Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari

LEF (born Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari; 20 November 1977) is an Italian vocalist, record producer and film score composer. He 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 such as the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig with the band Owls (Tony Wakeford, Eraldo Bernocchi, Lef) Asymmetry Festival in Poland with the band Obake, with Giovanni Lindo Ferretti at Teatro Vittoria in Roma, the Teatro Grande in Brescia, the Cappella Paolina del Quirinale, the Teatro di Correggio, the Teatro Comunale Modena, Bologna in Piazza Santo Stefano, the Teatro Piccolo Regio in Torino, with Somma at the Teatro Dal Verme di Milano, and singing Contemporary Opera at venues like the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, and finally the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara. In 2004 he started working together with Eraldo Bernocchi with whom 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 project with Eraldo Bernocchi, Bill Laswell, Raiz, Hamid Drake, Nils Petter Molvær, Faraualla and seven Tibetan Monks. In 2008, again with Eraldo Bernocchi, he co-produced the remix album for Ephel Duath's "Pain Remixes the Known". 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" with Bernocchi, Markus Stockhausen and Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, a 700 years celebration album for the Costituto of Siena. 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, with Eraldo Bernocchi and Tony Wakeford, which played their opening concert at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig in 2011. In 2012 he won the Genova Film Festival award with his "Cose Naturali" soundtracks. Fornasari is also a member of Obake with Bernocchi, Massimo Pupillo and Balázs Pándi. In 2012 Trevor Dunn is on tour with the band subbing for Pupillo. Obake is 6th in the list of 2011's 50 most important releases in Rock-A-Rolla magazine. In 2012 Lef wrote music for Saga, a Giovanni Lindo Ferretti's opera with 14 horses on stage. In 2013 he started with Lorenzo Feliciati the band Berserk! (RareNoiseRecords April 2013). Pat Mastelotto, Jamie Saft, Gianluca Petrella, Eivind Aarset, Cristiano Calcagnile, Fabrizio Puglisi, Sandro Satta and Simone Cavina took part in this studio album as well. This music is part to the soundtrack composed by Lef for the feature film "La città senza notte" by Italian director Alessandra Pescetta. In 2013 the Sony Music released the Giovanni Lindo Ferretti's Saga CD, composed and produced by Lef. In 2014 he produced "MUTATIONS" the Obake's 2nd album released through the 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 the Obake band produced the album Draugr. In 2017 he 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. The last season featuring Ben Harper, an Amazon Prime original. In 2023 he released with the band O.R.k. the album "Screamnasium" (Kscope) featuring Italian pop star Elisa Toffoli. The cover was designed by Adam Jones from Tool.

"But the pervasive intensity of the record comes in particular from the performance of vocalist Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari, who not only presents himself as a master of his craft, but also brings an almost frightening amount of emotions. He sounds in many places like a rebirth of SOUNDGARDEN frontman Chris Cornell, when he flies full of passion into high, rough fields."

"Comprisedof [sic] monstrously prolific Zu bassist Massimo Pupillo, Sigillum-S founder and noted experimental guitarist Eraldo Bernocchi – whom you may also know from his Mick Harris collaborations – drummer Balázs Pándi, and shapeshifting vocalist Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari, Obake operate in the twilight area between 'art' and sludge. Fornasari’s contributions in particular firmly place the music herein into the bracket of 'art' – he soars operatically above and through the music, then plummets down into the lower registers to intone, command, insinuate, mutter, howl and screech like a thousand chattering apes. His hollow, tombstone-scraping croak is the equal of any 'Brutal Death Metal' grunter, and his powerful baritone like a dark twin to the similarly gifted Mike Patton. Indeed, hearing his voice across the course of Obake, one could very easily believe that he was the mutant offspring of Patton and Attila Csihar – the demonically-throated voice of Sunn, Mayhem, Void Ov Voices and Aborym – so fluid, stentorian and damned dark are his tones, and, like Patton, he doesn’t merely sing – he vocalises, using his voice as an instrument for adding layers of texture. Fornasari elevates what would already be a seriously tasty musical proposition into a must-hear."

Albums

 * Transgender 2000, Transgender
 * A dream Made of Water 2001, Transgender
 * Etno Ambient Project 2002, Transgender
 * Sen Soj TrumàS 2003, Transgender
 * Litania 2004, Litania
 * Unisono 2006, Ashes
 * Mey Ark Vu 2007, Transgender
 * Costituto 2009, Costituto with Stockhausen Bernocchi and Giovanni Lindo Ferretti (RareNoiseRecords)
 * 23 Wheels of Dharma 2010, Somma with Bill Laswell, Hamid Drake, Nils Petter Molvær, Eraldo Bernocchi, Raiz (RareNoiseRecords)
 * The night stays 2011, Owls with Tony Wakeford and Eraldo Bernocchi (RareNoiseRecords)
 * Untitled 2011, Obake with Eraldo Bernocchi, Massimo Pupillo, Balázs Pándi (RareNoiseRecords)
 * Untitled 2013, "Berserk!" with Lorenzo Feliciati, Eivind Aarset, Gianluca Petrella, Jamie Saft, Pat Mastelotto
 * Saga, il canto dei canti 2013, Giovanni Lindo Ferretti with Giovanni Lindo Ferretti
 * Mutations 2015, Obake
 * Inflamed rides 2015, "O.R.K." with Colin Edwin, Pat Mastelotto, Carmelo Pipitone
 * Draugr 2016, Obake
 * Hypersomniac 2016, LEF with Eivind Aarset, Bill Laswell, Kenneth Kapstad, Nils Petter Molvær, Ståle Storløkken and Rebecca Sneddon
 * Soul of An Octopus 2017, "O.R.K."
 * Ramagehead 2019, "O.R.K."
 * Italia. Il fuoco, la cenere 2022, LEF film score with vocals by Isabella Rossellini
 * Screamnasium 2022, "O.R.K."

Productions/Remixes

 * Etno Ambient Project (remixes) 2002, Transgender
 * Pain Remixes the Known 2007, Ephel Duath – Earache rec

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: 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, Barilla.

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