Mauro Gurlino (born 16 April 1971), known as Mao, is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, radio and television host and actor.
An artist mainly known for his work as a singer-songwriter and radio and television presenter, active since the late 1980s, he achieved national fame in the 1990s as the leader of the music group Mao e la Rivoluzione and for his co-hosting with Andrea Pezzi of the TV programme Kitchen broadcast on MTV Italy.
Biography
He has earned a degree in History and Criticism of Cinema at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of the University of Turin. A creative and in-depth critique discussing the musical film Yuppi du by Adriano Celentano was among his final thesis topics. «He is and has been anything», as once he was defined by a journalist describing his eclectic thirty-year career.
Over the years, he has collaborated with several musicians, among which, Delta V, Max Gazzè and Morgan, producer of his first solo record Black mokette,[5][6][7][8][9][10] released by Sony Music, followed by the soundtrack for the film 500!,[11][12][13] released by Mescal. Together with Santabarba, he played as resident band for the music TV show Scalo 76 broadcast on Rai 2. Rai, the Italian national television, had him as well as resident musician for the radio show Ventura Football Club broadcast on Rai Radio 1.
For over twenty years, together with his artistic collective CortoCorto, he has been organising showcases for the Turin nightclubbing scene through the soundtrack contests Duel, the song contests LaBase and the talk shows Il Salotto di Mao, formats which have hosted more than 1,000 artists. He was member for ten years of the trio Le Voci del Tempo, a band telling the Italian history in clubs and theatres with shows mixing images, readings and songs.
In 2010 he published his third solo record, Piume pazze,[14][15][16][17] distributed for free on internet, followed by two novels Meglio tardi che Mao (Express Edizioni)[18][19][20] in 2011 and Olràit! Mao sogna Celentano e gliele canta (Arcana Edizioni)[21] in 2013. He is owner and manager of CortoCorto STUDIO, an audio-video recording and production studio located in the heart of San Salvario neighborhood in Turin.
Between 2019 and 2020 he returned on the record market with the singles Nudi alla meta, Le cose and the music video of Scusa caro vicino, born from the artistic collaboration with the writer Enrica Tesio and produced by DJ Aladyn and Max Bellarosa from Radio Deejay. Also in 2020, in a duet with Il Tusco, he released the music video for Velenosa. In 2022, exactly twenty-five years after the release of the seminal album Casa, he surprisingly published the music video for Stringimi #25, recorded as a duet with Bianco and filmed at the Murazzi del Po in front of the historic Giancarlo club. He is currently working on a brand new album of unreleased songs.
1991 - Fratelli di Soledad - Salviamo il salvabile (backing vocals in Gioia e rivoluzione, Fiume sand creek, (Per quello che ho da fare) Faccio il militare, Nel ghetto, Gianna)
1991 - Gianni Cirigliano - No stop! (demo) (author, vocals)
1992 - Francesca Olivieri & Deep River Choir - Francesca Olivieri & Deep River Choir (bass chorister)
1994 - Fratelli di Soledad - Gridalo forte (backing vocals)
1995 - Africa Unite - Un sole che brucia (backing vocals in Rubaduba, Uniformi, Terra tua, Immobile)
1998 - Max Gazzè - La favola di Adamo ed Eva (co-composer, vocals, acoustic guitar in Colloquium vitæ)
1999 - Delta V - Psychobeat (author, vocals in La mia cosa)
Albums (CD)
2004 - Zerouno - Zerouno (vocals in Non ti conosco)
2007 - Vittorio Cane - Secondo (vocals in Ci proverò)
2008 - Stiv - Blu senape (vocals in Proiettile lento)
2009 - Hellzapop - Finché la luce è accesa (vocals in La notte delle stelle di plastica)
2011 - Max Gazzè - La favola di Adamo ed Eva - Max Gazzè (co-composer, vocals, acoustic guitar in Colloquium vitæ)
2011 - Soluzione - L'esperienza segna (vocals in Anni 70)
2011 - Persiana Jones - Essenze (vocals in Odio il lunedì)
2011 - Tilt - L'evoluzione delle ombre (co-author in Come se, Paura mai)
2012 - Davide Tosches - Il lento disgelo (vocals in Scintille)
2013 - Dj Fede - Tutti dentro… di nuovo (vocals in A chance for peace)
2014 - Fratelli di Soledad - Salviamo il salvabile (atto II) (backing vocals in Je vous salue Ninì)
2015 - Dj Fede - Funk & Dub (vocals in A chance for peace (Jolly Mare & B.Kun Dub Remix), Holdin' on (Dj Fede Fresh Dub), Lucky fellow (Pisti Remix), Lady Day & John Coltrane (Lady Dub by Alambic Conspiracy Dub Version), Con il nastro rosa (Pink Stripe Dub Remix by Alambic Conspiracy)
2017 - Dj Fede - Rude Boy Rocker (vocals in Holdin' On, Lucky fellow, A chance for peace, Lady Day & John Coltrane)
2018 - Powerillusi - Powerillusi & Friends (vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals in Quella del papà)
2018 - Max Gazzè - La favola di Adamo ed Eva - 1998-2018 Anniversary Edition (co-composer, vocals, acoustic guitar in Colloquium vitæ)
2019 - LATLETA - Miraggi (acoustic guitar in Io ti conosco)
2021 - Simona Palumbo - Latin land (co-author, composer, vocals in Un’onda)
2025 - Simona Palumbo - Latin vibes (co-author, composer, vocals in Un’onda (Remix))
Albums (Digital)
2007 - T.O.E.! - Vivisezione di un alluce (vocals in Carlo sei nei guai (Mao mix)).
2014 - Davi Campa - Metamorfosi (vocals, acoustic guitar in A volte cadiamo)
2015 - Il Tusco - Il Tusco canta e Mao gliele suona! (vocals in Demagogia fiscale)
2021 - Simona Palumbo - Latin land (co-author, composer, vocals in Un’onda)
2023 - Stiv Tirella - Tale e quale (co-author, vocals in Una notte e un giorno in più, Fuori)
2025 - Simona Palumbo - Latin vibes (co-author, composer, vocals in Un’onda (Remix))
Albums (LP)
2014 - Dj Fede - Rude Boy Funker (vocals in Holdin' on, Lucky fellow, A chance for peace, Lady Day & John Coltrane, Lady Day & John Coltrane (Lady Dub - Alambic Conspiracy Dub Version))
2018 - Max Gazzè - La favola di Adamo ed Eva - 1998-2018 Anniversary Edition (co-composer, vocals, acoustic guitar in Colloquium vitæ)
2019 - LATLETA - Miraggi (acoustic guitar in Io ti conosco)
Singles (10")
1994 - Fratelli di Soledad - Gridalo forte (backing vocals)
Singles (7")
2013 - Dj Fede - A change for peace / Torino violenta 2 (vocals in A change for peace)
2014 - Dj Fede - Lucky fellow / Ain't no Sunshine (vocals in Lucky fellow)
Singles (CD)
1999 - Max Gazzè - Colloquium vitæ (co-composer, vocals, acoustic guitar in Colloquium vitæ, Colloquium vitæ (album version))
Singles (Promo CD)
1999 - Max Gazzè - Colloquium vitæ (co-composer, vocals, acoustic guitar in Colloquium vitæ, Colloquium vitæ (album version))
Issue 193 of the Italian music magazine Fare Musica, published in 1997, features Richard Ashcroft of the Verve and Mao side by side on the cover, accompanied by the headline “separated at birth!”.
The song Chinese take away is featured in the film Abbiamo solo fatto l'amore (1998) by Fulvio Ottaviano.
The music video of the song Chinese take away won the award for best overground videoclip at the 1998 Meeting of Independent Labels.
In 1998 the band Mao e la Rivoluzione won the San Marino Festival's Titano Award in the best rock band category.
In the original version of the music video of the song Un mondo diverso, the final scene saw Mao dancing and playing guitar with a wall of three huge photographs behind him: a field of flowers, a lake with Thai huts and the New York skyline with the Twin Towers. The videoclip was aired a few days before 11 September 2001, only to be immediately withdrawn. A week later, an alternative version began airing with the final scene specially reworked (in the original version, in fact, Mao was smiling and making the victory sign with his hand, with the World Trade Center in the background).
Morgan, co-producer with Mao of album Black mokette, considers the record the best he has worked on in his career.[56]
During the presentation of Fabi Silvestri Gazzè's album Il padrone della festa in Turin, Daniele Silvestri stated that he had memories linked to the city of Turin accompanied by Mao's songs, so much so that he was inspired by the song Febbre for his Cohiba.
The song Satelliti was included by Indie for Bunnies in the top 10 Italian indie-rock songs released by outsiders in the 1990s.[57]
1991 - VV.AA., Musica a Torino 1991. Rock, pop, jazz, folk, EDT, Turin, Italy, pp.156, ISBN 978-8870631272. (cit.)
1999 - Andrea Pezzi, Kitchen: non c'era la neve, Bompiani, Milan, Italy, pp.167, ISBN 978-8845242090 (afterword by Mao)
2003 - Guido Michelone, Imagine. Il rock-film tra nuovo cinema e musica giovanile, Effatà Editrice, Cantalupa, Italy, pp.368, ISBN 978-8874020485 (preface by Mao)
2006 - Gianluca Testani (ed.), Enciclopedia Rock Italiano, Arcana Edizioni, Rome, Italy, pp.440, ISBN 978-8879664226 (cit.)
2014 - Marco Ponti, Cristiano Spadavecchia, Un appartamento a Torino. Altrimenti ci arrendiamo!, Pavesio Editore, Turin, Italy, pp.118, ISBN 978-8862330596 (cit.)
2020 - Francesco Andrea Brunale, Dischi da ‘90, Bertoni Editore, Perugia, Italy, pp.307, ISBN 978-8855352253 (cit.)
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