APPAREL INTERVIEW: Leo Bisenzi — Art Director, Florence (IT)

LEANDRO BISENZI Q&A

-Hi Leo! Before starting: how are you doing?

Hi guys, I’m alright. Trying my best to cope with this Tsunami of negativity caused by the pandemic and working hard to be ready when it will be over and I’ll return to the job I love, which is entertaining people. I’m also trying to travel as much as I’m allowed to, respecting all the restrictions etc. But traveling is what gets me inspired so my mind can’t really afford to get locked down at home all the time. So to sum it up in three words I resist, work and dream!

-How did you passion for music start? Was it love at first sight??

Weirdly enough I’m not a big music connoisseur and I envy the ones who understand music, recognising all its nuances and who are able to label it properly. On the other hand, I have a talent to sense when people are having fun which, quite honestly, is the thing I love and I care about the most. Music is ‘only’ one aspect, certainly crucial, of my way of organising parties. By the way: do you guys wanna know what’s my favorite song? Weird isn’t it?

-How did you start to work in the Club scene and, in general, in the field of night’s entertainment?

I owe it all to the people who trusted me and believed in my weird ideas. People like Nazzareno Bruni, Massimo Jacomelli, Claudio Bertini and Massimo Gramigni and then of course all my business partners who have put up with me all these years. The first little things I did as a ‘promoter’ were illegal high-school rave parties, then after some time I got hired by the same club owner who shut us down by calling the police one night! The place was called ‘ Zero6’, in Prato which is near Firenze, and along many other unusual ideas I had one of the boldest ones was bringing Classical music to the club. Proudly, it was a successful experience and for three consecutive years the place was sold-out every night with our very diverse schedule made of Rock n’ Roll, Cabaret etc. From that moment on I grew a lot and, helped by a fair dose of recklessness, today I can say I’ve managed to bring all these artists on stage.

-Your work is about organisation, seriousness and extreme attention to detail but -having to deal with human beings- is also about allowing people to express their inner feelings as freely as they could. How difficult is to reconcile these two sides?

That’s not a problem for me because as I’ve never submitted to ‘normality’ in life and in my job, at no time I could ever ask anybody to adapt to what is my ‘normality’. When working with someone I never look for professionalism, instead, I want them to be creative and audacious. What I ask them is to be, as Jim Morrison once said, ‘good at nothing but capable of anything’. That quote epitomises my vision as I want them to be humans before artists and I want them to think they’re capable of anything. To me there’s nothing more charming than being ‘good at nothing’ but still managing to enchant the whole crowd. You know, sometimes that same crowd is where the artists look for their certainties. It’s a give and take.

-Talk us through the importance of communication in your job. How decisive is to connect the people and the artists to your vision? Which are the difficulties you usually face when organising an event?

I’m no good communicator and I don’t want to be considered one. Instead, I think of myself as a ‘crook’ which, at the end of the day, is the same thing. I’m fascinated by characters like Lupin or Totò (the Italian actor, comedian) and their power to trick anybody with their art. When you allow yourself to get tricked is because you decide to, it charms you, therefore you accept to come across like a fool and looking like a fool at one of my parties it means discovering that you allowed yourself to make things you weren’t expecting. Communication nowadays also goes through social media, which I use, but I’m not hooked to it, as I think that emotions, like magic tricks, can’t work unless you got your ‘victim’ in front of you. Lastly, when you love your job you transform difficulties in challenges, so for me there’s no struggle in organising an event.

That’s not a problem for me because as I’ve never submitted to ‘normality’ in life and in my job, at no time I could ever ask anybody to adapt to what is my ‘normality’.

When working with someone I never look for professionalism, instead, I want them to be creative and audacious. What I ask them is to be, as Jim Morrison once said, ‘good at nothing but capable of anything’. That quote epitomises my vision as I want them to be humans before artists and I want them to think they’re capable of anything. To me there’s nothing more charming than being ‘good at nothing’ but still managing to enchant the whole crowd. You know, sometimes that same crowd is where the artists look for their certainties. It’s a give and take.

Originally published at https://www.apparelmusic.com.