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‘Drumming is full of machismo, so vulgar, so dumb’: Valentina Magaletti, the musician giving the underground its rhythm


The Italian percussionist has collaborated with everyone from Radiohead’s Philip Selway to Raime. We need to stop ‘punishing’ drums and explore their potential, she says

There’s a baseball cap reading “MAKE NOISE MUSIC GAY AGAIN”, a small piano swamped by cassettes and zines, a guitar and a glass cabinet of curiosities. She began learning young, playing rock by age 10, then studying at Bari’s Niccolò Piccinni conservatory, and then taking lessons with Goblin drummer Agostino Marangolo. As well as her bands, she has also played with acts from across rock, experimental and synth pop scenes: Nicolas Jaar, Radiohead’s Philip Selway, Dali de Saint Paul’s EP/64, the London Improvisers Orchestra, and on artist Yves Chaudouët’s porcelain drumkit, among others.

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Valentina Magaletti