BIO
“My biggest musical influence and idol will always be George Michael. He inspired me to create music that would touch the hearts and souls of world”.
– Antonio
Antonio is a Canadian pop, singer-songwriter, musician and record producer, born and raised in Toronto, Ontario.
Born of Italian-Canadian descent, Antonio started writing and recording songs at the early age of thirteen. His first lyrical inspiration, came from a poem he had written for a girl he met in Italy. His cousin an inspiring musician, encouraged him to transpose the poem into a song, and record it on his 4-track studio. Impressed by Antonio’s vast vocal range, his cousin pitched the idea for him to further pursue his musical talents.
Growing up in the mid 80’s, Antonio was enamored with sounds of dance pop-culture and R&B tracks. He was heavily influenced by the British pop icon George Michael, with his infectious dance hits and sultry ballads.
“I remember buying the Faith Album and while reading the liner notes, what caught my attention was seeing “Written, Arranged and Produced by George Michael”. This inspired me to become not only a singer but also a songwriter and producer. I was also influenced by the Great Freddie Mercury, and was in awe of Freddie’s amazing vocals, charisma and larger than life performances. One of my favourite songs from Queen is “Somebody To Love”. I remember as a kid, I was blown away by George Michael’s performance during the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.”
Antonio quickly aspired to make his own mark in the music industry as a pop artist. In his final year of high school, he applied to Humber College’s renowned Jazz Music program to further pursue his dreams in music. During his audition, he performed the songs “Faith” and “All of Me” to showcase his versatility as an artist. Even without any prior knowledge in music theory, the professor conducting the audition was highly impressed by his raw talent. She accepted Antonio into the program, under the condition that he complete one year of music preparatory theory, to broaden his musicality. It was here where Antonio refined his song writing skills, enhanced his sound, and self-taught himself to play piano. With his charismatic personality, and epic vocals, Antonio began to market his talents, by singing at local karaoke bars. It was by mere chance one night, while covering a George Michael track that he caught the attention of a record producer in the audience. That was the moment that propelled Antonio’s music career.
In 1996 he was signed to Captain Records, where he collaborated with record producer Marc Pompeo and Richard Klosa to release his first single, a dance remake of his favorite song by George Michael “Father Figure”. The song quickly exploded onto the radio dance waves and gained immense popularity with audiences both in Canada and the U.S. Antonio performed the song both on air and in large concert venues of 5000 plus, touring from Toronto to Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago, Buffalo, Detroit, Rochester, Montreal, Miami and San Jose California. He also performed in Italy on separate occasions for the “La Piu Bella Del Mondo” beauty pageant. With his uncanny vocal similarities, Antonio was in awe to find out that his musical idol George Michael, had requested a copy of the single. In 1998 Antonio released his second single “Give Me The Nite”, and then a follow up dance track “Reach For The Sky” in 1999. Shortly thereafter, Antonio stepped away from the music industry to focus his attention on his family and raising his daughter. In 2011 he collaborated with Stereo Martini and released the pop single “A Little Closer”.
Over the years, Antonio has performed with such greats as Grammy award winning Producer/D.J. Hex Hector, Rockell, Max a Million, Stevie B., Sass Jordan, Emjay, shared the stage with Marianna’s Trench and opened up for Karl Wolf.
Antonio’s high-energy live performances are his trademark and his passion! As a song writer he composes music that gravitates to his fans with meaningful messages that they can relate to.
Launching his new career, Antonio joined forces with Multi-platinum record producer, Glenn Morrison, to release his pop single “Someone Just Like You”. The song has an eclectic blend of dance, 80’s retro, with a nu-disco vibe and captures the essence of finding that one true love that everyone yearns for.
His newest release “I Want You Baby” which is now available on all streaming platforms. Is a soulful R&B/Pop song, that captures the true essence of following your heart instead of your fears. It embraces loves desires, and celebrates letting go of the expectations from others without the regret.
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