Raised in the suburbs of Naples, Southern Italy, nArE (aka Armando Cotugno) has been surrounded by music since he was a child. The only hi-fi his big family could afford was managed by his older sisters. Luckily enough, they used to listen to different kind of good music: Vivaldi's classical music, Fred Bongusto's italian swing, Fabrizio De André poetry-songs, along with Talking Heads, The Clash, The Beatles and many others. All of these different genres and artists form the background of this open-minded, innovative and creative musician.
Armando learnt to play using a toy-keyboard at the age of 11. By the age of 16, he formed his first band. It was a covers band, initially, a way to escape from the squalor of the area they lived in. Having started as a keyboard player and then a guitar player, shortly after Armando fell in love with the bass guitar, which has been his instrument since then.
After a few years, at the beginning of the 90's, Armando and his fellow musicians decided to compose and play their own music. It was a period of great social and cultural unrest, accompanied by a musical movement which had found the best way to express itself using dub and ragamuffin. These naturally became the main influences on the group, but it took a short while for 24 GRANA, Armando's band, to develop a unique sound and become one of the most appreciated act on the Italian scene.
The band was formed by four people with different attitudes and musical backgrounds; for many this would have been a hurdle, but Armando's group had the ability to make of it a priceless asset and a way to create a completely original music. During his more than 16 years long professional career with 24 GRANA, Armando has composed, arranged and produced 6 studio and 2 live albums, performed live in hundreds of gigs in top venues and festivals in Italy, France, Spain, Slovenia, Switzerland and Japan; Armando and his band have collaborated with contemporary artists composing music for video-art works, and 24 GRANA have been the first rock band to ever play live in an Italian theatre providing music originally composed for a classical ballet.
Despite this highly rewarding career, Armando's hunger for new experiences and challenges, and his willingness to spread his personal and artistic horizons, led him to take a one-way flyght to London at the beginning of 2010. Here, in the cradle of contemporary music, this never-tired-to-learn musician has put his effort into further improving his musicianship and has lent his creativity to various project. At the moment, Armando is working with rock act Delta Unit and dub combo Brandy Alexander Project, with whom he's composing and producing original music as well as performing live at some of the most popular London venues.