We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alessio Ammendola a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alessio thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I’ve always been very proud of my choice of being a musician, because since I was in high school I felt like that was my path. I worked so hard to make sure that I was going to make a living out of my musical passion and a lot has been sacrificed to achieve that.
And it’s when I think about those sacrifices that I question myself about my choice. I think about how I “wasted” all my years as a teenager just to stay at home practicing and going to music school. I was never hanging out with my friends and even with my girlfriend we were just going out for a couple of hours because then I wanted to come back home and playing my guitar. I’ve never had a group of friends, never had my “tribe”, that made me feel like a pariah for almost all my life. My love life has always had problems because of the music and I can’t do nothing to change that, just hoping to have the right person next to me.
When you’re too focused on building your artistic career it happens so easily that you will feel like you’re not belonging anywhere but when I started to have my bands here in Los Angeles I finally started to feel like my efforts were being repaid back.
Playing for “TELLING SECRETS” and “SVI” is also like spending time with your family during holidays but even in those situations I have to remind myself that now I have my own family so I have to balance that time wisely.
I had to learn that the work is important exactly as spending quality time with your loved ones. We need both in our lives otherwise, in my opinion, what we’re going to have is just a half life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been a professional guitarist for more than ten years. I studied in some of the best schools in Italy and America and now I play for two amazing Alternative Metal and Djent bands called “TELLING SECRETS” and “SVI”
You can follow them on IG:
@tellingsecrets
@sviband
Back in Italy I was playing the lead guitar in a theater company and we were performing musicals all around the north of Italy, I was also the guitarist of the Universal Music artist Valentina Parisse and for seven years I’ve been a teacher and then headteacher of two music schools in Milan and Monza. I’ve also co-written two guitar books and recorded one online masterclass for the Chinese platform “Iyamusic.” I was an endorser for Suhr guitars, Rotosound strings and Klotz cables.
Since I moved in the US I had to withdraw from everything: my endorsements, my job and artistic posItions. EVERYTHING. Crazy. But this was one the things that I’ve been very proud of. I felt very unsatisfied after all those years in Italy and I thought I was ready for a new exciting challenge so then I decided to move to the US to get an AA degree and finally finding some amazing bands to play with.
I have to say that I succeeded in that but guys, whoa, what a challenge I decided to embark into. It’s absolutely not for everybody, trust my words.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Money.
People with normal jobs or into business things struggle understanding that money comes second in what we do. There are a lot of projects and things that we take part into without getting paid a single penny and we’re aware of that since day one.
I found myself in a lot of situations in which, just to make contacts or giving a good first impression I preferred to play for free. It’s the quality of a project, the excitement to do something that has a weight into the musical environment that really drives people like me. But we are not all the same.
I saw a lot of Metal and Rock musicians quitting playing their favorite music because “they had to pay the bills.” Whatever that means.
I’ve always thought that, if you have to treat music as a normal job and playing stuff that you do not fully enjoy just to have enough money for the rent, then just get a regular job. I had to do the same just so I could be able to play the music I love. During the day I’m a guitar teacher and an assistant in a PR firm but when I’m not doing that I can play my 7 strings guitar with a huge smile on my face.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I moved to the States I had to quit everything and I had a lot to lose when I was in Italy. I was making great money and I was already somebody in the music business so when I moved to Los Angeles I was literally just a number: and I’m still a number. The difference is that I’m already building a career here that I’m enjoying way more than when I was in Italy..
I played in some of the most famous venues in LA and Hollywood and I released singles and records with some awesome bands.
Of course I’ve also took part in some ridiculous projects with some ridiculous names but hey, they were letting me playing in big venues so I guess it worked pretty good for me.
The new environment, the culture shock and some very bad people made (and will make) the journey very frustrating and difficult but I’ll be honest, without these things life will be just a boring straight line from the day we were born ’till the day we’re going to die.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wakelet.com/wake/IrF1r03xDg9dFg46j1N5l
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alessio_ammendola/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TellingxSecrets/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessio-ammendola-6a212a316/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TellingSecrets/videos
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/sviband/