Niccolò Paluani’s foray into music was purely accidental, literally. The decision to pursue a professional music career stemmed from being on the Costa Concordia cruise ship that sank on January 13, 2012. After surviving the mishap, he decided to pursue things that allowed him to live life fully. “The moment reshaped my mind, and I decided I was not going to waste my life doing things I wouldn’t enjoy,” Niccolò said.
The Padova, Italy-native applied to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston after graduating from the conservatory. He became a guitarist and started playing for artists like Tristan Simone and Eduardo Omondi. Shortly after, he created his own tribute band called The Snarky Puppy Ensemble, which performed alongside Michael League at the Cafe 939 in Boston. The Snarky Puppy Ensemble made it to the final of the AES Recording Competition with an original arrangement that Niccolò Paluani directed and the band recorded.
His graduation from college opened up a new world of musical artistry for him as the pandemic started, and he switched from being a guitarist to a composer. Around this time, he also moved to Los Angeles, where he connected with notable and established musicians, producers and talent managers. In LA, Niccolò Paluani worked with Luigi Meroni and Nicolas Farmakalidis (The Weeknd, Pat Metheny, Lasso, Julia Michaels) and other artists’ movies, productions, and Netflix TV series. He also made his announcement in the music scene by releasing his first two singles, which rose to the top of the iTunes charts in Italy.
As a guitarist, Niccolò Paluani approaches music compositions uniquely and allows all his musical influences to reflect in the type of music he creates. “Artists always get told to find their own voice, to be unique, which sometimes can be really hard and put a lot of pressure on them. I realized that we should embrace the fact that all the artists that we listen to and the influences we take inspiration from live together inside us. If we are capable of embracing that we are the combination of all our influences, then we are already unique,” he said.
Niccolò Paluani aims to deliver music different from the usual commercial trap. “I want to make some music that appeals to both the body and the mind,” he said. For every music composition, Niccolò Paluani remembers the circumstances that got him to this point. He’s a strong believer in turning struggles into power and dealing with problems head-on. Despite surviving an accident that left 32 people dead and thousands traumatized, he dusted himself and got on a new journey to rewrite his life story.
“My will and determination have gotten me this far, and I hope to stay on course,” he noted. “Sometimes I have to bite the bullet, but I know it’s just a matter of time. There is always a solution to any obstacle that I’ll find in front of me. It’s always a matter of how to deal with them.”
Niccolò Paluani’s goals for the next few years include going on tours and performing to a live audience, promoting his released music, becoming a better composer and performer, and ultimately winning a Grammy Award.
Learn more about Niccolò Paluani on his official Instagram page.
