Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari

LEF (born Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari; 20 November 1977) is an Italian vocalist, record producer and film score composer. He has worked with Bill Laswell, Lisa Gerrard, Serj Tankian from System of a Down, Elisa, Ben Harper, Hamid Drake, Nils Petter Molvær, Eivind Aarset, Jamie Saft, Pat Mastelotto from King Crimson, Eraldo Bernocchi, Colin Edwin from Porcupine Tree, Markus Stockhausen, Kenneth Kapstad from Motorpsycho, Tony Wakeford, Trevor Dunn, Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Raiz, Ambrogio Sparagna, Faraualla, Enrico Gabrielli, Sigillum S, Ephel Duath, Gianluca Petrella, Fabrizio Puglisi, Ståle Storlokken and Carmelo Pipitone.

History Singer-composer Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari has made his mark as a singer and producer through a series of releases, including Obake's Draugr, Seven Mutations and their 2011 self-titled debut, Owls’ The Night Stays, O.R.k.'s Inflamed Rides, Soul of an Octopus and Ramagehead, Somma's 23 Wheels of Dharma and Berserk's 2013 self-titled debut. Fornasari’s vocals are astonishing powerful, morphing between an urbane Sylvian-like drawl to a cracked-gravel growl oozing with a creeping malevolence. That theatrically evokes the dystopian pronouncements interleaving Bowie’s Outside.

— Sid Smith, PROG magazine UK Over the last decade, LEF performed in prestigious festivals and theatre stages worldwide including the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig with the band Owls (Tony Wakeford, Eraldo Bernocchi, Lef), Asymmetry Festival in Poland with the band Obake, Teatro Vittoria in Roma with Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, the Teatro Grande in Brescia, the Cappella Paolina del Quirinale, the Teatro di Correggio, the Teatro Comunale Modena, Piazza Santo Stefano in Bologna, the Teatro Piccolo Regio in Turin, and the Teatro Dal Verme di Milano with Somma, as well as venues like the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara singing contemporary opera. In 2004 he started working with Eraldo Bernocchi, with whom he produced the album Unisono in collaboration with Bill Laswell. During the same year, Fornasari gave birth to the Vaga L’Am project with Quintorigo, Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Enrico Gabrielli and Transgender. In 2007 he took part in the Somma In 2009 he wrote soundtracks for "La torre riflette", a video installation on the Due Torri in Bologna. In the same year he produced Costituto, a 700th year celebration album for the Costituto of Siena, with Bernocchi, Markus Stockhausen and Giovanni Lindo Ferretti. In 2010 he disclosed an approach to the bel canto as he made his debut in Nino Rota's Il Principe Porcaro opera at the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara. Finally and more recently, Fornasari is a member of the trio Owls, the Genova Film Festival music award for his Cose Naturali soundtracks. Fornasari is also a member of Obake with Bernocchi, Massimo Pupillo and Balázs Pándi. In 2012 Trevor Dunn was on tour with the band, subbing for Pupillo. Obake is 6th in Rock-A-Rolla magazine's list of 2011's 50 most important releases. In 2012 Lef wrote music for Saga, the Giovanni Lindo Ferretti opera that featured 14 horses on stage. In 2013 he started the band Berserk! (which signed to RareNoiseRecords in April 2013) with Lorenzo Feliciati. Pat Mastelotto, Jamie Saft, Gianluca Petrella, Eivind Aarset, Cristiano Calcagnile, Fabrizio Puglisi, Sandro Satta and Simone Cavina also took part in the band's eponymous studio album. The album's music is part of the soundtrack composed by Lef for the feature film La città senza notte by Italian director Alessandra Pescetta. In 2013 Sony Music released Giovanni Lindo Ferretti's Saga CD, the tracks of which were composed and produced by Lef. In 2014 he produced MUTATIONS, Obake's 2nd album released through RareNoiseRecords. In 2015 Lef, Pat Mastelotto from King Crimson, Colin Edwin from Porcupine Tree and Carmelo Pipitone from Marta Sui Tubi produced the album INFLAMED RIDES as O.R.k. In 2016 Obake produced the album Draugr. In 2017 Lef composed the score for The Asteroids, a feature film directed by Germano Maccioni. In 2017 he released with the band O.R.k. the album Soul of an Octopus (RareNoiseRecords). In 2019 he released with the band O.R.k. the album Ramagehead (Kscope), featuring Serj Tankian from System of a Down on the track "Black Blooms". The cover was designed by Adam Jones from Tool. In 2021 he scored the Italia. Il fuoco, la cenere film by Céline Gailleurd and Olivier Bohler featuring Isabella Rossellini. In 2002 he scored Amazonia, an Amazon Prime original documentary the last season of which feature Ben Harper. In 2023 he released with the band O.R.k. the album Screamnasium (Kscope) featuring Italian pop star Elisa Toffoli. The cover was again designed by Adam Jones from Tool.

Discography

Albums Transgender (2000), Transgender A Dream Made of Water (2001), Transgender Untitled (2013), Berserk! with Lorenzo Feliciati, Eivind Aarset, Gianluca Petrella, Jamie Saft, Pat Mastelotto

Film, visual art and adverts scoring

Films 2010 - Cose naturali by Germano Maccioni, short 2011 - Morte per Acqua by Alessandra Pescetta, short 2013 - Fedele alla linea by Germano Maccioni, documentary 2013 - Alta via dei parchi by Serena Tommasini Degna and Enrico Brizzi, documentary 2015 - The nightless city by Alessandra Pescetta, feature film 2017 - Gli asteroidi by Germano Maccioni, feature film 2018 - Fabio Mauri, Ritratto a luce solida by Sky Art, documentary film 2021 - Italia. Il fuoco, la cenere by Céline Gailleurd / Olivier Bohler, documentary film 2021 - Mad Chicken by Moe Irvin, short film 2022 - Amazonia (the last season feat. Ben Harper), Amazon Prime original, documentary film

Commercials Since 2005, Lef composed the score for over 80 commercials for many brands, including: Louis Vuitton, Varilux, Essilor, Bolon, Mutti, Romerquelle, Harmonie Mutuelle, Kodak, Minute Maid, Récré O'lé – Mont Blanc, Chevrolet, Imetec, Valfrutta, Valsoia, Well, Maya beauty Engineering, Tetley, Cofidis, Harry, Dasani, Ferrari, Vileda, Alexa, and Barilla.

Music for visual art 2005 - The sultan's dream by Bruna Rotunno, video installation 2008 - Le donne del cinema by Elisa Seravalli, video installation 2009 - La torre riflette by Articolture, video installation 2012 - L'arte dell'assedio by Elisa Seravalli, educational video 2015 - Non dobbiamo andare a farci ammazzare da stupidi by Elisa Seravalli, video installation