Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Zuccaro.
Hi Tony, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Italy. My mom is American from (Detroit, MI), my dad is Italian (little village near Rome called Supino). I’ve always traveled back and forth between Italy and the USA.
My parents introduced me to music with the funky sound of ‘70s and ‘80s.
I started listening to Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. I just admire their style, music, and movements.
Started DJing in Detroit in 2009 when my family and I moved there. We moved back to Italy after a year.
Started working in private events in Italy. (2011)
In 2015 a guy named Luca Perfili reached out to me; he was running a House Music Movement at the time called “Tears,” like Frankie Knuckles and Satoshi Tomiie song.
Luca taught me a lot about the industry.
In 2017 I ended up attending a music academy in Naples (Italy) ran by Vinci Acunto. In 2018 I graduated in Electronic Music and Digital Arts, and I released my first record ever, completely produced by me called “There Is Something” I recorded the vocals on the track as well.
In 2019 I sent a demo to record label “Moon Rocket Music” (Miami) and after a few months we started working together. Not only on the record side, but I became part of the label. I was managing the media a little, creating content, etc…
In 2020 when the pandemic hit, everyone was locked in houses; we were doing live-streaming DJ sets in the living room, in the studio, in different parts of the house.
It was a Sunday, my mom was making lunch, (linguine funghi porcini) and my dad and I were playing some music, like we usually do while helping setting up the table, etc.
I had the idea of setting up the DJ Console on top of the isle of the kitchen (see picture attached) and I recorded a 50-sec video dancing on a house music song.
The video lasted only 50 seconds, once we were done recording, we had lunch.
The following day I posted that video on my social media channels.
That video is what we always do at home, music, some food, some wine, and good vibes.
A week from there, I sent the video to Traxsource to know if they would be interested in reposting the video and they did.
After a few days from Traxsource repost, Defected Records noticed the video and they reposted on their social media channels and it went viral.
From that day we started collecting 1 million views for about a week, having more than 10M views across the social media platforms.
The following Sunday I decided to set up a live stream in the kitchen, which would later become known as the “Sunday Happy Hour.” Which I am still building to expand this concept, more details to come…
After the first one, defected ended up reposting a clip from that happy hour where I played one of their records, “Let It Go (Vintage Culture Remix).” That went viral again, and that really gave me a boost. I had booking request all over Europe and outside Europe, Poland, UK, Austria. But this was May 2021, clubs were closed all over and traveling wasn’t really permitted at the time, so we had to postpone.
We did 5 happy hours for 5 consecutive weeks before moving to Miami in May 2021.
The record label I was working with at the time was based in Miami, so I wanted to get closer to the company.
In Miami, I started making new connections and knowing new people, and later that year I started working with Revolution 93.5FM number one dance music station.
Today I have a weekly radio show, every Thursday from 9 pm to 10 pm.
I am working on new projects, new music, and new content to share with you all!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This is a very interesting question; I’d like to answer to this question with something that I always say… It is not about being right or wrong, it is not about hard or easy; it depends on how you live and go through certain feelings or moments in life.
To me there is no right or wrong; there are two ways of thinking that need to be suitable.
It is not about how you fall; it is about how you stand up.
There are challenges in every business.
To be honest, what I also think is that I choose my way; I choose where I want to lead my days so if a struggle comes along, it is part of the process, it is part of the journey so I don’t like to see it as a potential struggle but as an opportunity to do better.
“For every action, there is a reaction.”
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Italian/American Artist, DJ, and Composer. I specialize in finding the sound that better suits me, better suits my DJ sets. I owe a lot to music, and the least I could do is express it in the best way as possible.
I am probably known for my DJ sets; I really like to dance and perform it and put on a show (not just play it).
I have live-streaming Sunday’s happy hour where you can join us spending some time together with music and a drink.
What am I most proud of? My parents. They really taught me a lot about music, and they still do. I am proud of the journey, I come from a little village outside of Rome with 5000 people, and being able to live in the magic city, in my favorite city, great music scene, great venues, I feel grateful for this. Grateful for my brand, I want to grow it a lot more.
There’s a saying I’ll never forget my professor in music academy told me before I left: “Once you get to the island, burn the boats.” It’s an old saying from Sun Tzu book “The Art of War.” “To cut oneself off from all chance of retreat to stake everything on success.” I burned the boats.
What sets me apart from others? I don’t know honestly. I am focus on myself, focus on originality. I am just concentrated on being the best version of myself day after day, which I call it being in the “mentality.”
What’s the mentality?
The mentality is a state of a mind, state of presence and focus.
The mentality is details, setting up the environment and vibes, is the performance, is the show.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
If you know me, or if you see me sometimes, I could look cold as stone or emotionless but I’m an Endless Romantic, I write all the time. I listen to a lot of older music. When I’m at home or in the car or outside, I totally get away from house music, I listen to a lot of RnB, Funk, Chill, Quite stuff, and also ambient noises. I love to cook and to spend time in nature with no technology (only music). I love to dance. I would like to write a book one day with all the things that I have been writing. When I was little, I wanted to become a doctor.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tonyzuccaro.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyzuccaromusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyzuccaromusic
- Youtube: @tonyzuccaromusic
- SoundCloud: https://www.soundcloud.com/tony-zuccaro
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0lPCfAnUePBPyyLPJQ1IuS?si=Wrv39UryRGe4iYK3Yj1gvQ
Image Credits
Federico Cardone
