Interview: Jacopo Pausa

Jacopo Pausa is a 21 year old guitarist and singer-songwriter from Italy. His biggest influence is Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. Jacopo has been playing guitar since the age of 7 and was raised in a family who love music. Last year, he started his solo project and released his debut album, The Truth, on December 27, 2019. You can stream it on Spotify now.

Today on the blog, Jacopo joins us and talks about his music. If you want to learn more about him and his music, keep on reading!

Angie Moon: How would you summarise yourself and your music?

Jacopo Pausa: I’m Jacopo Pausa, a 21 rock-oriented guitarist and songwriter from Italy.
When I was a child I got into playing guitar because of my parents’ passion for rock music.
On 27 December 2019 I released my first album, The Truth, which is about true facts of life.

Angie: You said your family have a passion for rock music. What were your favourite memories of rock music growing up?

Jacopo: My favourite memories about rock music growing up are probably watching hours of Dire Straits “Alchemy” and “On The Night” videotapes, I used to pretend to be a guitarist while the VHS was playing. Another relevant memory is when I started playing guitar.

Angie: Have you seen any classic rock musicians live? Who were your favourites to see live?

Jacopo: I attended only two big concerts in my life. Luckily one of them were a Mark Knopfler gig I attended in Verona the last July. It was amazing and definitely my favourite. The other one was a Vasco Rossi concert in Milan.

Angie: How did you learn to play guitar? – Did you teach yourself guitar or take formal lessons?

Jacopo: When I was about 7 I just wanted to be like Mark Knopfler so I took my father’s guitar and I tried to play it with poor performance. Then I found a guitar handbook and started playing the very first chords.

After two years of playing the same chords over and over, a friend of mine decided to attend a guitar school so I went with him and had lessons for two years. Then I developed my playing just learning rock songs, especially from Dire Straits.

Angie: What bands have you been listening to lately?

Jacopo: Lately I’ve been listening to some blues players such as Jimmy Johnson, B.B. King, and Albert Collins. I’m trying to learn something from everyone and I’m still learning from Mark Knopfler.

Angie: How popular is rock music in Italy?

Jacopo: I don’t usually listen to Italian Rock music but there are some artists i like such as Vasco Rossi and Zucchero. Unfortunately rock music in Italy is not as popular as pop, rap or R&B, so it’s very hard to emerge if you are not involved in these genres. I talk about it in my song “That’s Not Easy”.

Angie: Who are your biggest guitar and songwriting inspirations?

Jacopo: My biggest inspiration of all time is Mark Knopfler, i just like the way he plays, the way he write songs and his attitude to music. I’m also inspired by Pink Floyd and blues players.

Angie: What was recording The Truth like?

Jacopo: It was amazing, Mattia Limenta from ML Produzioni produced my album very well. He helped me finding the right sounds for each song and gave me some tips on doing arrangements, we had good times in the studio and I learned something more about producing and so recording music.

Angie: What are your favourite songs on the album?

Jacopo: I’m very self-critical and I can find mistakes in all of my songs, anyway my favourite track of the album is the title-track “The Truth”. It has a deep and real meaning and it is what makes it important to me. I think it’s an emotional song as well.

Angie: What challenges did you run into while recording the album?

Jacopo: The main challenge I had while recording the album was picking the right tracks for the album. I had a lot of songs written and I wanted to record all of them but I felt like some of them didn’t fit very well with others so I did a selection and ended up with 9 tracks.
Another challenge was recording the album in just two months because I broke the pinkie of my right hand a week before the beginning of recording sessions and I needed a surgery.

Angie: What are your goals for the year?

Jacopo: My main goal for the year is to continue spreading experiences and emotions throught my music trying reaching as many people as possible.
Lately I’ve written new stuff so I aim to release new music in 2020.

You can follow Jacopo on Facebook, Instagram, and his website.