Pierpaolo Monti

Pierpaolo Monti
Birth name Pierpaolo Monti
Also known as Pierpaolo "Zorro11" Monti
Origin Italy
Genres Rock, Hard rock
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments Drums
Associated acts Shining Line, Charming Grace

Pierpaolo Monti is an Italian drummer, songwriter and producer born in Italy. He is the founding member, main songwriter and mastermind behind the AOR all star projects Shining Line and Charming Grace.

Musician career

Monti founded his first band (called Sovversivo) in 1999, leaving it in 2004 to pursue a personal career in Melodic Rock and AOR music.[1] In 2008 founded with his long time friend Amos Monti an AOR all star project called Shining Line,[2] that was officially released in 2010 by German label Avenue Of Allies Music receiving acclaim from fans and critics.[3][4][5]

In 2011 founded with Italian singer/songwriter Stefano Lionetti and producer Alessandro Del Vecchio a new AOR project called Lionville, released the same year by Avenue Of Allies Music.[6] He took part in the recording sessions playing drums and providing lyrics for all the tracks of the album, except for the cover songs "Thunder In Your Heart" (originally recorded and performed by John Farnham) and "World Without Your Love" (originally written by Richard Marx and Bruce Gaitsch).[7] In the same year he started to work together with his bandmate in Shining Line Amos Monti on a new AOR project called Charming Grace, involving in it their label mate Davide "Dave Rox" Barbieri (of Wheels Of Fire fame) as third official main member.[8]

In 2012 he appeared as guest musician playing drums on two melodic rock releases: AOR "L.A. Temptation" (released by AOR Heaven) and Chasing Violets "Outside Heaven" (released by Perris Records). In the same year he also provided his songwriting contribution composing lyrics for two more official releases: Wheels Of Fire "Up For Anything" (Avenue Of Allies Music) and Lionville "II" (Avenue Of Allies Music),[9] and wrote and performed (together with producer Alessandro Del Vecchio) a new song called "Melody Rocks", which became the official anthem for the world renowned site Melodicrock.com (the song is available into the official compilation of the website, MRCD9 "15 Years Later" released the same year).[10]

In 2013, Charming Grace was finally released by Avenue Of Allies Music. Monti appears in it once again as drummer and main songwriter, and for the first time in the role of co-producer, supporting the work of Davide "Dave Rox" Barbieri.[11] The album received enthusiastic reviews all over the world,[12][13][14][15] included the ones of "Hot Album" (by Ant Heeks) and "Spot On Album" (Melodic Round-Up column by Dave Ling) in the UK issues of the renowned printed magazines Fireworks and Classic Rock. In November 2013, due to the very good feedbacks received from the melodic rock community, Charming Grace was signed by Japanese based label Rubicon Music for a release in Japan (official release date: 18 December 2013). The Japanese version contains an exclusive bonus track called "Start All Over Again", which is not included in the standard cd format of the album.

Year 2014 sees the official announcement of a brand new melodic rock project called "Room Experience" (led by Italian songwriter Gianluca Firmo and fronted by Pink Cream 69 / Voodoo Circle's singer David Readman ), with Monti involved in the roles of co-producer and drummer.[16] On the songwriting side, he provided his contribution to the come-back of ex-Vanilla Ninja Lenna Kuurmaa under the monicker "Moonland", penning the song "Over Me" in collaboration with Davide Barbieri and Alessandro Del Vecchio.

In 2015 Room Experience is scheduled for release on May 22nd via MelodicRock Records. The album is launched in two different formats: a standard edition with eleven tracks, and a strictly limited edition with 3 bonus tracks (and alternate cover artwork) available only for the pre-orders submitted on the official label's website.[17]

Discography

with Shining Line

with Charming Grace

As producer/guest musician/songwriter

As songwriter

As guest musician

Various artist compilations

References

  1. ↑ "Interviste/Shining Line". Metalloitaliano.it. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  2. ↑ Mundo Rock. "Webzine del rock melódico". Mundo Rock. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  3. ↑ "2010 Reviews". MelodicRock.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  4. ↑ "Shining Line - Shining Line - recensione". MelodicRock.it. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  5. ↑ "Album Reviews". RockReport.be. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  6. ↑ "Lionville - Dna italiano per un nuovo super progetto Aor". MelodicRock.it. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  7. ↑ Isaksson, Bengt (2011-06-17). "Lionville - Westcoast/AOR Music". Westcoast-aor.ning.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  8. ↑ "CHARMING GRACE And The Beauty Of AOR". Metalkaoz.com. 2012-09-24. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  9. ↑ Pierpaolo Monti. "Pierpaolo Monti | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  10. ↑ "MelodicRock.com Compilation 9 - 15 anni dopo". MelodicRock.it. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  11. ↑ Paradise, Heavy (2013-03-08). "HEAVY PARADISE, THE PARADISE OF MELODIC ROCK!: CHARMING GRACE will release self-titled debut album on April 12th, 2013!". Heavyparadise.blogspot.it. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  12. ↑ "Album Reviews". RockReport.be. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  13. ↑ Paradise, Heavy (2013-03-23). "HEAVY PARADISE, THE PARADISE OF MELODIC ROCK!: CHARMING GRACE / CHARMING GRACE (2013)". Heavyparadise.blogspot.it. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  14. ↑ "Articles: Charming Grace - 2013 Charming Grace". Glorydaze Music. 2013-05-06. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  15. ↑ "CHARMING GRACE: UMA DAS GRANDES SURPRESAS DO AOR EM 2013 | AOR WATCHTOWER". Aorwatchtower.blogspot.it. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  16. ↑ "Introducing Room Experience feat. David Readman". Melodicrock.com.
  17. ↑ "Room Experience signs for MelodicRock Records". Melodicrock.com.