After thirteen years of living artistically far from Italy, Roger he returns to sing in his native language and does so with the awareness of someone who has crossed different musical and human worlds. With Italian nights before and Feelings then, the artist inaugurates a new phase of his journey: more intimate, sincere and profoundly identifying.
In this interview Roger it is told without filters, retracing the transition from Latin America to the return to the origins, the work on emotions, writing in Italian and the search for an authentic voice, capable of holding together fragility, passion and artistic maturity.
1. Hi Roger! Let's start immediately with “Sentimenti”: what does this song say and at what moment in your life was it born?
Feelings was born from the deep desire to really start my musical journey in Italian. It arrived in a period in which I was doing many sessions precisely to search for my artistic identity in this language, and one of the first was the one with my brother Leonardo and with Mameli. Together we built the song piece by piece, and from the first listen it remained in everyone's head: friends, colleagues, people close to me. It's one of those melodies that enters your heart like Cupid's arrow. At the thematic level, Feelings tells exactly what it promises: emotional uncertainty. That suspended moment when you wonder if you're about to make the right choice and move forward, or if you need to change direction and end a relationship. It's a conflict between love and hate, between attraction and doubt, that sometimes feels like a punch in the gut — just like the chorus says: “how boring feelings are, how bad feelings are”. It is a sincere photograph of that confusion that we have all felt at least once. And everything was born there, in the studio, in that first special session with Leonardo and Mameli.
2. You wrote “Sentimenti” together with your brother and Mameli. What was it like working in this creative trio? Did you find the right chemistry right away?
Feelings it was born right in the first sessions of my journey in Italian. However, right from the start, the second part of the song – especially the second verse and some passages of the chorus – didn't completely convince me in the first demo. I knew that the song had great potential, but that those phrases didn't do justice to the emotion I wanted to convey. A few weeks before the release I returned to the studio with my brother Leonardo and we completely started working on the text again. We spent hours looking for the right words, changing seven or eight sentences that had been there since the very first version. It was complicated, because after months of listening those phrases remain imprinted in your head and it's difficult to change them. But I knew that Feelings he deserved more. And in the end we managed to give it the definitive shape, the one that feels most true to me. I'm really happy with the result and the alchemy that was created between the three of us: a perfect mix of creativity, sincerity and discussion.
3. Luigi Bordi's production gave the song a very particular melancholic lightness. How did you want “Sentimenti” to sound?
With Feelings I was really looking for a melancholic lightness, and with Luigi Bordi we managed to find it even by working remotely – I was in Argentina and he in Italy during the entire production. I didn't want a “charged” song: I wanted it to remain light, almost suspended, because the chorus alone conveyed all the emotional intensity. We started from the ukulele, which is the heart of the song, and we built everything around that instrument, without weighing anything down. In this way the piece breathes, remains fresh, and allows the words to come out delicately. I wanted to give sonic continuity to the path started with Italian Nightsand working with Luigi again was the perfect choice. Feelings it truly became the second ideal song to define this new beginning in Italian.
4. After a long career in Latin America, you returned to singing in Italian with “Notti italiane”. What pushed you to take this step?
Singing in Italian is a desire I've had for a long time, but which I kept putting off. At a certain point, however, I felt that it was finally the right time: I wanted to bring my music to my country too and make myself known to an Italian audience with who I am today. After so many experiences in Latin America, I felt I had the maturity and awareness to take this step. Today I am proud to be able to share my music in Italian and to begin a journey that, song after song, will allow me to make myself more and more known. What I would like the public to know is that they will always listen to the music of a person who deeply loves what they do. I only go on stage with songs that represent me 100%, and I really hope that the Italian public can enter my artistic world and be passionate about it.
5. What do you take away from your experience in Latin America that you want to transfer to your Italian career?
In Italy I definitely bring a part of my Latin identity. After thirteen years of living in Argentina, it is inevitable that certain influences have entered my way of creating music: in the melodies, in the instinct, in the way of storytelling. That mix between Latin and Italian musicality has become my distinctive trait. But I also bring my human and professional baggage: many hours on stage, in front of the microphone, on television sets. Every experience, every moment lived has shaped me, and today I can put it at the service of this new phase. I would like the Italian public to know me exactly like this: through everything I have learned and what I have become.
6. You are one of the actors in the Netflix series “Cien años de soledad”, also awarded at the Latin Grammys. How exciting was it to be part of such an important project?
It was so exciting to be part of a series of such magnitude as One hundred years of solitude. It's difficult to explain what I experienced: more than a thousand people on set, an incredible passion in front of and behind the camera, a unique energy. Playing Pietro Crespi — Italian and a musician like me — was a privilege. I gave it my all, trying to respect García Márquez's gigantic work and to tell the best story of my character. I am delighted with the awards and recognition the series has received around the world. And being able to sing within the series was a huge gift, even though the moment was among the most tragic in history. It was an experience that made me grow a lot, both as an artist and as a person.
7. Are you already working on a larger project? Can we expect an EP or album in Italian? Will there be surprises in 2026?
Yes, I've been working on my album in Italian for a long time. The album already exists, but being a new beginning I want to give each song time to grow and reach the public as it deserves. That's why I'm releasing the songs one at a time. In 2026, after Feelingsa new single will arrive in January. It has always been the song that I feel strongest among all the ones I have written in Italian, and it will come out with a very clear concept, which you will soon discover.
8. If you had to describe Ruggero today with just three words, which ones would you use?
I would say sincere, passionate and in love. In love with love, with music, with the life that I am lucky enough to live. I am truly grateful for everything that is happening to me and the path I am building. I consider myself a lucky person, and this feeling accompanies me every day.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
