Gino De Crescenzo, known by the stage name PACIFICO, was born in Milan on March 5th, 1964, to a family originally from the Campania region: his mother is from Salerno, while his father is from Bacoli, from the Naples province. After his high school diploma in book keeping, he graduated with honors in political studies. He is a self-taught musician and plays the guitar, bass and piano. His favorite artist and band are Lucio Battisti and the Beatles, while just some of the key influences iin his music include Jeff Buckley, the Police, Prince, Radiohead, Modugno, Genesis, and Pink Floyd.
spent a decade or so with the major Milanese underground band Rossomaltese, which he founded in 1989 together with Luca Gemma and released two albums (“Santantonio” and “Mosche libere”).
In 2001, after Rossomaltese broke up, Gino De Crescenzo adopted the stage name PACIFICO and made his solo debut with a self-titled album (produced by Paolo Iafelice). The album (released by Ponderosa/Edel and then re-released, with the addition of two new songs, by Carosello/Warner) immediately caught the public eye for the irony, the depth and the intensity of his songs (such the outstanding “Le mie parole”, “Il postino”, “Fine fine”, “Il faraone” and “Gli occhi al cielo”) and garnered a string of important accolades: the Grinzane Cavour Prize for the lyrics of “Le mie parole” (Recanati Prize, 2001), the Targa Tenco for best debut production (Tenco Prize, 2001), first place in the 2001 readers' referendum for the magazine Musica & Dischi (Best New Italian Act) and the PIM Critics' award (Italian Music Prize).
In 2003, two songs by PACIFICO featured in the soundtrack for the movie by "Ricordati di me" Gabriele Muccino : "Il Faraone", the theme tune, sharing the same title as the film itself, and "Ricordati di me", which was nominated at the Nastri d'Argento for "Best song".
In 2003 Frankie Hi-NRG MC co-directed (with Laura Chiossone), wrote and created the screenplay for the video for the track "Gli occhi al cielo". The video won the 2003 Premio Videoclip Italiano video awards as best independent production. The partnership between PACIFICO and Frankie Hi-NRG MC continued in Frankie's album "Ero un autarchico" (with the two artists singing a duet in the track “Anima nera”).
In 2004 PACIFICO took part in the Sanremo Festival with the song "Solo un sogno", which earned him the award for best music. This was followed by the release of his second album "Musica leggera" (Carosello/Warner), which featured a guest performance by another major artist: with Ivano Fossati singing in a duet with PACIFICO on the track "A poche ore".
In 2005 PACIFICO received a special mention in the Lunezia Prize for the musical and literary value of his songs.
In 2005 he joined Stefano Bollani, Enrico Rava and Petra Magoni to perform om the album by the band Osiris, containing the music for the movie by Matteo Garrone.
In 2006 PACIFICO released his third album, “Dolci frutti tropicali” (Radiofandango/Edel). This album included appearances by Samuele Bersani, Roy Paci, and Petra Magoni.
In 2007 he participated in the MTV Italia show "Italo Francese" hosted by Fabio Volo as on stage musician, improvising musical pieces with the guests and performing original songs for the show.
In 2008 he wrote and recorded "L'inverno non c'è più", which was included on a collection of songs performed only with the Italian ukulele (developed by the Barlumen Institute), together with Magoni/Spinetti, Frankie HI-NRG MC, Luca Gemma, and others.
In recent years, in addition to performing around Italy, (before performing concerts with his own band, he was the supporting act for a number of Italian and international artists such as Daniele Silvestri, Luca Carboni, Costeau, and the Kings of Convenience), PACIFICO has also written lyrics for a number of artists, making a name for himself as a highly sought after writer. ,He has written hits such as “Sei nell’anima” by Gianna Nannini, and “Stringimi le mani” by Gianni Morandi.
The track “Tu che sei parte di me” made its radio debut on November 28th, 2008, and previews PACIFICO's latest album of all-new songs, “Dentro ogni casa”, due for release on January 16th, 2009 on Caterina Caselli's Sugar label.
PACIFICO THE SONGWRITER
1997: Pacifico co-wrote the lyrics for “Apri la bocca” for Fiorella Mannoia (included on the album “Belle speranze”) with Luca Gemma from Rossomaltese, and also wrote the music.
1999: Pacifico worked with the director Roberta Torre to compose the soundtrack for the movie musical "Sud Side Stori" and the score for the theatrical show "Invece che all'una alle due" for the Teatro Stabile di Catania.
2002: Samuele Bersani covered the song "Le mie parole" from Pacifico's self-titled debut album and includes it in his greatest hits album "Che vita!".
2002: Pacifico worked with Adriano Celentano, writing the lyrics for the song "I passi che facciamo" on the album "Per sempre".
2003: Pacifico wrote the lyrics and music for the song “Ricordati di me”, the theme tune for the end credits of the film by the same title by Gabriele Muccino.
2003: Pacifico wrote and performed the track “Anima nera” with FRANKIE HI-NRG MC on the Turinese rapper's album “Ero un autarchico”.
2005: Together with Gaetano Cappa, founder of the experimental radiophonic group Barlumen, Pacifico co-wrote the lyrics for the song “A luci spente”, the theme tune for the 'Le grandi fiabe' series published by the newspaper Corriere della Sera, which sold over three million copies and won the Andersen prize.
2006: Pacifico wrote the lyrics for “Io sono metà”, one of the two originals track on the album “Musica nuda 2”, for Petra Magoni and Ferruccio Spinetti.
2006: Pacifico worked with Nannini, co-writing the lyrics for the track “Sei nell’anima”, with the Siena-born artist. This was the first single taken from the album “Grazie”.
He also wrote the lyrics for another song on the album, “Le carezze”, with music written by the producer of the album, Will Malone.
2006: Together with Samuele Bersani, Pacifico co-wrote the music for the track “Maciste”, on the Bolognese artist's album “L'aldiqua”.
2006: Pacifico wrote the lyrics and music for the track “Il nodo” (one of the singles from the album “Passeggeri distratti”) for the artist Raf.
2007: Pacifico wrote the lyrics and music for “E del mio cuore” and the lyrics “Qualcosa di te”, for the artist Ornella Vanoni, which were included on the album "Una bellissima ragazza”.
2007: Pacifico wrote “Bellissime stelle”, one he original new tracks included on Andrea Bocelli's 'best of' album "Vivere".
2007: Together with Gianna Nannini, Pacifico co-wrote the lyrics for three tracks (“Suicidio d’amore”, “Pazienza” and “Mosca cieca”) for the her 'best of' album.
2007: Pacifico wrote the lyrics and music for the song "Stringimi le mani" for Gianni Moriandi, the only new track on the hit collection “Grazie a tutti”.
2008: Pacifico wrote the lyrics and music for the track "Pazzo il mondo?!" for the album by Petra Magoni and Ferruccio Spinetti.
2008: Pacifico wrote the lyrics for the track “Sospesa” for Malika Ayane's debut album of the same name.
