A collection of Michael Imperioli’s favourite songs
The Sopranos, the long-admired American crime drama, is often credited as perhaps the greatest TV series ever. Its legions of fans will clamour for any new shred of information from the cast or crew who made it. It has sparked prequel movies, documentaries and podcasts. But what many of those fans may not have known is that Michael Imperioli has a sincere interest in music.
Years after the show’s ending – and slightly more in-fitting with his more pretentious role in The White Lotus – Imperioli has invented a new lease of life for himself as a bit of an Instagram culture vulture, as well as a rock frontman in his own right. To that end, he has a knack for recommending a great eclectic mix of tunes, and of course, we love to listen. So, what does the former mafia mobster have pumping in his ears?
In a 2021 interview for Bandcamp, he started off by loading praise on underground composer,Elijah Amitin. The musician had written tracks for Imperioli’s 2009 film The Hungry Ghosts, one of which was called ‘Heat And Flash’ and was a particular favourite: “It was exactly what I wanted. He’s really good at understanding how to bridge film and music,” Imperioli enthused, highlighting the actor’s creative expanses extend much further than just solely the television screen – namely, in his indie-rock trio band Zopa, of which Amitin is also a member.
Imperioli continued: “Our band actually performed ‘Heat and Flash’ a few times. He sent me several of those songs, an EP that he did with one or two different musicians. I was travelling, and I couldn’t stop listening to ‘Heat And Flash’; it just blew my mind. I still think it reminds me a little bit of Paul Simon, Elvis Costello. I still listen to it and get the chills.”
Moreover, keeping with Amitin – this time under his pseudonym Palomino – Imperioli also loves his song ‘California Waits’ for its personal resonance to his life, splitting his time across opposite sides of the American coasts between the Big Apple and the Golden State. He reflected: “[The song] came out around the time when I was moving [to California]. I don’t know if me moving here had influenced the song or not, but it certainly resonated with me as someone who was moving to California.”
If it wasn’t already abundantly evident, Imperioli is no sheep when it comes to his musical tastes. He’s all about seeking out the most unusual and irreplicable sounds from the darkest haunts of New York, revelling in songs not because of any illusion of mainstream appeal but due to the innovation that these underground bands represent. That is especially true when it comes to his worship of the band Bush Tetras, their song ‘Red Heavy’, and their guitarist Pat Place. He said: “Place is one of my favourite guitarists. I think she plays like no one else. It’s very, very distinctive. I love the sounds and tones and rhythmically, she’s — I mean, she’s just genius.”
Evidently, the rush of the city courses through Imperioli’s veins, in complete contrast to the continental vibes of some of his more recent esteemed acting roles, including in The White Lotus. Take ‘Joe’ by Diane and the Gentle Men as the prime example. “Combin[ing] all the great eras of New York music into this one song,” Imperioli explained. The band are stalwarts in that specific scene, and with regard to its frontwoman, he preached that: “Diane is kind of a lifer in the New York City rock scene and grew up in it, and I think this song is defining to me, because it has that Ronettes-like, walking-in-the-rain feel. There’s a 1970s vibe to it, yet it’s modern as well.”
‘Joe’ is a relatively recent addition to the New York canon, hailing from the band’s 2020 album The White Sea, but it’s no surprise Imperioli can hear the sonic imprints of its predecessors, as he has spent a lifetime wandering within the city’s walls. In that vein, one of its most prolific exports is obviously The Velvet Underground, whose track ‘New Age’ proved pivotal to the actor for reasons both musical and personal. Discussing the band’s impact with The Quietus, he said: “Lou Reed is my favourite musical artist, period. We got to be friends in the last decade of his life, and I wound up writing a novel that he is a character in called The Perfume Burned His Eyes, which was published a couple of years ago.”
Down the classic vein, Chuck Berry takes on an almost Godly status for Imperioli in the way his work shaped the very foundations of the genre which he has permanently championed, both as a spectator and later as a performer. “I remember hearing Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B Goode’ as a really young kid, and just loving it. His music, to me, is the beginning of rock,” he stated. But aside from the screaming rapture of ‘Johnny B Goode’ was a markedly smoother and more nurturing tune that stole his heart. “‘Carol’ is a love song and he needs to learn how to dance to win Carol’s heart and not lose her to another guy. It’s very innocent and very romantic,” Imperioli gushed – proving that beneath it all, even the biggest rock entities are just huge softies inside.
But of course, every good rock star needs to know where the best thrashing guitars are at. For Imperioli, that comes in the form of A Place to Bury Strangers and their song ‘Missing You’. He recalls seeing the band at a gig and being struck by how their “huge sound” overwhelmed the tiny venue: “I think ‘Missing You’ really encapsulates who they are as a band and what that sound is and the layers of it,” the actor explained. “And they’re amazing at creating a mood and a vibe. Anybody who gets a chance to see them live should do it. A tremendous live band.”
Finally, Imperioli concludes his whistlestop tour of recommendations with a track called ‘Incantations’ by American-Ghanian artist Moses Sumney. “This song, it’s one of those amazing things that music and rock can do and bring together all these cultures, languages, and spiritual disciplines under one roof. He combines it really well, and he makes it his,” he said – and certainly the song’s title lives up to its name. Embodying an almost spiritual presence on stage, it’s clear Imperioli worships Sumney like a religion – but to be fair, that can be said for every inch of the musical world that he blesses with his seal of approval.
So, Sopranos fans, if you can tear yourselves away from the Mafia mobsters for just a second, Michael Imperioli might have just made you a new playlist…
A collection of Michael Imperioli’s favourite songs:
- ‘Heat and Flash’ – Elijah Amitin (not on Spotify)
- ‘California Waits’ – Palomino (not on Spotify)
- ‘Red Heavy’ – Bush Tetras
- ‘Joe’ – Diane and the Gentle Men
- ‘New Age’ – The Velvet Underground
- ‘Johnny B Goode’ – Chuck Berry
- ‘Carol’ – Chuck Berry
- ‘Missing You’ – A Place to Bury Strangers
- ‘Incantations’ – Moses Sumney
