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.
But many rock fans are old-school purists. Have Måneskin’s fans accepted your pop material?
Some are enthusiastic. Some are neutral. Some are threatening me in my DMs! It is what it is. It's not a big deal. I sleep pretty good every night. Måneskin got successful very young, so I'm used to hate and misunderstanding. I know I'm doing something that will be polarizing and spark a reaction. That’s OK. My bed is pretty comfortable.
Your pop direction makes sense given your Eurovision background, but you’ve also recently developed a passion for musical theater. How did that inform this project?
It came like an answer to a question that I didn't even know I was posing. I knew that this
record was going to be, in some ways, hard to read and hard to make other people understand, because there's such a wide range of emotions. But then I started watching musicals and going to Broadway; I’d say this is 90 percent thanks to my girlfriend. Watching that gave me the answer and the inspiration,
kind of handed me the key to unlock what I was looking for. What's beautiful about theater is that everybody in the room, including the actors, know what's happening isn’t true, is exaggerated. People don't sing to communicate with each other. People don't magically know a choreo out of nowhere in the fucking New York streets! But by the time the curtains open, we all accept it and we’re all playing the game and having fun and we're all the same. That's beautiful. That's exactly what I want to create. I don't want to just make music. I don't want to make a playlist. I want to create a world where everything is allowed and it's emotion-based and visual-based. Connecting to musical theater allowed me to do that.
What are your favorite musicals?
I just watched Death Becomes Her, and it's very insane! But I’d say the one that really opened my chest was The Greatest Showman. I’ll never forget that moment. It was magical. I remember turning to Dove and telling her, “This makes me feel like I'm allowed to dream.” It's like the whole album and the whole world I wanted to create opened up in front of me. So, thanks, Hugh Jackman.
Would you like to do Broadway yourself one day?
It's a dream, but in the way a kid dreams of being an astronaut. I’d love to do it, but I'm not prepared. Theater actors follow a strict diet. They don't smoke. They don't do anything. They're very careful with their health. They perform five times a week, twice a day. So, I would never step in and take a role away from someone that studied for 10 years of his life. But I’d love to have my music in a musical, or maybe create a short musical with five of my songs and make it very theatrical and do five nights on Broadway. That’d be amazing.
Your ballroom-dancing “Born With a Broken Heart” video is a mini-musical in itself. But I understand some record-label powers-that-be were against it.
Yes, but I don't hold any grudge, because they were just not seeing what I was seeing—and half of the problem was probably me not being able to fully explain what I was seeing. So, yes, I had to really die on that hill. But as soon as they saw it, they were like, “OK, you were right. We were wrong.”
Is “Born With a Broken Heart” is about your relationship with Dove?
It’s about the start of it. Thank God, because it came right after a very bad experience…
Do you mean your previous breakup?
I don't want people to be confused, because my first relationship [with Soleri] was very public in Italy, and I'm never talking about that girl, who I was with for six years. Nothing against her. I’m explaining that more for my Italian audience. But anyway, there was another relationship [after the Soleri split] that was a very bad experience for many different reasons. Something broke in me—I’d say that was what happened. Again, I thank God that faith put Dove in my path. At the beginning I really struggled, because I felt very deficient when she was being extremely open and sincere in making me understand her feelings for me. I was holding back my feelings as much as I could, because I wasn’t trusting myself. I didn’t want to be a dick or use her as a rebound. She's a great person, because she handled my honesty and really welcomed me and helped me heal. Now she’s the most important person in my life. So, it was a very, very lucky VMAs night [in 2023] when we met—back when I was bald and blond.
How did Dove react to “Born With a Broken Heart”?
When she first heard it, she had no reaction! She was like, “Oh. Pretty song.” But she recently told me, “When you played that song for me, I freaked out. I thought you were going to leave me!” I was just trying to be honest. Maybe I was a little over-honest. But I’ve learned nothing good ever comes from dishonesty.
Did you really believe you were born with a broken heart?
At the time, I definitely felt that way, like I was culpable of something, like I'm not cut out to be with people, that I'm not worthy of love. Terrible, toxic thinking. But then a person came into my life who yelled in my face that I was deserving of love, until I started believing it.
It's interesting that this deeply personal album isn’t in your native language. Did you write in Italian, then translate to English?
First of all, I made the record in America, and also the last four years of my life have been 80 percent America-based. So, it's a language I got very comfortable with. I feel like this language is part of my life and part of my personality. Also, the first thing you learn is to never translate one language to the other, because they really work in different ways—especially Italian and English. [Italians] have a completely different way of expressing things. We have more layers of intensity. We have “a little mad,” “very mad”— there's a word for everything. Our vocabulary is many more words. Actually, English helped me be honest. With it being a simpler language, it helped me organize my thoughts—simplify and put it down in a way the audience understands.
Is your internal monologue in English now?
It depends. When I'm in America for a long period of time and I’m with my girlfriend—we only speak English together—if I drop my phone or something, I’ll actually cuss in English. And then I’ll think, “Hmmm, that's weird!” I’ll even dream in English.
I understand your decision do this album in L.A. was somewhat impulsive.
Yes. Like I said, I didn't realize I was getting sick, and then I had this panic moment. I called my management and said, “I want to make this record. And I want to make it now.” Thank God they understand me as a person, because in five days, I already had two weeks of sessions booked. I was alone in a big house in Hollywood, just thinking. I was so scared that first week. I'm not very good at getting to know new people, so I was like, “How am I going to do this?” But I found a family of such beautiful people, and I'm so proud of what we did. I worked nonstop every day, excluding weekends, because I have a rule that when I get into a session, I want to have a song. If somebody leaves before that, I'm like, “OK, you don't love my project. I'm not going to work with you anymore.” So, I started cutting people out and I got down to very few people.
Who did you first click with?
It was the first people I worked with: Jason Evigan, Sarah Hudson, and Mark Schick. And 70 percent of the record is with them.
How did you whittle down your 72 songs?
Well, some songs sucked, so it was easy to cut them out! Some had a very different sound from everything else, so I'm going to pitch those to other artists, because I’d like to also be creative for others. With other songs, there was a message that I felt was old, something I don't feel anymore or don't want to share. I wanted all the thoughts behind the album to have a cohesiveness and a narrative.
Now that this vulnerable record is ready, will it feel scary to put it out there?
No, because with the negative things, now I look back and smile about it. And the positive things, I'm proud of and I’m happy to share with the world. I'm happy to say in a song how much I love my girlfriend, because I truly believe it. And beautiful things are meant to be shared. It’ll be emotional to put this album out, yes—but in a very fun and rewarding way.
