design42day

Valerio Sizzi is the twenty-two year old sound designer that won the Nokia Tune Remake Contest in October 2011, which means that if you were to buy a new Nokia phone this year – his tune is the one you’ll hear. Although it goes without say that this was a great accomplishment on his side, the young IED student has a lot more to offer and be proud of.

He has collaborated with the likes of the Cinema Anteo of Milan, Trend Magazine, Studio Salvati (during Milan’s design week, Salone del Mobile), and with the IED research center amongst many others. Nonetheless, he is also involved in a solo musical production under the pseudonym, V@LeRiC and is currently the Content Mananger of his label, Head2Toes – which is now a division of FU.NCH Records. Design42Day has had the pleasure to inteview this young IED talent, and ask him some questions relating to the beginning of his career.

In plain words, you are a young audio design graduate emerging into the music scene. How would you describe yourself in other words in relation to what you do?

Well, the definition of sound designer is a professionist-artist that operates in different ways all involved into sound. But I consider myself just a creative person that express himself in different ways but the most important is music production, djing and sound design. Being a Pro is definitely something I really like but “artist” sounds like a bad word to me!

The line between the three things is not so thick as it might seem from the outside. I like to create things with sound, the “field” they belong to is something that you can tell (maybe) only when the work is done.

What does sound design mean to you, and how would you describe your relationship to music?
Sound design is one of the three things I do in life, it is “one of my jobs”. But I just feel lucky on having a job that allows me to follow my passion and let’s face it, even making money with it! Music is the best lover you can have. It’s always been part of my life and I think it’s something that belongs to my biorhythm, I guess.

As winner of the Nokia Tune Remake Contest, you have gained a lot of media attention. How did you take advantage of your position, and has it changed your goals to some extent?
The winning of the contest is obviously something huge, from a day to another I had to face (at the beginning) a lot of attention by the media and seeing my face on national newspapers. As I said, a lot of times, this is just for me an excellent beginning, not an arrival. I still have a lot to learn but it’s definitely something that is going to last forever for my professional experience adding more credit to my personal skills and professional competence.

Many students and young adults have tried, or are trying, to break into the music scene, what advice  would you give to them?
It will sound like a cliché, but my advice is to follow your passion and keep on experimenting and creating but also to try to get the most knowledge and competence you can. Get in the mood that you can learn new things everyday from anyone you can meet in your life and career, so do not be afraid to confront yourself. It’s going to be always something constructive.

What has been the most influential activity or collaboration of your career so far that has led you to realize your potential?
Well, according to the previous question, the meaning is: be a sponge and absorb everything you can. So, I guess the answer to this question is that all the experiences that I had, professionally speaking, influenced me. I think I kind of made a ratatouille of everything and I re-elaborated to get the best I could.

Since you’ve collaborated in so many sectors in sound design, and currently continue to carry on diverse projects (including your solo musical production) what objectives do you have for the future?
My objectives can be summed up saying that I’d just like to keep on doing what I’m doing but just in bigger proportions! I’d like to do even more important and influential sound design project, to see my digital distributed music label becoming bigger and better known and so my music. In a few words: let’s go bigger.