Today we have Louis from Adelaide band Donnarumma with us for a chat. Read more about them in the following interview:
Who is Donnarumma?
Bassist Anthony, Drummer Max and myself Louis create Donnarumma. We’re honestly just three hopeless romantics singing about unrequited love and longing. Our music is very driven, upbeat and echoes the likes of Jeff Buckley and Arcade Fire.
Where did the name come from?
I started out as a solo artist playing under my full name, Louis Donnarumma, but when the band came together we decided to go by ‘Donnarumma’ as it sounded more like a band.
How would you describe your music?
Our sound is quite eclectic. I have roots in folk. Anthony, the bassists, has a background of jazz and Max, the drummer, in punk. You can hear all these elements and styles in our music. This makes it hard for us to place ourselves in a genre, but you could say it’s alt-rock. Music feeds described it as “A sonic punch to the gut and heart” and we feel like this is pretty true.
What is the music scene like in Adelaide?
Adelaide is great, there are so many talented musicians that make it a really diverse scene. Everyone is super friendly, the community seems to be more like a family. We all try to help each other out and are always happy to have a hang and a chat over a beer.
Which band would you most like to collaborate with?
The Arcade Fire members would be my ultimate collaboration.
What’s Love Your Man all about?
The song’s about the jealously that warped my perception of a past relationship. The song travels back to the time where I felt betrayed by my partner—what an innocent boy I was.
The day I wrote it was months after the relationship had ended. I found out that she had blocked me on all the socials, which naturally made her an Ice Queen. When I was writing the song, this interesting guitar pattern was under my fingertips and the title ‘Love Your Man’, just came out. It was one of those songs where it was fully fleshed out by the end of the day.
I was heavily inspired by Nina Simone at the time and so I tried to incorporate some of her elements from her music which is where the claps and horn lines came from.
Tell us about the video clip…
Our bass player Anthony Costanzo and I collectively came up with the concept and storyboard for the clip.
Brace yourself, were going to seem a little crazy. The story’s about this toxic relationship where the girl goes insane, kidnaps her partner and tries to kill him. We find out towards the end that he’s been cheating on her and gets what he deserves. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but we tried to be as over the top as we could be. It’s like those moments when you’re so angry you picture the most outrageous stories in your head. We find it amusing and love the irony, there’s this man singing how he doesn’t feel loved but does nothing but betray her.
Take a look:
What should fans expect from your upcoming EP, Billy Billy?
Each song on the EP has its own special quality about them. The EP travels to a rockier side while still having that huge brass section fans of ‘Love Your Man’ would be familiar with.
In one word describe each member of the group…
Louis – Lactose
Anthony – Garbage
Max – Excitement
What’s next for Donnarumma?
In the second half of this year we’re looking to forward to playing with some awesome bands, and in September we’re heading back into the studio. We want to get out another release and come back to the easy coast as soon as possible.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Individually we have different musical inspirations but the feeling of love is what drives the music.
What is one thing we wouldn’t know about you…
I’m a kid inside. Instead of watching ‘Stranger Things’ like normal people I watch WWE. I can be a kid forever okay!
Where can we see you live?
We’ll be having our tour in July!
DONNARUMMA ‘BILLY BILLY’ SHOWS
FRI 7 JULY | WHOLE LOTTA LOVE, MELBOURNE VIC | 18+
THURS 13 JULY | RAD BAR, WOLLONGONG NSW | 18+
FRI 14 JULY | THE TOWNIE, SYDNEY NSW | 18+
Hi, I’m Anna the Editor of Beauty and Lace.