With a voice ‘like hot chocolate’, Anthony Lazaro comes to Hyderabad to swoon the audience

By Sandy Verma On Dec 19, 2024

Picture this, it is Christmas day, the weather outside is cold, and you are listening to soothing, romantic jazz pop with your loved one. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Anthony Lazaro comes to Hyderabad for From Italy With Love with his “Hot chocolate” like voice to give you the perfect Christmas evening. Known to be an “Italian singer who sings in English with a French accent”, his voice is will “make you warm when you are feeling cold and chill you down when you are feeling hot”.

Anthony is all set to play some audience favourites like Coffee Cup, Love Letter, The City Lights, and many unreleased songs. He says the much-loved Coffee Cup will also get an Indian twist the audience is sure to love. “As I am on a world tour, I have constantly kept changing the set list with each country according to what I think they might like, and the feedback I get. The idea is to always keep it experimental and add songs I have not played before,” he says.

This experimental method also reflects in his creative process and inspirations. An avid traveller and movie buff, he gets inspired by something as mundane as a cup of coffee kept in front of him, to a trip from Bodh Gaya to the Himalayas. With just the theme in mind, he first makes three to four different melodies, and then writes lyrics through which he strings a narrative, telling a story.

“I wrote Coffee Cup during my music studies as part of an assignment to compose a song within a short time frame. As an Italian who practically lives on coffee, I found inspiration in the cup sitting right in front of me. To my surprise, the majority of the song came together in just 10-15 minutes,” he recalls.

Anthony decided to quit marketing and pursue music full time in 2018 when he lost one of his biggest clients. “It was like the universe was telling me to do it.” He says that there have been new challenges everyday, and that being a musician is not just about playing music, he also had to learn new aspects of business, promoting his music, planning, discipline etc. “You have to accept that there is always going to be a problem, and enjoy the ride. I have noticed that Indians are very similar to Italians in this aspect—adapting to situations and making the best of whatever you have,” he explains.

Drawing a comparison between Asian and European audiences, Anthony says that the former is very quiet, intently listening when he plays the song, but very loud and cheerful between songs; exactly how a musician likes it. He expresses his excitement to perform some experimental tunes in Hyderabad.