An Italian musical twist

When then-23-year-old Luca Spanio hopped on a plane and left his home, his family and everything familiar in Venice, Italy, to further his musical education and career in Southern California, he didn’t know quite what to expect.

“Pretty much, I left everything,” he said. “I just came here with one big bag and a guitar.”

Now, his talent on the guitar has earned him an envied spot at the Blue Café in Huntington Beach on Sunday.

Nearing his 26th birthday Monday, the Italian native with flowing, maple-brown hair and a quick smile has completed his formal musical education and is setting out on a four-month tour from Los Angeles to Orange to give fans an in-person taste of his acoustic guitar and rich voice. Spanio described his style as a mix of Queen, Jeff Buckley, the Beatles and Oasis. The chief influence on his music, however, has always been Queen.

“Everything started with the Queen songs,” he said. “People started to know me because of Queen.”

Instead of copying Queen’s music note by note, Spanio tailors Queen songs to his personal taste.

“This is not a cover band . . . We play the songs that we like in our way,” he said, referring to himself and his new bassist and drummer.

Spanio first acted on his passion for music at age 15 after his mother gave him a book filled with Queen lyrics and the band’s story for Christmas. With the guitar handed to him by his father, Spanio embarked on his career.

Spanio earned a certificate of Theory and Ear Training at the Conservatory of Music “G. Tartini” in Trieste, Italy, before he left his homeland in August 2006 to attend the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. Spanio completed the school’s program a couple years back and now lives in Hollywood.

Last year, Spanio recorded nine songs on an EP, six of which are his original pieces and three of which are tweaked Queen songs.

Spanio acknowledged that his Italian upbringing has probably influenced his approach to music more than just a little.

Spanio likes to incorporate opera-like tones into his music, which is fitting, because “Italy is where opera was born,” he said.

“Maybe, if I was born here [in the United States], my influence would be different,” he said.

His gentle Italian accent, more than anything, distinguishes Spanio’s music.

“When I sing, I try to hide my accent. But sometimes, it comes out,” he said, his accent unmistakable in conversation.

“It’s not something you hear every day.”

Spanio expressed his enthusiasm about the plethora of opportunities the U.S. offers — opportunities that wouldn’t be available to him in Italy, where the price of living is much higher than even California and where musicians aren’t taken seriously, he said.

“You can actually follow your dreams and be able to survive” in America, he said.

What does Spanio miss about his homeland? The food. Especially pizza. Spanio can stomach and even enjoy American pizza, but it’s just not the same.

“I’m crazy for pizza,” he said with a childlike smile. “Italy is still the best place for pizza.”

However, what Spanio truly misses the most is his family — his parents, his 19-year-old sister and twin 17-year-old brothers. Spanio is eager to reunite with them this September, as he hasn’t seen them since they last flew out to California in December 2007.

For Spanio, his music isn’t about him. He stressed that the audience is his favorite part of performing.

“People come to the show to forget their problems . . . That’s what you do music for,” he said.

And Spanio provides that desired distraction with his array of jokes and generally jovial nature. He even inserts a song from the children’s cartoon “DuckTales” into his playlist. But his comedy and music shouldn’t be the only enticements to attend, he said.

“I think girls, you know, especially, should come to the show, because I’m kind of cute, you know,” he chuckled.

Eventually, Spanio hopes to gain enough of a following to be able to play all of his own, original tunes instead of interspersing them with Queen renditions.

Spanio realizes the massive amount of time and effort required to make a lifelong career out of music.

A musician must not only know how to sing and play an instrument well, he said, but also how to handle the business side of the career.

“There are a lot of musicians here [in the Los Angeles area] who are trying to make it,” he said.

“You have to do everything that you can.”

Spanio’s drive comes mostly from his dread of one day, having to look himself in the mirror with the realization that he hasn’t accomplished what he set out to do.

“I don’t want to fail,” he said. “So I have to keep going.”

If You Go

Who: Luca Spanio

When: 9 p.m. Sunday

Where: The Blue Café, 17208 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach

Contact: (562) 592-1302