London, 2025

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During this interview, I change seats, place myself in front of another artist and ask him the questions I wish people asked me. Today, I speak to the Italian composer and performer Mirko Iannaccone, who has just released his second solo EP entitled Clouds. 

 

Mirko, tell us about yourself.

 

I was born in Anzio in 1996, and began my musical studies at the age of eleven by entering the conservatory immediately after two years of private studies. In parallel with the conservatory, I devoted myself to accompanying various choirs, participating in orchestras and other musical groups. In the meantime, I also devoted to the study of music for cinema at the University of Rome, La Sapienza. My passion led me to compose soundtracks for short films and musicals. I completed my piano studies in 2022, and the same year I published my first album of piano pieces, titled Ego. I am actively involved in arranging for bands of various genres, including with the band Makinada, of which I am the keyboardist and second vocalist. 

 

Tell us about Clouds, your latest solo project?

 

My latest project, Clouds, is both intimate and personal, and at the same time dedicated to the listener. Intimate and personal; because it represent my wish to compose music by letting go of all my emotions and influences. In my music, you can find impressionism, fusion, progressive, new age, classical and popular music. There is even a quote from a song by Elisa Toffoli, an Italian singer who means a lot to me and often brings me peaceful memories. I did not want to put myself limits either. For example “Albertine Interlude” is a piece that is inspired by a memory of my studies a few years ago — I wanted to have fun playing a short piece inspired by the glorious Alberti bass. Clouds is also dedicated to the listener, because in my opinion music is a universal language; it can reach anybody in the world, however everyone will give it its own meaning and feeling. 

 

The pieces of the EP are very inventive, both technically and musically and feature a lot ideas — tell us about some of our creative intentions for Clouds.

 

With Clouds I wanted to bring the listener with me on a metaphorical journey to the clouds, experiencing a feeling of aleatory peacefulness — something I needed for myself too. The first piece for instance, “Clouds”, is an introduction in which the listener can hear fragments of the leitmotifs of the other pieces, like in a dream. I wanted the listener to feel himself home in all the journey made of the following pieces.

 

You compose and perform all of your pieces on Clouds. How does the study of both musical composition and musical performance influence you as an artist?

 

Being both the composer and the performer of my music makes my works really authentic on two levels: the message I want to deliver, and the emotional connection between me and the feeling that is the structure of my music. My greatest wish is to always reach as many people I can with my compositions, to share what I love or what I want to express with others.

 

Tell us about your creative process, how do you compose for instance, at the instrument or through pen and paper?

 

Since I was a child, I had this sensation of urge to translate in music what I experienced through my life. It stared like a game for me, sitting at the piano in my home, and starting to compose fixing chords with melodies. Nowadays I still love to sit down and allow the music flow out of my hands at the piano. Often, it starts with something that made me feel an intense emotion — of love, of pain etc. and then it comes out in musical shapes. Music literally saved me during a period of suffering and healed me through composing at the piano. That is what music is for me; a language, a friend, a passion that allows me to express my emotions.

 

What do you think your role as a musician and artist is, in this modern world?

 

In this modern world I think an artist has two roles: to express himself and to make people love something that can connect human beings peacefully. It is a difficult time for us all, but I still hope that arts like music can be the bridge between people around the world. 

 

So after Clouds, what’s next?

 

I am currently promoting Clouds, and waiting to perform it first around Italy and then maybe in Europe in some locations. Then I will proceed to work on a new project, that will be a bit different this time. More instruments, experimental sound design, and something that will be connected with natural environments around the world, merging photography and music.

 

Thanks very much Mirko. One last for the road — one book, one album, one film —, tell us about your latest cultural pearls?

 

Here are some cultural pearls that influenced me recently: David Lynch and his works in art; Debussy and Bartók in music, which I have performed during my university exams years ago. I listen to a lot of music; and so I have many modern artists that always makes me feel inspired, like: Zimmer, Einaudi, Duran Duran, Imperatrice, Kamasi Washington as well as the soundtracks of Morricone and Rota. I never settle on a specific genre!

 

Bouncing on Mirko’s words, I would like to prompt our readers to look at the late David Lynch’s work outside of his films, as his talent and creativity expanded outside of the world of moving images, from music to visual art! Read my review of Clouds.