Award-nominated film-music composer Edoardo Gastaldi has displayed quite a discography since the summer of 2021, where he had finished his years of music studies and started publishing his compositions and productions.
Navigating a neo-classical abstract sound that incorporates ambient and post-rock genres, Gastaldi draws philosophical inspiration from a variety of artists such as Johan Söderqvist, Hammock, Tony Anderson, Leonard Petersen, Atli Örvarsson, Stephen Porter, Ronit Kirchman, Sigur Rós, John Cage and Nils Frahm. Semantically, Edoardo traverses across both anthropological and metaphysical themes of human fragility, paradoxes and the complexities of existence. His soundtracks have been described as capable of delving into the big consequences and underlying roots we cannot avoid. He truly has a talent for aesthetics, crafting a cohesive environment through not just the music but through picturesque cover art also.
“The best part about writing music is the fact that, as a creator, you feel like having the possibility of sealing impermanent things in a (likely) permanent state. I write about moments, fragments, conversations, people, relationships, situations. I will eventually part with people and places – but if I seal something in music, it stays there forever,” – Edoardo regarding the beauty of music.
Edoardo Gastaldi’s 2023 piece I Am Here and You Are Mine is a gorgeous melody that I had the pleasure to interview Edoardo about. It represents the intimacy of moments spent in time, which we can hear in the warmth of the piano notes and their intricate patterns.
“It’s as if in one of the most critical periods of my life,” Gastaldi stated, “tormented by a series of situations that weighed on me – like chains that bind to the bottom of the ocean, this person had arrived. Descended from the sky, for me. Imperceptibly, gracefully, and selflessly, she totalized my thoughts. I lived a long period full of stimuli and without stability. And this person brought with her ordinary habits that I didn’t know I needed – but that did me good. This song is for her.”
I Am Here and You Are Mine came to light due Gastaldi’s love for You Are Here and I Am Yours composed by his colleague Eric, who goes under the pseudonym The Broken Cradle, in which he affectionately responded to.
“Music and life influence each other continuously. Sometimes it is the experiences of life that influence music (perhaps a difficult situation, the perpetuation of an attitude, or a significant event). Sometimes, however, it is music that directs life. Do you ever think about it? Maybe I as an artist decided to write a piece, without a particular reason, about a certain theme or a certain person (let’s remember – whether we like it or not, every piece is a dedication). So the artist focuses on that idea, that ideal… that bond. And consequently focuses on such people and conceptions. And that’s how music can also generate life, and the intensification or deterioration of some relationships. And the feedback is continuous, an ellipse that always changes orbit…”
In 2024, Gastaldi released The Waves in the Sea – a collaboration with French artist and producer Le Code. It’s the perfect example of how Gastaldi pursues his own domain with his music as he blends ocean field recordings with pristine production to capture the beauty of nature and its metaphorical meaning. The music flourishes with an ephemeral structure, sustained by small variations and leaving room to showcase repetitions, loops, and a weightless flow.
Edoardo recalls Jan Grimm’s words: “Regarding life, it’s like a sea shore with waves coming and going, leaving good and bad things in the sand. It’s important to keep breathing and still enjoy you being at the beach, if you know what I mean. Overthinking is part of the job, having much empathy makes for a good composer as it’s our job to point others to the little things in life, which make the big things go round. Let me tell you as someone who is doing business with some bigger names: they’re all fighting the same inner beast. It’s not a fight you win by numbers, but by rounds you keep going.”
In 2024, Gastaldi was approached to compose the soundtrack for the powerful short film Etilismo, which explores the sensitive issue of chronic alcoholism in youth. Edoardo encapsulates the film’s fine line between tragedy and light-heartedness in this project, as he collaborated closely with Giuseppe Messina and cinematographer Giacomo Guidotto.
“The music just came naturally,” Edoardo shared. “The tragic undertones of the story shaped the music almost intuitively. It felt like the canvas was already prepared, and my role was to sketch it out with the music I was writing.”
In this cinematic piece, we can definitely see a expansion in Gastaldi’s already versatile soundscape. The mood is hauntingly melancholic but also hopeful and everything in between.
This month, Edoardo Gastaldi also released his latest album Atlantic to Adriatic with ambient and alternative music composer Jay Brewer. It spotlights the concept of time and connection, and how they intertwine. Contextually, it emerged from the intersection of Gastaldi and Brewer’s worlds in Venice and Boston. Tracks like Spleen and The World Under the Snow really tug at the heartstrings, whilst Aster in Bloom and The Quiet Pulse and possess a calming presence.
As for live performances, Gastaldi has decided after full contemplation that he is ready to bring the expression of his music to the stage. He’s currently scheduling dates for France, Austria, Italy, Ungheria, Germany and more countries across Europe. So far it’s confirmed that he will perform at the Piano Lab Festival in Italy this August, as well as appearing at Szimpla Kert Ruin Bar and Le Salon de Musique in Budapest in September. It’s also confirmed that Edoardo will perform a piano solo at the Piano Revenge Festival (see more here: An Interview With Anna Bondareva On The Piano Revenge Festival 2025 – LaMusique).
You can listen to Edoardo Gastaldi’s discography here: