Andrea e Michele are a duo of Italian radio hosts, composed of Andrea Marchesi and Michele Mainardi. Both born in Cremona, Andrea graduated in Philosophy and Michele in Architecture, since the beginning of the 2000s they have been a regular couple on various Italian radio stations, from Radio Kiss Kiss to Radio Italia Network up to Radio Deejay. Since 2004 they have collaborated with the “Vialli and Mauro Foundation” which supports research on ALS.
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Hi Andrea and Michele, let’s start with you: if you had to describe each other what would you say?
Andrea: My friend Michele, known as the “all-rounder Michael” is a great artist, a great radio speaker, the entertainer of the fourth millennium. Eclectic, because he goes from sophisticated DJ sets with a Balearic flavor to great street entertainment. But above all a great karaoke entertainer.
Michele: What about Andrea, a chosen mind, fast and always attentive to generating interesting content. Curious, above all a great gourmet in the kitchen and this thing then also turns on the female hemisphere. Transversal from a musical point of view because he listens to and plays everything: from Italian music to Berlin techno, with a truly very wide range. -
After 16 years in which you accompanied the “morning warriors” with “Deejay 6 tu” you moved on to the aperitif time with “Andy and Mike” accompanying other warriors, this time in the evening, returning from work. Just “tired” of waking up at 4 every morning or also the desire to meet new audiences? How is it going?
Andrea: Well, yes, let’s not hide a little tiredness from waking up at 4am also because this year we turn fifty and our bodies are starting to show signs of fatigue. But there was also a strong curiosity in changing the style of the program and meeting a new audience and tackling new topics.
Michele: In the end, if we think about it, we haven’t changed that much, because in the morning we accompanied them to work, now we accompany you home from work; therefore, the moods are perhaps a little different, in the morning you need to motivate and energize and in the evening you need to find the right way to ensure that the day comes to an end in a positive way by trying to release tensions. -
Your Facebook bio reads “Friends since high school, “de facto couple” on the console, on stage and at the microphones”. What is it like working with a friend for more than 20 years?
Andrea: “Whoever finds a friend finds a treasure,” said an old proverb. It’s like this in the sense that with a friend you feel less weak, the two of you divide the effort, in moments when one is less burdened, the other still gives that little bit more. So, it’s beneficial. Of course, there are cons in the sense that having a lot of confidence sometimes private things come out in public! But let’s say, from my point of view, it is a great advantage.
Michele: It is certainly a great advantage because then confidence also transforms into the ability to analyse things in a different way, because everything is shared and therefore this thing makes you aware and benefits you when you deal with different types of topics or when you interact with people as we often do on the radio. So, in my opinion it is an absolute advantage and a great fortune that not everyone can have! -
You who started with analogue radio, between artificial intelligence and podcasts, how do you see the future and the role of the deejay and radio in general?
Michele: This is a difficult question! We need to be serious here because it’s a fairly debated topic, especially on the radio.
Andrea: Rather than looking to the future, we can talk to you about the present. We would like to mention one of our colleagues, DJ Angelo, who is already using software within “Ciao Belli” that can reproduce our voices. This is a little scary for us because you practically lose control of your identity and therefore it scares us. There is no regulation now: my hope is that the law will intervene so that the technology, in addition to allowing you to reproduce it, allows you to protect your voice.
Michele: I don’t know if from a work point of view this makes us retire early or not. However, it could also be nice to retire and get royalties: imagining that artificial intelligence uses your voice as if it were an NFT (non-fungible token). -
Next holiday at the seaside or in the mountains?
Michele: We are both from the mountains and the sea. But always working holidays because we combine business with pleasure!
Andrea: Mountain for us means events in Madonna di Campiglio, where we have been working for years and then also sea, a fixed stop in Riccione with Radio Deejay. I also don’t hide my love for the Mediterranean or Caribbean islands.
Michele: I’m the Balearic Islands, I left my heart between Ibiza and Formentera.
