With Måneskin, Thomas Raggi may be part of the most distinctly rock ’n’ roll band to explode onto the international scene over the past decade.
After making a name for themselves in their native Italy, which led to a global breakthrough, Grammy nods, collaborations with powerhouse producer Max Martin and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, and Rolling Stones support slots.
Faced with Måneskin's hiatus, Raggi has ventured out on his own and made his mark on the guitar world with the release of his debut solo album, Masquerade – a through-and-through guitar album that offers a fresh take on the classic rock guitar genre, thanks to a little help from Morello.
“He had a super-cool vision,” Raggi tells Guitar World in a new interview. “The way to arrange the song, and to put the guitar in the main center. The whole songs are super-cool, the singers are amazing, but at the same time, my guitar is the main thing that is connected to all the different vibes and the different songs.”
One piece of advice the veteran Tom gave the younger Tom “was to trust the first take, because lots of times happened that I would find a riff, and say, like, ‘I don't know, maybe this is not the one.’
“He said, 'Yeah, of course this is great!' You just have to trust yourself on the first stage. Sometimes, exactly the magic of the first take is the best.”
Another challenge for Raggi was his quest to find – and nail – his own signature guitar tone. One of the effects helping him achieve this is a rotary simulator – specifically, the “one inside the Strymon Mobius” and the Strymon Lex.
“I'm trying to find my marker,” he explains. “The fact that you can recognize me thanks to the rotary is a super-cool thing. Another thing that I took from Tom is the fact that you can recognize him thanks to the sound that he has.
“I would love to do the same as a next step. I'm trying to find the right pedals that you can just hear it and say, like, ‘OK, that sounds like Thomas.’”
Guitar World’s full interview with Thomas Raggi will be published in the coming weeks.
Aside from his work with Måneskin, this is not the first time that Morello has collaborated with Raggi. Over the past few years, the two have traded licks on stage – including a standout performance in Verona, Italy, on MC5's Kick Out the Jams.
