GRAMMY BNA Q&A: MÅNESKIN

On the heels of their win at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, Arista/Sony Latin’s Roman warriors scored a pair of Alternative-radio chart-toppers with the global smash “Beggin’”—a glammed-up reimagining of The Four Seasons’ 1967 single—and their own definitive “SUPERMODEL.” The irrepressible young rockers’ Best New Artist nomination serves as the maraschino cherry on top of a spettacolare year.

Check out a flipbook of interviews with Best New Artist nominees from our Grammy Preview: Part 3.

Did you have any idea Måneskin would become so popular so quickly after winning Eurovision in 2021?
We’ve been working hard as a band to achieve what we envisioned creatively. Not in our wildest dreams did we imagine that within the same year we would perform on Saturday Night Live, play at Lollapalooza or be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. It is surreal!

How has your approach to making music and songwriting changed since you first started working together?
We all have diverse musical influences. We were very young when we started; it’s natural as human beings and musicians to grow and change. In the beginning we wrote from the places we had in common. Lately we have started from what differentiates us, but one thing still remains and won’t change, because it means a lot to us, and it is getting together as a band to work on the sound of each individual song.

Was there a particular moment when felt like you’d "made it?"
We are always looking for what makes us stay grounded. We don’t think we’ve made it. What we are proud of is that we are reaching many more people with our music.

Very few rock bands have earned top-tier nominations this year. What are your thoughts on the state of rock at this moment?
Rock ’n’ roll never dies. Some of the greatest moments in music have happened because of the legacy forged by those before them. David Bowie used to say about himself that he was like a sponge, absorbing from the outside and reprocessing. For that reason, it is nonsense to us to talk about rock being dead and needing resurrection. Music genres are just labels.

Your third album comes out in January. What inspired it?
RUSH! is a mythological creature, made by assembling parts of different animal bodies. A variety of pieces which together make a unique and original organism, capable of surviving thanks to the coexistence of heterogeneous pieces. This record is an exaltation of our different individualities. It is a journey; it is the path that led us to find ourselves and meet again, not only artistically but also personally.

What does being nominated for a Grammy mean to you?
It means a lot. We are from Italy, so it’s not easy coming from so far away. Getting recognized by the artists and people in the music industry we respect is an unbelievable honor.