Francesca Lombardo has cultivated a sound of her own, one that is representative of her multi-disciplinary musical background and transcends the dance floor via an emotional narrative of dreamy soundscapes, stirring melodies, hypnotic rhythms.

Always pushing boundaries in the name of creativity, Francesca Lombardo live show sees instrumental ensembles of varying sizes perform intricate self-written productions, whilst her finesse as a DJ and undeniable vocal prowess has further distinguished her.

Now entering a new phase of her career, Francesca Lombardo has followed up her debut album Life of Leaf, with a stunning new single Call Me Wrong. The track, that first appeared on her debut LP. is given a new twist for 2020. This time incorporating the elements from the Giant Steps London Live show. Therefore it was only right to dive deeper into her inner mind and life behind the headphones.


You are a classically trained musician but now pursue a career in electronic music. How much cross-over is there between the two classifications?

Nowadays it’s more and more common to see a crossover between the two. Especially between live and production. You can see many live orchestra electronic music sets. A few that come to mind are Kate Simko, Jamie Jones, Pete Tong & Carl Craig.

My biggest inspiration has always been Jeff Mills ‘the bells” live. I feel he was the one who inspired ‘the many’ and I never get bored watching it. Also, many electronic music tracks have strings or wind instruments present. The same for more classical music instruments, like the piano. In terms of composition, the two genres have a lot of crossovers too.

You spent a long time living in London having been born in Italy. What first attracted you to the city?

Since I was young, I have always been attracted to London. In my mind, it was the music that attracted me the most. It seemed to me that the coolest music was out of the UK. On top of that London looked like a great city to live, study and try to be a musician. I first told my parents I wanted to move to London when I was 6 and was already pretending to speak and sing in English. It was quite funny.



What has been the most challenging moment in your career and how did you overcome this?

I guess the day I played my first DJ set in London, at SE1, a 30’ minutes set… it was maybe 2000. I realised then that I could do this forever.

Music is a hugely powerful and emotive tool. Do you think it should play a role in social, political or environmental change?

Absolutely, and I feel it already does. A lot of artists use their social media platforms to pass on messages and beliefs to other people. There are a lot of different campaigns already active. Pro animal rights groups (MAAC project Jonny White aka Art Department for example), environmental (Bye Bye plastic project by Blondish) as well as health causes, and even for those less fortunate such as vulnerable children etc.

Today’s politics aren’t very compatible with art in my opinion. Mainly because of the anger that is brought out in people. I do realise it is part of our society and many like to talk about it.

Personally, I have started an environmental campaign called “Life of Releaf.” As an organization, we aim to mobilise the dance music community into supporting global reforestation around the world. If you want to know more about it you can check the website www.lifeofreleaf.com.

As an artist, some people take years to craft their sound and get recognised for it. Others are catapulted into stardom. How hard is it not to get caught up in competitiveness & jealousy as an artist? Have you ever experienced this?

I think the moment you get caught in competitiveness or jealousy you should stop being an artist. The two don’t go together and you will never make it in my opinion.

An artist works by recognising their own skills, style, love, true colours. Then they share that, get it out, create and make things move. If you are too busy being jealous or competitive, or even thinking about it too much, that skill dies with those thoughts. So in answer to your question. No, I have never got into that. It is a waste of time.

If you could give any advice to the Francesca Lombardo of 5 years ago. What would it be?

Do it all again. The same way. Don’t change anything, especially the love you have for your music.

Finally, if you could produce a live show with anyone past or present who would it be and why.

That’s a really interesting question! Probably David Lynch. It would be beyond perfect to melt his style with mine. To make something timeless that really gets deep into your skin. To create something you can never forget, both visually, and musically, with a meaningful story behind it. It would definitely be moving!


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