Francesco Loccisano and Marcello De Carolis tell how there is no precise moment in which their collaboration began, but immediately an exchange was created with a single purpose, the art of the battente guitar: “at the beginning it seemed impossible to make two solo instruments, but the sound immediately took shape and uniqueness when creativity and expression became accomplices. ” The duo is currently publishing “La chitarra battente – Metodo base” published by fingerpicking.net. Recently they have performed in numerous festivals including XXXVI International Guitar Festival of Lagonegro (Pz), Alica Festival, Conservatory of Music F. Cilea of Reggio Calabria, VII Festival of the Mandolin of Avigliano (Pz).
Francesco Loccisano: in 2005 he joined Eugenio Bennato’s Taranta Power, collaborates with V. Capossela, Gianna Nannini and many others. In 2010, he released his first solo album, “Battente Italiana”, in 2013 “Mastrìa” and in 2017 “Solstizio”. In 2015 he published the first method for battente guitar with the fingerpicking.net label. The collaboration with the Spanish director Carlos Saura for the docu-film “La Jota”, consecrates Loccisano as a virtuoso of the battente guitar on the international scene. He is currently the professor of the battente guitar chair at the “PI Tchaikovsky” conservatory in Nocera Terinese (CZ).
Marcello De Carolis graduated in classical guitar at the G. da Venosa conservatory in Potenza in 2012 with full marks and honors. He attends numerous courses and masterclasses held by various masters including: Angelo Gilardino, Luca Fabrizio, Roland Dyens, Leo Brower, Aniello Desiderio. He undertakes the study of the battente guitar with the maestro Francesco Loccisano. In 2015 he founded, together with Maestro Luca Fabrizio, the duo “Cordaminazioni” in which he plays the Classical Guitar and the Battente Guitar and with which he recorded the album of the same name. In 2017 Maestro Angelo Gilardino dedicates to him and to Maestro Luca Fabrizio the composition “Solitary Tree” for battente guitar and classical guitar and in 2018 the “Matera concert” for battente guitar and 10 instruments. Both songs were recorded by De Carolis and will be released in January 2021 with the Da Vinci Classics label on his next solo album “The Ecleting Beating – Contemporary music for battente guitar”.