Massimo Santalucia, known as “Max” (Ladispoli, Rome – 21 November 1969).
He began his musical life at the age of five, when his father—also a musician and drummer in the Ladispoli marching band La Ferrosa—noticed his talent, bought him a small drum and brought him into the band.
Throughout childhood he took private lessons in music theory, solfège and the first rudiments of the clarinet. Rock ’n’ roll, however, arrived early: while studying clarinet he also taught himself guitar, sang along with records and wrote his first songs.
At thirteen, under Maestro Ulderico Paone, he started formal studies and, in 1991, graduated in Clarinet from the “L. Refice” Conservatory in Frosinone.
That same year he enrolled in the Siena Jazz Summer Workshops as a student and played in the end-of-course orchestra conducted by Maestro Bruno Tommaso.
In 1996, with the group Contrabbando—for which he was singer and sole songwriter—he appeared for about six months on the RAI 3 television show Italia Mia Benché, hosted by Giordano Bruno Guerri and Cinzia Tani.
In 1997 his song “Proprio Quando Penso,” performed by Contrabbando, was released on the compilation Rock in Festa, produced by Enrico Capuano.
During the second half of the 1990s he worked as a multi-instrumentalist on Rome’s music scene with projects such as Extra Dixie Jazz Band, led by Gianluca Galvani, and Un Solo Pueblo, a Latin-American folk group founded by Colombian ethnomusicologist Roland Ricaurte.
Still as a clarinettist, he was a member of the Orchestra Filarmonica Straussiana of Rome, conducted by Maestro Carlo Monticelli Cuggiò, and appeared—again on clarinet—as an extra in the film Il Mago, starring Anthony Quinn and directed by Ezio Pascucci.
In 2001 he moved to Dublin, Ireland, where he lived for five years. After months of busking around Temple Bar he met singer-songwriter Wally Page and joined his band as clarinettist/saxophonist, performing across Ireland.
In 2002 he released Songs on the Road with Banda Zingara, opening Antonella Ruggiero’s concert at the Sugar Club in an event organised by the Italian Cultural Institute. With Banda Zingara he played the Ballina Street Festival (County Mayo) and the Festival of World Cultures in Dún Laoghaire; his song “Banda Zingara” was included on the festival compilation.
In 2006 he settled on Lanzarote (Canary Islands), hired as singer and multi-instrumentalist at the legendary Charlie’s Bar, joining the band Skin & Hide.
Between 2006 and 2011, both with Skin & Hide and solo, he collaborated with leading Irish traditional artists Finbar Furey, Sharon Shannon, Damien Dempsey, Mundy, The Wolfe Tones and Aslan.
In 2017 he toured Ireland with Finbar Furey as guitarist and backing vocalist.
The following year Furey released the live DVD “Don’t Stop This Now,” recorded in May 2017 at Dublin’s Vicar Street theatre and produced by Suzanne Doyle (former U2 tour manager, now Furey’s manager).
In 2019 Massimo created an Italian version of Furey’s “Paddy Dear,” featuring Furey himself on uilleann pipes and a few Gaelic phrases; the track appeared on Massimo’s third studio album “Greetings from Lanzarote.”
In 2022 and 2023 he joined the Madrid-based project TERRA TARANTA as lead singer and guitarist, debuting at Café Berlin, appearing at Spanish festivals and releasing songs from southern Italy’s folk tradition.
He has released three independent solo albums: “Grand Hotel Roma” (2008), “L.O.V.E.” (2012) and “Greetings from Lanzarote” (2019).
Based in Lanzarote since 2006, Massimo continues to travel in search of new musical horizons. He writes, composes and performs nightly across the island, offering a blend of original songs and covers.
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