Meet Francesca Remigi | Drummer, composer and improviser

We had the good fortune of connecting with Francesca Remigi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Francesca, putting aside the decision to work for yourself, what other decisions were critical to your success?
I guess the fact of traveling a lot for my studies highly contributed to the success of my professional business (I studied in the Netherlands, in Belgium and in the US). Studying in many different places was a great way for me to forge meaningful friendship with musicians I still collaborate with after many years. Former professors and classmates still call me for concerts, masterclasses and teaching gigs in every part of the world. I am very thankful for that.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I was raised in a musical family in a little village in the north of Italy. I grew up listening to a lot of music at home, especially classical. One day I went to listen to my dad performing with a big band and I got literally taken away by their drummer. It seemed he was having so much fun playing the drums that I realized that’s what I wanted to do! I started playing drums at the age of five with Maestro Stefano Bertoli, and in middle school, I also did five years of classical piano.

In 2014, I started my undergrad at Conservatorio G.Verdi of Milano (performance major), which I graduated from in 2017 after a one year Erasmus+ program in the Netherlands.

In 2020, as soon as I got my Master’s Degree at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussels, under the guidance of the Belgian drummer Stéphane Galland, I was awarded with a full scholarship to attend the Berklee Global Jazz Institute Master Program, directed by Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist Danilo Pérez.
I spent about three years in the US, mainly living in Boston and then in NY.

Right now, I find myself being on the road a lot, touring and performing with different projects all over the world. I’m also pretty active as a drum teacher, composer and a bandleader! Every year I try to spend some time doing artistic residencies where I get to work on some new music to showcase.

I guess there has been some bumps and accidents along the road! Covid is a great example of that. When the pandemic started, it was pretty challenging for us artists to reinvent new ways of collaborating remotely, not to mention the great financial hardship we had to face due to the cancellation of live events!

But being a woman playing drums has definitely been the trickiest thing for me. When I was five, I remember joining my town brass band and never being able to play during rehearsals, as the other male drummers were always bullying me and shutting me out. It’s been a life of fighting ever since, especially in a deeply patriarchal and misogynistic country like Italy.

Growing up, I honestly never knew I could have made it as a female drummer, cause at the time there were no examples of other women playing drums in Italy, and very few of them in the rest of the world.

In my teens, I joined some rock and metal bands where I was always the only woman and had to put up with very sexist and discriminating talks by the other musicians of the band. On top of that, I’ve always lived with the feeling of not being taken seriously by most of the men involved in the music performance and music education environments.

As a female drummer, I feel I’m tested by local sound engineers every time I’m doing a soundcheck, and daily I witness festival directors’ patronizing and superior behavior while talking to me. I normally manage to gain people’s respect only after they hear me play, but still I get comments like “you play good to be a girl” after the concerts and sometimes they still pay me less than other male bandmates. In our male-dominated environment, I’ve felt many opportunities to perform were not given to me, as male musicians often prefer to hire people from their boy’s clubs.

Sadly, most of the projects I mainly perform with are mines or other women’s. Also in music education, I experienced sexual harassment and very paternalistic behavior by most of my conservatory professors, as well as a lack of faith in me and very little growing opportunities.

I think being an active part of a community of creatives is something that I definitely learned along the way. I used to be way more competitive and self-oriented once, but with time I’ve understood that being part of an healthy ecosystem of kind and supportive people is actually way more fruitful and safe.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Day 1: Wander along the Venice Canals (grab breakfast at the trendy Gjusta bakery and the Café Gratitude) Day 2: Enjoy a day at Venice Beach
Day 3: Visit Santa Monica and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Day 4: Discover the magic of Hollywood by walking up to the Hollywood sign from the Griffith Observatory
Day 5: Griffith Observatory and the Getty Center
Day 6: Explore the Joshua Tree National Park
Day 7: End your trip in style at the Universal Studios

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Lately I’ve been collaborating with British pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins. I want to dedicate my shoutout to him because working on his music is been extremely inspiring to me. Being around him made me grow a lot both musically and personally! Alex has also been kind enough to recommend me to other people for future collaborations and concerts, which I am profoundly thankful for.