We’ve been playlisting Resurrection, the new track from Egix – but who is he? We’ve had a chat to find out …
Tell us a little bit about your yourself?
Hi, I am Egix an emerging independent musician and composer of pop/rock, world and symphonic songs having spiritual and social messages. I started composing songs already at the young age of 13 and have secretly continued working on new inspirational lyrics and music in my spare time outside my studies and my job. In about 21 years I have never dared presenting my songs to an audience wider than the pens in my drawer or sometimes to my close family, but only during big festivities like Christmas. A true passion however cannot be contained for too long and after all that time, the power of music, like a swollen river has swept any of my inner barriers away, claiming with resolution that the right time was finally come for sharing the inspirational messages within my songs with as many of you as can be reached. It is from here and from now that a totally brand-new adventure in the world of music starts for me. You can join me in this journey, if you like.
When did you first start to develop a passion for music?
Music has always been an essential part of my life. I do not recall an exact time when I developed a passion for music since I believe I was born with it, as many of us were. My mum tells stories about me as a toddler being hypnotised by a Luis Miguel’s song every time it played on the radio in the early 80’s. At the age of 6 I was able to play some famous Christmas’s jingle on a toy keyboard that my grandfather gave me as a present, and at the young age of 8 I started taking music lessons and playing tenor sax. I was initially playing sax in a brass band during religious processions, parades and in theatres but then ended up playing jazz and pop music at family’s gatherings and celebrations. Meanwhile I taught myself piano and from 16 to 28 I played organ and co-directed a choir in a church in my hometown, Naples (Italy). Since then, my passion for music has kept on growing and now it is burning more than ever within my heart.
Which artists did you listen to while growing up?
I would say that different artists have accompanied me through different stages of my life. Since my childhood I love listening to artists who have made the history of music, such as the Beatles and Elton John, as my father passed me his passion for British pop/rock. As a teenager, I moved my preference a bit towards Italian music and singers like Pino Daniele or Eros Ramazzotti were usually singing in the background of my mornings while going to school. The soundtrack of my early twenties was instead alternatively sung by like Lenny Kravitz and the Coldplay, depending on whether I felt like smashing the world or just wanted to relax and cheer to life. In my late twenties I instead preferred listening to groups like Keane and Muse.
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard you before?
I think that the music I play cannot be labelled with a specific genre or style. In my opinion a song is a picture of an inspiration, a set of thoughts or an emotional state belonging to a certain moment or experience in your life. As our inspirations, thoughts and emotions mutate day by day (or even minute by minute) so the “picture” songs do. I can hence say that my music ranges from pure pop/rock to world or even symphonic. There is however a common thread across my songs and that is their intention to make listeners aware of the great gift of life, to never surrender to hostilities of this world and reawaken a sparkle of self-love to open the gates of inner peace and permanent happiness. Inspired to the teachings of truth given by enlightened Masters, my songs try to convey a message of light, hope and love, love for ourselves, for the others, for Nature, the Universe and above all for God the source of blissful joy. I could hence define my music as “inspirational” since it attempts to inspire you in finding back within themselves that flame of pure love which was so vivid as you were a child and that you were forced to hide to face the delusion of this materialistic society. That flame is still burning within us, we just need a message that makes us aware that we can find it again, if we want. That flame is part of the immense and pure love of God for us and once you find it, you will find that happiness you have been always looking for.
What music have you recorded and released to date?
So far, I have recorded about 17 songs in a recording studio and many more on my own at home. Back in 2017, when I was living in the UK, I released an EP of 5 songs which was recorded in cooperation with Rick Carrington a very nice producer from Leicester. That EP was published especially because I wanted to have some fun with music, and it can still be found online under the name “The Dark Side of the sky”. At present, I have been recording a full album containing a total 12 songs all dedicated to spreading the message of light and blissful love that the enlightened ascended masters came to bring to the world. The album is entitled “The secret garden of pure joy”, and it wants to give the listener a moment of time in which they let go of their problems, past experiences and thoughts, to dive deep into themselves, opening the doors of their heart and enter that marvellous garden of pure joy and happiness which resides hidden within ourselves. All the songs in the album have been written and composed by me and arranged by Carlo Contocalakis, an inspired young musician, while the drums have been played by the talented Domingo Colasurdo. The album has been entirely produced at Alma Mater Ars Studio in Naples, and some of the songs feature the guitars of an amazing jazz/swing Neapolitan artist, Paolo Palopoli.
The first single from this album is entitled “Resurrection”, released on the 7th of November, 2020 and currently playing on Radio Phoenix FM. You can listen to Resurrection by downloading or streaming it from any digital music platform and you can also watch the video on my YouTube channel. The video of Resurrection has been made with a mixed film/animation technique by Umberto Santacroce an expert film maker and director at GoNaples productions.
Which artists do you enjoy listening to at the moment – and do they influence your work?
Currently, in my thirties my taste for music moved to more mellow genres and I prefer listening to modern soul and blues from great musicians like George Michael, Stevie Wonder and Simply Red. However, there is one immense artist who has strongly influenced me since I was born, and still does today. That artist is Michael Jackson, a continuous source of inspiration for myself and my musical work. His immortal messages of love, and unity, are clearly emerging from songs like “Heal the world”, “Black and White”, “Cry”. Those messages are his most concrete legacy and are needed today more than ever before. In my own little way, my songs try to contribute to further spreading the high principles expressed in those masterpieces to touch the heart of as many people as can be possibly reached.
Who would your dream collaboration be with?
Well, one day it would be more than an honour for me to have the chance to cooperate with those artists whose songs have inspired me and taken me through the different stages of my life so far, contributing to shape my music style. At the moment, I have three artists on my list, they are: Lenny Kravitz, Elton John and Coldplay.
What are your plans for the future?
In the few months I plan to release other singles from my latest album “The secret garden of joy” which is expected to be officially out in Spring 2021. The next single is entitled “Christ is born” a song with a 60’s surf rock vibe, which attempts shaking your hearts and legs in a dance to celebrate and welcome with hope and joy the light of the new-born Christ within yourself. The video of “Christ is born” will be out on my YouTube channel on the 23rd of December 2020, while the song will be available for streaming and download from digital music platforms on the 30th of December. Other two more singles are envisaged to be released until April 2021 before the album will be publicly available. During this time and in the next future, I am also trying to personally get in touch with radio stations and social media experts across the globe to try promoting my songs so that their messages can reach the heart of those who are looking for some inspiration in their quest towards inner peace.
You can see more of Egix at his Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/egixmusic