Måneskin insist the UK should “send a band” to Eurovision
They also talked about the "surreal" experience of recording with Iggy Pop
By Jen Thomas
They’re one of the biggest Eurovision success stories, and Italy’s Måneskin have some advice for the UK about how to score more than the dreaded nil points in future.
The band played a sold-out secret show in London on Wednesday night, after tickets for the gig were snapped up in minutes.
Speaking after the show, Måneskin said the UK needs to step away from the cheesy pop of the past entries to succeed. Frontman Damiano David insisted: “Send a band. You need rock and roll!”
Bassist Victoria De Angelis agreed: “You need a rock band. Someone who wants to do it properly and would take it seriously and are willing to give their best. I think that’s the most important thing.”
It was announced earlier this week that the team behind Dua Lipa will be picking the UK’s entry for 2022, and Elton John has given his support too.
Following Måneskin’s victory, the event is due to take place in Turin next year.
The band recently released a version of ‘I Wanna Be Your Slave’ featuring the legendary Iggy Pop, and it was quite a surreal experience for Måneskin to work with him.
Victoria recalled: “It was crazy! He was so, so nice and very humble. He made us feel like we were on the same level as him, he was talking to us completely normally and recording the whole song in front of us.”
“He kept asking do you like it? Do you want me to do it again?” she said, shocked. “We’re like – ‘No, do whatever you want, you’re fucking Iggy Pop! It’s fine, you can burp in the microphone and it would sound great.”
“And he did! Twice!” added Damiano. It was a dream come true for Victoria, who added: “I was there just shaking, trying to control myself so I can’t tell him how much I love him.”
Guitarist Thomas Raggi agreed: “It just made no sense to us, that he was really there, singing our song.”
At the time the collaboration was announced, Iggy said: “Måneskin gave me a big hot buzz”.
The band announced a series of UK and European tour dates for next year.
FEBRUARY 2022
6 – London, UK
10 – Brussels, Belgium
12 – Luxembourg, Luxembourg
15 – Warsaw, Poland
19 – Vienna, Austria
21 – Paris, France
24 – Zurich, Switzerland
26 – Berlin, Germany
28 – Prague, Czech Republic
MARCH 2022
1 – Budapest, Hungary
3 – Amsterdam, Netherlands
7 – Kiev, Ukraine
9 – Moscow, Russia
11 – St Petersburg, Russia
13 – Tallinn, Estonia
14 – Riga, Latvia