Motion Masquerade

For Glyn’s Mixed Music Bag — Week 23 — I have chosen Leo Moracchioli, a heavy metal multi-instrumentalist who has gained international acclaim via his YouTube channel (which currently has more than 4.7 million followers). Leo specializes in metal and acoustic covers of popular songs and, to date, has recorded nearly 500 tracks.

Moracchioli writes all of his own arrangements, plays all of the instruments on every track (with few exceptions — i.e. in the cases where he has guest artists for group performances or duets), performs all his own vocals, and self-produces and records all of the videos on his YouTube channel. On average, the covers that he records require more than fifty tracks.

I chose Bad Habits (Leo’s cover of Ed Sheeran’s 2021 song of the same title) because I think Moracchioli’s version conveys the angst with which the lyrics should be performed. Ed Sheeran’s rendering of the track is one of my shameful, guilty pleasures; but, Leo’s interpretation is one I’m willing to play cranked all the way up with the windows of my Honda Civic rolled down at a red light, making no apologies.

I respect Moracchioli’s talent as an instrumentalist and as a performance artist. His willingness to be playful also saved my brother from the living hell of Baby Shark many years ago. When my nephew was obsessed with the song, I found a heavy metal cover by Leo and played it for Cash — my nephew — who fell in love with it. Cole (my brother) found the metal version much easier to live with. Moracchioli has also covered many popular Disney ballads, including Let It Go from Frozen.

Leo is the owner of Frog Leap Studios in Oltedal, Rogaland (Norway). You can purchase or download his music from his website or on most popular streaming services.