He was on the main stage of ‘Tomorrowland’ last Summer, signed a contract with the record label of that Boom dance event, and already has a stage show on his list of achievements. An international future is predicted for producer and DJ Gianmarco Cellini (25). “I find inspiration for my music in the nature of Maasmechelen”, he says.
“But there is a causal link between my father’s passion and what I do now”, he clarifies. “Thirty years ago, dad cooked for the press and guests at the Dutch music festival ‘Pinkpop’. I was still in a stroller the first time he took me with him. I was allowed to go backstage with him, and was impressed by the tour buses. Later on, I saw groups such as ‘Rammstein’, ‘Metallica’, and ‘Rage Against the Machine’. I gradually started to enjoy festivals more and more. Now, if I have to choose between performing at a festival or at a club, I will resolutely opt for the first.”
In the middle of corona, Gianmarco Cellini toured with ‘Carbone’, a stage show with images, light, music and dance, about the Italo-Belgian migration. He created it entirely by himself. “For years, I was not aware of my Italian roots. I thought the whole world looked like Maasmechelen. Only at secondary school, did I notice I was more Italian than I thought. When I was studying in Brussels, I noticed that only very few people who were not from Limburg knew about our province’s mining past. When I talked about it, they looked surprised, and listened with great interest. That got me thinking. I couldn’t allow that history to get lost.”
“The death of my two grandfathers in 2019 – one died in August, and the other in November – strengthened that conviction. I felt I had to hurry up, as the first-generation migrants were literally a dying race. The show was an homage to all who left their country for a better future. It was also an exploration of my dual identity and nationality. I explored my family history, and discovered many beautiful stories. I found one anecdote to be particularly striking. When one of my two grandfathers set off for Belgium, he bought a new pair of shoes. He didn’t dare wear them during the walk from his village to the station, for fear of them arriving damaged in Liège. He wanted to make a good impression on his host country, while he didn’t even know where he would be working.”
Gianmarco Cellini emphasizes that he is a proud “Maasmechelaar”. “Some people outgrow their village when they spread their wings. For me it’s the other way around. I live partly in Antwerp, but I’m always conscious of my origins wherever I go. The bigger my world becomes, the more I cherish my roots. I already said that realisation came to me during my Brussels period. I studied Innovation Management there, but I didn’t complete those studies. I was due to retake an exam the day after ‘Pukkelpop’. I didn’t do it, but I’ve never regretted that.”
An instrumental period preceded his interest in electronic music. “I played drums and harmonica in a small band, but around the age of sixteen I began making music on my computer. The trigger was a party in Genk, where ‘Kiani & His Legion’ were playing. That’s the musical alter ego of Thomas Neyens,
A statistics professor at Uhasselt. In his free time, he’s passionate about experimental house music. He opened my eyes to electronic music.”