tale, that's all! The
swingings of a song are most important. We have some songs which I don't
understand in English, for example, but that doesn't matter. My emotions are
very strong in the songs, even if I don't understand all lyrics. I think
music talks and I'd like to sing in one language, that is in Italian, my native
language, because it's more natural for me and I can express myself more
poetically. Sometimes translations are difficult and one looses something.
Fortunately I'm in the position to have friends who help me to adjust the
Italian songs and to translate them into English. They know exactly what I want, we are on the same "wave-length" (?). But I sing some of my ballads also in English because there are still language barriers in rock music. Italian songs are not very often played in the radio, nor are they in America. Therefore I sing some songs in two languages but not all.
ZDFonline: You mean you do this to be successful in America?
Zucchero: Yes, if I want to play live in America and to publish my records
which are played in the radio, I have to do that in English. People want it,
so I have to do it. But I'm Italian and would prefer to sing in my language.
ZDFonline: You have planned a tour now...
Zucchero: Yes, it starts on February 15th: Europe, America, South America
and Japan. I'll be on the way for 8 - 9 months.