Ugo Vantini

Education

Equipment

My Equipment/Kit: Ludwig Drums, Yamaha DD 65, Yamaha DTX 750k

I can use: Ludwig Drums, Yamaha Dtx 750K, Yamaha Dd 65

About me

Born in Rome in 1963, he began to play drums in the 1970s, influenced by the progressive music that prevailed at the time and by pop, jazz, classical music and film soundtracks he listened to on the records of his father Guerrino, a musician graduated from the conservatory in piano and percussion, and his mother, the singer Anna. In the 80s he formed a psychedelic extraction group, the Movie, coming to play in the Flaminio Stadium in Rome with the Raff and to open the Italian date of the Wall of Voodoo at the Teatro Espero, RM, in 1986, which concert was also entirely live broadcasted by RAI Radio 2 live nationally. In the same period he also played in Onami, a new wave music band influenced by bands such as Japan and Cure, also recording songs in Pino Daniele's studio in Formia. In the 90s he formed the Divae (formerly Diva, from the initials of the surnames of the founders Di Francesco and Vantini), a progressive rock formation with which he will divide the stages together with: Area, Arena, Anekdtoten, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Balletto di Bronzo , Osanna, Orme, Garybaldi, Jack Bruce, Jefferson Starship, Metamorfosi, Montefeltro, Grimalkin, Finisterre and many others. The Divae also collaborated directly with: Gary Green (Gentle Giant), Vittorio Nocenzi (Banco del Mutuo Soccorso), Lino Vairetti (Osanna), Gianni Leone (Balletto Di Bronzo) and won the festival "Tribute to Demetrio Stratos" in 1997 after having participated in the previous edition together with the Area as guests. In the same years he participated with Gianni Leone and Romolo Amici in the reconstruction of the historic Italian group Balletto di Bronzo as a trio. With the same lineup they created the cd Trys recorded live at the Progressivamente Rock Festival of Rome, on September 6th 1996. Later in 2003 he joined the Twin Dragons, a blues rock band playing in various line-ups of the band including Nathaniel Peterson (John Lee Hooker, Savoy Brown, Eric Clapton), Andrea Braido (Vasco Rossi), Fabio Cerrone (Virtual Dream), Graham Oliver (Saxon). In 2004 he joined the Ezra Winston, another historical group of progressive rock, with which he played at the Foro Italico in Rome, Centrale del Tennis, together with the Carl Palmer Band and recorded some unpublished ones, one of which was published for a progressive rock compilation (Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, Osanna, Area, Metamorphosis ...) of Sony of 2014. With Stefano Pontani (Ezra Winston, Anagramma) and Fabrizio Santoro (Oak, Nodo Gordiano) he formed in 2005 the VU Meters an experimental rock band based on improvisation with prog and jazz rock openings, creating the CD Dark City in 2007 and a unpublished published by Eclectic Productions in 2016. In 2006 he participated in the realization of Millennium Screams, a project of composer, director and musician Al Festa, with arrangements and reinterpretations of musical themes taken from horror, sf and fantasy films and TV series, and he performed in duo together at the same period at the Fanta Festival in Rome and Naples editions. He also collaborated with Mauro Tiberi (Markus Stockhausen, Sainkho Namtchylak), bassist, double bass player and exceptional user of the voice as an instrument, playing in various anomalous locations, churches and at the Etno Film Fest of 2013. In 2014 he joined Entropia, and Entropia Techno Department (the alternative project oriented exclusively to electronic dance music productions), by Alex Marenga (Amptek, Frammenti di Caos) and Dr. Lops, an eclectic band that embraces multiple musical styles by filtering everything through an electronic component and is open to collaborations with various personalities in any artistic field including: Nicola Alesini (Roedelius, David Sylvian, David Torn), Bob Salmieri (Milagro Acustico). With Entropia and Entropia Techno Department has divided the stages with: Angelina Yershova, Alex Dolby, Bas Mooy, Enrico Cosimi, John B. Arnold, Marco and Fabrizio D'Arcangelo, Héctor Oaks, Michael Rosen. Entropia also performed live dance performances (Dipendenzexperiments and Exchangexperiments) by Valentina Buffone at the Il Cantiere Theater and the show “For Bergen” by the NO.NO dance company at the Furio Camillo Theater in Rome in 2015.
He also worked as a sound engineer for theatrical productions ("Il Vizio Assurdo" by Salvatore Di Mattia with Paolo Buglioni at Teatro Agorà) and cinematographic ("Il Giorno della Shoah" by Pasquale Squitieri with Giorgio Albertazzi and Claudia Cardinale). He was assistant director and backstage operator for three projects by the director Al Festa: Gipsy Angel (1992), Progetto Sapientia (2009) and L'Eremita (2012).
In 2011, as an audio and video editor, he produced the documentary "Mediterraneo Mare Di Vita" by Caterina Ponti. He occasionally published his graphic works on Revolutionart, the international online magazine curated by Nelson Medina and worked from 2014 to 2017 for the Eclectic Productions label as an artistic producer, creator and editor of graphic styles for sites, logos, posters and posters , merchandising and covers of new musical productions.
He also collaborates with EMusic - the Sound of the Earth, a non-profit organization founded with the aim of creating and spreading the connections between Music and Science for both educational and artistic purposes, in which a team of geologists and musicians transform music into music underground response to electromagnetic impulses - detected through a special survey - and improvise on it, thus giving voice to the authentic "Sound of the Earth". For EMusic he played at the European Geosciences Union Assembly in Vienna and at the MEI festival (Italian independent label meeting) in 2017.
In 2016 he formed the Silent Chaos with Marta NoOne, an experimental audiovisual project founded in Rome, IT. Their music nourishes of non-linear time, of conceptual and performing circularity: ancient and futuristic sounds advance in a spiral-shaped way. Their sound is structured but not predictable, in an impromptu composition based on improvisation. Past, present and future times mash up in ancient sonorities and electronic twistings, filtered through the personal musical experiences.
They released an album (“micro” - Eclectic Productions 2017), of which the track “Insania” has been used in two different compilations, three pieces, “Daedalus of Possibilities” - “Chains of Abyss” - “Cotard's Syndrome - The waking dead”, included in four international compilations, and an album “Osclltr 012” released in 2018 with the Berlin music label Osclltr Records. They have sonorized various art exhibitions, acted in theatrical and radio performances, and have performed, with their audiovisual show, at the Italian contemporary art museum MAAM and in various different venues.
Currently based in the north-east of Scotland, they have performed their work “Synbals” at the King’s College Chapel concert for Shift-Enter, a live coding and electroacoustic ensemble, and The University of Aberdeen Music Department.
They have also presented their composition “Schizophrenia in Schizophonia” in a live performance at the SERG International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018 “Sonic Realities” in Aberdeen.
They have performed with their A/V project “Permutations” at the Kirk of St. Nicholas Uniting in Aberdeen for the sonADA inTransit III, 3rd event.
They also have performed, with their new A/V project “Origins”, at the Glasgow’s CCA for Cryptic Nights on the 7th of March 2019 and the radio version of Origins was broadcast on May 24 for the Radiophrenia Glasgow Festival.
Additional skills:
Drum Studio Recording, Live Drummer, Music Arrangement, Music Production, Graphic Design, Video & Audio Editing, Web Marketing, Internet Social Networking

License & Passport

Skills

Secondary Job Title	Session Musician
Job Titles	Sound Mixer / Recordist, Sound Designer, Events Management / Support, Theatre Technician, Music Production
Years in industry	6+ years
Musical Skills	Drums/Percussion, Triangle
Musical Style	Acid Jazz, Acoustic, Ambient, Avant-garde, Avant-garde jazz, Blues, Chillout, Classic rock, Cool jazz, Electronica, Experimental, Funk, Grunge, Hip hop, Improv, Industrial, Jazz, Pop, Punk, R n B, Rap, Reggae, Rock, Salsa, Soul, Techno