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At seven, when most children are jumping around on playgrounds
and watching cartoons, Tony d'Mattia could be found in a rocking chair, eyes
closed, listening to Beatles albums for hours on end. "I used to have visions
while listening to those albums of being this rock star and healing people,"
says d'Mattia (aka fiZ). "I have always associated rock and roll with healing
the world and playing a part of it. It was never separate. It was always
connected."
Though a little older now, fiZ's
dream hasn't deviated much from those days in that chair.
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With
the release of his self-titled third album,
fiZ blends
Singer-Songwriter Rock and melodic British Pop for an album that's both personal
and universal; an album that recognizes the challenges of life, but reflects
the singer's eternal optimism and hope for something better. Where
most rockers strive for hedonistic self-gratification, fiZ uses his music
as a vehicle for his various philanthropic pursuits.
Music has been around fiZ since birth. Having a
stepfather that co-founded '50s Doo-wop group, The Charades, music was as
natural for fiZ as breathing. "I was always around all these great
singers because of my stepfather," recalls the singer. "The first time
I ever heard them live was a magical moment. I was blown away." As
he grew, the prolific songwriter would pick up the guitar, keyboard,
and mandolin and at age 12, wrote the first of an estimated 1,000 songs.
Absorbing everything from Motown to Rod Stewart to Led Zeppelin, music
became a familiar escape; a fantastical world where fiZ could tune out any
problems in his life and just enjoy.
After recording and self-producing two albums, 2000s Transcending and 2004s Right Where You Are,
fiZ brought in former Wings drummer Steve Holly and veteran producer Bob
Stander to collaborate on the new album. Stander, who comes to the
album with more than 350 studio credits in a decades-long career, bolstered fiZ's
natural gift for songwriting, a combination of stream-of-consciousness lyrics
and songs based on self-imposed writing exercises.
Musically, fiZ has filtered all of his diverse influences
growing up into one distinct sound. On the new album, one can hear
the romantic adult contemporary melodies of Elton John, the melodic British
pop of The Beatles, the alternative rock of Goo Goo Dolls, and the
smooth-as-satin vocals of countless doo-wop and Motown singers.
"Take Me Back" contrasts fiZ's hard, driving guitar with his
mastery of Pop melodies. The funk backbeat of "Contagious"s
verses segue perfectly into its upbeat hook. "There" sees
fiZ trading lines with vocalist Janet Montalbo in a gorgeous ballad that
should be the default background song for every wedding proposal.
Regardless of genre,fiZ's message remains spiritual without
the preachy & hopeful without the hokey, brimming with an eternal optimism
in stark contrast to some of his nihilistic peers.It is this hopefulness that has guided fiZ through his various charitable
pursuits.
As the founder of NOTES FOR
LIFE (visit site),
a non-profit organization that organizations concerts to raise money for
charities, fiZ has assembled numerous benefit shows for physically challenged
and AIDS-stricken children. In addition, the singer continues to perform
monthly at Carman Road School, a school for physically challenged children
on Long Island that recently used fiZ's track "This Is It" as their
graduation song.
"Music is very spiritual & sacred to me and I know
it has deep healing power," says fiZ. "I believe music can help bring peace into the world. One person can make a huge difference and
I believe my music can achieve that."
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