Of course, progressive rock is also made in Italy but then it is called rock progressivo Italiano (RPI). This musical movement includes bands such as Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM), Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Le Orme, just to name a few. Tom Hayes (Gnosis) wrote: "During the period 1971-1974 in Italy, a musical movement appeared where bands would challenge each other to see who could be the most imaginative, who could create the album for the ages. They were all painters and sculptors just as in the Italian Renaissance."Italian symphonic prog can also be recognized for the distinction of classical influences, often providing the driving force behind the music. Now, there is a rather young Italian band, called Wilson Project, that used both influences to create the music for their albums which can be heard on their debut Il Viaggio Da Farsi (2022, see review), and on their brand-new album Atto Primo (2025, see review). Of course, Background Magazine wanted to introduce this band to their readers: how started Wilson Project and how developed the band over the years? Therefore, I asked keyboard player Andrea Protopapa to reveal some of their hitherto achieved results.

Would you please tell out readers about the origin of the band?
"We met many years ago as a bunch of kids from Acqui Terme, a small town in the northern part of Italy. We all loved music. Each of us did already his own musical thing, and we were already friends. At some point we decided to create something together. Some of us started to listen to music from the seventies, and we discovered Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) and their early albums Storia Di Un Minuto and Per Un Amico. We were immediately fascinated by the sound, so full of melodies with surprising harmonies, and sudden changes in rhythm. So, we started learning those songs note for note, trying to absorb the music. From there we moved on to covers of bands like Genesis and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Soon after, we also began writing our own music. We felt a strong need to say something personal, and we wanted to share it. We also wanted to create music that combined the sounds we had fallen in love with, but with a modern approach connected to our generation. Our goal was to merge these two different sounds."

Why did you name the band Wilson Project?
"The name Wilson Project doesn't come from anything specific. There are a few cinematic references tied to the concept of our first album, but we've always kept the meaning a bit mysterious. Over time, Wilson became a sort of concept, a character that we carry on with our music, wherein listeners can find their own meanings to identify themselves. We really like that."

L to R: Stefano Rapetti, Annalisa Ghiazza, Andrea Protopapa and Mattia Pastorino

Would you introduce the musicians in the band? Do they have a classical education?
"Of course I will! Wilson Project consists of four friends who love playing together and creating something personal. Annalisa Ghiazza is our lead vocalist and the main lyricist. She's also a multi-instrumentalist. She started playing the clarinet, then switched to the aerophone during our early live shows. More recently, she's added a synthesizer as a secondary layer that complements my keyboards. I am the pianist and keyboardist, and I become increasingly surrounded by synths as any good prog keyboardist should! The rhythm section consists of Stefano Rapetti on bass and Mattia Pastorino on drums. Yes, we all have a classical education. We studied our instruments when we were younger. Recently, I have also completed my studies at the Conservatorio di Torino, graduating in jazz piano."

Were the songs for your debut Il Viaggio Da Farsi already on your setlist, or did you compose them for the album?
"We started working on the songs for Il Viaggio Da Farsi almost right from the beginning of the band. We knew we didn't want to play covers only, but we wanted to have something of our own. The album was finally released in 2022 when we met the label Ma.Ra.Cash. Records. They decided to distribute the album. From that moment on, we really shaped our sound to bring it live on stage, and we continuously try to evolve it."

Il Viaggio Da Farsi is a concept album. Would you tell our readers what the story is all about?
"Well, it is the story of a girl who leaves everything behind on planet Earth to travel alone to Mars. Driven by a mixture of hope and heartbreak, she literally tries to recreate a version of the love she left behind by building an automaton as a replica of her. However, she soon realizes that the artificial copy is nothing like the real thing. It's a story about the tension and conflicting emotions between reality and illusion, and how technology might try or fail to fill emotional voids. It is fascinating how close we are today to this kind of future, while it felt like science fiction just a few years ago..."

Who did the wonderful artwork for this album? Does it represent the journey to Mars?
"The artwork was created by Daniele Cavallero (Za! Factory), and yes, it visually mirrors the story told in the album. The cover and booklet are full of elements that echo the journey of the main character throughout the songs."

Your second album is called Atto Primo. Should it be written in capital letters or in lower case?
"Ha, ha, whatever you prefer! We use both depending on the mood or the context."

On Atto Primo I heard many influences from some famous Italian progressive rock bands of the seventies like Banco, Le Orme and PFM, but also Mattia Bazar and a rather new band like Unreal City came to mind. Did these bands influence your music or are there other bands that inspired you?
"As I told you before, we were musically born and immersed in Italian prog of the seventies, and of course, PFM, Banco and Le Orme were part of our influences. Then we quickly fell in love with British prog of Genesis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes. That said, we all listen to very different types of music, and we also love a lot of modern stuff. Nowadays, there are still many incredible musicians, bands and songwriters. We're inspired by anyone who's doing something real and new today, and that's a big part of what we want to do, bridging the classic seventies prog tradition with something fresh and modern. We think of music as a flowing, evolving language, not as a box to stay inside. Hopefully, that music will also appeal to younger generations, we're still part of that in a way."

The second album is a kind of concept album as well. Can you explain the title of the album, the concept, alle songs separately and why you chose this subject?
"Yes, indeed, we can say that if Il Viaggio Da Farsi is a concept album in the most traditional sense, with one story unfolding through all the tracks, in Atto Primo there is a different kind of concept interconnecting the songs. The whole album is a tribute to opera. We believe there's a strong connection between the world of opera and progressive rock. Of course, in general we think of the relation with classical music when you listen to most of the traditional prog albums. But talking about opera, together with the music, there are narrative and dramatic elements as principal components with the need to musically underline the different moments adding a secondary narrative level, parallel to the lyrical one. That really fits with our vision of a song, where both lyrics and music are extremely important. Moreover, there is the use of makeup and costumes for the representation of the different characters in an opera, and this is also very similar for some very famous progressive rock bands that we love, like Genesis or Osanna.
For all these reasons we decided to dedicate this album to the opera. We chose different composers from the 18th and 19th century and picked one opera by each from which we draw inspiration. For every track, we studied the original opera, its melodies, harmonies, even instrumentation, and brought some of that into our songs. But we didn't just quote it, we reshaped it rhythmically and harmonically to match our progressive rock sound. Each track also tells its own story, not specifically related to the opera, but with some links with its scenario, and with different literary references for each song.
The name Atto Primo is a reference to the opera, but we also chose this title because we would like to give a new starting point to our music with this album. We were very close to it, and we wanted to give it its importance as in some way a new rebirth.
The album starts with an overture, written as in classical opera using themes from the rest of the album to introduce the sonorities, and the music of the whole composition. Then we move into the different songs. Each one has been thought to take the listener into its own world, creating a journey across various places and atmospheres throughout the album. From a lyrical point of view, Taiji is based on an ancient Chinese myth. Ragnarok draws from Norse legends. The other tracks Bolshoi, Nihonga and Duat were inspired by novels from the 20th century. We usually don't say too much about the specific musical or literary references we used, because we love the idea that the listener can be inspired to discover them, turning the listening experience into a kind of exploration. It's also important to us that people can find their own meaning in the music and feel personally connected to it. That said, we did include some clues in the album booklet, and we occasionally reveal more during our shows. So, if you're curious, come see us live or check out our music!"

Will there be an Atto Secondo later on?
"Haha, we've been asked that a lot! The title Atto Primo wasn't originally meant to suggest a sequel. It was more of a nod to opera structure and a new beginning for us. But who knows? We've got a lot of ideas for the future."

The album cover states that the band writes all the music together. Can you explain how that works in practice, because one might think that Annalisa writes all the lyrics and Andrea all the music?
"Yes, this is partly true: most of the lyrics were written by Annalisa, while the music started from ideas, melodies or harmonic progressions that came first to Andrea's mind that he worked out on the piano. Since the work of the album was mixing operatic ideas with something personal, it was of course easier and more natural to start from this approach for the composition. But from there, it became a group effort. Everybody in the band put its ideas and arrangements, some musical breaks and rhythmic ideas came to mind to the rhythmic section of Mattia and Stefano, but the stories were ideas brought from all of us together. We think of our music with an orchestral mindset, each instrument has its own voice and space while conversing with each other, and everything works together to serve the song and the story we're telling."

Annalisa sings her vocal parts excellently, but she also played on the aerophone. What kind of instrument is that?
"It's a digital woodwind instrument, similar to an electronic saxophone but shaped more like a clarinet, with similar fingerings. The great thing about it is that it offers a vast range of sounds, from acoustic woodwind to synth textures. It's perfect for weaving countermelodies alongside Andrea's Moog and creating an orchestral feel."

The new album is mainly based on the keyboard and vocal parts. However, you also include on Bolshoi a short drum solo and on Ragnarök a bass solo. What was the reason to do this?
"As we said before, the album was conceived with an orchestral and choral vision, wherein each element is essential. We wanted to give each instrument its own voice, talking to each other and those solos are like moments where different parts of the orchestra speak up. It fits our approach to composition, a sort of collective process, balanced and collaborative."

On the album cover we see the band photographed in beautiful outfits. When you perform on stage the band are wearing the same kind of clothing. Do they represent an audience that visits an opera?
"Exactly that. Since this album is our tribute to opera, we also wanted to reflect that visually. We imagined ourselves both as performers and as part of the audience, watching and living the story at the same time. This is because we've done this when creating our songs, we listen and take inspiration from the original operas and then we 'move on to the stage', representing our music and stories. So, the costumes help us step into character and bring the drama of the music to life."

Inside the booklet each band member is portrayed in a special outfit as well. Does this represent all the songs on the album? Who came up with the idea?
"Yes, this is part of the idea of us being 'inside' the opera. Each of us has been a sort of iconographic representation of each song, with a proper costume and make-up.
We wanted to create a strong link between the music, the original opera and the visual concept, and we also wanted to be part of it in some way, also for sharing this connection with our listeners. The booklet is like an extra layer of storytelling, something that classical opera did very well. And honestly, the idea came up during an aperitivo with great Italian cocktails... the best ideas often do! We also have to thank the amazing people who helped us to bring this vision to life. Luca Morlino's photography and Vincenzo Marchitto's digital artwork captured the spirit of our music perfectly and aligned beautifully with the ideas we had in mind."

In Italy you started performing your music live on stage. Do you have any plans to bring your music to the rest of Europe?
"We would absolutely love to! We've been thrilled to see that our music is getting nice reviews from abroad, even though we sing in Italian, which makes it even more meaningful for us. We haven't had the chance yet to perform outside of Italy, but we really hope we will soon. Playing in clubs or festivals across Europe would be a dream."

I guess you perform all songs from your second album, but do you play songs from your debut as well? On the debut album we hear a guitar. How do you fill those guitar passages when you play live?
"Yes, indeed, the first album featured guitar, but live we've played these passages without the guitar. For live shows, we've rearranged those guitar parts, sometimes Annalisa covers them on aerophone or on a second synthesizer. It actually worked well, and it gave the songs a new life. Of course, in the last period we've focused more on our second album, so the melodic work is all managed by Andrea's keyboards and Annalisa's synth or aerophone. But who knows? We're always dynamically evolving and so does our music. Maybe the guitar returns in the future!"

What plans do you have next?
"We've got a lot of gigs coming up across Italy for the release of Atto Primo. We're super excited to play it live, we truly believe music comes alive on stage. And yes, we already have new ideas, sonorities, and stuff brewing. Therefore, as common to say in these cases, stay tuned and follow us for what's coming next!"

Thank you for answering my questions!
"Thank you for this great opportunity! It was a pleasure to talk about our music with you. Hope to see you soon one day on a stage in the Netherlands."