Music

I’ve been playing music since I was a kid; I started playing guitar, both acoustic and electric, but nowadays my main musical instruments are tenor banjo and mandolin.

I’ve a deep passion for folk and trad music, especially Irish Traditional Music, which I absolutely love to play. My best mates are a custom-made Clareen Pearl banjo made by legendary Tom Cussen (www.banjo.ie), a short-scale GoldTone Tenor Banjo, a lovely Martin’s D-28 acoustic guitar and a Weber Gallatin handmade mandolin. I also play a custom Ibanez Prestige acoustic guitar, Ovation MCS148 mandolin, a Gibson Les Paul Standard ’57 and some other stuff I can’t remember.

As electric guitar player I’ve been playing with thrash metal band Hyades since 1996 (wow, we’re even on Wikipedia!), writing lyrics and music for four albums worldwide released by Mausoleum Records (Belgium) and Punishment18 Records (Italy); we had shows all over Europe, including an extensive European tour and live appearances at some of the most important festivals all over the world.

During the 2000’s I had a few friends living and working in Dublin, so I spent large part of those years going up and down from Italy to Ireland; that’s how I fell in love with Irish music, society and culture, something that definitely changed my life.
In 2007 I founded the folk/rock band Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards (www.dirtybastards.it), one of my proudest accomplishments cause we started from nothing and we ended up touring Europe and playing around 100 gigs a year. I did it all with a good bunch of friends and I consider myself extremely lucky since we’re on the road together for large part of the year. But each milestone demanded days, months and years of sacrifices and hard work.

Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards do not leave much time for anything else now, since I also take care of production, management, booking and a lot of other boring daily stuff; but I occasionally play here and there with some folk/traditional duo or trio, and I take part to Irish sessions in Milan area.

Discography

GADAN – Gadan (2022)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – The Story So Far (2022)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Cellar Tapes vol.1! (2021)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – The Men Beyond the Glass (2020)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Handmade! (2017)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Folk Rock III [Tower Records Compilation] (2016)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Get The Folk Out! [Japan version] (2015)
HYADES – The Wolves Are Getting Hungry (2015)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Plastic Paddy’s Day [single] (2015)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Folk Rock II [Tower Records Compilation] (2014)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Get The Folk Out! (2014)
THE WETDOGS – Yer Country [Punk Goes Acoustic Compilation II] (2013)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Fly The Flag [Punk Goes Acoustic Compilation II] (2013)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Up the Bastards (2013)
THE WETDOGS – Straight To Hell [Punk Goes Acoustic Compilation] (2012)
THE WETDOGS – The WetDogs (2011)
UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – Drinking Not Thinking (2010)
THE WETDOGS – Magenta Avenue 79th (2009)
HYADES – The Roots of Trash (2009)
HYADES – Alien [Tankard: Best Case Scenario: 25 Years in Beers] (2007)
HYADES – And the Worst is Yet To Come [South America Special Edition] (2007)
HYADES – And the Worst is Yet To Come (2007)
HYADES – Abuse Your Illusions [South America Special Edition] (2005)
HYADES – Abuse Your Illusions (2005)
HYADES – Hyades [Demo] (2002)
HYADES – No Bullshit… just Metal! [EP] (2001)
HYADES – MCLXXVI [Demo] (2000)
HYADES – Princess Of The Rain [Demo] (1999)