Q: Who is Gionatan Scali? Tell me a little bit about where you were born and your childhood.
A: I was born in Turin. I am Italian, then I became a citizen of the world. I have been living in lots of places in Europe and the last ten years in the UK, in East London. It is quite a milestone; 2015 was when I moved. I was doing music before coming to the UK and I continued doing music, but I am also making art now.
Q: Did you study music?
A: I didn't study music; I was self-taught. I took some private lessons from a teacher when I was a kid. My dad brought me to a musician from a conservatory in Turin when I was eight years old. I experienced the Solfeggio system, which I was hating. I remember I was crying because I couldn't understand why music was so hard to learn. I was studying classical guitar and a bit of piano, but the foundation was notation — all the boring stuff. I refused to do that and said to my dad, 'I don't want to do this anymore'. I got a guitar when I was 14 or 15. My dad bought me my first electric guitar as a gift for performances at school.
"Hackney is a place of imagination, a place to carve your imagination. It feels unreal, like it is legendary."
Q: When did you know that you were going to be an artist?
A: Even at an early age, I was dreaming about being in London. That is what I said to my dad. My mom used to play the band Queen, and I was dreaming about being a rock star in London one day. My dad brought me to some classical studies — Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven — and I remember my dad used to see me in the room with a stick in front of a wall, imagining being a conductor. I always had this dream that one day I would be in London making art or making music somehow. And that happened.
Q: Why the name Johnny Fishborn and how long did that last?
A: I released a couple of records under the name Johnny Fishborn between 2009 and 2015. With my departure to London, I said, 'That's the end, I need to start from scratch again'. It was a nickname I gave to myself because my birthday is the 1st of April, so I was born on the day of the fish. In Italian and French culture, they stick a paper fish on your back on that day. My name is Gionatan with a G, but I wanted to give it that internationality.
"Success is when your inner world and the external world are just matching at a certain time. I feel pretty much close, to be honest."
Q: What do you call your music? What's the style?
A: I would say alternative art rock. Some people say it’s psychedelic garage rock. To be honest, I would call it abstract rock.
Q: Does Hackney have a gravitational pull? What kind of an impact did London and Hackney have on you?
A: Hackney had much more impact than London. Hackney is a place of imagination, a place to carve your imagination. It feels unreal, legendary. It’s a visionary place. I feel like from my 30s to my 40s, it has been a very deep dream where I have been living.
Q: How would you define success? What does success look like for Gionatan Scali?
A: I think success is when the satisfaction of some kind of creative work matches or fulfils an external world. It is a sort of merge. You can release something, but if no one gets it, I don't think it's success yet. Success is when your inner world and the external world are just matching at a certain time. I feel pretty much close to that now. Compared to the past, I had opportunities to get out there and get this merge quicker, but I would beat myself up and say, 'Just do one more work, it's not enough'. Nowadays, getting responses from people in both art and music, it has become much clearer. That clarity comes with time and trust.