Valente profile picture

Valente

Writing debut full Album. Valente |Vuh-lent-A|

About Me


I was born in Rome, Italy, son of a American Jazz Singer and an Italian Theatre Director. At the age of 1 we moved to the Italian part of Switzerland and lived there till I was 18. There I attended a catholic priest boarding school where my love for music started growing even more (more than how much I loved it when I would walk around the hills around an old high-school where my mother used to rehearse with a big band in the summer) . I would get out of my room at night and go to the basement where there was this soundproof room with an uprght piano. I'd sit there for nights on end writing. And whenever I'd be home for vacation I'd worry my father sick when I wouldn't come home until the wee small hours of the morning. What he didn't know is that I befriended the owner of the only record store in my town and would spend hours there listening to music. There I started to figure out that it was the only thing I was cut out for. (according to my Latin teacher it was either gonna be lawyer or second hand car salesman...so thank God!) After a short stint in London I moved to LA, fresh out of High School. I went to a music school thinking I was going to be a bass player. Oh but wasn't I wrong. After a big break up I decided to stop trying to hide and figured I'd go for what I really wanted, being a singer/songwriter. So ever since that, THIS is what I have been doing.

Oh and here's a clip from a German movie for which I interpreted a song (oh, and I almost forgot...played bass to as well):



My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/20/2004
Band Website: whatwasthatguysname.com
Band Members: Valente: All writing, arranging, production, programming, instruments, vox, cooking, most of the cleaning, taking out the trash and trying to reply to as many emails as possible every day.


Influences: Bjork, Peter Gabriel, Jamiroquai, Sting, Ivano Fossati, Joni Mitchell, U2, AIR, Annie Lennox, Brian Eno, my Momma, Massive Attack, Satie, Craig Armstrong, Daniel Lanois, Death Cab For Cutie, Joao Gilberto, Eric Clapton, Brahms, Jimmy Iovine, Everything But The Girl, Frank Sinatra, Jeff Buckley, Jellyfish, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash, Mahler, The Blue Nile, Nina Simone, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Nitin Sawhney, Nine Inch Nails, Michael Kamen, Digable Planets, Outkast, Pat Metheny, Phil Collins, The Police, il mio Papá, Prodigy, Queen, Rage Against The Machine, Radiohead, Royksopp, Sigur Ros, Sarah McLachlan, Solomon Burke, Stevie Wonder, Terence Trent D'Arby, Postal Service, DNTEL, The Clash, The Cure, The Unbelievable Truth, The White Stripes, Tina Lear, Tom Waits, Tony Levin, Tricky, Towa Tei, Zero 7look, just listen to the Mp3 and figure it out.
Sounds Like: my head
Record Label: Univox Records (my own 100% Indie label)
Type of Label: None

My Blog

100000 views: a Thank You.

My dear friends,it's snowing outside right now here in cold Switzerland, but despite it all my little red heart is beating with glowing warmth. I just noticed that my page reached 100000 views (I had ...
Posted by Valente on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:46:00 PST

Valente on Arjanwrites.com

Hello friends,I hope the Holiday season has been a great one for all of you. 2008 is off to a brilliant start. Arjanwrites.com under the reins of Temposhark's very own Rob Diament, featured "Escape Ar...
Posted by Valente on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:54:00 PST

A Birthday Tale.

Today I turn...old...er.So I figured I'd tell you a story. It was early evening on November 17th 1980 when my Mother started having contractions. Having had what she recounts as horrible experiences g...
Posted by Valente on Sat, 17 Nov 2007 08:33:00 PST

How to Help Spread the Word

Dear friends,As you know, I don't have Big Corp with it's checkbook behind me. What I DO have is YOU and your passion and ideas. If you believe in what I do, help spread the word.Here's a list of thin...
Posted by Valente on Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:42:00 PST

In Paris recording on the new Nouvelle Vague record.

In Paris at the moment recording on the new Nouvelle Vague record with Marc Collin. While here I'll be also doing some interviews for "Two For The Road", the other project I worked on last year here i...
Posted by Valente on Sat, 22 Sep 2007 05:12:00 PST

Escape Artist EP - Out now on iTunes Worldwide!

Dear friends,Today is a great day: My EP, "Escape Artist" is finally out on iTunes worldwide.You can download it by clicking on this banner: The reason for the EP's title is that every song on it tal...
Posted by Valente on Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:06:00 PST

How to help spread the word

Dear friends,As you know, I don't have Big Corp with it's checkbook behind me. What I DO have is YOU and your passion and ideas. If you believe in what I do, help spread the word.Here's a list of thin...
Posted by Valente on Sun, 19 Aug 2007 01:42:00 PST

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!

Hello there,Here's some news:1) Tiffcast: A couple of days back I was interviewed by the wonderful Tiff as part of her Tiffcast series (past interviews of note include Imogen Heap and Kate Havnevik .....
Posted by Valente on Wed, 18 Jul 2007 06:41:00 PST

Lyrics matter to me.

HOME by ValenteAnother sleepless airport My light blue shirt stained with sweatThe jet lagged crowd bumps into meMy bags were lost a...
Posted by Valente on Thu, 28 Jun 2007 03:06:00 PST

in Brazil they call me Vallency

A while ago someone pointed out to me that I was featured on a well known Brazilian radio station (I believe it's called Radio UOL). Well the other day someone actually sent me a recording from said s...
Posted by Valente on Thu, 10 May 2007 11:20:00 PST