Chiello_ph_Nima_Benati (2026-pp-02)
Chiello debuts in competition at the Sanremo Festival with I always think of you, a song written by the artist himself and composed by Tommaso Ottomano, Saverio Cigarini, Fausto Cigarini and Matteo Pigoni.
His participation in the Festival coincides with the release on March 20 of “Agonia”, an album recorded in Minneapolis. “AGONIA” is a concept album that dialogues with his imagination and delves into the deepest veins of the human being, exploring fragility, loneliness, desire and emotional introspection.
We met him on the eve of his participation in the Festival.
THE INTERVIEW
Why did “I think about you always” seem like the right song to enter the Sanremo competition for the first time?
I don't know exactly why. It's more of a feeling. I go by sensations a lot. I heard it, I thought it was the right one and I didn't ask myself too many questions. I also believe that it is a song that can reach everyone.
How do you experience the Sanremo competition and how are you preparing for Sanremo?
I'm calm. I don't worry. I have a feeling the planets are aligning. Competition doesn't interest me. I don't think there should be a competition in music: they are two separate things. I don't really live it.
In fact, I hope to finish last.
Why did you decide to participate in Sanremo?
I'm going to Sanremo because I needed to get back into the game. I was bored so I decided to go to Sanremo.
Morgan will be on stage with you on the covers evening. Aren't you afraid that controversy could reignite around his name?
Controversy doesn't interest me. I chose Morgan because I respect him artistically. He made fundamental, legendary records for Italian music. The rest doesn't concern me. I look at the work, not at the noise that surrounds it.
Aren't you afraid that certain controversies will end up overpowering the music?
It can happen, but it's not something I can control. I have respect for the music and for those who made it. If anyone wants to read more, it's their choice.
Let's get to the album. Why “Agony”? What are its themes?
I liked “Agony” as a word. It's very existential. It ties in well with the concept of the record. It is not understood only as pain, but in the original sense of the term: struggle, internal struggle. A state of transition, living within a conflict. This is the fulcrum that unites all the tracks.
Why the choice to record it in Minneapolis?
Because that's where Pachyderm Studios is, where a lot of the records we love were made. We decided to go precisely for this reason.
A clarification on the lyrics of the Sanremo song. You talk about an implosion of a relationship with very strong words too. The ending remains suspended and surprised some. Can you explain it to us?
I don't think there's much to explain. I liked leaving it like that, hanging. Everyone can put what they want in it. It also depends on how mischievous a person is. If I had written “I see you again, I kiss you” everything would have been simpler.
The album features Tommaso Ottomano, the same Sanremo team. How did you meet? Will he be with you on stage?
Tommi won't be on stage with me, but he was fundamental to this record. He came with us to Minneapolis, participated in the writing. We met four or five years ago through Francis Delacroix. At first he didn't consider me: they made him listen to “La crema di Boccia” and I asked him to make the video. He didn't even answer me. Then, after a month, he wrote to me saying that he had listened to the song and that it was beautiful. From there we were never separated again.
The visual aspect is always central to your work. Let's start from the cover: what struck you about the photographer and how does it relate to the album?
I really like Todd Hido, the cover photographer. I discovered it with one of his photographic series called House Huntingfrom which the cover image is taken. I was struck by this concept of desolate houses in the middle of nowhere, with a dim light. They are nocturnal scenarios that I felt were similar to music. Houses hide stories, often untold. There's a sense of solitude, more than an explicit story, it's the atmosphere that counts. And it's an atmosphere that I feel is close to that of the album. After all, it's my world.
You talked about agony as conflict. What is the biggest conflict you feel inside yourself?
I don't know yet. I haven't fully digested what I wrote. I just finished the record and it's all happening very quickly. Maybe I need time to really answer this question.
In the Sanremo piece and in songs like “Vulcano” Noughties sounds emerge. How did that sound world come to you?
Many people made me discover it, even the guys in the band. I can't say exactly how it got there. It fascinated me and from there I began a personal search.
Are you thinking about a space dedicated to music during Sanremo?
Yes, we are organizing the “Agonia Club”. We'll probably play, with a great band. I'd like to create a space that really talks about music, where you can perform.
THE DISC
The cover of “AGONIA” is a photograph of Todd Hidotaken from the collection “House Hunting”, a corpus of color and black and white images that traverses the American suburbs.
Hido's scenarios are solitary, mysterious, suspended between comfort and anxiety. His photographs portray interiors of terraced houses and night views of similar homes, in which the human presence is only suggested, the glow of a television turned on, a light bulb, a window illuminated in the dark. Images, capable of evoking a silent and persistent melancholy, in which everyday life becomes something intimate and poetic. Restoring a fragile, discreet and deeply emotional beauty.
THE TRACKLIST
1. HEAD HIGH
2. VOLCANO
3. SAVE ME FROM MYSELF
4. I ALWAYS THINK ABOUT YOU
5. POLYNESIAN VILLAGE
6. DESATURATE YOURSELF
7. WOLF
8. GHOSTS AND FEARS
9. I HOPE AT LEAST
10. SCARLET
11. I'M LEAVING
THE TOUR
16 APRIL 2026 – GRAN TEATRO GEOX – PADUA
19 APRIL 2026 – ATLANTIC – ROME
21 APRIL 2026 – CARTIERE CARRARA THEATER – FLORENCE
22 APRIL 2026 – ESTRAGON – BOLOGNA
28 APRIL 2026 – ALCATRAZ – MILAN
29 APRIL 2026 – CONCORDIA THEATER – VENARIA REALE (TURIN)
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