GUGLIELMO MIGLIORI: Pursue your passion, follow your dreams, and don’t surrender!

1.      Hi Guglielmo, how are you? Could you, please, introduce yourself  to the Bellspiration readers?

Despite this tremendous period, I’m fine, thanks. My name is Guglielmo Migliori, I’m 24 (although my backpain makes me feel 50+) and I’m Italian. I’m currently enrolled in a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Eastern European Affairs at The University of Bologna, with a focus on energy and Arctic geopolitics. My biggest passions are music, politics, travels, I write for East Journal magazine, and play the guitar in a punk/metal band named Beyler Bey.

2.      You are coming from Italy, but you also lived in Russia. What are your impressions of these countries – what is the main difference between them, in your opinion?

As you said, I had the possibility to live in the Russian Federation for almost a year thanks to two university exchanges: exactly one year ago I was based in St Petersburg, while afterward, I moved to the capital city, Moscow, to conduct research for my Master’s thesis.

Despite the fact that I’ve been studying the Russian language, culture, and politics for almost 3 years, the first impact of Russia was hard. The “culture shock”, indeed, represented a huge wall to express myself at first: there’s a big difference between studying a language and being able to practice it in everyday life.

However, I am a very practical person, so that it did not take long to adjust myself to my new reality. After the first days, I could finally be more relaxed in speaking Russian, so I started wandering around the magnificent streets and squares of “Piter” and I even made many new friends at St Petersburg State University.

Obviously, Italy and Russia is in two different worlds. At a first (distracted) glance, Russia may appear like a backward, grey, and cold country. As Stanislav Chernyshov would sing, “город красивый, но для жизни не супер”: rain, cold weather, and a lot of darkness during winter months. However, nothing could be further from reality: Russia’s stunning beauty, its amazing landscapes and architecture, and – last but not least – its warm-hearted people made me fall in love even more with this country. Moreover, I am convinced that Italians and Russians are somehow similar in certain social features. Is it a case that all Russians love Albano and Adriano Celentano? Honestly, “I don’t think so”.

3.      Music! Tell us more about your band, your role in the band, and your first album that you’ve just released?

I am a guitarist and I always played in rock bands.
In May 2018, after two releases, my previous band (“All You Can Hate”) opted to split under the common vision that we could no longer express our message through music. Our “team”, in other words, was not riding on the same binary anymore.

This failure, together with my passion for music, prompted me to form a new group of musicians to play our compositions on our regions’ scenes. Our city, Bologna, is famous in Italy (and not only) as the cradle of alternative music of all kinds, from punk and oi! to ska, metal, indie and so on. As many local musicians often joke, “in this town there are more bands than inhabitants”: finding some brave musicians out there wouldn’t be so difficult.

And so, after I met bass-guitarist and singer Francesco Di Bella, we decided to start this new project together. Soon after, drummer Alessandro Spadini and guitarist Antonio Perrella joined the band as well.

Starting from scratch, our first idea was to start a properly hardcore punk band. However, in time, our previous musical experiences led us to contaminate our style and navigate towards a more hybrid genre, which Francesco defined “Blackened Speed Doom Metalcore”. Honestly, I don’t know which label would fit better to our music: it’s something unique, a mix of metal, punk, and doom.

Regarding our first album, we decided to call it “Vol.1: Beglerbeg”, after the Turkish name of the Beyler Bey,

We recorded this album in a time span of one year, mostly at my home and following DYI logics. After all, we are all poor young students and workers!
Afterward, we have been delayed by the fact that I had moved to Russia and Francesco to Rome, but with help of our sound engineer (Alessandro Cosentino – Suonare Sergio) and the wonderful artwork by Chiara Pantani, we were finally able to publish our release.

Our album might be interesting for those who listen to heavy music, metal, punk, and similar, but also to those who are interested in history, politics, and social topics. Our lyrical themes focus in fact on historical events such as the battle of Kosovo Polje, 1922 antifascist barricades in Parma, Italy, Palestine, and Euskal Herria.

If you are interested, you can follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/beylerXbey) and listen to us on all available platforms, such as Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/album/3HcaptPMLpUZJ0a5rRdePa?si=xXFUAKlaTMmcAw7oSn8PLQ) and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA1zt1kc2XM). You can also download our album for free via Bandcamp (https://beylerxbey.bandcamp.com/album/vol-1-beglerbeg).

4.      What motivates you in life? What inspires you the most?

What motivates me in life is the conviction that I can change things around me with commitment, study, and passion. Music and politics are my biggest interest, and through activism and creativity, I hope to make my voice heard by others.

5.   Do you have an inspiring message for all young people around the world?

Pursue your passion, follow your dreams, and don’t surrender. Everything will come with time, regardless of the obstacles!

6.   Thank you for this Bellspiration interview! We believe that many will be inspired by your answers J

Thank you and keep up the good work! Greeting from Italy and from us all ;)