Andrea Bignasca

Andrea Bignasca was born and raised in the south of Switzerland, near Lugano, on the 29th August 1988, to a teacher and a physiotherapist. The approach to music came early on, when at the age of 7 he started taking drums lessons. At the age of 17, after 10 years of drumming, he vacated his drum stool, put aside his drum sticks, took a few steps to the front of the stage, dedicating himself to guitar playing and singing as an autodidact. Soon afterwards, he founded Vermillion Rouge in 2005 alongside Luca Tonellotto and Alberto Paganini. The rock trio, for which Andrea Bignasca sang, played and composed all the songs, received recognition regionally and on a national level, having also played in Zurich, Lausanne, Fribourg and northern Italy. The value of the project has since been confirmed in various occasions, as Vermillion Rouge ranked second in the competition “Palco ai Giovani” in Lugano and reached the final at ROCK HIGHWAY CONTEST (Zürich at Alte Kaserne) twice.

As music started to become more than mere outbursts of teenage passion, Andrea Bignasca, in 2012, began performing as a solo artist. In 2013 he opened for Larry Carlton at the Estival Jazz Nights in Lugano, and in 2014 he reached the main stage of the main event, Estival Jazz in Piazza Riforma, Lugano, playing after Gregory Porter and opening for Morcheeba. In 2014 he won the jury, the public voting and the 1st prize at the main music contest in Ticino, Palco ai Giovani. Raised bilingually in an Italian- and German-speaking environment, Andrea Bignasca writes and sings in English. With his first studio album (Gone, 2015, Radicalis - Sony) he secured, amongst many, collaborations with Omar Hakim (drummer), Phill Brown (mixing engineer) and Dave Collins (mastering engineer).

In the last few years, following the publication of his first album ‘Gone’, Andrea Bignasca played over 200 shows in Switzerland (Montreux Jazz Festival, Gurtenfestival, Zermatt Unplugged, …), also opening concerts for artists such as Everlast, Morcheeba, Gregory Porter, Phil Campbell, Welshly Arms, … ‘Gone’ sold over 5000 copies in Switzerland, and its 3 singles received an extended airplay throughout all the major Swiss radios (RSI, SRG, RTS, Radio Swiss Pop, …).

The beginning of 2018 saw him undertake his first steps abroad with a solo tour in Germany in January and a second tour as support of the Swedish band Black River Delta in April. In the meantime, he continued working on his sophomore album ‘Murder’, which will be released in the fall of 2018 (by Radicalis) and will contain 10 previously unreleased tracks, songs and lyrics by Andrea Bignasca.

Having partly surrendered the more bluesy traits of ‘Gone’, Andrea Bignasca now veers into a more rock-based narrative, strengthened and emboldened by his live experience and by the ensuing solidification of the band. Unlike ‘Gone’, ‘Murder’ has been arranged for band in its entirety and recorded by the band: Andrea Bignasca, vocals and guitars; Giacomo Reggiani, drums; Gian-Andrea Costa, bass; Oliver Illi, keys. With Andrea Cosentino as a co-producer, the album has been recorded by Andrea Cosentino and Nino Mauro at the Poweplay Studios (Maur, CH) and JDM Studio; mixed by Andrea Cosentino at unorthodox Sounds; mastered at Magic Garden Mastering by Brian Lucey (The Kills, The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, Liam Gallagher, …).

The new music of ‘Murder’ perfectly stages a violent battle for one’s heart, with victory sometimes only a breath away, at other times completely out of sight.

so I figured
I better hurt myself than another
and a bit like brothers fighting each other
I fight a foe I’m more likely to encounter