{"id":353680,"date":"2025-12-18T17:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/353680\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T17:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:15:09","slug":"maneskins-thomas-raggi-tells-us-about-his-star-studded-solo-debut-and-whats-next-for-the-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/353680\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00e5neskin’s Thomas Raggi tells us about his star-studded solo debut and what’s next for the band"},"content":{"rendered":"

M\u00e5neskin<\/a> guitarist Thomas Raggi<\/a> has spoken to NME about his just-released new solo album \u2018Masquerade\u2019, working with Rage Against The Machine<\/a> icon Tom Morello<\/a>, and what the venture means for the future of the Italian rock giants.<\/p>\n

Though a solo record by name, \u2018Masquerade\u2019 actually features a storied cast of collaborators, with the likes of Kasabian<\/a>\u2019s Serge Pizzorno<\/a>, Franz Ferdinand<\/a>\u2019s Alex Kapranos, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers<\/a>, and Maxim of The Prodigy<\/a> lining up alongside producer Morello for the release.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the ethos of the project, Raggi explained that the idea was \u201cto put different generations together\u201d, with newer artists including pop singer Upsahl<\/a> and Luke Spiller of The Struts<\/a> also appearing alongside \u2018Masquerade\u2019\u2019s more established musical legends.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a challenge to push the limits every time because, if you\u2019re in the room with an artist and you have a different vision, then of course you have to hit the [sweet] spot,\u201d he told NME.\u201dBut I think it was cool because it made me more versatile in different genres.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2018Masquerade\u2019 marks the second M\u00e5neskin solo venture following frontman Damiano David<\/a>\u2019s solo LP \u2018Funny Little Fears<\/a>\u2019 earlier this year. Having ticked off a succession of milestones, from a UK Top Five record with 2023 third album \u2018Rush<\/a>!\u2019 to a headline show at London\u2019s The O2<\/a> shortly after, Raggi was quick to point out that the band are very much still together but simply \u201ctaking a break for a year to try different stuff\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut of course we\u2019re going to come back and write new music, and when we do it\u2019s going to be so powerful,\u201d he clarified.<\/p>\n

Read our full interview with Thomas Raggi below, where he also talks about his dream future collaborators and his unexpected games night with Tom Morello.<\/p>\n

NME: Hi Thomas, congratulations on \u2018Masquerade\u2019! How did the idea to make this very collaborative album come about?<\/p>\n

Thomas Raggi: \u201cI took a lot of inspiration from the [self-titled] album Slash<\/a> did where he brought lots of cool artists in like Lemmy<\/a> from Motorhead<\/a> and other amazing guys. Other than that, it came very naturally because I\u2019d written a lot of songs and also I had a very good relationship with Tom [Morello]. I\u2019d spoken to him lots of times and he\u2019d invited me to lots of shows, so it came very naturally to speak with him about this idea. We have a really cool relationship that\u2019s true; you can feel it in the record, I hope!\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the record features guest vocalists, did you not have any aspirations to be the frontman?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the guitar is the main part [of the record] because every song started from a riff, so it\u2019s my record in that way. Also I sang for the first time and there are two songs with my voice so I think it\u2019s cool that I explored that. Everything started with an instrumental on the guitar, and then I\u2019d think of a drumbeat, and the voice was the last step. So I\u2019d try to sing some melodies and after that I took some classes and realised that maybe my voice wasn\u2019t too bad!\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u00e5neskin recorded \u2018Gossip\u2019 with Tom on your last record. What is it about him that you love working with?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s such an incredible guy. I met him for the first time in LA when we worked together for \u2018Gossip\u2019 and we spoke a lot about the guitar and how important it is to have a unique sound. I learnt a lot because he has a super strong vision, I think; he\u2019s an amazing guitar player and one of my idols so it was amazing to have him as a mentor. We have a different approach because he\u2019s very scientific and he thinks really differently, so the crossover between me and him was sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"M\u00e5neskin'sM\u00e5neskin\u2019s Thomas Raggi CREDIT: Francis Delacroix<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve also got a hefty list of collaborators singing and playing on the record \u2013 was that a dream list that you put together, or were they mostly already friends?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was both. Luke [Spiller] is a really good friend of mine, and I\u2019ve known Matt Sorum [former drummer of The Cult<\/a> and Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/a>] for a few years. Chad Smith, I met at the VMAs and he\u2019s a really good friend of Tom\u2019s. I was with Tom in the studio and he said, \u2018Chad Smith\u2019s in the other room so it could be cool to say hi and show him the record\u2019. So we asked if he wanted to listen and play on something and he said, \u2018Fuck yeah, let\u2019s go!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

What were your favourite moments from those studio days?<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery moment was special, but one night I played Dungeons And Dragons with Tom after the recording session. That was funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did you want your collaborators to put their own stamp on the tracks?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes for sure. For example with Maxim, he\u2019s a rock guy but he\u2019s also more into the electronic vibes, so I tried to do a match between his style and my style. With Serge [Pizzorno], we\u2019d started to write a ballad together but after a moment we switched to another direction and we made it click with this kind of art-rock Kasabian\/ Thomas mix. I came up with the riff idea and he was freestyling in front of me, then in 20 minutes we had the song. It was insane. When you write that kind of song you need someone in the room to be really energetic like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a cover of Dead Or Alive\u2019s \u2018You Spin Me Round\u2019 with Alex Kapranos on the record \u2013 why that song?<\/p>\n

\u201cOriginally, me and Tom were thinking of doing a cover on the record because if you think about cool bands in rock history, they\u2019ve done lots of covers. Guns N\u2019 Roses did \u2018Knocking On Heaven\u2019s Door\u2019 and there are millions of others. So I was talking to Alex and thinking of what to do, and he said [that song] reminds him of when he was super young and trying to sing for the first time. And for me, it was one of the first dance songs from the past that I listened to, so it was cool that there was meaning behind it for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

You and Damiano have both released solo projects now. What does that mean for M\u00e5neskin?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is just to experiment in different worlds, which I think is important for a band. I can imagine when we come back in the studio that we\u2019ll bring lots of different elements because everyone\u2019s been on a different journey. That\u2019s a cool thing, and I think it\u2019ll help a lot with the creative process of the band. I think there\u2019s something good in everyone having [space to] experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you started working on any new material yet?<\/p>\n

\u201cNot yet, but we have some cool stuff that we can try when we come back to the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

And now you\u2019ve worked with so many people, who would you add to your future dream collab list?<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many! Robert Plant<\/a> would be sick \u2013 I saw his show in London and it was amazing. Lenny Kravitz<\/a> also, and Yungblud<\/a> is incredible. I love the idea of bringing other people in, but when I was thinking about this record, everything was very natural and I was just experimenting and putting it all together, so we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Masquerade\u2019 by Thomas Raggi is out now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"M\u00e5neskin guitarist Thomas Raggi has spoken to NME about his just-released new solo album \u2018Masquerade\u2019, working with Rage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-353680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}