From teaching himself guitar as a kid to producing music from his home studio, Anthony Giraldi has spent a lifetime honing his craft. WBOI’s Brianna Barrow spoke with the Fort Wayne musician about his creative process, the local music scene, and what's next for him.
2026 Performance Schedule
- May 29th: Los Electro (Psychedelic Cumbria and Latin Rock)
- June 26th: Man of the Flood (Progressive Indie Rock)
- July 31st: Anthony Giraldi (Soul, R&B, Indie)
- August 28th: Funayūrei (Synthwave)
- September 25th: The Thinning (Indie Rock)
This season of Live and Local at The Landing is made possible with support from the Ardelle and Theresa Glaze Foundation as part of WBOI’s Amplify All project.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Joining me today is singer-songwriter, producer, and lifelong musician Anthony Giraldi. His music blends soul, R&B, and indie influences. Thanks for being here, Anthony.
Anthony Girladi: Thanks for having me.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: You describe yourself as a lifelong musician. What first sparked that passion?
Anthony Girladi: A guitar laying around the house when I was probably three or four, there's lots of pictures with me in front of the TV, mimicking Garth Brooks live concerts, and just always had an interest in it. Yeah, no lessons, all self-taught.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Wow,
Anthony Giraldi: Just you know, when you've got an obvious passion for something, you just kind of pursue it. You know?
Brianna Datta-Barrow: When did it stop feeling like a hobby and start to feel like something you wanted to pursue?
Anthony Giraldi: I always tinkered with it until probably I was a teenager, you know, like thirteen, fourteen, and then that's when I started to take it more seriously and realized, okay, this is something that you know I have a knack for and that I want to pursue for the rest of my life. So, you know the middle school the typical middle school talent shows you know the state fair, the battle of the bands, all that sort of stuff yeah we did all of those started a band when I was in eighth grade, I think seventh or eighth grade and been you know performing since then
Brianna Datta-Barrow: that is so cool what was your band's name
Anthony Giraldi: The Frontline I think was the name of the band. Yeah, that was my first band when I was just a little a little guy.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So, you're a producer as well. So how did you move into that realm?
Anthony Giraldi: I went to a school called McNally Smith College of Music in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. And so, when you're there around all these musicians, engineers, producers, you know, you sort of just naturally, you know, pick it up. But I, you know, I had my own little studio even when I was in middle school that you know had my little my little laptop and a little set of computer speakers and a microphone and just tried to make stuff.
But then took it more seriously when I moved to Fort Wayne in 2014 is when I really started trying to produce my own stuff, and I've been doing it since then.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So, you're wearing two hats when you're creating as a songwriter and as a producer. So, when you're when you're going to write, do you find yourself thinking more as a producer from the beginning?
Anthony Giraldi: Kind of the whole deal. I mean, when you record and write and produce just your own stuff at home, it typically starts with opening up, you know, your software and starting to record, and that's you know I'm rarely writing a song just sitting down with me and a guitar. I'm opening it up, I'm creating loops, you know I'm chopping things back and forth and then starting to kind of write vocal riffs and melodies, and then lyrics start to come in, so it's all over the place, really.
But I think for me specifically, it's more of a producer mindset than it is like a songwriter mindset.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: As a producer, you probably spend a lot of time making little, small tweaks or little decisions that most of us listeners wouldn't notice. So, what is the detail in your song "Complacence" Maybe a guitar part or harmony in that mix that you would have them listen for?
Anthony Giraldi: You might you may not hear it, but in the in the beginning of the song, there's a drum fill that comes in to start to start the song. And that was inspired from like a little drum loop that I had created, and I had my drummer Colin actually record the same exact fill, and I just layered the two together and sort of panned them back and forth really quickly from each other. So, you may not hear it, but they're synthetic drums and acoustic drums playing the same fill at the same time.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So, this season of Live and Local at the Landing was made possible with support from the Ardell and Teresa Glaze Foundation as part of WBOY's Amplify All Project. One of the goals of Live and Local is to spotlight original music or talented artists here in Fort Wayne. From your perspective, why do you think events like this are important for local artists?
Anthony Giraldi: Yeah, just gives everybody a chance to hear what's really happening here. You know, the Fort Wayne scene is alive and well with creativity, but sometimes there's not always an opportunity for people to get out and show it, and there's a ton of people doing cool stuff in town, but they have maybe a big presence online and they don't play out anywhere, you know.
So, there's a there's a diverse reach, there's a diverse group of musicians and creatives in the city. So having a thing like this where we're showcasing talent and can get in front of a big group of people all at once with your guys' backing is huge for everyone.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: What would you tell another aspiring local artist about Fort Wayne's music community?
Anthony Giraldi: Hmm, that's a good question. I mean, it would obviously be dependent on you know who the. Is and what they're looking to accomplish, but I think just get out there more than anything. Just get involved and just have fun. Like the whole point of this is to have fun creating. Don't think about end goals. Just find people that you enjoy being around and then make music together. That's it.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: And then looking ahead, what's next for you after live and local? Do you have any new music or upcoming projects you want to tell people about?
Anthony Giraldi: So, my band, my other band, the Pinch Hitters, who, some formation of that, are going to be playing at this show. You know, it'll be a full band performance. We're straight-ahead funk music, so it is like Prince meets Vulfpeck, very funky stuff.
We're going to be releasing a four-song EP here before the end of the year. That's already, you know, pretty much baked. We're just waiting to put it out there. So, I'm looking forward to that.
Other than that, you know, I've got two young kids at home, so I'm a family guy. So, I just, you know, I'm just at home making music in the bedroom when I get a chance, and you know, taking care of the little ones. So, just about fun for me.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: That's so special. Do they just love getting to hear you play and stuff? What do you like to play for them?
Anthony Giraldi: They'll be at the show, so they'll probably be singing all of my original songs. My five-year-old specifically will be very involved. He's in my other band, the Pinch Hitters. He's in all of our live videos, so you'll see him in all of them, just kind of sitting in the back, like bobbing his head. Yeah, so it'll be so sweet.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Yeah, awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Anthony. We appreciate it, and we're all looking forward to the show.
Anthony Giraldi: Thank you. Me too.
I'm Anthony Giraldi, and this is Complacence on WBOI.
The songs included in this piece, “Complacence,” and “Ghosts” were provided by Anthony Girladi ahead of his performance at WBOI Music Presents: Live and Local at The Landing on July 31st, 2026.
