Talk to Roberto Pinna (aka) “Pinnetto”

Sassari/Sardinia. Rob is a talented experimental guitarist, he moved to London (UK) nearly 20 years ago.
Former of the Elephant 12 band was also a former member of The Ravens. More recently he formed the Ravishing&The Rude projects with other musicians, he is part of the Afrikan Boy band line up (Guitar/Percussions) for the live shows, in the past he did a world tour with electro artist Ebony Bones on the synth.
He likes visual and...he likes to spray with cans, Pinnetto is a vintage and clothing lover and sometimes he did some modelling.
Rob's long dread locks is quite something that makes turn a few heads even in the streets of a big and multi-cultural city like London.

Welcome to the REESON Stories of “Pinnetto”       

Hi Rob, are you living your dream?

- We all want to live “The Dream” in a way, even if you do not have one.
The social media is bombarding us on a daily basis with this false message on how to be the coolest and the best way on how to live our lives. So we are on a constant research of this entity chasing it almost like trying to reach a
“Nirvana” sensation, in the meantime we project this virtual image on a social media page showing the world that everything is fine and life is just perfect.
To me,the trick is to be happy with what you have, we all have those moments in life when you find pinching yourself thinking, is this a dream? Is this really happening to me? It creates euphoria and it stays with you in your memories
forever. My advice is; stop dreaming of a life and live in a dream everyday.

Is joy a state of mind?

- This is a very individual question, it varies from people to people, what could bring me joy it might not necessary apply to you or vice versa, so my answer is, yes it is definitely a state of mind.

Tell us about you first time in London, what was your feeling? were you scared of the new life or you was so stoked?

- When I landed in London I had a mixed feeling of excitement and fear at the same time, I mean, keep in mind I came from a very different background and I did not know the world at all at the time, the way people interact with each
other, the pace of life,not to mention the language barrier, it was a different reality. Also it was my very first experience of living without the support of my family, alone in a place where everyone thinks about themselves, “the big
city mentality” each to their own. My attitude was like I did not take anything for granted and I had to work things out from the scratch because no one would do it for me, I did not have great expectations, in fact I realised very soon
how very small and irrelevant I was in this big world.

How is London in the 2018, globalizzation, brexit...it's still a good place to start a new project and it's still gives fresh inspirations?

- Nowadays globalization it is all over the world, the Brexit vibe it is very present indeed as it is splashed all over the news and the tabloids. London is in a constant changing mode, so new energy, new ideas comes and goes and
everything, including yourself gets so quickly replaced but yes it is an incredible source of inspiration because of this diversity that you are inevitably exposed to.

Who is your “partners in crime” with the Elephant 12 and how you meet them?

- My partner in crime with E12 is my long time buddy Jerome Cooke, we met in London outside the legendary venue called the Roundhouse, we were trying to get some spare tickets for a sold out show with some ticket touts or some generous
people, I can not remember who was playing, some hip hop act tough.

What's your connection to Toronto?

- Well, Jerome is originally from Toronto, so we toured there a few times and more recently this year (January) we recorded a couple of tracks with the legend that goes by the name of Eddie Kramer. That was a surreal experience let me
tell ya, I mean I am in the same room with the man that produced some of my favourite albums, from the Kinks to Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Anthrax, Woodstock, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and the list goes on, you can imagine what
kind of stories and the anecdotes this man pulls out while recording ha ha ha :) incredible experience.

Via whats app you sent me the upcoming new Elephant 12 “Cigarettes” single, could you talk about this song? ...what the meaning of?

- Sadly E12 came to an end last month due to logistic reasons; we both live in a different countries now, bands tend to fall apart for financial reasons or simply because our lives took a different turn. Cigarettes was a sort of left
over in our recording catalogue but I do not think we are going to release it or whatsoever.

Is there a piece of Sardinia in your compositions?

- Yes, Sardinia is always in my heart, I mean, I was born and raised there and I also spent half my life too on this incredible island, my entire personality was shaped here.. I am in the middle of recording an acoustic/world music
album at the moment and my Sardinian spirit is showing a lot on this record.

One time it happened that Go Pro Uk asked to have a song from Elephant 12 as a soundtrack of his own video, wich song was and how it happened?

- My first featured song was a while ago back in 2001 for the Best soundtrack (Universal), film about the famous footballer George Best.. That was with my very first band in London called Sugarfree but the track you are talking about in
particular is called Love Knock On Wood by E12 and it appears on the on line GOPRO advert in the USA featuring the South African surfer Andre Botha, they were very nice to mention our name on the side of the ad and we also got some
freebies on top of the fee. We have been very lucky with this song as straight after, another sync agency approached us asking to be used on the MG3 cars TV commercial in the UK and China, so double ka-ching!! $ :)

It's so hard to choose a song but, if you had to choose a single song from a band/artist you listen to and that would represent yourself at the best, what it would be and why?

- This is a million dollars question ha ha ha.. it would probably be My Way by Frank Sinatra or You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves you by Dean Martin but also in My Life by The Beatles has a special place in my heart, those lyrics gives
me goosebumps and have a universal meaning.

Let's talk about your modelling experience, are you planning any other appearance for the future?

- I do not consider myself a model, that's for sure, maybe someone that stands out from the crowd so it happened that I did some random modelling for magazines, books or brands like: Time Out, Kickers, Lyle&Scott or tattoos book
(London Tattoos book) and hair and fashion magazine such as Infringe and Jocks&Nerds but it just happened by pure chance.

When is your time for art, do you prefer spray cans or brushes?

- Art is one of those passions I have been developing with the years, I never studied or went to art college, it is simply an hobby that keeps me sane a sort of escapade from reality,although I have put it on the side for while.. London
has a ridiculous amount of museums and galleries, not to mention the number of artists that are on a mission to became the “new thing”, studied at the right college, with the right support of their rich family, licking the right asses
and blah blah, one thing is for sure, you might learn the skills but creativity can not be taught or bought at the corner shop. I am certainly not a graffiti artist and i use all sort of materials, I do not plan it, I just do as I feel.

Do you have some fresh pieces you can show me?

- As I have mentioned above I have put it on the side for a while as I am more concentrated in doing music and TV extras at the moment but I am planning to go back to it and I have a couple of good ideas coming up.

Well! What's next?

My brand new project the Ravishing&The Rude is still on a early days kinda thing and we only played a couple of gigs out there with some very good response so far.. It is a very eclectic sound and we have been described as Royal Blood
meet Jack White. We recently finished recording five tracks with Steve Honest ex producer of Eurythmics and many others, see what happens, the future is bright.

Rob it's the end of the interview, thanx so much for taking part of the Reeson Stories, it was a pleasure!

….This story will continue in London or maybe in Sardinia ;)