Finley (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Finley

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Img_capt = Finley on Stage
Img_size = 300
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Milan, Italy
Genre = Pop punk
Years_active = 2003— present
Label = Capitol/EMI
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.finley.it www.finley.it]
Current_members = Marco Pedretti Carmine Ruggiero Stefano Mantegazza Danilo Calvio
Past_members =

Finley is an Italian pop-punk group were formed in Milan in 2000. The band is made up of four men from Legnano, a town near Milan. The band got its name from NBA star, Michael Finley. The four members of the band chose this name 'cause they thought it had a cool sound, even if they aren't in basketball that much.They used to call themselves a "HardPop" band, some others said their genre is Pop punk or Soft Punk, but their genre is a mixture between Rock and Pop. Their way of making music changed during their career, so choosing isn't easy.

In 2006, the group won in the category for Best Italian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2006 in Copenhagen, beating acts like Jovanotti, Tiziano Ferro, Lacuna Coil and Mondo Marcio. On April 14, 2007 they won in the category Italians Do It Better, Best Lacrima Awards and Best Number One Of The Year at the MTV TRL Awards (Italy) 2007.

Finley released their single "Fumo e cenere" on Total Request Live on the November 24, 2006, the day which in the shops, they released a DVD+CD combo of all the work in 2006.

The band is particularly active on the road. They were on tour non-stop in 2006, putting on over the year over sixty concerts all around Italy.

Band members

*Marco Pedretti, known as Pedro - born in Magenta, Italy, 22 September 1985 - Lead vocals and he used to studypsychology at University.
*Carmine Ruggiero, known as Ka - Castellammare di Stabia, 30 May 1985 - Guitars & Vocals, studies Political Science at University.
*Stefano Mantegazza, known as Ste - Saronno 7 August 1985 - Bass & Vocals and does Communication Studies at University.
*Danilo Calvio, known as Dani - Cerignola, 17 October 1985 - Drums & Vocals, studies at Law School.

Career

The band started with Danilo Calvio, aka Dani, who used to play pop with Ka (Carmine Ruggiero) in a basement in Legnano, while Ste (Stefano Mantegazza) and Pedro (Marco Pedretti), who had known each other since childhood, used to play Grunge music. In 2000 Dani, Ka and Pedro met each other at university where they had classes together, while Ste is a childhood friend of Pedro who eventually met the others. In 2002 the four formed Finley performed in competitions, parties and auditions. In 2004 they recorded a demo of "Make Up Your Own Mind" and a low budget video and in 2005 they came into contact with Claudio Cecchetto. He helped them debut by signing their single with Capitol/EMI, "Tutto è possibile," the Italian version of "Make Up Your Own Mind." Their album of the same name was released on 31 March 2006. All the songs on the album are composed by Finley and the musical production was contracted to Daniele Persoglio.

In May, they worked with Mondo Marcio for "Dentro alla scatola". In June they were on stage for Jamming Festival 2006 and opened the concert on the first day (Guest Star: Depeche Mode). "Diventerai una star" is their second single. Finley participated at various summer shows of Festivalbar earning an invitation to participate also at the finals which were held in Verona. In September, they released "Sole di settembre" as a CD Single with video.

Their concert at Jesolo for Coca Cola Live was aired on MTV during prime time. They won the award for best Italian Music Video in the newcomers category in 2006 and in November they won the Best Italian Act Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards held in Copenhagen. For the opening of the Italian version of Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards, Finley wrote and performed the theme song. Part of their CLUB TOUR 2006/2007, organised by Barley Arts. Initially 15 concerts were planned, this number was then doubled. This also doubled the publicity received by the band. Since the day Finley's album was released, it continues to be present in the popularity rankings. Through its sales it became a Gold Disc and then a Platinum Disc. In January they concluded the tour "Tutto è possibile 2006/2007", after some months out of the limelight, on 14 April, they attended the TRL Awards (Italy) 2007 and performed their new single "Niente da perdere".

In 2008, they joined the Sanremo Music Festival and their managed to get the fifth position. But if the public was left to lecide, their position would have been the second one instead. After the Festival, a new album of theirs, Adrenalina 2, came out, and it became a Platinum Disc only after a few weeks. For the Adrenalina 2 Tour, that will include many dates all around Italy during Summer 2008, they started to do "remakes" of their songs (Hardplugged, Dance and Acustic).

Discography

* Tutto è possibile (en: All is Possible) (November 2005)
* Diventerai una star (en: You will become a star) (May 2006)
* Sole di Settembre/Fumo e Cenere (en: September's sun/Smoke and Ash) (October 2006)
* Tutto_%C3%A8_possibile (July 2006)
* Adrenalina (en: Adrenaline) (June 2007)
* Domani (en: Tomorrow) (December 2007)
* Ricordi (en: Memories) (February 2008)
* Adrenalina 2 (February 2008) - After the Sanremo Music Festival

Awards

*2006: MTV Europe Music Awards Copenaghen - Winner: "Best Italian Act"
*2007: Italian TRL Awards 2007 - Winner: "Italian Do It Better", "Best Lacrima Awards" & "Best Number One Of The Year"
*2007: Kids' Choice Awards Italy - Winner: "Best Italian Band" & "Tormentone Dell'Anno" with Adrenalina
*2008: Italian TRL Awards 2008 - Winner: "Best Riempipiazza"

External links

* [http://www.finleyspain.com Spanish website of Finley]
* [http://www.finley.it Official site in Italian & English]
* [http://www.myspace.com/finleymusic Finley's Official MySpace]