by Stefania Clerici
On the occasion of the release of his new single Palo Santo meeting Gio Evan, for an informal chat about this project, from which a beautiful and profound discussion unfolds on his multifaceted art, the pleasure to think and to be disseminators of beauty, just as I perceive Gio: una nice person that starting from an idea he “creates things” that exist precisely because he wanted to think of them.
Request: Palo Santo: how was this new piece born?
This piece was born at the end of a journey: let's start from the beginning of this 2024 which opened with many theater dates, followed by a long summer tour. But at the end of the journey I got out of it destroyedat a certain point I felt exactly that stress. I usually fight it well with le meditationsbut this time the tiredness was much heavier, so we organized a day-off between one stage and another: we stopped in a grove in a small village, we took the guitars and improvised a jam sessions night and at a certain point it came out Palo Santo. I took a photograph of what I saw and I realized it I had what I wanted: carefreeness and time with friends, my music and peace. I thought I had to run away from that, but actually this work is a great pleasure for me, I just had to notice. While I was singing I lit this palo santo, I “blessed” like a priest the surrounding environment and my friends, I exploded into “I love you and bless you all” and so the rhythm, the words, and everything came out. Palo Santo and at the end of the tour we recorded it, without filters, without voices, raw, real, natural, Amazonian… just the way I like it.
Request: Usually when you launch a single it's because it will be the forerunner for a new project: is this the case with Palo Santo, or is it more of an epilogue?
The song certainly has a bit of a “closer” role, but it is also true that the closer – if you look at it from the other side – is the firstbecause it leaves everyone behind, to leave space for the new. I felt great ruptures and conclusions within myself, I am in a revolutionary period, from the writing point of view, for example I wrote a new novelI have some changes going on that I would like to pamper more and that I would like to show you in the future. Now I'm about to leave, I'll be in the Amazon for a month and a half and then I'll stay in Indonesia for another month, I think that when I return I'll be able to give myself and give us an answer on this, whether it was a frontrunner or a frontrunner.
Request: Who are your gurus/role models?
I am a religious 360: my teacher Yoga Nanda it is the most contemporary one, but also touching on the past, certainly too Jesus, that I would put in the lineup of 11 of my holy cards as number 1. I am full of good examples because I was lucky enough to travel a lot and to be a talker about the meaning of spirituality, therefore in my travels I met people who suggested knowledge and broadened my horizons. In Argentina the Wise Jose he changed my life, he was the man who baptized me with Evan's name: he was the first shaman who welcomed me and made me feel right. Even in India I had great encounters with fantastic people, always being on the move, I “forced” myself to put roots in two pots to go away and find great “gardeners” passing through, relying on the road and the Masters I met . My son is a great teacheris educating me about the childish world and about becoming a child again.
Request: Your art is made of poetry, music, performance: you are a multifaceted artist who touches art in many forms. How do you balance them in your storytelling?
I don't know, but I understand that I have a great and true dedication: thinking. I really like thinking so much that it becomes a matter of chance therapy -and obviously I do therapy, in addition to mediation, which helps me to “degrease” the excess of thoughts. Also yoga It gives me a lot, but I really like to think, to always find new things and stimuli. I am a person who has known the in the past boredom, especially as a child, living alone in the mountains, so I stimulate boredom and liven it up with my arts, whether they become music, a novel, a theatrical monologue, or a work for a third person: but everything is in the thought… I like to create a project because I thought of it.
Request: Among these, in which “form” do you feel most comfortable? Are you more of a poet, musician, novelist?
I really feel like myself when I am not deciphered. When I meet a person who tells me “you are my favorite poet” it tickles my ego, but I don't want to live a slave to the ego or in its presence. I I want to be freeso I like it better when they tell me “I like you as a person”: I prefer being recognized as a person, because I don't believe in being poets or songwriters… a person who takes the guitar and sings his own pieces is already a songwriter, we are all everything, I can't see it as a form, I want to be a shoulder of energy.
Request: Last summer you were abroad at Sziget and in America: what is it like performing outside Italy?
It's so beautiful… Consider that I've played a lot, even on the street, in my “nomadic” life and every time I go on stage it's always an emotion. However, there is a difference with Italy because my shows are very popular, they are not just concerts… when I was abroad I discovered that my greatest weapon, the word, turns into a small water pistol with limits of the language and of a non-Italian audience. There, however, I understood that even with the music you can do a lot and this gave me incredible happiness because I didn't take it for granted, except when I found myself in this situation.
Request: Evanland will return to Assisi next summer in 2025: can you tell us more about this event?
I am very happy that this project has been understood and will also take place next year in what is called the “gathering of the good”: there will be 2 days, 26 and 27 July, in the square of Rocca Maggiore in Assisi, in a huge park, with tents, bonfires and a welcome in nature. Both days start in the morning with workshops dedicated to the exploration of inner world: family constellations, sweat lodges, women's circles, gong baths, yoga practices with Masters from all over the world who will give themselves to us… and then in the evening concerts, concluding on Sunday with my show: it was called “the third world peace”, not by chance.
Request: In addition to this big party already announced, are you thinking of going back on tour to theaters or other events?
At the moment I don't know, by my natural vocation I continue to produce and then we'll see… when I get back I'll see. Mine is ready novel which will be released at some point, I really want to publish it because it's very intimate, it's a novel/essay, biographical that talks about shamanism… but I'll stop here because I'm already telling you too much…!
We say goodbye with deep gratitude and heart and regenerate our now friend Gio Evan, with the promise of hearing from us again after his trip to tell us about his new adventures. Namaste!
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
